We have been utilizing the Vivo X200 Professional for 5 days throughout Beijing and Shenzhen in China, and London within the UK, testing out its 200MP periscope cameras, large batteries and the bleeding edge MediaTek Dimensity 9400 inside. Whereas our Chinese language model of the cellphone is not fairly review-ready for Western customers like us, its digicam is, and the cellphone is predicted to drop later this yr in additional markets, together with Europe, so here is a sneak peek of what you’ll be able to count on.
You might have tried the Vivo X90 Professional or X100 Professional, two telephones loaded up with 1-inch main digicam sensors. The Vivo X200 Professional shakes issues up, shrinking the primary digicam sensor to 1/1.28-inch whereas supersizing the periscope zoom sensor measurement and determination to 200MP. The result’s one of the best zoom digicam we have ever used on a smartphone. Extra on that later.
For anybody much less aware of Vivo, the Zeiss associate has impressed us over time by driving computational images innovation and committing to top-tier digicam {hardware} throughout its flagship X collection and higher midrange V collection, with the most recent instalments being the V40 and V40 Professional. It additionally launched arguably one of the best foldable of 2024, the Vivo X Fold 3 Professional, with every V and X collection sporting Zeiss co-engineering.
Along with launching spectacular telephones, Vivo’s strategy to cell images has a transparent standpoint, which we explored when discussing Vivo’s relationship with Zeiss earlier within the yr with Keshav Chugh, Product Supervisor in Digital camera and R&D at Vivo. What stood out within the dialogue was a dedication to servicing professional and fanatic photographers whereas nonetheless pushing the boundaries of AI images to assist typical shoppers get the shot they’re after.
So what does all this dedication to software program translate to when matched with the highest-resolution, largest sensor-size periscope digicam in the marketplace?
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Vivo X200 Professional digicam specs
The Vivo X200 Professional is a triple digicam cellphone with a large, ultra-wide and periscope setup. Whereas most telephones fall flat if you push their zoom cameras too arduous, the X200 Professional’s telephoto sensor has a big 1/1.4-inch measurement in addition to that 200MP decision, and even the 50MP ultra-wide digicam packs autofocus and a good 1/2.76 sensor measurement. There’s additionally a 50MP main digicam with a brand new sensor co-developed with Sony.
On the X200 Professional launch occasion, Zhao Dian, Product Director for Vivo’s X collection acknowledged {that a} good macro lens ought to have telephoto attain, and a great telephoto lens ought to embrace macro focus. Tele-photographers will know that in case your digicam may give you each attain and near-focus, you may as well reduce shadows in macro pictures, hold your distance from topics so you do not disturb them, and pull out additional shallow depth of discipline with out counting on synthetic bokeh. This level may be seen as a not-so-veiled dig at Apple, Google and Samsung. None of their flagships have near-focusing tele-cameras.
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Vivo’s Zeiss APO telephoto digicam, in contrast to the massive three, is a specced-out, near-focusing beast. It has a big Samsung HP9 200MP sensor that is big in comparison with the competitors, and we’re not simply speaking about pixel rely. Its 1/1.4-inch measurement is way larger than the iPhone 16 Professional’s 1/3.06″ sensor, the S24 Extremely’s 1/2.52-inch sensor, and the Pixel 9 Professional’s 1/2.55-inch sensors.
The Vivo X200 Professional additionally focuses as close to as roughly 15cm with an 85mm equal focal size. The iPhone’s 16 Professional’s telephoto, by comparability, has a nearest focus distance of a metre or extra, limiting its attraction considerably by comparability, and Google and Samsung’s flagship zooms do not fare significantly better.
Onto the broad digicam, and whereas 1-inch sensors have been the main target level of Vivo’s previous flagships, this yr, Vivo’s dropping the dimensions to 1/1.28-inch, choosing a more recent sensor created in partnership with Sony. This 50MP Sony LYT 818, constructed on a 22nm course of, is as much as 60% extra environment friendly than the IMX 989 within the unique Vivo X90 Professional and X100 Professional. This permits for extra intense computational processing, and in accordance with Vivo, it rivals 1-inch sensors in efficiency.
