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When I think of the last Vivo flagship I reviewed, the Vivo X100 Pro, it takes me back to a starry night sitting around a bonfire in the middle of a tea plantation in Kotagiri. I was on a holiday when reviewing the phone, and the serene landscape became the perfect muse to test the flagship’s camera. While there was no such luck this year, in the middle of a sunny, crowded Chennai, when I started reviewing the Vivo X200 Pro, it didn’t deter me from trying its upgraded camera. But before diving into that, let’s talk about the initial impressions the Vivo X200 Pro leaves.
Design
The focus on new aesthetics seems to have been toned down this time with the smartphone being available in fairly staid Titanium Grey and Cosmos Black options. It’s minimal and elegant. However, it would’ve been nice to have some design element that helps it stand out. The camera module stood out the most — surely intentional — what with photography on the smartphone being its USP.
The device sports a 6.78-inch 2K display, bright and vivid, even under bright sunlight. The only disappointment is that the display gets scratches when carried around in a not-so-cluttered handbag for over a month.
Camera
The primary camera setup on the Vivo X200 Pro includes a 50 MP Sony LYT-818 sensor, a 200 MP ZEISS telephoto camera and a 50 MP ultrawide camera. On paper, it looks like a towering setup and it turns out to be one in practice as well.
Let’s start with the telephoto lens first. The setup offers up to 100x zoom and, for the most part, captures a lot of shots from afar with impressively low noise and a fair amount of detail and clarity. Vivo says that the “advanced image reconstruction technology” helps achieve this on the flagship. All photos — not just the long-distance ones — taken in daylight are bright and vivid with very accurate colour saturation. There are three easy-access filters — Vivid, which amps up the saturation and warmth; Textured, which amps up the shadows significantly and adds a bit more drama to stills; and ZEISS’ Natural filter, which delivers some well-balanced colours, highlights and shadows. Interestingly, the portrait mode has 5 pre-fixed focal length options: 23 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm and 135 mm — and all of them deliver some great bokeh effects that can be adjusted while post-processing.
Low-light photography is another area where the Vivo X200 Pro excels although, I’d say, it sometimes brightens up the frame more than what would look true to life. However, it does a really good job of compensating for the lack of ample light and also minimising noise in photos. The AI Erase feature and the AI Photo Enhancer add utility by helping remove unwanted objects or enhance image clarity in challenging scenarios.
Tech Specs
The Vivo X200 Pro runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 processor and offers a standard configuration of 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. A new V3+ imaging chip has also been integrated to boost low-light scenarios and portraits with better computational photography.
The smartphone runs on FunTouch OS 15, which is based on Android 15, packing in a bunch of new AI features. There’s real-time call translation across multiple languages. Gemini Assistant is also built-in, as is the case with most new Android flagships. AI Note and Transcript Assist works well in organising and recording meetings and webinar notes. There’s also Screen Translation in case you also like multilingual content on platforms such as YouTube or Weverse, which may not have accurately translated subtitles, especially during live shows and interactions.
Battery
The smartphone runs on a massive 6,000 mAh battery that has an impressively slow discharge rate. My typical day involves taking lots of photographs, trying out video features, watching reels, listening to music and occasional casual gaming. With this, the smartphone easily lasted for two whole days before I had to plug it in for a charge. It supports a maximum charging power of 90 W, and took almost 45 minutes to charge fully from zero.
Verdict
The Vivo X200 Pro refines its predecessor’s strengths in smartphone photography, brings in some anticipated AI additions and offers excellent battery life. However, the lack of standout design features and concerns around display durability might leave some users wanting for more. For photography enthusiasts and power users, the X200 Pro is an excellent flagship choice but others may find it less compelling compared to more daring alternatives in this price range.
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