The BEST Smartphone Lens? Photographer Reviews the Vivo X100 Pro

I received my Vivo X100 Pro (Global Version) today, and had to immediately take it out to test out the main reason why I purchased it, the cameras. I can safely say that it lived up to my expectations - and much more. With Zeiss' coatings and lens designs, the Vivo X100 Pro leapfrogs flagships like Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max, and sets a new standard for Smartphone telephoto optics with its 100mm f/2.5 periscope Sonnar lens.
Check out the X100 Pro on eBay: ebay.us/KN5buI
Video Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:42 - Photos
11:22 - Distortion and Chromatic Aberration
13:32 - Sharpness tests
15:52 - Vivo vs iPhone 15 Pro Max
21:03 - Ultrawide Vlog
23:16 - Main 23mm Vlog
26:33 - 8k Footage
26:58 - Flare test
28:04 - Using filters
29:25 - 100mm Video and low-light
29:58 - Video samples
30:30 - Conclusion
Check out the full-res photos from the review here: drive.google.com/drive/u/0/fo...
#smartphone #vivo #vivox100pro #sovietlens #VintageLens
Check out the Vivo X100 Pro on eBay: ebay.us/lDz9QQ
Social Media:
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Gear I use:
Nikon Z6 - ebay.us/IRwhGF
Deity V-mic D3 Pro Microphone: ebay.us/f0LWmY
Falcon Eyes F7 Pocket light: ebay.us/TArvK7
Camera Vlogging mirror: ebay.us/MTXZR9
FYI:
My eBay links usually are referral links! It means I get a tiny bit back from eBay if you purchase something from them, at no extra cost to you. All proceeds will go towards funding rare and exciting lenses for review!
Music in some of my videos comes from Antti Luode licenced under CC-BY-3.0 - thanks Antti!

[@ayushkrishna4756]

This is the type of KZbinrs who should be deserving millions of followers...even though he has less followers..he put the effort equavalent to a million followers....best review period..please continue like this...Your efforts will be recognised ♥️

[@ishan94shukla]

I actually pre ordered vivo x100 pro Indian variant immediately after watching your video so thanks and cheers 🥂

[@SovietLensReviews]

Nice, enjoy your new phone!

[@balubalaji9956]

Wow ! i wish i. had that much money. Once you get it Let me know how good the cam is ?

[@sonalmotghare]

Yeah, I also ordered on the India launch day. Waiting for the delivery. 😁

[@nyrron9006]

Wow!! Have fun capturing amazing snaps n vids!!

[@iazamkhan]

Here too bro...waiting eagerly for mine ❤

[@JFLX]

FINALLY a review that makes sense! Photographer who can take photos and has skill to showdown the hardware differences. I'm going to dump iphones for life. Hate their cameras so much.

[@amirrachid9611]

Man, I am in love with this piece of tech, and you just made me love it more. One more thing: you forgot or maybe you didn't have time, to test one of the strength points of this device: night mode. Have a good day

[@The_Backson]

This is the camera test / review I'm looking for. Amazing quality video. Thanks mate 👍🏼

[@SovietLensReviews]

Cheers! Thanks for watching.

[@m0nokel]

Excellent review in excellent quality… thanks a lot!

[@ShibiChan]

Thanks so much for the in-depth video! I'll be getting mine hopefully this week and seriously looking forward to see what I can get with it and testing out any weird and cool shooting modes with it! Much love

[@SovietLensReviews]

Nice, enjoy it! It's a great phone.

[@disturbedvirgil]

Incredible camera review and comparison! Great job! Following up the reddit AMA too on this phone :)

[@SovietLensReviews]

Nice, thanks for watching!

[@a0n0g]

Rare and precious review, bravo !

[@natusaddeficiendum]

yessss, thank you so much! Finally someone who goes a bit more in depth, subbedddd! also funny that yourre mainly a soviet lense reviewer apparently, just recently bought a 44 m6

[@SovietLensReviews]

Haha awesome, enjoy your new Helios!

