Vivo X200 5G review: Top-class premium phone with amazing camera

Last week, Vivo's latest X200 series -- X200 and X200 Pro-- phones hit stores in India.

The new phone comes with big upgrades in terms of new powerful MediaTek processor and a massive battery. Here are my thoughts on the latest premium Android phone from the house of Vivo.

Design, build quality and display

Our Vivo X200 5G review unit is cosmos black. It retains the design elements of its predecessor (X100 review). It sports a mammoth circular camera module with a shiny chrome ring around it. At the centre, there is Zeiss branding.

The side frame is made of super sturdy aluminium to offer stability to the phone's structure and withstand accidental drop on the floor and protect the internal components.

The back panel has a sparkling dark black shade with a matte finish. It performs well in terms of repelling fingerprint smudges. But, the camera module, which protrudes a bit, accumulates dust particles.

Vivo X200 5G.

The company also offers another colour variant--natural green. The latter is said to be prettier than the cosmos black.

One of many new features of the X200 series is the IP69+68 rating. The device is the most durable Vivo X series phone to date.

It is built to survive an accidental drop in the water body up to 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) for close to 30 minutes. And, also can withstand high-pressure water jets up to 1,450 PSI and even hot steam, but only a few seconds.

However, the device does not come with a water damage warranty, so prospective Vivo X200 series phone buyers do not try to test the device's durability on purpose.

Vivo X200 5G.

The new Vivo X200 sports a beautiful 6.67-inch full HD+ (1260x2800p) LTPS AMOLED screen with Schott Alpha Glass protection. It supports 120Hz refresh rate, offers up to 4,500 nits peak brightness and has a pixel density of 460 ppi (pixels per inch).

It is great for binge-watching video blogs, TV series and movies on OTT apps even outdoors in bright sunlight. The colours appear vibrant on the screen and super stereo speakers of the device manage to deliver a delightful viewing experience.

Not just watching reels and video blogs, even for reading the display is well equipped to control the blue light emission so that there is less strain on the eyes while reading long-form news articles or e-books at night.

It also boasts of in-screen fingerprint sensor. It is one of the best in its class. The device was able to recognise finger impressions even when wet. It is really close to matching the physical fingerprint sensors in terms of low false rejection rate.

Performance

It houses a powerful 3nm class MediaTek Dimensity 9400 octa-core (3.626GHz Cortex-X925 x 1 core + 3.3GHz Cortex-X4 x 3 cores + 2.4Ghz Cortex-A720 x 4 cores) processor with Immortalis-G925 GPU.

The Vivo X200 is available in two configurations-- 12GB RAM LPDDR5X + 256GB storage (UFS 4.0) and 16GB RAM LPDDR5X + 512GB storage (UFS 4.0).

The device works super smooth; be it operating camera or working generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI)-based tasks or photo editing, the device never showed any hint of lag-ness during the entire review period.

Vivo X200 5G's CPU and GPU performance score on Geekbench 6.0 app.

Even while playing graphics-rich games Asphalt Legend Unite series, the Vivo X200 remained stable. It got a little warm but never overheated.

It runs the latest Android 15-based FuntouchOS. It is easy to use and navigate through the setting to find all key features.

In addition to Google's core apps including Gen AI Gemini, and Gmail, the device comes pre-loaded with several third-party apps, but thankfully, the device has plenty of free storage on the device to accommodate hundreds of new apps and also stores thousands of photos and videos captured on camera.

Vivo X200 5G.

The company has promised to offer four years of Android OS (up to Android 19) and an additional year of security software support (up to 2029).

Besides the super processor, Vivo X200 has a massive battery of 5,800mAh capacity, 800mAh (16 per cent) more than the predecessor (Vivo X100: 5000mAh).

It consistently offered two days of battery life under usage, provided you are dependent on the internet via Wi-Fi at home and the office.

If you are fully dependent on cellular data to play reels and binge-watch TV series or movies on OTT apps all day, the device will able to last up to the late evenings. And, even in such conditions, there is no scope for anxiety as the device supports a 90W super fast charger.

