vivo X100 is the vivo’s newest entrant in the flagship category and is also the successor to the vivo X90 Series we saw last year. Today, vivo India launched its two vivo X100 Series smartphones in India – vivo X100 Pro and vivo X100, both in the flagship category. The vivo X100 Pro is the top-of-the-line sibling while the X100 is slightly a tone-down variant of it. Features and highlights of the vivo X100 include MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC, 120 Hz flat LTPO AMOLED display, 50 MP IMX920 ZEISS camera, 16 GB RAM + 512 GB storage option, 120W charging, Android 14 out-of-the-box, and more. Here’s what we have to say about the smartphone in our vivo X100 review.
vivo X100 Specifications & Features
- Display & Design: 6.78-inch flat LTPO AMOLED display, 10-bit color depth (1.07B colors), 1.5K Full HD+ resolution (2800 x 1260 pixels, 452 ppi pixel density), 120 Hz refresh rate, 3,000 nits brightness, 2,160 Hz ultra-high frequency PWM dimming, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, HDR10+, XDR Engine, Sun Halo Camera Module, IP68 dust and water resistant, TÜV Rheinland Safe Fast Charging System Certified, ZEISS T* Coating, Corning Lens Protection, 8.49 mm slim, 206 grams weight
- Operating System: FunTouch OS 14 interface, Android 14 operating system
- Software Updates: 3 generations of OS upgrades, 3 years of security updates
- CPU: 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 9300 octa-core SoC clocked up to 3.25 GHz (1x 3.25 GHz ARM Cortex-X4 core + 3x 2.85 GHz Cortex-X4 cores + 4x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A720 cores)
- GPU: ARM Immortalis-G720 MP12 Graphics (12-cores)
- Memory: 12 GB OR 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM, up to +16 GB extended RAM feature
- Storage: 256 GB OR 512 GB UFS 4.0 internal storage, no microSD card support
- Main Camera: Triple cameras (50 MP + 50 MP + 50 MP) – 50 MP f/1.49 Sony IMX920 1-inch sensor with OIS primary camera + 50 MP f/2.0 150-degree ultra-wide-angle 1/2.76-inch sensor + 50 MP f/2.5 1/2-inch APO telephoto with OIS, up to 100x digital zoom, telephoto macro, ZEISS T* coating, Carl ZEISS optics, vivo Pro Imaging Chip V2, laser autofocus, 4K@60fps video recording, triple LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 32 MP f/2.0, 1080p@60fps video recording
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, GPS, BEIDOU, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC
- Others: In-display fingerprint scanner (optical), Face Unlock, Dual Stereo Speakers, X-Axis Linear Motor
- Cellular: 5G network, dual SIM, VoLTE support, eSIM support
- Battery & Charging (vivo X100): 5,000 mAh dual-cell battery (2x 2,500 mAh) ~19.55 Wh, 120W Dual-Cell FlashCharge fast charging
- Colors (vivo X100): Asteroid Black, Startrail Blue
- Price: ₹63,999 (12 GB RAM + 256 GB Storage), ₹69,999 (16 GB RAM + 512 GB Storage)
- Availability: 4th January 2023 i.e. today (pre-booking), 11th January 2023 (sale) on Flipkart, vivo India e-store, vivo exclusive stores, and across all partner retail stores.
- Offers: Flat 10% instant discount (up to ₹8,999) on HDFC and SBI bank cards (online), up to 10% cashback on ICICI and SBI bank cards (offline), easy EMI of ₹2,667/month up to 24 months no-cost EMI with zero down payment, up to ₹8,000 V-Upgrade exchange bonus, up to 40% off on V-Shield device protection plans
Design, Display, & Build Quality
The vivo X100 stands out with its matte-glass-finish Moon Halo premium design promising a stunning and solid build quality. vivo highlights the use of aerospace-grade mirror-finished stainless steel, a 2.5D rounded Corning Gorilla Glass Lens, and Luxury-Grade Sunburst Texture on the phone. The vivo X100 shares the design traits with its upper-end sibling i.e. vivo X100 Pro.
The vivo X100 is slim (8.49 mm), offers a curved screen, and provides a great touch experience. The overall design is notably premium with a sleek matte finish on the glass back and robust metallic frames on the sides. It comes in two color variants – Asteroid Black, and Startrail Blue which you can see in the images below.
The vivo X100 sports a 6.78-inch flat LTPO AMOLED display with 10-bit color depth (1.07B colors), 1.5K Full HD+ resolution (2800 x 1260 pixels, 452 ppi pixel density), 120 Hz refresh rate, and as much as 3,000 nits brightness. Other display features include a 2,160 Hz ultra-high frequency PWM dimming, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, HDR10+, XDR Engine, Sun Halo Camera Module, and IP68 dust and water-resistant design.