[@plastick85]

stunning review

[@ClickSurf]

Best review ever other youtubers focus on apple and samsung only no one reviewed vivo x100 pro cameras like this

[@AlexandreG]

Can you do a review about the performance of this thing in low light, indoors and outdoors, especially for video? I know phones are not what your channel is about, but almost no one reviewing these phones knows how to properly review one, like you did here. For now, thanks for this one. It's a really good video. If you ever come to enjoy making phone reviews, I think you got a career as one of the best here, you got quality and know what points to hit, and there's not a lack of people wanting to see such content!

[@skandats]

I have watched around 25 videos of the phone to check for camera review, but yours was the best one. Subscribed. Being an enthusiastic photographer, I loved the way you reviewed phone's camera. Do you plan to continue reviewing other phone cameras or to do comparison?

[@SovietLensReviews]

Thanks! I would love to review a few more phone cameras actually, depending on which ones I can get my hands on to test.

[@luxmeister]

Probably the best smartphone review ever!

[@balubalaji9956]

23mm vlog is mind blowing 🤯

[@will.archibald]

Excellent review, This is a really good option for photographers, producing far more natural results for photos. The video quality appears good, but not quite top level, lots of fringing and artifacts between the trees and sky in the background 23:15, 25:30 but certainly not a deal breaker. Thank you for taking the time to post this

[@SovietLensReviews]

Thanks for watching! And yeah, the video quality is good, but not exemplary like the photos.

[@willzdemy]

That's because it was later edited by the cesator

[@kensei93rtn]

I love your review ❤

[@DjCjFoto]

The best phone camera review I've seen up to now! This particular set of cameras is amazing!

[@SovietLensReviews]

Thanks, and I agree, Vivo have knocked it out of the park with this one.

[@user-si3et2ig9x]

Great job! We need a comparison between this and the regular x100, if you managed to get your hands on one

[@SovietLensReviews]

Thanks! That might be a bit trickier, but if Vivo want to send me one to test I'll happily review it too.

[@mskedarnath]

Nice video! It's my first time watching your content, and your presentation is excellent. Keep up the good work. Is there any issue with focus when capturing human subjects from a distance with the primary camera?

[@SovietLensReviews]

Human subjects with face showing it's pretty good at, other moving subjects like animals is where the tracking is spotty.

[@GroundedTech]

Excellent video. You have a new sub. Also you may be costing me money as I now want this phone real bad lol

[@suriafur]

You should review more phone Man....amazing job. Thanks

[@weekendhoppers]

Great video, sub'ed 👍

[@dannyg8032]

It would be awesome if you could do a comparison between Vivo X100 Pro and Oppo Find X7 Ultra and their photo and video capabilities.

[@prejithlee3051]

I really loved it❤

[@muhammadfitriidris4381]

very nice review.. i hope i can see your next review vivo x100 pro on night shoot ❤😊

[@neerajnongmaithem392]

Excellent video brother. The only thing I want compared here is vivo's nightime photography results. Almost all flagship mobile cameras perform decent in good lighting these days. I would like you to compare it against the pixel 7 & 8(pixel 7 being better of the two). Apple has totally lost the ball with all the over processing and making stuff look overtly warm and green. Vivo has hit the right spot with depicting real colors without making them look dull. Please if possible please compare it against the pixel 7, as it would help make the users make an informed choice since those are on a sale and are a beast of a camera smartphone

[@Ben-AP]

Wow, excellent video! And what a phone! I'm really really tempted to buy it for the camera, but I'm afraid I won't like the size of the phone. Generally I much prefer something close to the 6" screen size, but it's so hard to find good cameras in a more compact form factor. Might just have to get used to it.

[@mcgrathkeller]

I know this is not the normal videos you make, but you gotta do more😃 Like RAW samples too and camera centric phones 😁

[@SovietLensReviews]

Thanks, I would love to! Will try get my hands on some more new phones to review.

