Vivo X100s: In the increasingly homogenized premium smartphone landscape, finding devices that truly stand out requires looking beyond mere specification sheets.

The Vivo X100s represents the Chinese manufacturer’s latest attempt to carve a distinctive niche through its continued partnership with legendary camera manufacturer ZEISS while addressing the growing demand for more compact flagship options.

After spending three weeks with this device as my primary driver—capturing hundreds of photos, testing its limits with demanding applications, and integrating it into my daily workflow—I’ve developed nuanced insights into its real-world capabilities that go beyond marketing claims and technical specifications.

Vivo X100s: Design: Refined Elegance in a Manageable Footprint

The X100s immediately distinguishes itself through its more compact dimensions compared to most contemporary flagships.

At 152.2 × 71.5 × 8.0mm and weighing 187g, it offers a refreshing alternative to the increasingly unwieldy devices that dominate the premium segment.

This size reduction doesn’t come at the expense of premium feel—the phone features a frosted glass back with a subtle texture that both resists fingerprints and provides excellent grip.

My review unit came in the “Asteroid Black” colorway, which presents as a deep, rich black with subtle blue undertones when caught in certain lighting.

The color implementation shows remarkable depth and sophistication, avoiding the gaudy gradients that sometimes characterize Chinese flagships.

Other available options include “Titanium Gray” and the signature “Blue Wave” that has become something of a Vivo trademark.

The aluminum frame features a matte finish that complements the back panel while providing structural rigidity.

Button placement is thoughtful, with the power button and volume rocker on the right edge at positions that fall naturally under the thumb when held in the right hand.

The tactile feedback from these buttons deserves specific mention—they provide a satisfying click without excessive travel, a small detail that enhances the premium feel of daily interactions.

The circular camera island dominates the upper portion of the rear panel, housing the ZEISS-branded triple-lens system within a slightly raised module.

While camera bumps have become unavoidable in modern flagships, Vivo’s implementation minimizes wobble when the phone is placed on flat surfaces. The prominent ZEISS branding signals the device’s photographic aspirations without appearing ostentatious.

Build quality impresses throughout, with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance providing peace of mind against environmental hazards.

During my testing period, which included an unexpected rainstorm during an outdoor photography session, this protection provided welcome reassurance.

Perhaps most importantly, the X100s brings flagship materials and finish quality to a more hand-friendly size.

After years of increasingly large devices, using a premium phone that can be comfortably operated one-handed feels like a welcome return to sensible design priorities.

Display: Visual Excellence in a Smaller Canvas

The X100s features a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with 1.5K resolution (2800 × 1260 pixels), striking a thoughtful balance between the battery-hungry Quad HD+ panels and the increasingly dated-feeling Full HD options.

At approximately 460 pixels per inch, text and images appear razor-sharp even upon close inspection.

Color reproduction impresses across content types. The display covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, providing rich, vibrant colors in the default “Vivid” mode.

Those preferring accuracy can select “Standard” mode, which delivers Delta-E values below 1 according to my measurements—important for photo editing and content creation.

The 120Hz adaptive refresh rate provides smooth scrolling and animations throughout the interface, while LTPO 4.0 technology allows dynamic adjustment between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on content and user interaction.

This intelligent adaptation significantly benefits battery life without compromising the premium visual experience.

Brightness capabilities stand out as particularly impressive, with typical brightness reaching 1,200 nits and peak HDR brightness hitting 3,000 nits.

During outdoor usage on bright sunny days, the screen remained perfectly legible—crucial for reviewing photos immediately after capture or navigating mapping applications during travel.

The automatic brightness adjustment proved reliably intelligent throughout my testing period, quickly adapting to changing lighting conditions without jarring jumps.

HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support enhance compatible streaming content, with noticeably improved dynamic range in platforms like Netflix and Disney+.

The difference is particularly apparent in darker scenes, where the display maintains detail in shadows while preserving highlight information.

The optical in-display fingerprint sensor deserves specific mention for its performance. Positioned in the lower third of the display, it recognized my registered fingerprint with approximately 95% accuracy during the testing period, even with slightly damp fingers.

The recognition speed matches or exceeds many competitors, eliminating the frustration sometimes associated with this technology.

Performance: Compact Without Compromise

The X100s is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chipset—a flagship-grade processor built on TSMC’s 4nm process featuring four Cortex-X4 performance cores and four Cortex-A720 efficiency cores.

This is paired with the Immortalis-G720 MC12 GPU, 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.

In practical terms, this hardware configuration delivers exceptional performance across various scenarios. Throughout my testing period, which included everything from basic communication apps to resource-intensive multitasking, the X100s maintained flawless responsiveness without noticeable lag or stuttering.

App launches occur nearly instantaneously, and switching between multiple applications feels seamless even with numerous processes running in the background.

Gaming performance proved particularly impressive given the device’s compact dimensions. Demanding titles like Genshin Impact run smoothly at high settings, maintaining approximately 55-60fps with only occasional dips during the most graphically intensive scenes.

