After reviewing the vivo X200 Professional final yr, I subconsciously carried the cellphone round for just a few weeks simply due to its versatile digicam. I’m not a fan of Android telephones, and my muscle reminiscence of iOS makes it even tougher to make use of it. However I like carrying Android telephones that supply digicam capabilities iPhones have by no means actually had. The vivo X300 Professional tries to construct on that legacy with some enhancements for individuals who need a cellphone with 100x zoom and a 200MP sensor. I carried it for a few weeks as a digicam cellphone, and here’s what I received.
Earlier than we dig into the digicam, let’s discuss a bit concerning the cellphone itself. Curiously, in a yr, nothing a lot has modified, as a lot of the specs of the vivo X300 Professional are much like the X200 Professional. It appears extra smartphone makers are discovering it pointless to alter specs yearly, particularly when it’ll be harder to translate that to an enchancment in expertise. Perhaps it’s time they regarded on the naming conference and simply added a yr to the title of the cellphone as an alternative of transferring it one model forward.
A vivid, contrast-rich display makes outside viewing easy on the X300 Professional. (Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
So the vivo X300 Professional comes with a brand new Dimensity 9500 processor, a bigger 6510 mAh battery and wi-fi charging, all important enhancements over the sooner version. There’s additionally an improved 50MP entrance digicam, up from the sooner 32MP. So far as feel and appear go, the cellphone feels the identical as earlier than. This interprets to good flagship efficiency with no lag or heating points, no matter you do with the cellphone. The battery dwell simply lasts into the second day after a full cost, although recording a variety of 4K video drains it a bit quicker.
Nonetheless, the digicam is all the time thrilling in a Vivo flagship. In actual fact, I made a decision to make a journey with my household to the chook sanctuary close by simply because I had this cellphone with me. That is the kind of choice you’re taking when you’ve invested in a telephoto lens to your DSLR. The vivo X300 Professional offers you that very same stage of confidence.
A daring, Zeiss-branded digicam island that stands out with out feeling cumbersome. (Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
The rear digicam setup of the vivo X300 Professional is similar as that of its predecessor relating to specs. However the 200MP Zeiss APO telephoto digicam and 50MP Sony LYT fundamental digicam are enhancements on the sooner era, together with the quicker VS1 Professional Imaging Chip. There’s additionally the 50MP ultra-wide digicam. The flash has additionally been upgraded to work throughout all of the focal lengths. For me, probably the most fascinating facet was the telephoto, now with 20x or 480mm of distortion-less zoom, good for chook watching and allied pursuits.
The flexibility to border topics from 0.6x to 20x opens up a variety of potentialities as a photographer. On the Okhla chook sanctuary, what regarded like specs on the Yamuna backwaters turned out to be a mixture of migratory geese on their winter sojourn.
One spectacular issue was how you may get the identical stage of readability in each video and picture mode. So I used to be principally capturing video and tapping stills when wanted.
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At 20x, the digicam may seize particulars of the geese which I quickly realised the place of many sizes and styles.
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
The Vivo X300 Professional’s 20x telephoto reveals migratory geese that regarded like distant specks to the bare eye. (Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
Nonetheless, once I captured a parrot within the tree tops at 1172mm, the colors and particulars got here out fairly good. Additionally, the digicam was fairly secure at this vary.
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
Pushing it a little bit additional, I may seize the moon too, one early morning, stretching the zoom all the way in which to 1389mm. The outcomes had been gorgeous, although I used to be undecided this was what I had shot. Slightly bit too good to be true and with a darkish sky although it was shot through the day.
The moon shot exhibits simply how far the X300 Professional’s hybrid zoom can stretch—although typically the outcomes look a bit too good.(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
A few weeks again, I used to be in Kovalam for a convention, and there I may see a distinct facet of this digicam, capturing nice evening photographs with the sort of particulars and hues as soon as unimaginable on smartphone cameras. At occasions, the pictures do come out as too vibrant in comparison with the precise scene, however then you may all the time go to the Professional mode and take it with the precise settings you want.
In actual fact, it’s within the Professional mode which you can have actual enjoyable with this digicam, enjoying with shutter speeds, and so on. There are some Zeiss presets too, that work properly when you’re attempting road images or pushing your inventive envelope a bit. I ended up with some print-quality photos that I’ll cherish for a very long time. The B/W mode was a private favorite.
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(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
Whereas the digicam by default shoots in Full HD at 30fps, you may shoot in 4K in addition to 8K. And in 4K, you additionally take images on the similar decision whereas capturing video. The video high quality, even at 20x zoom, is fairly good, and you may shoot and edit YouTube class content material simply on the cellphone, with the processor being greater than able to dealing with all this. In actual fact, there’s a sensible editor mode that converts your clips into a completely produced video in seconds, which is able to impress lots of people who don’t have the modifying abilities wanted to impress on social media.
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
(Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
My grouse with the cellphone is that as one zooms from optical to digital zoom, whereas the pictures are okay on the display, the ultimate processed picture typically seems to be like a watercolour. I didn’t suppose it was like this within the X200 Professional. I get a way that there’s some software program work taking place, holding the exterior telephoto lens in thoughts; nevertheless, I couldn’t check this attachment.
The lock display begins off noisy, however customisation choices allow you to tone it down quick. (Picture: The Indian Categorical/ Nandagopal Rajan)
Additionally, the Origin OS6, although a lot improved, take some getting used to. Quickly after organising, I realised my lock display was getting a bit too busy for my liking and was apprehensive it had been taken over by some buggy app. However then I adjusted the settings to a theme that was extra iOS-like and delicate. My situation with the latter was that such settings must be user-initiated and never default.
General, the vivo X300 Professional got here throughout as a really succesful cellphone, however one you would possibly purchase primarily for its digicam. The digicam continues to be a stunner, giving most smartphones a run for his or her cash. Nonetheless, the cellphone can be a missed alternative in some methods, as there may have been extra enhancements if there actually needed to be a bounce from X200 to X300.