While some might say that smartphone cameras have mostly stagnated in terms of hardware, there are rare occasions when we see some rather impressive strides with new devices. One example is Vivo's new X100 Ultra, which was recently announced for Chinese markets.

 

With that being said, Vivo has clearly positioned the X100 Ultra to take on the likes of the iPhone and Galaxy Ultra series, with some formidable camera specifications - the phone's immensely large camera module contains a 1-inch main camera with a Sony LYT-900 sensor, in addition to a 200MP periscope camera and 1/1.4″ ISOCELL HP9 sensor, which was developed with Samsung.

 

Additionally, the X100 Ultra's imaging system also packs the V3+ imaging chip inside, which Vivo says is designed to process professional-looking videos.

 

 

Other hardware details include a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip inside, with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of internal storage. The front of the phone features a large 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED screen, with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. Powering the phone is a 5,500 mAh battery with 80W charging support.

 

The phone starts at around $900 when converted for the base storage configuration, which comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB of RAM.

Despite rumors claiming the vivo and Oppo will leave the foldables market, both companies will continue to launch new foldable smartphones in the foreseeable future. Oppo has already addressed these allegations, while vivo seems to have an even stronger message, the X Fold 3 Pro.

 

The Chinese company already has two foldable smartphones in the pipeline, the X Fold 3 and X Fold 3 Pro. Both should be officially introduced in China later this month, but they might be released in other regions soon afterward.

 

Previous rumors claimed the X Fold 3 Pro will be powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, and reliable leaker Digital Chat Station said over the weekend that the information is accurate (via PlayfulDroid).

 

Additionally, DCS claims vivo's upcoming X Fold 3 Pro features a 6.53-inch OLED (2748 x 1172 pixels) cover panel and an 8.03-inch (2408 x 2200 pixels) foldable OLED display.

 

Information about the phone's camera remains unchanged, so we expect the vivo X Fold 3 Pro to pack a powerful 50-megapixel main camera (OmniVision OV50H sensor) with OIS (optical image stabilization), a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens, as well as an OmniVision OV64B periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom.

 

The powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is rumored to be paired with 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage, but versions with less memory will be released too. The massive 5,800 mAh battery is said to support 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.

 

Other specs leaked by the DCS include in-display fingerprint sensors for both displays, water resistance, glass back, IR blaster, and dual speakers. No word on price yet, unfortunately.

 

Buying a mid-ranger these days could be a challenging task - there are so many great options out there. To make your choice even harder (or easier, actually), vivo is going to launch the vivo V30 Pro in no time - it's expected to debut on February 28.

 

Its non-Pro counterpart, the vivo V30 is already global - that's the company's slimmest smartphone with a 5,000 mAh battery.

 

On to the vivo V30 Pro and the latest leak that's disclosing some interesting information about its camera specifications. Per a 91 Mobiles report, the vivo V30 Pro will feature a triple 50MP camera system that includes two Sony flagship-grade sensors.

 

The vivo V29 Pro successor could prove to be a selfie beast thanks to the front-facing camera's 50MP sensor.

 

The information claims that the vivo V30 Pro will come with a 50MP Sony IMX920 primary camera with Eye AF (autofocus), a 50MP Sony IMX816 portrait camera, and a third ultra-wide-angle lens.

 

If vivo using the Sony IMX920 sensor rings a bell, that's not a coincidence: the same sensor is found in the vanilla flagship vivo X100. It went official in mid-November 2023 and was among the first smartphones equipped with Dimensity 9300 processors, MediaTek's answer to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

 

The X100 has a 50-megapixel IMX920 main sensor, a 64-megapixel 1/2-inch sensor telephoto with 3x zoom and OIS (optical image stabilization), and a 50-megapixel ultrawide lens.

 

In contrast, the V30 Pro is said to pack MediaTek's Dimensity 8200 processor, paired with up to 12GB RAM and 512GB storage (UFS 3.1). More key specs revealed by a recent report include a large 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and a massive 5,000 mAh battery with 80W charging support.

 

As far as colors go, the vivo V30 Pro is expected to come in two colors: Black and Blue.

 

Vivo makes great value for money handsets. If you're looking for a new smartphone that won't break the bank, perhaps the brand new Vivo V30 could be the phone for you. The company has announced their latest mid-range handset which comes with upgraded cameras, a colorful new design, and pretty awesome battery life.

 

Design & display

 

According to Vivo, the handset is the company's slimmest phone with a 5,000mAh battery to date (more on the battery later). It is designed using the one-piece encapsulation technique that reconfigures the battery case to make it thinner.

 

The colors of the phone are also designed with special process innovations that help make it pop. It is available in Blooming White, Waving Aqua, and Lush Green. The former two feature unique patterns, while Lush Green has a color-changing effect.

 

The Vivo V30 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset. It also sports a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Its display is also pretty bright with a peak brightness of 2,800 nits. The display will also support HDR10+. The phone will come with a base of 8GB of RAM, but there are configurations with 12GB. Its storage also maxes out at 512GB.

 

Cameras

 

On the camera side of things, the Vivo V30 comes with a dual camera setup. This includes what Vivo is calling the VCS True Color Main Camera and a 50MP Ultra Wide-Angle Camera. The main camera has a 1/1.55-inch sensor with OIS. According to Vivo, they claim that this sensor has been designed based on the company's "eye bionic standards" with enhanced filter materials. They say that this will improve image clarity by 25% and color reproduction by 15% over the previous model.

 

As for the 50MP ultra wide-angle camera, it has a 119-degree field of view with support for auto-focus. The software that Vivo is bundling will come with tools that will make it easy for users to shoot and edit their vlogs with ease. It can also help enhance portrait photos.

 

Battery

The battery of the phone is also pretty interesting. It has a 5,000mAh capacity and according to Vivo, it will last 1,600 charging cycles before reaching 80% capacity. This means that you can use it for four years before it drops to 80% which is pretty long. It supports 80W FlashCharge that will allow it to hit 100% in just 48 minutes.

 

Pricing & availability

Vivo will be launching the V30 in more than 30 markets which includes India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, Egypt, and the UAE, just to name a few. Pricing was not mentioned but this will vary from market to market. The North American market isn't part of this list so we'll have to wait and see if the company chooses to bring the V30 stateside.

 

We've officially entered 2024 which means that moving forwards, the majority of flagship phones released this year should be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. Except for Vivo's upcoming foldable, the Vivo X Fold 3.

 

According to a post on Weibo, the post claims that for the Vivo X Fold 3, Vivo might actually end up using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset which was released back in 2023. This is kind of disappointing news, but to be fair, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is quite a powerful chipset so it's not like you'll be losing out on too much.

 

The only disappointing thing is that at the speed tech moves and advances, last year's tech is considered to be "old news" and isn't that good for those who want to try and futureproof their devices as much as possible.

 

We do have some good news though. The post claims that Vivo could launch two foldables - the Vivo X Fold 3 and the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro. The Pro version will apparently use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but presumably it could be more expensive, so if you want a more affordable foldable, then the base Vivo X Fold 3 could be a potentially more affordable version.