Vivo did not define how way more environment friendly the LYT 818 is than the brand new LYT 900 sensor within the Oppo Discover X7 Extremely and Xiaomi 14 Extremely, a second-gen 1-inch sensor that’s all about effectivity good points. In flip, we’re guessing the LYT 900 would possibly find yourself within the Vivo X200 Extremely if it drops later this yr. Again to the X200 Professional, the broad digicam additionally has an f/1.6 lens with OIS and a 23mm equal focal size.
Even with out being 1-inch, the first digicam spec nonetheless competes with the S24 Extremely and iPhone 15 Professional in relation to sensor measurement and determination.
Vivo’s foremost argument for not utilizing a 1-inch sensor this time is video. Due to considerably quicker readout speeds in comparison with the IMX 898, it could possibly apply the form of computational images usually reserved for photographs to the X200 Professional’s footage. This frame-by-frame processing is made potential by a mix of things: the brand new sensor, the facility of the brand new MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset, and Vivo’s V3+ imaging chip. The Vivo X200 Professional also can shoot Dolby Imaginative and prescient, 10-bit HDR at 4K 60fps, or SDR 4K 120fps video throughout all three rear cameras.
The ultra-wide digicam on the Vivo X200 Professional is much less of a spotlight however stays aggressive with its 50MP decision, f/2.0 aperture, and 15mm equal focal size (which interprets to a 119˚ discipline of view). The 1/2.76-inch Samsung JN1 sensor can also be respectable in measurement and determination, and the very fact the lens packs autofocus helps the digicam system as an entire preserve its flagship standing.
We do want the ultra-wide was barely wider. Particularly, when recording video, the EIS tightens up the framing, making it solely slightly wider than the broad digicam. For photographs, although, it is nice.
Vivo X200 Professional digicam efficiency
What strikes us in regards to the Vivo X200 Professional after just a few days is that it has the same high quality to the OPPO Discover X7 Extremely and Xiaomi 14 Extremely, within the sense it feels extra like a digicam system than 4 particular person cameras. Whether or not utilizing the broad, ultra-wide, telephoto digicam, or zooming between all three, photographs usually impressed us. In contrast, the iPhone 15 Professional Max felt like three separate cameras, although the iPhone 16 Professional collection does enhance upon this.
Not like when utilizing an iPhone, Galaxy or Pixel, our digicam of selection on the X200 Professional was usually the telephoto digicam, and that is down to 3 causes: its focal size, focus distance, and picture high quality.
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The telephoto digicam’s 3.7x, 85mm equal focal size is extra sensible than a 120mm, 5x tele digicam on the iPhone 16 Professional and Professional Max. By shortening the main target distance and focal size, Vivo opens up its 200MP tele digicam to product and meals images, in addition to 85mm portraits, three widespread kinds of pictures we are inclined to take. The outcomes look distinctive.
Due to the bigger sensor and Vivo’s processing, the dynamic vary from the 85mm digicam is within the realm of what we might count on from a main digicam; noise is effectively dealt with, and white stability and processing are constant and balanced. That is not to say photographs do not look processed; there’s seen sharpening, boosting, and HDR results utilized throughout all three cameras’ photographs, however out of all of the digicam cellphone makers, Vivo tends to make edits that look most like how we would edit pictures.
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Vivo’s portrait mode additionally works effectively on the periscope digicam’s 85mm focal size, even excelling for shifting topics when the sunshine is true. We took the shot of the mannequin throwing leaves beneath, and as you’ll be able to see, the background defocus across the leaves is comparatively life like till you pinch proper into the element. After taking your shot, you may as well dial blur up or all the way down to strike a extra natural-looking shallow depth of discipline.
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When zooming past the 10x mark, the X200 Professional applies an exponentially higher quantity of computational images to scrub issues up the additional you punch in. This may look nice for sure objects and landscapes, however struggles with textual content and faces, making phrases seem like Elvish and faces seem like oil work. As we’re testing the Chinese language model of the Vivo X200 Professional, it additionally applies AI face smoothing even with magnificence mode off, a function disabled for Western Vivo releases.
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Alongside the iPhone 16 Professional Max, the Vivo X200 Professional’s zoom is considerably much less noisy at 10x and past, and it additionally beats out Apple’s Professional line in relation to telephoto video.