[@mattk5020]

​@@SovietLensReviewsCan you review the Oppo X7

[@slawomirgromadzki8669]

Hi and thanks for the excellent video. I own vivo x100 pro and it is the best camera phone ever used (much better than any samsung or iphone) I have a question, I cant find how to trigger the shutter using the volume button? If there is no way to do it, is there any bluetooth trigger you would suggest?

[@plastick85]

hi sir, just wonder what's your view on its color accuracy and how well it handles the red color?

[@darylchong5110]

Hi Thank you your video! Does your Global version comes with Google Suite? Will like to buy one.

[@SovietLensReviews]

It comes with all the Google apps yes

[@georgeprec]

Very nice review! I am particularly interested in the raw editing possibilities. I couldn't find anywhere examples of DNG files for this phone model. Do you think it is possible to add to your drive folder an example of DNG (ideally relatively high iso) to experiment with the new AI Denoise function of Adobe Camera Raw?

[@SovietLensReviews]

Sure, I threw a couple in there just now. I will say though, the higher the ISO, the more the DNGs just turn into jpgs - the most DR you can get in them is when shooting at ISO50.

[@georgeprec]

Thanks a lot! My current phone is the Huawei P60 pro but the Vivo seems clearly better. The Vivo JPEGs seem to be much more natural, both in terms of colors and sharpening/contrast. On the Huawei P60 pro, the images are excessively contrasting, a lot of over sharpening, especially for images that contain elements of nature, leaves, grass, branches, etc. Because of this, I had to shoot in dng more often than I would have liked, especially for landscapes I have some more questions: 1) On the Huawei P60 Pro, there is a noticeable difference in shutter delay in pro mode compared to normal photo mode. In the case of ordinary photo mode the lag is practically 0, but in the case of pro it is about half a second, which means clearly a bit too much. Did you notice such a difference at Vivo? 2) The most annoying thing about Huawei is that in pro mode, when the raw/dng format is selected, OIS is disabled. This makes it problematic to use the pro mode in handheld photography in low light situations. Did you notice something like this at Vivo? For the test, of course, a relatively long exposure time must be set in pro mode, something like 1/5 sec. In the case of the Huawei p60 pro, we can set in pro mode either the jpeg only format or the jpeg + dng format. In the first case the OIS works, in the second it doesn't. Very annoying!

[@SovietLensReviews]

@@georgeprec Interesting! 1. Practically 0 shutter lag on the Vivo, even in pro mode. 2. Just checked to confirm, in the Vivo you get full OIS in pro mode too.

[@gusdrado4390]

This Is great i wanna see Oppo X7 Ultra Comparison too ‼️

[@carlocarnevali7790]

Crazy to see the difference… I would have guessed Apple spent millions to perfect the best possible glass. It gets slapped by Zeiss instead!

[@StarNumbers]

Very nice

[@Arpan_1984]

The best review for the x100 pro so far on KZbin, period. I have a vivo X90 pro. X100 pro definitely has upped the game with ultrawide and telephoto lens. Ultrawide is crap on x90 pro and has only 2x optical zoom. Also when the updated the device from Android 13 to 14, they screwed the camera. Camera on Android 14 had focus issues on photo and video mode. Also the viewfinder was lagging really bad while recording a video. Even the stabilization in the video mode was affected. The sports mode was also was affected, was making the pics blur. I was one of the beta testers for android 14 program. They were not able to fix the camera on android 14. I had to downgrade to android 13 to get the original camera performance back. I hope they do not screw the camera on x100 pro too when they provide a OS update to Android 15.

[@SovietLensReviews]

Interesting, good to know! Hopefully a new version of Android fixes it and keeps performance on the X100 Pro.