Moving to the bottom of the smartphone, you get a USB Type-C port, a microphone, and a loudspeaker (stereo, one at the earpiece). No 3.5mm audio jack for earphones/headphones is available, you have to use a Type-C to 3.5mm converter (not provided in the box). Moving to the top side, you can see a Professional Photography label and another microphone. You get a power key and volume control on the right while nothing is on the left side. The 5G SIM tray has no microSD card support and it offers dual 5G SIM connectivity with dual 5G standby and support for VoLTE.
Software, User Interface, & Features
The vivo X100 runs on the new Android 14 platform out-of-the-box with the latest vivo’s FunTouch OS 14 interface. With the new Android, the X100 packs a bunch of the latest features from the OS while adding more to it from its FunTouch OS 14 perks. The Android security patch on the phone is dated as of 1st November 2023. vivo India guarantees a substantial software support window for the X100, promising a minimum of 3 generations of Android OS upgrades and 3 years of security updates. This commitment ensures users can receive upgrades to Android 15, 16, and 17 along with security updates for 3 years.
The new FunTouch OS 14 on the vivo X100 performs smoothly and offers a lightweight experience, thanks to the combination of a 120 Hz refresh rate, a swift processor, and optimized software. Aside from all the stock Android 14 features, the FunTouch OS also enhances user experiences by offering additional features, customizations, optimizations, security, and more. The new version introduces improvements and a host of customizations and features compared to its predecessor i.e. FunTouch OS 12 which is based on the Android 13, there are noticeable changes and enhancements in the updated iteration.
With the FunTouch OS 14, you can do a lot including the ability to customize the lock screen, UI color, dynamic effects, and always-on display, aside from using the gestures, ultra game mode, and various other built-in functionalities. While least pre-installed apps come with the phone, you can remove those that you find unnecessary. Pre-installed applications include Facebook, Spotify, PhonePe, Netflix, and apps from vivo are present on the phone which is far better.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
The vivo X100 is among the first smartphones in the X100 Series to feature the powerful 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC. The octa-core SoC with a 4nm TSMC process can deliver exceptional flagship-grade performance, clocking speeds of up to 3.25 GHz.
The CPU configuration comprises one high-performance Cortex-X4 core at 3.25 GHz, three Cortex-X4 performance cores at 2.85 GHz, and four efficiency Cortex-A720 cores at 2.0 GHz. The SoC is paired with the new ARM Immortalis-G720 MP12 (12-cores), another GPU from ARM with hardware ray tracing support, enhancing graphics rendering capabilities.
The newer Dimensity 9300 demonstrates several advantages over its predecessor i.e. the Dimensity 9200. Notably, the Dimensity 9300 boasts a larger L3 cache size, higher CPU and GPU speeds, higher memory bandwidth, and stands out with a better instruction set architecture, collectively setting it as a more advanced and powerful chipset than the Dimensity 9200 (vivo X90).
The vivo X100 comes in two variants i.e. 12 GB LPDDR5x RAM paired with 256 GB UFS 4.0 storage which is priced at ₹63,999 and another with 16 GB LPDDR5x RAM with 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage priced at ₹69,999. The storage cannot be expanded via a microSD card, but uses the Extended RAM 3.0 feature, allowing the RAM to be expanded up to 16 GB virtually, providing a total of 32 GB RAM (physical + virtual). The system intelligently allocates virtual RAM based on resource requirements.
The device’s gaming capabilities are further enhanced by the ARM Immortalis-G720 MP12 (12-core) GPU with hardware ray tracing support. This high-end GPU features 12 cores clocked up to 1.3 GHz delivering exceptional graphics performance with ~5,990.4 Gigaflops competing with Qualcomm’s Adreno 750 GPU. In short, this is one of the best gaming devices you can have if you are a hardcore mobile gamer.
Cameras
Moving to its cameras which is the standout feature of the smartphone, the vivo X100 boasts a triple-camera setup on the back, co-engineered with Carl ZEISS. The rear side showcases three cameras (50 MP f/1.49 main + 50 MP f/2.0 ultra-wide + 50 MP f/2.5 telephoto) paired with a 32 MP f/2.0 snapper on the front, perfect for capturing stunning selfies. The X100 elevates the photography experience with its exceptional camera setup, featuring a 50 MP main camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and two secondary cameras dedicated to wide-angle shots and telephoto zoomed shots.