The vapor chamber cooling system effectively manages thermals during extended gaming sessions, with the phone becoming warm but never uncomfortably hot even after 45 minutes of continuous play.

Benchmark results provide additional context:

• AnTuTu: Approximately 1.7 million points

• Geekbench 6: Around 2,300 (single-core) and 7,100 (multi-core)

• 3DMark Wild Life Extreme: About 3,900 points

These numbers place the X100s among the top-performing Android devices currently available, despite its more compact form factor.

This dispels the notion that smaller devices must necessarily compromise on performance—a welcome development for users seeking flagship capabilities without the associated bulk.

Memory management on my 16GB review unit proved particularly impressive. The extended RAM feature, which allocates up to 12GB of storage as virtual RAM, seemed to genuinely enhance multitasking capabilities rather than serving as a mere marketing gimmick.

Even when deliberately loading resource-hungry applications simultaneously, the phone maintained app states without aggressive background killing.

Camera System: The X100s’ Defining Feature

The camera system represents the X100s’ most significant selling point and the area where Vivo has clearly focused its development resources.

The partnership with ZEISS extends beyond mere branding to include lens coatings, color science, and portrait modes inspired by classic ZEISS lenses.

The system consists of:

• A 50MP Sony IMX921 main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and variable aperture (f/1.57-f/4.0)

• A 50MP Samsung JN1 ultrawide camera with a 119-degree field of view

• A 50MP Samsung JN1 portrait telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom

• A 32MP front-facing camera for selfies

The variable aperture on the main camera represents a particularly innovative feature, allowing physical adjustment between f/1.57 (for low-light scenarios and natural bokeh) and f/4.0 (for increased depth of field and sharper group shots).

Unlike software-based portrait modes, this creates authentic optical effects that photographers will appreciate.

Image quality from the main camera is exceptional across various lighting conditions. Daylight photos exhibit outstanding dynamic range, natural colors with the ZEISS Natural Color tuning, and impressive detail preservation.

Low-light performance impresses even more, with the large sensor gathering substantial light while maintaining natural-looking processing that avoids the over-smoothing common in night mode shots from competing devices.

The ultrawide camera performs better than most competitors, with minimal distortion at the edges and color consistency that matches the main sensor surprisingly well.

The 50MP resolution ensures excellent detail, while the improved optics compared to previous generations maintain sharpness across the frame.

The portrait telephoto lens creates a natural perspective for human subjects, while the 50MP resolution ensures excellent detail capture.

The ZEISS portrait modes—Biotar, Sonnar, and Planar—recreate the distinctive bokeh characteristics of these classic lenses, adding creative options beyond the standard portrait mode found in most smartphones.

Video capabilities include 8K recording at 30fps or 4K at up to 60fps, with effective electronic and optical stabilization providing smooth footage during movement.

The “Movie” mode provides cinema-like 2.39:1 aspect ratio recording with LOG profiles for professional color grading.

Low-light video quality shows significant improvement over previous generations, though still not quite matching the still photography capabilities in challenging lighting.

The camera app strikes an excellent balance between accessibility and depth, with intuitive access to common modes while providing advanced features for those who seek them.

The processing speed impresses, with minimal delay between capturing and reviewing images—important for maintaining creative flow during photography sessions.

Battery Life and Charging: Endurance Despite Size Constraints

The X100s houses a 5,100mAh silicon-carbon battery—impressive capacity given the device’s compact dimensions.

This translates to exceptional endurance that consistently surprised me during the testing period. With mixed usage including social media, photography, some gaming, and video streaming, the phone routinely lasted through full days with 25-35% charge remaining by bedtime. Screen-on time regularly exceeded 6.5 hours, occasionally approaching 8 hours with lighter usage patterns.

This endurance is complemented by 100W FlashCharge technology for wired charging and 50W for wireless charging:

• 15 minutes wired: approximately 60% charge

• 30 minutes wired: approximately 95% charge

• Full charge (0-100%) wired: about 35 minutes

• Full charge wireless: approximately 55 minutes

These charging speeds effectively eliminate battery anxiety, as even a brief charge during morning preparation provides enough power for several hours of usage.

The included 100W GaN charger is remarkably compact given its capabilities, making it practical to carry even when traveling light.

Battery health features deserve specific mention. The “Battery Health Engine” optimizes charging patterns to reduce degradation over time, while the “Boost Charging” toggle allows users to temporarily prioritize speed when needed while defaulting to a gentler overnight charging profile that stops at 80% until shortly before your typical unplugging time.

Software Experience: Maturing with Room for Improvement

The X100s runs FuntouchOS 14 based on Android 14, with Vivo promising three years of major Android updates and four years of security patches.

This represents improved but still not industry-leading software support.

FuntouchOS has matured significantly in recent iterations, moving away from its earlier iOS-inspired design toward a more distinctive and cohesive identity.

