Over the past few years, Vivo smartphones have emerged as the toast of phonography enthusiasts in India. Vivo and ZEISS struck a partnership in 2020 and jointly established the Vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab to develop technologies to improve the imaging quality of Vivo’s smartphones. Vivo’s latest X200 series smartphones are proof that they’re headed in the right direction.
We put the 12-256GB variant of the X200 through its paces. It comes in a rather premium box, unlike the minimalist packaging that other smartphone makers have been dishing out. A clear TPU case is also included to get you going right out of the box. I quite like this rather calming Natural Green shade; it stands out among the white or black devices that most people tend to go for.
The 6.67-inch AMOLED 120Hz Zeiss Master Color Screen sits behind 2.5D curved Schott Xensation Alpha glass, which melds in smoothly into the polished aluminum-alloy frame. The rear panel is a frosted fiber setup which looks and feels premium.
The pride of place though, is taken by the ZEISS-branded triple-camera setup: a 50MP primary, a 50MP, 3x optical zoom telephoto and a 50MP ultrawide. The knurled metal circle which Vivo calls the Sunburst Ring surrounds and protects the rear cameras and looks classy too.
Set it up and you are greeted by the latest iteration of Vivo’s proprietary android-based skin: the Funtouch OS 15. The UI has come a long way from its early iterations, which most found to be over-styled. This version looks clean and is also functional, packing in the latest AI-based features like circle to search, removing objects from photos and audio transcription work well enough.
One of the first phones to use Mediatek’s latest 3nm Dimensity 9400 octa-core silicon paired to an Immortalis-G925 GPU, the X200 blazes through whatever you throw at it, be it work or games. The 12 gigs of DDR5X physical RAM and additional 12 gigs of vRAM help. The phone also stays cool through it all. The front 32MP camera is quite sharp and does good bokeh photos in natural light.
The rear cameras? Let’s just say that they hold true to Vivo’s claim of producing DSLR-esque photos. Plus, the variety of focal lengths on offer in portrait mode gives you a lot of flexibility while shooting. Overall, the X200 offers incredible value at its price point and makes a strong case for itself over much more expensive flagship phones.
