The Vivo X300 series has finally landed, and if you’re planning to shop in the premium flagship lane this year, these two deserve a top spot on your radar. The phones officially drop on December 2, but I’ve been using both the X300 and X300 Pro ahead of the launch to figure out what Vivo is cooking this year. And honestly? This might be one of the most ambitious X-series updates ever.
Vivo's X-series has always carried that “camera legend” reputation, especially after the X200 Pro last year, which completely changed the flagship camera game for me. So naturally, the big question was simple: Can Vivo raise the bar again? There’s a lot happening, and the X300 lineup is looking seriously confident. Let’s break it all down.
At first glance, the Vivo X300 and X300 Pro feel like classic X-series flagships; premium, polished, and very recognisable thanks to that giant camera module at the back. But spend five minutes with them and the design refresh becomes obvious.
Vivo has flattened both the front and the back panels this year, and that immediately gives the phones a cleaner, more modern vibe. The slimmer frames make them feel sleeker in the hand, and the overall footprint feels more refined compared to the curvier designs of earlier models. These little tweaks add up to phones that genuinely feel fresher and more premium.
The biggest design difference between the two is size. The X300 Pro sticks to the “big flagship” template, but Vivo has shaped it well enough that it never feels bulky or clumsy. It’s still large, but it is surprisingly easy to manage.
The regular X300, however, is the compact king. This phone is noticeably smaller, very easy to wrap your fingers around, and perfect for anyone who’s tired of giant slabs. In fact, it immediately reminded me of the Vivo X200 FE, but just upgraded with a bigger camera island and more premium detailing.
Compared to the X200 FE, the X300 feels like the glow-up version. It’s slimmer, has a similar footprint, but jumps into a higher tier with flatter surfaces, sharper lines, and more expensive materials. The FE series always leaned toward simplicity; the X300 feels like the moment Vivo decided compact phones can look ultra-premium too.
There’s also one extra trick on the X300 Pro. A handy multi-function shortcut button on the side. Think of it like Vivo’s take on the Action Button from the iPhone. Assign it to your camera, flashlight, voice recorder, whatever you want. And trust me, once you map it to something essential, you’ll end up using it every day.
In hand, both phones hit the sweet spot. The weight distribution feels balanced thanks to the metal frames, the edges don’t dig into your palm, and the 3D curved glass on the back blends smoothly into the huge camera housing. My Phantom Black units have a gorgeous matte texture that rejects fingerprints like a boss and looks understated in a premium way.
The X300 Pro’s camera housing stands out a little more, not just because it’s thicker, but because of the ribbed metal ring around the module. It gives the phone extra visual presence, even though it doesn’t really change functionality. It’s just a design flex, and it works.
If there’s one area where Vivo always throws its strongest punch, it’s imaging. And the X300 series continues that legacy with confidence.
Let’s start with the X300 Pro, because this thing is stacked. It comes with a 200MP APO telephoto lens with OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide, and a 50MP main sensor equipped with gimbal-level stabilisation. Vivo and Zeiss are still best friends, so you get Zeiss tuning across the board; colours, lens behaviour, portraits, everything.
From the early shots I captured, the Pro model is shaping up to be ridiculously good. Vivo’s colour science feels richer, the detail looks more natural, and the dynamic range is genuinely impressive. The Pro also flexes big time on video.
You get 8K 60fps recording, which sounds like overkill, but the stability is unreal even in handheld shooting. And if you like cinematic edits, Dolby Vision 4K 60 is right there for pro-grade flexibility.
The selfie camera is the same on both phones is a 50MP shooter with autofocus, and early impressions are strong. Sharp details, punchy skin tones, excellent exposure control.
The regular X300 takes a different approach, but still packs serious hardware. Its setup includes a 200MP OIS main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide, and a 50MP OIS telephoto. It’s not as aggressive as the Pro, but honestly, a lot of people might actually prefer the colours and textures I captured on this one. For video, it maxes out at 4K 120fps, and the stabilisation still feels rock solid.
We’re saving the deep-dive camera verdict for the full review, but right now, this much is clear: Vivo wants to win the camera race again, and the X300 Pro especially is here to compete hard.
Vivo didn’t just focus on cameras this year, they seem to have gone all-in with performance too.
Both phones run on a custom variant of the Dimensity 9500, paired with a new Vivo-designed imaging NPU, and Vivo is promising some big numbers.
All of this is built on TSMC’s third-gen 3nm process, which means battery efficiency and thermal behaviour should also get a nice boost.
On the imaging side, both models use Vivo’s new V3+ Imaging Chip, and you can feel the difference instantly—better low-light detail, improved colour consistency, faster focus, and cleaner textures.
The X300 Pro goes even further with an additional pro imaging chip called VS1, giving it that extra sprinkle of magic in dynamic range and detail sharpness.
The software is also getting a full makeover. Funtouch OS is gone. Say hello to OriginOS 6.
This feels like a brand-new UI in the best way. It’s cleaner visuals, fluid animations, smarter transitions, translucent layers, and has a design language that finally looks as premium as the hardware. There are performance engines working behind the scenes, smoother graphical feedback, and tons of lock-screen personalisation.
There’s still a lot left to test, like benchmarks, gaming performance, thermals, battery endurance, and how well OriginOS holds up over time. But from the early experience, one thing’s clear:
The Vivo X300 and X300 Pro have all the ingredients to become the flagship duo that sets the tone for 2025.
And if the camera performance continues to impress the way it already has, these phones might just force every other brand to rethink their strategy next year.
