vivo launched its X300 FE smartphone in India last week as the successor to last year’s X300 FE. This retains the compact screen, the large battery, and the 3x periscope telephoto camera with ZEISS optics while retaining the IP68 + IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance but switches from MediaTek to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC. The price has increased due to the memory cost increase. Is this the best compact phone for the price? Let’s dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- vivo X300 FE 5G 12GB + 512GB version in Noir Black colour
- Protective case
- USB Type-C Cable
- 90W FlashCharge wall adapter
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick start guide and Warranty information
Display, Hardware and Design
The vivo X300 FE retains the 6.31-inch (2640 x 1216 pixels) 1.5K 20:9 aspect ratio, 460 PPI flat LTPO OLED display, and 1-120 Hz refresh rate since it has an LTPO panel. The display is bright even outdoors under sunlight since it has an HBM brightness of 1800 and the screen has up to 5000 nits peak brightness. The colour output is good as well since it has 1.07 billion colors. The ZEISS Master Color Display brings visuals to life, said the company.
You can select from standard (default), professional, and bright screen color modes. You can select a smart switch that can switch or force it to 60 Hz or 120 Hz. It has 4320Hz high-frequency PWM dimming.
Visual enhancement optimizes the color and contrast in apps like YouTube, Netflix and Prime Video for more vivid display effects. It has scratch- and drop-resistant Shield Glass, co-developed with German glass expert SCHOTT, which is Schott Xensation Core glass.
It also has HDR 10+ support, which works for YouTube and Netflix. The phone doesn’t have a notification LED, but this has an always-on display that shows contextual info and notifications all day or as per schedule.
The phone has a 50MP autofocus front camera inside the punch-hole. There is an earpiece on the top edge, which works as a secondary speaker. There is a small bezel below the screen. It has an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, a change from optical fingerprint in the predecessor. The haptic feedback is good, and there is also an option to control the strength manually.
The phone has a power button and volume rockers on the right side. The dual SIM slots, primary microphone, USB Type-C 2.0 port, and speaker grill are present on the bottom. The secondary microphone is present on the top, along with the IR blaster and speaker vents.
You can see the antenna bands on the sides of the phone since it has an aerospace-grade aluminum frame that offers a premium look and finish and doesn’t slip out of your hands easily.
The Noir Black color variant that we have pairs a deep, inky base with subtle, shifting light and projects a quiet confidence that won’t fade into the background, said the company.
It also comes in lilac purple that feels calm yet alive, easing visual tension while giving your eyes a quiet place to rest, and urban olive offers a muted olive shade that blends into urban surroundings while holding a quiet vitality underneath, the company added.
The phone weighs 191 grams and is just 7.99 mm thick. It has IP68 + IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance. The phone has SGS Five-Star Drop Resistance, said vivo.
Camera
- 50MP main camera with Sony IMX921 sensor, f/1.57 aperture, OIS
- 8MP 106° ultra-wide camera with f/2.2 aperture
- 50MP IMX882 3x periscope telephoto camera with f/2.65 aperture, Aura light
- 50MP autofocus front camera with f/2.0 aperture
The camera UI is the same as other phones running Origin OS. It includes several features such as High Resolution, Pano, Ultra HD document, Slo-mo, Time-lapse, Stage, Pro, Snapshot, Food, Supermoon, Stage Dual View and Telephoto Extender.
Coming to the camera quality, the daylight shots are brilliant, and it automatically switches on HDR according to the shot so that the dynamic range is good. The camera can focus quickly. vivid mode is default in which the colors are boosted. The 8MP ultra-wide camera does a decent job.
The main highlight is the 50MP periscope telephoto camera that offers 3x zoom, 6x lossless zoom, and it goes up to 100x for hyperzoom. The quality is good up to 20x; after that, you don’t get much detail. This gets telephoto macro, which the X200 FE was missing. The phone also supports vivo ZEISS Telephoto Extender Gen 2 that is sold separately.
The portrait mode is good as well, with good edge detection. The phone has ZEISS optics and 7 ZEISS-style portrait options. Low-light shots are good with a lot of details and less noise, and the OIS helps as well to stabilize the images. The night mode automatically enables ultra-dark mode if there is very little light, and that makes it better, but it takes a few seconds to process. There is also supermoon mode, which is a good addition. The 50MP autofocus front camera does a good job in both daylight and low light.
Check out some camera samples below
It can record videos at 8k resolution at up to 30 fps and 4k video at up to 120 fps from the rear camera. Front camera supports up to 4k 60fps video recording. It has standard and ultra stabilization, but the resolution is down to 1080p in standard and ultra options since it crops the content. OIS does a good job in stabilization. There is a cinematic portrait video option, which is limited to 1080p 30 fps.
Software, UI and Apps
Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 16 with OriginOS 6 on top, making it the first phone in the country to run OriginOS 6 out of the box. It has an Android security patch for April 2026. The vivo X300 FE will get 5 years of Android OS updates and 7 years of security updates for the first time in an FE series.
OriginOS 6 centers around the new Origin Smooth Engine, coordinating computing, storage, and display modules for sustained system responsiveness. The Origin Animation System introduces motion effects such as Spring Animation, Blur Transition, Morphing Animation, and One Shot Animation for enhanced visual fluidity, inspired by natural elements.
There are Dynamic Glow and Translucent Color effects for visual depth, Immersive Weather offering animated environmental visuals, Lock Screen Grid for flexible widget arrangement and photo blending, and a new 4×7 Home Screen Grid with adaptive folders and Flip Cards that animate with device motion.
