Vivo X100 5G review: Gorgeous premium phone with cool camera

It is not just a pretty-looking premium phone, but also a smooth performer and can deliver long battery life.

Vivo earlier in the month (January 4) virtually through a video streaming event launched the new X100 series premium phones.

It comes in two variants-- a standard X100 and a top-end X100 Pro--with prices starting at Rs 63,999. The device is now finally available in starting Thursday (January 11) in India.

If you are planning to buy a new premium phone, be sure to read this review to make an informed decision to make the purchase or not.

Design, build quality and display

The new Vivo X100 is a beautiful phone, particularly the stargaze blue model. It has a sparkling concentric circle design language with a smooth texture on the back panel.

As you can see in the cover photo, the device looks amazing in the sunlight. Featuring a big circular camera module with shiny sky blue colourway, it is an instant eye-turner in public gatherings. The unique design makes it stand apart from the rival brands.

Vivo X100 5G series.

Besides the stargaze blue, Vivo also offers the device in another colour option-- Asteroid Black. It is also a good-looking handset.

Vivo X100 is not just a pretty phone, it is very sturdy and made of premium materials too. It has a aero-space stainless steel frame and comes with an IP68 rating, meaning it can survive accidental water splashes and even a dip in the swimming pool up to 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) for close to 30 minutes.

Add to that the company offers a free transparent back cover. The see-through design ensures the device's beautiful back panel is visible to flaunt around in public and also protects it from getting cracked during accidental falls.

Furthermore, Vivo has incorporated a free screen guard on the display free of cost. This will safeguard the screen from scratches when kept closely with coins, pens and keys in the pocket or the backpack.

Vivo X100 5G series.

On the front, the Vivo X100 sports a stunning 6.78-inch 1.5K(2800 × 1260p) LTPO AMOLED screen. It supports HDR10+, 120Hz variable refresh rate, and offers up to 3000 nits peak brightness.

The display is great for consuming content on OTT apps for several hours during a long journey without any issue of strain on the eyes. Also, reading the news and browsing the internet on the phone is a smooth experience.

The biometric in-screen fingerprint sensor works fine as long the finger is clean and dry.

The device also comes with dual SIM slots, an infrared sensor, and amazing stereo speakers.

Performance

The new Vivo X100 is powered by 4nm class Dimensity 9300 octa-core with Immortalis-G720 GPU, and 12GB / 16GB LPDDR5X RAM with 256GB / 512GB (UFS 4.0) storage.

The company offers the device in two configurations-- -- 12GB RAM + 256GB storage and 16GB RAM + 512GB storage. Our review unit is the latter.

The new MediaTek Dimensity 9300 chipset can clock peak CPU speed up to 3.25GHz. And, with the Extended RAM feature, the physical memory can be doubled to 32GB, to make the phone work smoothly. It assists in faster loading of apps even when multiple apps are opened and running in the background.

Vivo X100 5G series.

It is a super smooth phone and performs all day-to-day tasks without breaking a sweat. Even while playing games such as Asphalt 9: Legends, the device waltzed through the gaming session without any sign of laggardness. Also, it does not get warmed easily even with long hours of heavy-duty tasks such as 4K video recording.

The device runs on the latest Android 14-based Funtouch OS 14. It has very few of its own Vivo apps and an app store, but doesn't affect the user experience much. One can just ignore them and use Google's core apps for productivity and fun activities. In our review unit, it had more than 450 GB of user-available storage. This is more than enough to install hundreds more apps and store thousands of images and videos without any worry of running out of storage space for a very long time.

With a 5,000mAh battery, it can keep the phone running for two days under normal usage. If you depend on cellular data all day and stream a lot of video or play online gaming, it can still be able to deliver a full day. Also, with the 120W fast charging capability, the phone can charge to 50 per cent in under 15 minutes. It can fully charge from zero to 100 per cent capacity in under 30 minutes.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample

Photography

Vivo X100 houses a V2 imaging processor-powered triple camera module- 50MP(1/ 1.49-inch IMX920 VCS bionic, f/1.57, OIS) + 50MP 150-degree 1/2.76-inch ultra-wide-angle camera (f/2.0) + 64MP 1/2-inch telephoto camera f/2.57, OIS, up to 100x digital zoom, telephoto macro, Zeiss T* coating, ZEISS optics and LED flash.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample (zoomed-in with application to show how minute details have been captured by the device)

The new phone's camera is amazingly good in all environments. It manages to get all the minute details clearly, way better than some of the expensive smartphone brands costing more than Rs 80,000.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample.

In the sunlight, the Vivo X100 series captures some of the best photos. The colours are a tad warmer, but I am not complaining. They look great, and worthy to be shared on social media platforms.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample (zoomed-in with application to show how minute details have been captured by the device)

In portrait mode, it excels brilliantly and even manages to outshine more expensive rival brands. Getting a sharp image of a flower strand in a maze of grass in the background is a tough task and this X100 was able to get it perfectly.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample with portrait mode.

In the night mode, the Vivo does a fantastic job capturing the night's dark sky beautifully. With whatever small amount of light available in the environment around it, the phone manages to get the near-accurate colour of the coconut trees on the vast agriculture field.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample with night mode on.

In ultra-wide angle mode, it manages to get vast area of the field within the field.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample with ultra-wide angle view.

It supports up to 3X optical zoom and it does work as advertised. The pictures are sharp with accurate colours.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample normal view 1X.

Vivo X100 5G's camera sample with 3X Zoom

It supports digital zoom and it can stretch up to 100X. But, like most rival brands, the quality of photos starts to deteriorate beyond 20X zoom. After 60X Zoom, though the objects in the scene are identifiable, there is a huge accumulation of noise.

Vivo X100 also boasts ZEISS-powered Landscape and Architecture features with Horizon correction and miniature effect options. It offers more tools to get perfect photos in cities with tall skyscrapers.

It also boasts Astro mode to get the celestial stars and moon with an Augmented Reality effect. Ensure, you have an internet connection to get the perfect night sky photo.

Other notable features of the Vivo X100 are Food mode, PRO mode, Supermoon, Time-lapse, Panorama, Long Exposure, Cinematic portrait, and Live photo, which can be used to create a fun GIF effect.

Vivo X100 also has an Ultra HD Document scanning feature to get that perfect picture of a page or document to get it printed.

The new X100 can record full HD (1080p) and 4K at 30/60 frames per second (fps). They are stable, on par with most of the premium Android phones. With Slo-mo mode, it supports 720p at 120fps and 1080p at 240fps.

Vivo X100 fluants 32MP (f/2.0) front camera. It takes brilliant selfies with a smoothened skin tone. One doesn't need many tools to get a perfect photo, but even if you are satisfied with it, the native camera app offers superficial filters and editing features to reduce the size of the chin, nose, mouth and even the eye size.

For video calls, it can stream 1080p at 30 fps and 60 fps. The quality is amazing, but ensure to have a steady internet connection for a smooth virtual conference.

Final thoughts

Like all the previous X series phones, Vivo's new model outranks rival brands in terms of design language and visual appeal. It is a gorgeous-looking premium phone and a very smooth performer too.

Vivo X100 5G series.

The Zeiss system-powered triple camera of the Vivo X100 works amazingly well in all light conditions. And, it can deliver a full day of battery life even under extreme usage.

The X100 comes in two variants-- 12GB RAM + 256GB storage and 16GB RAM + 512GB storage-- for Rs 63,999 and Rs 69,999, respectively.

The X100 Pro comes in one variant (16GB RAM + 512GB storage)-- for Rs 89,999.

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