vivo X200 Pro review – New year, new level of zoom!

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It's 2025 and new flagship phones continue to appear. But before we test any 2025 models, we have another one from last year's vivo X200 series. Equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipsets, the vivo X200 series offers high-performance devices.

Its top variant is the vivo X200 Pro, which features ultra-long zoom photography performance and ZEISS lens functionality. Long zoom capability isn't rare in smartphones nowadays. However, the vivo X200 Pro promises much better zoom image quality, even in low-light situations. For this review, we put the vivo X200 Pro to the test to see if its performance and photography capabilities can live up to expectations.

 

Design – Upgraded looks

The vivo X200 Pro features a design very similar to the vivo X100 Pro launched in early January last year. On the back, it has a rather large and thick circular camera bump housing four cameras. The vivo X200 Pro's lens arrangement differs slightly from the vivo X100 Pro. However, the ZEISS logo is still clearly visible in the middle.

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vivo X200 Pro rear design

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The vivo X200 Pro camera bump is quite large and thick

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Contents included in the vivo X200 Pro box

In terms of colour and finish, the Titanium Grey-coloured unit we were loaned has a matte finish that is neat and does not leave fingerprints. Unfortunately, grey is a very bland colour and doesn't stand out. The other option in Malaysia is Carbon Black, which has a more classic elegant look but is equally normal.

Having said that, vivo does have a white and "Sparkling Blue" variant of the vivo X200 Pro. Both were showcased during the official launch in China, but aren't available in Malaysia yet. vivo Malaysia could introduce those colours later though. Of the two, the blue colour is definitely the one worth looking forward to, as it's the most attractive colour available.

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A picture of the blue-coloured version during the launch in Beijing

Another thing to note is that vivo has removed the "Xtreme Imagination" tagline on the back. The previous vivo X90 Pro and vivo X100 Pro both featured this engraved tagline, but some may have felt it disrupted the overall look of the phone. The vivo X200 Pro ditching the tagline means it has a cleaner look, which some people would appreciate.

Moving on, vivo decided to go for flat sides and rounded edges for the vivo X200 Pro. In our opinion, it feels more comfortable to hold than the curved edges from before. Of course, some people may prefer curved sides, so your mileage may vary. There are no extra buttons or a shutter button for the camera, which feels like a missed opportunity for a phone dedicated to photography.

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No sharp corners or sides, so it's more comfortable to hold

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Just the power and volume buttons on the right side. If only there was a shutter button too

 

Tech specs and features – Next-gen MediaTek performance

Below are the specifications for the vivo X200 Pro.

  • Display: 6.78-inch AMOLED screen, 1260×2800 resolution, 1-120Hz refresh rate, 4500 nits peak brightness
  • Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 9400
  • RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X RAM
  • Storage: UFS 4.0 512GB internal storage
  • Rear cameras: 50MP main camera + 50MP ultra-wide camera + 200MP periscope telephoto camera
  • Front camera: 32MP front camera
  • Battery: 6000mAh battery (90W fast charging, 30W wireless charging)
  • OS: Funtouch OS 15 (Android 15)
  • Others: IP68 and IP69 waterproof rating, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7
  • Colours: Carbon Black and Titanium Grey colour options
  • Price: RM4699

Since this is a flagship phone, many would expect the vivo X200 Pro to have good screen quality. The 120Hz AMOLED panel doesn't disappoint, producing very bright and colourful images for videos and games. It has a 1260p resolution, so images look sharp and animations are smooth with the 120Hz refresh rate. Moreover, you can view the screen even under bright sunlight, thanks to the max brightness of 4500nits.

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A brilliant screen that's great for videos and games

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Movies are great on this screen because of the thin bezels and bright colours

For those unaware, the vivo X200 Pro is one of the first phones sporting MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 chipset. This is the chip manufacturer's latest chipset for flagship phones and is expected to feature in more phones in early 2025. We've included benchmark screenshots in the performance section below to give you a basic idea of what to expect.

This phone uses vivo's latest Funtouch OS 15 UI, which is based on the Android 15 operating system. Like many phones launched in 2024, the vivo X200 Pro has artificial intelligence (AI). Features like AI Note Assist, AI Transcript Assist, vivo Live Call Translation, and Circle to Search with Google are all available on the phone. The caveat is that they would only work if you sign up and are logged in to a vivo Account.

 

Performance – Can it beat the Snapdragon 8 Elite?

Here are some screenshots showing the benchmark scores for the vivo X200 Pro.

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Geekbench benchmark scores, as well as their comparison to previous-generation chipsets

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3DMark – Steel Nomad Light Stress Test benchmark scores

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3DMark – Solar Bay Stress Test benchmark scores

If we look at benchmark scores alone, the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset beats the other last-gen flagship chipsets like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Samsung Exynos 2400. It's slightly behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is its main competitor. But overall, it's comparable to Qualcomm's latest flagship.

For reference, the Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered realme GT 7 Pro scored 2990 points in Geekbench's single-core test, while the vivo X200 Pro scored 2386 points. The gap is more noticeable in the multi-core test with 9145 points for the realme GT 7 Pro and 7428 points for the vivo X200 Pro. Numbers are back to even-steven in 3DMark's Solar Bay Stress Test, where the former scored 11360 points, while the latter comes in at 11283 points.