[@Arpan_1984]

Fingers crossed !@@SovietLensReviews

[@AlexandreG]

This seems like a trick to make the user feel the phone is getting outdated. I hope not, because that would make the X100 Pro just a big disappointment too after a year. If not then it just means they moved on from the model and don't care about fixing software for older flagships, which is also a dealbreaker. How is standby battery (overnight/pocket) going for you on new update. I've read somewhere some months ago that even with AOD on the phone would lose 10% or 15% battery overnight, does it sound accurate to you?

[@Arpan_1984]

@@AlexandreG I am on the latest update right now and battery drain has definitely been fixed. Earlier it used to drain 15 to 20 % overnight on idle. Now it drains about 1 to 2 %. There is still lag in the viewfinder while recording video. I hope they fix this issue soon.

[@nvb_01]

Thanks for the video. I am bothered about the natural bokeh and corner blur in this phone. It is unwanted at times leading to missed or blurred details. Compared to this the phones with lesser sensor size perform better for a regular full view photo. Is there is any solution to this on vivo x100 pro?

[@MelmacAlienLifeForm]

Nice, real life photographic lens kind of review applicable to smartphones . Better than Dxmoark or GSMArena ones IMHO. Seems to be a niche for those reviews. Not necessary only for premium models.

[@neelthakkar3633]

hi sir nice video subscribed can u reply that if u made this video without break how much battery was consumed in this video sir ? my mean is batery worked all day aur draining fast plz reply thx

[@SovietLensReviews]

Yeah I made this video without recharging the phone. Battery lasted the whole day comfortably.

[@Respetuozo]

Por eso Nokia era el rey en cámara antes de Android, Carl Zeiss colaboraba con ellos. Ejemplo Nokia N8

[@DjCjFoto]

Yes, I owed N8, 1020 and 950, all best phone cameras at the time

[@adityajain4142]

How's the battery life now?

[@MrScotty30]

X100 pro plus is what I’m waiting on.

[@sofiad9775]

Are lens glass made?

[@damiamata]

Global Version and Chinese Version diferents?

[@blacsheep19]

We need a comparison between ..vivo x100 pro vs oppo find x7 ultra And vivo x100 pro vs s24 ultra

[@rpauipathwithnv3481]

1. How much it got heated while using directly under the sun? 2. how much battery is utilized in taking pictures and all 3. Is it suitable for running location based apps and all stuff in background, does it heat or have perf issues?

[@bunyaadi]

In Europe, we can't get this phone unless you import one from a specialist. Even then you are likely to be missing required firmware and network band support. But anyway, it was a thorough video showing the camera system in context rather than just YT marketing spiel. So that leaves Sony as the alternative for the same sort of technology. Which isn't bad but you know it's something to be desired if you can't obtain it easily or paying extra cost.

[@SovietLensReviews]

Thanks! Can understand how it's hard to here in other parts of the world. Here in Australia we only have one store that officially imports them and sells them with an Australian warranty, I'd be a bit apprehensive ordering from anywhere else.

[@Optimal-GymRat]

Differences vs vivo x100 non pro? I would like smaller phono :( but I dont want to lose this insane quality

[@OwnerOP]

Sir never stop making videos like this because your test is better than dxomark of anything like that, sir you’re a legend ❤

[@dm01417]

Can you please do the same with iPhone 15 Pro max? Or compare both of them?

[@trololoev]

Hope someday in optics people start name optics normally. For example not 1/575538 of finger, but just size of matrix in mm. Also didn't call lens 100mm lens if they not 100mm lens. It like measure brightness in candles.

[@satwindersingh5028]

M watching your review on my sony Xperia 1 mark v ))

[@MrTromb86]

Взял себе Vivo X100 Pro. Восхитительная система камер!

[@SovietLensReviews]

Согласен!

[@zbatevp-vlogs610]

How did you put on the ND Filter again? Did you say BluTak?