It can power up the device from zero to 100 per cent in just 45 minutes. In 30 minutes, it can reach 50 per cent.

The device also supports reverse charging too. With this feature, you can help charge your friend's phone.

And, it should be noted that Vivo X200's battery come with 3rd-Gen silicon anode and semi-solid state technology. These technologies help battery retain power carrying capacity much longer and there is slow degradation of the chemical cell composition, compared to the other premium phones in the market.

Vivo X200 5G.

Photography

The Vivo X200 features a Zeiss imaging technology-tuned triple-camera module-- main 50MP (with 1/1.28-inch Sony LYT-818 sensor, VCS 3.0, f/1.57 aperture, T* coating, OIS: Optical Image Stabiliser) with 50MP ultra-wide angle camera (with 1/1.27-inch Samsung JN1 sensor, f/2.0) and a 50MP camera (with 1/1.95-inch Sony IMX882 sensor, f/2.57, telemacro, 3x optical zoom, OIS) with LED flash on the back.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

It takes brilliant photos in almost all light conditions. Like most Vivo phones, the new X200 series too enriches the subject particularly the human face and flowers.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

They look vibrant and lovely worthy to be used for Display Picture (DP) on social media messenger apps.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

As you can see the sample photos of the flowers, look amazingly bright and all the details are beautifully captured with clarity.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

With wide-angle mode, the device manages to get the vase expanse of the lake in the frame. The buildings in the background are captured well with clear details.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with ultra-wide angle mode.

There is a dedicated Landscape mode too. It comes in handy while taking clear pictures of landmark structures such as statues or ancient temples in the background.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

At night, the device takes pretty nice sharp pictures with less noise. It balances the light pretty well. It doesn't blow up and make it as if the photo was taken in the evening.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with night mode on.

As you can see in the sample photos, the background has darkness, the true essence of the night. It just brightens particular parts of the frame so that they can viewed clearly.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with night mode.

It supports macro mode. The device manages to get amazing close up shots with great detail.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

Also, it supports 3X optical zoom with zero loss of quality. The pictures are really good and captures all elements of the scence quite brilliantly.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with normal 1X mode.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with 10X Zoom.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with 10X zoom.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with 20X zoom.

It also supports digital zoom up to 100X. It manages to get good quality photos up to 20X. But, beyond digital zoom beyond 30X, the photos begin to accumulate noise and become too grainy.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with 60X zoom.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with 100X zoom.

It also comes with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered editing tools. One major feature is the AI Eraser. It works smoothly without any glitches. This is way better than similar object eraser features seen on other premium phones in the market.

Vivo X200 5G supports AI eraser.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with AI eraser feature.

The device can record 4K video. It is really stable even with shaky hands. Also, the video quality is top-notch, on par with most of the premium phones in its class.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample with 10X zoom.

It houses a 32MP (f/2.0) front camera for selfies and video calling. The device takes amazing selfies in all light conditions. It can capture 4K videos and the quality is praiseworthy.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

With portrait mode, It offers several focal lengths-- 23mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 100mm-- in addition to beautification tools to enhance the face of the human subject. I recommend 85mm to get the perfect sharp photo of the human face with the blurred bokeh effect of the background.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

For more dramatic effect, the native app has Zeiss-tuned Bokeh options-- Natural, Biotar, B-speed, Sonnar, Planar, Distagon, Cine-Flare and Cinematic. They will get you the most beautiful bokeh effect, way better than any new premium phone in the market.

Vivo X200 5G's camera sample.

Final thoughts

Vivo's latest X200 series is undeniably the best premium camera phone of 2024. The user has to just point the camera to the subject and be assured of a good photo in almost all lighting conditions.

Given how good the regular X200 is, I am sure the X200 Pro's camera will be even better.

Vivo X200 5G.

Besides photography, the device excels in all other key departments such as build quality, display, performance and battery life. It is one of the best premium phones to launch in India this year, totally worth its asking price.

Vivo X200 5G is available in two configurations-- 12GB RAM + 256GB storage and 16GB RAM + 512GB-- for Rs 65,999 and Rs 71,999, respectively.

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