- Origin Island: Real-time status bar with Android 16 Live Updates
- Copy & Go: Copy details to call, text, or schedule directly
- Drag & Go: Move photos or content seamlessly between apps
- AI Retouch: Combines AI Erase, Image Expander, and Photo Enhance
- Productivity Tools: Smart Call Assistant, DocMaster, AI Creation, AI Search
- Cross-Device Integration: Office Kit for Windows and Mac and One-Tap Transfer for iQOO and iPhone offer smooth workflow
Out of 12GB of LPDDR5X Ultra 9600Mbps RAM, about 10.85GB is usable, out of which 6GB is free when the default apps are running in the background. There is an additional 12GB RAM expansion feature. Out of 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage, 454.66GB is free out of the box.
Since the phone has an IR blaster, it comes with a Smart Remote app. Apart from the usual set of utility and Google apps, it comes preloaded with a lot of apps, such as Facebook, Netflix, Instagram, LinkedIn, Agoda, Spotify and Sony Liv. These apps can be uninstalled, but they come back after a reset.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The phone uses a 3D ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor compared to the optical fingerprint scanner in the X200 FE, and it is quicker and more accurate. You can add up to 5 fingerprints. There are different animation styles that display when you unlock, which you can disable. The phone also has face unlock that can unlock the phone in seconds, but it is not as secure as fingerprint.
Music and Multimedia
The default music player also has an equalizer and DeepField sound effects. It doesn’t have FM radio support. There is audio super resolution and super audio features. Audio through the stereo speakers is crisp and loud. Audio through the headphones is good as well.
This has Widevine L1 so that you can play HD content on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming apps. It also supports HDR playback in YouTube, and Netflix has HDR 10+.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has the usual set of connectivity features, such as 5G with support for n1/n2/n3/n5/n7/n8/n18/n20/n25(1850–1910 MHz)/n26/n28/n38/n40/n41/n48/n66/n77/n78 bands, and supports Airtel and Jio 5G out of the box. There is also eSIM support, again a first for the FE series phones. There is also dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 7 802.11be (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz), Bluetooth 6.0, GPS + GLONASS and NFC support. It also has USB OTG support, and it has USB 2.0. We did not face any call drops, and the earpiece volume is good.
The stock dialer adds smart summary and AI call translation. There is also call recording without announcement. It uses Google Messages.
The vivo X300 FE’s body SAR is 0.767W/Kg and head SAR is at 1.0057/Kg which is almost similar to X200 FE and is under the limit in India, which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 platform, a major upgrade compared to MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ in the X200 FE. It also integrates the OP Gaming Core out of the box. It has a 2 + 6 all-big core architecture that uses 2 x Oryon Prime CPU at up to 3.8GHz, 6 x Oryon Performance CPUs at up to 3.32GHz. The chip is fabricated using the TSMC 3nm process technology. It promises a 36% improvement in overall performance compared to its predecessor.
The phone has a 4005 mm² ultra-large vapor chamber. We did not face any issues or frame drops in the graphic-intensive games like COD, BGMI, and Genshin Impact, thanks to the new Adreno 829 GPU.
In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 67.2%, and the temperature shot up from 30 to 38 degrees. The stability is better, and the temperature is also lower compared to the X200 FE. Check out the benchmark scores below.
Battery life
Coming to the battery life, the phone retains the 6500mAh (typical) silicon-carbon battery. It can easily last for a day with heavy use, thanks to the optimization. I got over 6 hours of screen on time with close to 2 days of use, mostly on Wi-Fi, and occasional 5G use with smart refresh rate. This is similar to X200 FE.
Since the phone has support for 90W fast charging, it can charge up to 50% in about 30 minutes and up to 100% in about an hour. You will have to enable the fast charging option if you want to reduce the charging time, but the phone gets a bit hot. The phone also has 40W wireless charging support that the X200 FE lacked.
Conclusion
The vivo X300 FE stands out as a rare breed in the 2026 smartphone market: a compact powerhouse that refuses to compromise on “Pro” features. By swapping last year’s MediaTek for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, vivo has addressed the performance gap, making this one of the most capable small-form-factor devices available today.
The addition of wireless charging and an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor—two major pain points in the previous generation—transforms this from a “mini” flagship into a no-compromise daily driver. While the price hike to Rs. 79,999 is a tough pill to swallow, the promise of 5 years of OS updates and the massive 6500mAh battery provide a level of longevity that’s hard to find in this size bracket.
If you are looking for a phone that fits comfortably in one hand but can still trade blows with the industry’s largest titans in photography and processing, the X300 FE is currently in a league of its own.
It is certainly the most complete. While the 8MP ultra-wide camera feels like a budget inclusion on a premium device, the primary and periscope sensors more than make up for it. If you can justify the premium for that ZEISS-tuned camera and the sheer efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, this is the compact phone to beat this year.
Pricing and availability
The vivo X300 FE 12GB + 256GB costs Rs. 79,999, and the 12GB + 512GB version costs Rs. 89,999. It is now available from the Vivo India online store, Flipkart, Amazon.in, and offline stores. There are also launch offers.
Alternatives
The vivo X300 is a good alternative that is cheaper. OPPO Find X9 is also a good alternative.
Pros
- 120Hz LTPO AMOLED display is good
- Compact, light-weight body, IP68 + IP69 ratings
- Smooth performance
- Good cameras, especially the 3x telephoto
- Excellent battery life with fast charging, wireless charging
Cons
- Weak ultra-wide camera
- Launch price is on the higher side