[@SovietLensReviews]

Yep, blu tac around the camera bump

[@chinedugodwin3017]

This is the best camera phone ever 💪

[@Alessandro-dh5yw]

You would recommend it, only for using point and shoot in jpeg? Thanks

[@SovietLensReviews]

Yep

[@kuau714]

When shooting in DNG/RAW mode can you save in hi resolution or is it always binned down to 12MP only

[@SovietLensReviews]

It's always binned

[@plastick85]

do one review for xiaomi 14 ultra!

[@sohanbhatt4664]

Please do a similar review with the Xiaomi 14 ultra when it comes out.

[@SovietLensReviews]

If Xiaomi send me one, sure!

[@shoebkhan3961]

Wow, i thought x100 pro can go head on against 15. But it looks like it beats 15 pro Max comfortably..

[@SovietLensReviews]

Yep, with the telephoto, very comfortably. Main camera too, but it's closer. I asked a bunch of people who I was having dinner with to pick the best image (macro and telephoto) they all picked the x100 pro.

[@zkdd23]

Stellar light conditions, I wonder how it'd at night.

[@SovietLensReviews]

It's pretty good at night, within the boundaries of physics of course.

[@UlisesDB]

Great video! Thanks

[@jamesendurance4919]

Hiya, pls does NFC and android auto work on this variant?

[@SovietLensReviews]

Yep!

[@ThienLongNgo]

Can you share with us some raw photos as well? I would appreciate it very much!

[@ramialjohani3033]

Is it Origin OS or Funtoich !! and which is the best

[@hkdom]

I have both but I will recommend to get international version if you are not living in China, even OriginOS a bit better than Funtouch

[@kmahadev8243]

Dual PDAF is missing isn't it ? Plastic lens am glad to hear it's good.but over a short period of time I think image quality will reduce making you buy another camera phone.

[@SovietLensReviews]

The main+tele sensors have PDAF. The ultra wide doesn't, from a quick google. I disagree that it will get worse over time, it just got better with the addition of 4K on the front camera.

[@kmahadev8243]

@@SovietLensReviews only time can say how far the plastic lens will hold good. Just like our eye glasses.

[@joelconolly5574]

Dang it. I'm tempted. Now I'm gonna need to prepare money for what's to come. Good thing 2024 just started 😂.

[@trololoev]

Interesting to look at Xiaomi 14 ultra in your hands, because hardware great, but software shit and all automated programs suck ass right now. It be interesting: can you make good photos using manual modes in mi14ultra?

[@kuau714]

Where did you purchase the global model from?

[@SovietLensReviews]

A place called Spectronic in Australia

[@Stenlius]

@@SovietLensReviews very nice and comprehensive review and nice channel. Thanks for your effort! Did you buy the phone or it is a review sample provided?

[@SovietLensReviews]

@@Stenlius Thanks, I bought it myself.

[@My-Opinion-Doesnt-Matter]

Photos are very good, but that vlog video... Can the over-saturation and the fake sky be dialed down?

[@SovietLensReviews]

You can shoot in raw using a third party app (see my second latest video).

[@My-Opinion-Doesnt-Matter]

@@SovietLensReviews I just saw it, that "raw" looks way worse than the standard app video, underexposed and over-contrasted with crushed shadows. And it seams that the 100mm lens/camera doesn't add fake sky and oversaturated colors: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2S8cmWbeMZrncksi=Rnk8_LvVXunXuZXd&t=235

[@glennjoey]

can you make a review again - there are a few major updates??

[@SovietLensReviews]

Nothing has materially changed with what I reviewed here

[@im4320]

Which is better oneplus 12 or vivo x100 pro to buy???

[@dannyg8032]

Vivo X100 Pro for photo and video, OnePlus 12 for OS, and overall daily usability

[@mickue]

Impressive, but that I think that blue sky looks a bit artifical and cut out.

[@damiamata]

It's blue?

[@SovietLensReviews]

They have different colours including black, I chose blue

[@alfistibrasiliani]

about the bokeh...I heard that this phone gives you the option to change the format of the bokeh...yeah...round bokeh, oval, square...

