vivo X300 review
| 256GB 12GB RAM | £ 749.65 |
€ 860.23 |
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Introduction
Today, we have the vivo X300 for review, a compact gem among a crowd of large slabs of Ultras, Maxes, Pros. Even better, this small flagship does not hold anything back. And the best part - it has already gone global!
The vivo X300 series is out now, and it seems it has finally found its footing, and the regular X300 has finally found its identity. See, the X300 is not a sequel to the X200, or X200s, or X200 FE, but to the X200 Pro mini. And this was a smart move given how fragmented the X200 lineup was.
Anyway, the X300 brings some great improvements over the X200 Pro mini - presumably the fastest Android hardware, a new 200MP primary camera, a revamped 50MP selfie with autofocus, and an improved battery and charging.
But let's rewind a bit and give you some context. The X300 is a compact flagship phone that is now available in some Asian countries and Europe. It has a 6.31-inch LTPO OLED screen with 1216p resolution, 10-bit color depth, and 120Hz dynamic refresh rate.
The X300, just like the X300 Pro, utilizes MediaTek's most powerful chip to date, one that was developed closely with vivo - the Dimensity 9500 with new generation ARM CPU cores and a brand-new ARM G1 Ultra GPU. There is also an industry-first dual UFS 4.1 configuration for the storage for higher performance.
Then comes the camera setup. The X300 introduces a 200MP ISOCELL HPB-based main camera, followed by a 50MP 3x periscope telephoto and a 50MP AF ultrawide shooter. There is also a 50MP AF selfie cam. Vivo has bragged with 4K60 Portrait Cinematic videos, 4K120 HDR capturing, among plenty of other niceties.
There is also a new generation of Si/C battery (6,040mAh in Asia, 5,360mAh in Europe) with 90W wired, 40W wireless charging, plus options for reverse wired and wireless charging and bypass charging as well.
The final bits worth mentioning are the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, the large vibration motor, Wi-Fi 7 support, and the heavily improved Origin OS 6 based on Android 16.
vivo X300 specs at a glance:
- Body: 150.6x71.9x8.0mm, 190g; Glass front, aluminum alloy frame, glass back; IP68/IP69 dust tight and water resistant (high pressure water jets; immersible up to 1.5m for 30 min).
- Display: 6.31" LTPO AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 2160Hz PWM, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, 4500 nits (peak), 1216x2640px resolution, 19.54:9 aspect ratio, 460ppi; Ultra HDR image support.
- Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 9500 (3 nm): Octa-core (1x4.21 GHz C1-Ultra & 3x3.5 GHz C1-Premium & 4x2.7 GHz C1-Pro); Arm G1-Ultra.
- Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.1.
- OS/Software: Android 16, up to 5 major Android upgrades, OriginOS 6.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.4", 0.56µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.6, 70mm, 1/1.95", PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.0, 15mm, 119˚, 1/2.76", 0.64µm, AF.
- Front camera: 50 MP, f/2.0, 20mm (wide), 1/2.76", 0.64µm, AF.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS, 4K@120fps HDR; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps.
- Battery: 6040mAh (as tested), 5360mAh (EU mdoel); 90W wired, 40W wireless, Reverse wired.
- Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.4, aptX HD, LHDC 5; NFC; Infrared port.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers.
Looking at the X300 specs sheet, vivo has done an amazing job in kitting out this phone with everything needed.
The only potential issue is that the phone ships with a smaller battery capacity in Europe - 5360mAh vs 6040mAh in the rest of the world. We are reviewing the 6040mAh model, though outside of charging and battery life, our review findings should apply to both variants.
Unboxing the vivo X300
The vivo X300 arrives in a large black box that contains a 90W charger, a USB-A to USB-C cable, and a color-matched protective case that has a soft and grippy finish.
As expected, in the EU, the phone does not come with the charger bundled, but if you buy it directly from vivo, you get a charger separately as a free bonus.
The phone also comes with a pre-applied protective folio on its screen, as is usually the case with all phones these days.
vivo X300 review - Reader comments
- Koko
- J6t
Just when playing HDR contents, but camera update is a good improvements but not for Pro mode that crushes in HDR scenes - reddit post with samples available. CN version btw.
- Peter UK
- dSV
Is this an update on Chinese or global version? It's a bit odd thing to do, is that something that affected all the phones? Is this something changed only while screen is in HDR mode?
- Nick
- xhn
Update from X300 user since November - Software Update, i was surprised that Vivo with OriginOS is very generous with their update, always got optimization update every 2 month (yeah that include security update from google) - Speaker got upd...
