Vivo’s latest pocket-friendly flagship is out to please snap-happy smartphone shoppers wanting something small that doesn’t compromise in the camera department. The Vivo X300 FE has a 6.3in screen and is just 7.99mm thick, yet also packs photography chops that should see it challenge the iPhone 17 Pro and Google Pixel 10 Pro for clarity – or beat them outright once the optional telephoto lens extender comes into play.
Announced alongside the global version of the Vivo X300 Ultra and its incredible rear camera trio, the X300 FE still finds room inside its slender body for a 50MP main snapper, 50MP telephoto and an 8MP ultrawide backup. The main and zoom lenses have optical image stabilisation, and there’s also a 50MP selfie cam up front with autofocus.
Imaging expert Zeiss has returned to assist with image processing, which should mean some of the most convincing, natural colour science you’ll find on any smartphone. Some of the shooting modes mimic specific Zeiss camera lenses. It can also handle 4K/60fps, 4K/120fps and 8K/30fps video recording.
This is the first FE model to support Vivo’s lens extender accessory; the second-gen version is smaller and lighter than the original, bringing a 200mm equivalent focal length to get you closer to the action without relying on digital zoom or AI upscaling – something pretty much every compact alternative is guilty of.
familiar looks, plenty of power
The X300 FE isn’t quite as slender as the Galaxy S25 Edge and iPhone Air, but comes close. There’s a whiff of the latter in the design, which sees all three rear cameras moved to a bar at the top of the phone – though that does mean they’re well out of the way of your fingers, which should keep the Zeiss glass clean.
You’ll be able to pick one up in Purple, White, Black or Green; each has a glass back with a matte finish, an aluminium mid-frame, and a 6.31in AMOLED display up front. The latter is fully flat, with a 1.5K resolution, 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 5000 nits peak brightness and support for HDR10+ content.
Performance comes courtesy of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, just one rung down the ladder from Qualcomm’s flagship Elite silicon. It’s cooled by a sizeable vapor chamber, comes paired with 12GB of RAM, and can be had with either 256 or 512GB of on-board storage.
Vivo hitched its wagon to silicon-carbon battery tech a while back, so it’s no surprise to see the X300 FE arrive with a comparatively huge 6500mAh cell. It should happily last a day and a half of typical use between top-ups, then recharge at 90W over USB-C or 40W wirelessly.
It launches with Vivo’s OriginOS 6 Android skin, with the firm promising five years of operating system upgrades and seven of security patches.
Other goodies include an ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor and IP68/IP69 resistance ratings.
The Vivo X300 FE is going on sale in China, India and certain European territories from today onwards, though there’s no word on if the UK will make the cut. The US is almost certain to miss out. Official pricing wasn’t available at the time of publication.