[@SovietLensReviews]

That's only in the magic mode, which I don't use as it's post-processed.

[@hawrazhede]

xiaomi 13 pro hand 14 has the same telemacro lens

[@SovietLensReviews]

It does not, it has a completely different lens of a different focal length and aperture (75mm f/2).

[@hawrazhede]

but technically they can also do telemacro shots and very good macro shots u can try their comparison by ur self@@SovietLensReviews

[@hawrazhede]

kzbin.infoLHy7-pxvTSs?si=ZgNc3lBuzDBtkSIR@@SovietLensReviews

[@TedThomasTT]

I believe the reason it's so sharp is because it's heavily using AI when processing. Not saying that's bad, just interesting.

[@SovietLensReviews]

Interesting theory, but with my sharpness test shots against the chart, I have done so many of them I would be able to spot if there's AI going on - can confirm the 100mm lens is actually just really sharp.

[@TedThomasTT]

​@@SovietLensReviewsI should have clarified, I think the AI only kicks in after around 20x zoom. If you've ever used Gigapixel, the results really look like they've used something like that.

[@SovietLensReviews]

@@TedThomasTT Ah yes - that's true - once you go past around 10x, it does become quite visible.

[@theo7617]

​@@SovietLensReviewsCan you please do a Xiaomi 13 Ultra review please. And what do you think of Xiaomi 13 Ultra as a Cameraphone ?

[@eldibirting3648]

should include 4 conteders... hassleblad zeiss leica iphone

[@dudiflug3804]

What languages does the global version support? Is support Hebrew?

[@bibalila2999]

Free palestine !! 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[@VarunKumar-vy8jr]

In day light comparison doesn't matter. 80% smartphone pics are taken in lower lights and indoors wherein smartphone sucks. You didn't include any low light tests, so this video is incomplete and doesn't give any real picture. Sensor size matters most in low lights.

[@SovietLensReviews]

At 7:19 there is a photo taken in literal pitch black - I'd call that a low light test. 28:10 onwards the vlog is filmed using a 10-stop ND filter, which effectively simulates low-light, the phone was shooting at up to ISO 2000. At 29:25 it is low-light on the telephoto, ISO3200 (max ISO) and the autofocus works perfectly/you can see the camera noise pattern.

[@VarunKumar-vy8jr]

​@@SovietLensReviews don't get me wrong, your reviews are good. But also plz include more time on low light capabilities and comparison with other smartphone.

[@H1NCH023]

​@@VarunKumar-vy8jr It's absolutely amazing in low light.

[@0x00000101]

Очень маленький сенсор, как и на всех мобильных телефонах. На этом можно заканчивать, в принципе

[@SovietLensReviews]

Ну... 1" сенсор не тоже маленький, я думаю. Конечно, не фуль-фрайм.

[@0x00000101]

@@SovietLensReviews сами понимаете, высокие iso будут при не самых подходящих световых условиях. Вечером/ночью всё будет сливаться в "кашу"

[@Joe-ritz]

Wish you had more than million the undeserving and fake ones who praise samsung and iphones are top😢

[@18yearsoldnot]

Still crap lens compared to my lumix cm1. My advice is to get the Sony pro phone which has a zeiss tessar as opposed to zeiss plastic

[@SovietLensReviews]

My advice is to keep on using your 2014 phone then. And to perhaps get your eyes checked.

[@Dicktopus]

I think i just find my new favourite channel.

[@SovietLensReviews]

Thanks Dicktopus!

[@Fuckoffgoogle25]

At 17:00 are you comparing the full ~50 megapixel output for both cameras? And if not, why not?

[@slawomirgromadzki8669]

Hi and thanks for the excellent video. I own vivo x100 pro and it is the best camera phone ever used (much better than any samsung or iphone) I have a question, I cant find how to trigger the shutter using the volume button? If there is no way to do it, is there any bluetooth trigger you would suggest?

[@SovietLensReviews]

The volume down button works for me to trigger the shutter