Along with 4K 120fps and 4K 60fps Dolby Imaginative and prescient (HDR10) seize throughout all rear cameras, the X200 Professional also can file LOG video, and matched with that 85mm focal size, the outcomes look wealthy, bordering on DSLR-grade in vibrant environments. The X100 Professional’s main sensor also can seize 14 stops of dynamic vary, with the LOG mode supporting downloadable LUTs, although we weren’t in a position to entry them on our pre-release unit.
We did get extra secure body charges in darker environments utilizing the iPhone 16 Professional’s main digicam over that of the Vivo X200 Professional, and with Apple’s ProRes seize and SSD help, it nonetheless seems set to be the pro-grade videographer’s selection, however Vivo is unquestionably closing the hole.
Vivo X200 Professional specs and options
The Vivo X200 collection runs Android 15 and Origin OS 5, the interface Vivo makes use of in mainland China, with Funtouch OS used for different markets. It is a super-smooth UI and does help the Google Play Retailer, so is a viable import possibility for people within the West, although options like Android Auto and Android Put on aren’t at present supported.
The X200 Professional’s show is a 6.78-inch quad-curved panel with slimline 1.63mm bezels on all sides. It is also the primary Zeiss-certified display on the scene, with native BT2020, BT709, DCI-P3 and sRGB shade area help. Diving into the settings, we weren’t in a position to change between these manually, so assume that the cellphone robotically switches primarily based on on-screen content material; we’re awaiting additional clarification from Vivo on this.
With over 450 pixels per inch and 4500 nits of peak HDR brightness, the display is crisp and vibrant, simple to view open air, and the quad-curved glass additionally feels nice, whether or not swiping in from the sting of gaming.
The X200 Professional can also be the primary smartphone to function a brand new MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset, and the primary to interrupt the three,000,000-mark in Antutu, a well-liked graphics benchmark. We gamed for a few hours on it throughout Genshin Influence and Wuthering Waves, two notoriously demanding titles, and had been floored by how effectively it stored its cool at most graphics settings.
We’re additionally undeniably impressed by the X200 Professional’s design and battery spec. The 2 are linked given the very fact it packs an enormous 6000mAh battery, regardless of not being a lot thicker than the competitors at 8.5mm. For context, the present flagship competitors tends to cap out at 5000mAh, giving the X200 Professional an enormous lead on battery capability.
The X200 Professional additionally helps 90W wired and 30W wi-fi charging, so it powers up quicker than Apple, Google, and Samsung flagships, and all this with out compromising on design. Obtainable in blue, white, titanium, and black, the blue model we have been utilizing seems hanging, whereas the opposite choices repel fingerprints with their frosted finishes.
Do not get us incorrect, this can be a large, heavy cellphone at as much as 228g – iPhone 16 Professional Max territory – however is considerably extra elegant than we might count on a 6000mAh battery-packing cellphone to be.
Vivo X200 Professional verdict
There is not any two methods about it: the X200 Professional’s zoom is unbelievable for a smartphone. Vivo combines class-leading {hardware} and highly effective software program to create an enormous quantity of telephoto versatility, and we will not anticipate different cellphone makers to catch up.
Picture processing is an imperfect science, given the subjective nature of the job, and the Vivo X200 Professional will not be for everybody. As a result of we examined the Chinese language model of the cellphone, beautification was ramped up for portraits, and the AI zoom sometimes veered into uncanny valley, hyper-clean territory that was worse than the dwell preview we noticed earlier than the shot was taken.
We’re not completely satisfied the brand new sensor is healthier at the whole lot than the 2nd-gen 1-inch sensor just like the LYT 900, both. Lowlight video captured on our Xiaomi 14 Extremely was barely much less delicate than footage from the Vivo X200 Professional, and even stills from Xiaomi’s 1-inch digicam pulled up barely softer backgrounds.
Regardless of our nitpicking and niggles, although, images and video seize on the Vivo X200 Professional was a pleasure, the telephoto digicam is a hands-down winner throughout photographs and movies, and we additionally respect the very fact no digicam drops the ball right here.
Anybody fascinated about choosing up the Vivo X200 Professional, with a bit of luck, a world model will drop within the coming months, and when it does, there’s each likelihood it may clinch the highest spot in our greatest digicam cameras chart.