The interface feels responsive throughout, taking full advantage of the high refresh rate display and powerful hardware.

AI features have been expanded in this iteration, with useful implementations including:

• AI Eraser for removing unwanted objects from photos

• AI Face Beauty that enhances facial features without unnatural distortion

• AI Album Organization that automatically categorizes images by content

• AI Translation for real-time conversation translation

Pre-installed applications remain a consideration, with my review unit containing several third-party apps alongside Vivo’s suite of utilities.

Most can be uninstalled rather than merely disabled, though some of Vivo’s core applications remain permanent fixtures. After my initial setup and cleaning process, the system occupied approximately 24GB of the 512GB storage.

The notification handling and permission management systems show improvement over earlier FuntouchOS versions, though still not quite matching the intuitive implementation found in stock Android or some competitor skins.

Similarly, the occasional promotional notification from system apps requires manual disabling through settings menus—a minor but noticeable annoyance.

Comparative Analysis: X100s vs. Key Competitors

Feature	Vivo X100s	iPhone 15 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S24	Xiaomi 14	Google Pixel 8
Processor	Dimensity 9300+	A17 Pro	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3	Snapdragon 8 Gen 3	Tensor G3
Display	6.43″ 1.5K AMOLED, 1-120Hz	6.1″ OLED, 1-120Hz	6.2″ AMOLED, 1-120Hz	6.36″ AMOLED, 1-120Hz	6.2″ OLED, 60-120Hz
Main Camera	50MP OIS, Variable aperture	48MP, f/1.78	50MP OIS, f/1.8	50MP OIS, f/1.6	50MP OIS, f/1.68
Battery	5100mAh, 100W wired, 50W wireless	3274mAh, 27W wired, 15W wireless	4000mAh, 25W wired, 15W wireless	4610mAh, 90W wired, 50W wireless	4575mAh, 27W wired, 18W wireless
Size	152.2 × 71.5 × 8.0mm	146.6 × 70.6 × 8.25mm	147.0 × 70.6 × 7.6mm	152.8 × 71.5 × 8.5mm	150.5 × 70.8 × 8.9mm
Weight	187g	187g	168g	193g	187g
Special Features	ZEISS optics, Variable aperture	iOS ecosystem, Action button	Galaxy AI, 7 years updates	Leica optics, HyperOS	Google AI, 7 years updates
Price (Starting)	$899	$999	$799	$899	$799
Best For	Photography enthusiasts, Fast charging	iOS ecosystem, Video quality	Compact size, Software support	Performance, Fast charging	Computational photography, AI features

 

This comparison highlights the X100s’ competitive positioning, offering comparable or superior capabilities in camera hardware, charging speed, and battery capacity while maintaining a relatively compact form factor.

Where it lags slightly is in guaranteed software support longevity, though the three-year commitment remains reasonable.

Key Strengths of the Vivo X100s

1. Camera System Excellence: The combination of high-quality hardware, ZEISS partnership, and innovative features like variable aperture delivers exceptional photographic capabilities across various scenarios.

2. Compact Flagship Experience: The more manageable dimensions provide flagship performance and features without the unwieldy size that characterizes many premium devices.

3. Display Quality: The bright, color-accurate AMOLED panel with adaptive refresh rate delivers an excellent visual experience despite the smaller screen size.

4. Battery Endurance: The impressive capacity and efficiency provide genuine all-day reliability despite the compact dimensions.

5. Charging Technology: The 100W wired and 50W wireless charging options offer practical, real-world convenience that addresses the anxiety of battery depletion.

6. Performance Capabilities: The Dimensity 9300+ provides flagship-level responsiveness for everyday tasks while handling demanding games without compromise.

7. Build Quality: The premium materials, thoughtful ergonomics, and IP68 rating create a device that both looks and feels appropriately premium.

Vivo X100s: Redefining Compact Flagships

After three weeks with the Vivo X100s, what impresses most is how it delivers a cohesive, refined experience that doesn’t compromise on essential flagship capabilities despite its more manageable dimensions.

Rather than creating a “mini” version with significantly reduced specifications—a common approach in the industry—Vivo has maintained virtually all the capabilities of its larger flagship while addressing the growing demand for more hand-friendly devices.

The camera system naturally stands out as the device’s defining feature, with the variable aperture main camera and computational photography features delivering results that challenge or exceed much more expensive devices.

Yet importantly, this photographic emphasis doesn’t come at the expense of everyday usability, with the phone maintaining excellent performance, display quality, and battery life.

Areas for improvement remain, particularly in software longevity commitments and the occasional bloatware, but these limitations feel less significant given the hardware excellence.

For users who prioritize camera capabilities and one-handed usability without sacrificing flagship performance, the X100s presents one of the most compelling options currently available.

In a market increasingly dominated by oversized devices, the X100s serves as a welcome reminder that compact flagships need not compromise on essential capabilities—a balance that more manufacturers would do well to pursue.