Digging more into the camera specs, the main 50 MP camera with an f/1.49 aperture incorporates Carl ZEISS optics for enhanced image quality, utilizing the huge 1-inch Sony IMX920 sensor and VCS bionic spectrum technology for True Color imaging. The secondary 50 MP camera, with an f/2.0 aperture, serves as a 150-degree ultra-wide angle lens for capturing impressive wide-angle shots, while the third camera is a 50 MP telephoto camera with an f/2.5 aperture that captures stunning portraits and telephoto macros.
The rear cameras benefit from triple LED flash and Zeiss T* coating, minimizing lens flares and ghost images. You get 1x (23mm), 2x (46mm), 3x (70mm), and 10x (233mm) dedicated Photo modes to capture zoomed shots while it goes up to 100x digitally when zoomed at max while the ZEISS Multifocal Portrait comes with multiple professional focal lengths of 24mm (1x), 35mm (1.5x), 50mm (2.2x), 85mm (3.7x), and 100mm (4.3x).
The camera’s ZEISS style portrait features include ZEISS Cine-flare Portrait and various bokeh styles like ZEISS Cinematic Style Bokeh, ZEISS Planar Style Bokeh, ZEISS Biotar Style Bokeh, ZEISS Sonnar Style Bokeh, and ZEISS Distagon Style Bokeh. Additional support includes ZEISS Cinematic Video Bokeh, ZEISS Natural Color 2.0, ZEISS logo photo frame, and ZEISS Miniature Effect.
The camera experience is further enhanced by the Pro Imaging Chip V2, plus features like optical zoom, various portrait modes, Supermoon, Astro, Snapshot, and support for up to 4K@60fps video recording, a whole bunch of them are found in the camera app. Features such as Snapshot, Night, Portrait, Photo, Video, High Resolution, Pano, Ultra HD Document, Slo-mo, Long Exposure, Time-Lapse, Supermoon, Astro, Landsc. & Archit., Pro, Food, Live Photo, and Cinematic Portrait among others are available on the camera app.
From our experience, we can say the vivo X100’s camera delivers outstanding image quality capturing exceptional shots and stunning portraits with vivid colors and sharp contrasts attributed to the ZEISS optics, Sony IMX920 sensor, and vivo’s camera optimizations. Below, you will find samples captured with the vivo X100 camera, showcasing the camera performance.
vivo X100 Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
The vivo X100 has a slimmer 8.49 mm design compared to its upper-end sibling (X100 Pro), but housing a slightly smaller 5,000 mAh dual-cell battery (2x 2,500 mAh). Despite its slightly reduced capacity, this dual-cell technology ensures super-fast charging speeds. Notably, the smartphone supports an impressive 120W FlashCharge fast charging feature, allowing the battery to reach 50% capacity in just 11 minutes. This also gives an upper edge with its faster 120W charging versus the 100W on the X100 Pro. With this speed, the vivo X100 is among the fastest-charging smartphones in its class. The 120W FlashCharge charger, which is rated at 20V and 6A, can complete a full battery charge in less than 25 minutes. Depending on your usage patterns, you can expect a battery life ranging from 1.5 to 2 days, making the vivo X100 a powerful and enduring companion for your daily activities.
Verdict – vivo X100 Review
The vivo X100 stands as a versatile flagship smartphone in its class. The smartphone impresses with its exceptional ZEISS camera performance, featuring a solid camera package of 50 MP main + 50 MP ultra-wide + 50 MP telephoto and a 32 MP selfie camera that takes stunning selfies and portraits. the vivo X100 is a performance device, with its new MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC, it delivers top-notch CPU and GPU performance paired with the 120W fast charging that quickly charges the phone. The smartphone also offers a premium curved design, a really bright 120 Hz AMOLED display, and a bunch of new Android 14 features and perks as well as from the FunTouchOS 14. With all that said, the vivo X100 is an ideal choice for users with a budget exceeding ₹60,000, seeking a camera-centric powerhouse.
vivo X100 Where To Buy
The price for the vivo X100 starts at ₹63,999 for its 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage variant and ₹69,999 for its 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage variant. The price for the vivo X100 Pro is ₹89,999 for its 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage variant. Both smartphones are available for pre-booking starting today i.e. 4th January 2023 and will be available from 11th January 2023 (sale) on Flipkart, vivo India e-store, vivo exclusive stores, and across all partner retail stores.
The launch offers include a flat 10% instant discount (up to ₹8,999) on HDFC and SBI bank cards (online stores), up to 10% cashback on ICICI and SBI bank cards (offline stores), easy EMI starting from ₹2,667/month up to 24 months no-cost EMI with zero down payment, up to ₹8,000 V-Upgrade exchange bonus, and up to 40% off on V-Shield device protection plans.
