It wouldn't be wrong these days to say that the camera is one of the main reasons behind a decision to choose a smartphone.
Vivo's X series has been among the top camera performers among smartphones for a while now, with the X300 Pro being the smartphone maker's latest offering. Priced at Rs 1,09,990, let us see if the camera is truly this phone's 'main course'.
First impressions
First things first, the X300 Pro is a heavy device at 226g due to its 6510mAh battery and camera setup. It is about 8mm thick, has flat metal sides, and a 6.78-inch (20:9 aspect ratio) display. It's an IP68 and 69 dust and water-resistant device that comes in Dune Gold (the one I used and prefer) and Elite Black colour options.
Camera
The triple camera system has a lot going for it—a 50MP (f/1.56) main camera (with OIS), a 50MP (f/2.0) ultra-wide camera, and a 200MP (f/2.67) telephoto camera (with OIS).
I was quite impressed with the camera's zoom capabilities till 3.5x (although it was pretty good at 10x too), not to mention its colour reproduction and detailed shots, which makes the X300 stand out, and, in my opinion, a great job by Vivo this time in the camera department—courtesy of the Zeiss partnership.
Whether taking zoomed-in shots in low light with standout lights, or while taking people as your subject indoors, the camera always suggests modes based on the scenario, and also does a decent job of correctly adjusting the contrast with each mode.
The camera app is also feature-rich, with a number of options available in one click, such as Live Photo, AI shot, Super Macro and Google Lens. You can shoot 4k videos at up to 120 FPS with Dolby Vision (and 10-bit log for enhanced editing capabilities), but also 8k video at 30FPS.
Video quality here is generally good in terms of tuning and colour accuracy. However, I was not a fan of how the AI couldn't be turned off with the default focal settings.
Processor
The phone is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chipset (up to 4.21 GHz octa-core processor and Mali G1 Ultra GPU) along with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS4.1 internal storage. It does video recording and media playback without any trouble. You can also play games such as 'Injustice 2' and 'BGMI' at the highest settings smoothly.
Battery
The 6510mAh battery comfortably lasts for a day even with some video shooting done. You can charge it using the bundled 90W FlashCharge charger in just over an hour with no heating issues to be seen.
Verdict
All in all, the vivo X300 Pro is clearly meant for photography enthusiasts.
The camera doesn't always require manual tweaks and settings but it's more than up to it if you want to tinker around—making it one of the best camera performers, if not the best—in the Indian market today.