Would this level of difference mean anything in real use cases? Generally no, especially if you're not a hardcore gamer who wants the fastest possible performance. Those who only need overall device performance and photography prowess will find the Dimensity 9400 chipset more than capable. For everyday use like watching videos, browsing social media, and texting, the vivo X200 Pro offers a snappy experience.

While testing this phone, we never encountered stutters or lag when using apps (not counting those that have bugs or issues). In fact, it even handled games well. The phone never dropped frames even after many hours of playing Genshin Impact on 60 fps and the highest graphics settings. This indicates solid cooling performance preventing any need for thermal throttling the chip.

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Genshin Impact is playable with no issues

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Maintaining the highest graphics settings is no problem, but it'll become uncomfortably hot after a while

Its large 6000mAh battery can also last more than a day on normal use, even if you use the 120Hz screen rate at 1260p resolution. But if you're a heavy gamer and don't have a charging socket nearby, avoid enabling Boost Mode and just play in Balanced Mode instead.

For reference, when we played Genshin Impact on the highest graphics setting with Boost Mode enabled, the battery went from 100% when we started to 87% within an hour. Moreover, the phone would get quite hot after a while. While performance wouldn't be noticeably affected, the phone becoming hot makes it uncomfortable to hold for longer gaming sessions.

For charging, the vivo X200 Pro comes with a 90W charger in the box. A full charge from 0% to 100% takes around 50 minutes. It is worth remembering that if you want to take advantage of the fastest charging rate, you need to manually enable "Fast Charging" in the battery settings, as it is not switched on by default.

Now, let's discuss the most important part of the vivo X200 Pro, which is its cameras. For vivo, the X series smartphones have always been about photography. According to vivo, the vivo X200 Pro's cameras can snap zoomed photos or videos that are much more beautiful than its competitors.

This is thanks to its 200MP ZEISS APO telephoto camera, which offers 3.7x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. vivo claimed the X200 Pro is "The Ultimate Concert Phone" because you can use the telephoto camera to zoom out and take pictures during a concert and the pictures would look as if you were right in front of the singer.

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Demonstration of the vivo X200 Pro's zoom capabilities

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The singer is still clearly visible, even with a long zoom

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Beautiful picture quality even in dim conditions

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There is practically no noise in the background!

We tested the vivo X200 Pro's cameras at a few concerts and are pleased to say they meet expectations. This level of zoom performance is rare for smartphones, which have difficulty snapping crisp images at longer distances. However, the AI image processing manages to do just that.

It's worth noting that when you hit 50x digital zoom and above, you can see some visual artefacts due to the AI processing effects. The results often look fake and weird, so we don't recommend using high digital zoom on this phone. In addition, there are also moments where the phone fails to process the image properly and has a lot of noise.

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The AI processing can result in artefacts when you zoom out

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An example of an image with a lot of noise

Of course, the vivo X200 Pro's zoom capability is not only great for concerts. You could also take advantage of it for seminars or university lectures, especially if you're sitting at the back and need a better view of the front.

What about everyday situations or more casual settings? The vivo X200 Pro offers good photography performance with its other cameras too, with clear details and balanced light control. For colour processing, you can choose between Vivid, Textured or ZEISS Natural. The third option is for those who want the colours to be as close to the real subject as possible. But Vivid mode is more suitable if you prefer more saturated colours.

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Ultra-wide picture

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Main camera picture

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2x zoom image

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Macro photo

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Selfie picture

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Some portrait mode photos taken with the ZEISS bokeh effect

In addition, all the ZEISS bokeh effects introduced in the previous vivo X series are still available in the vivo X200 Pro. These bokeh filters make portrait photos look more interesting by adding different background blur effects to your photos.

For video, the vivo X200 Pro cameras can record at resolutions of up to 8K at 30fps. What's more interesting is that it can record 4K video at 120fps. This allows you to record slow-motion videos while maintaining high detail in 4K resolution.

On top of that, the video quality looks great even if you record while walking. The OIS works well even without you enabling Ultra Stabilization. In fact, if you're into vlogging, the front camera stabilisation works well too. This makes the vivo X200 Pro great for vloggers.

 

Conclusion – Great for diverse photography conditions

Overall, the vivo X200 Pro is probably the best zoom camera phone to date. Although its MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset doesn't offer the same performance as the Snapdragon 8 Elite, it has camera functionality that many current flagship phones can't match. If your priority is photography, the vivo X200 Pro is an option you should consider.

But if you want an alternative for gaming or other use cases, we suggest the realme GT 7 Pro (RM3699) or ROG Phone 9 (RM3999). Both offer faster performance for gaming and everyday situations with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Another flagship phone that prioritises the camera is the OPPO Find X8 Pro (RM4999). However, its zoom prowess isn't as strong and it can't record videos at 8K resolution.

 

What do you think of the vivo X200 Pro? Let us know in the comments on our Facebook page, and stay tuned to TechNave for more reviews like this.

vivo X200 Pro Specs & Price >