Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
The vivo X200 Ultra made quite a splash earlier this year, despite being restricted to the Chinese market. One of the most prominent features was the optional telephoto extender lens, which attaches to the phone’s 200MP periscope camera.
Now, the vivo X300 Pro is here for global customers, and this phone supports the same external lens kit. The lens will be available in global markets, much like the OPPO Find X9 Pro’s lens attachment. And I’d argue that this is the combo to get if you want long-range zoom. Hear me out.
A more flexible camera experience Just like the X200 Ultra, the X300 Pro, paired with the 2.35x telephoto extender lens, enables a 200mm (~8.3x) native zoom via the 200MP periscope camera. The telephoto extender is available as part of the X300 Pro Photography Kit, which also includes the requisite phone case and adapter ring, a camera grip, a shoulder strap, and a few other extras.
I didn’t have an issue lugging around the external lens, as I have a small fanny pack/sling bag for my secondary phone and accessories. The lens also fits fine in my pants pocket, but it’ll be a tight fit at best if you’re carrying both the lens and the X300 Pro. In saying so, this combo still beats carrying a dedicated camera for portability.
The vivo X300 Pro external lens is still awkward to attach and detach, but the software experience has been overhauled in a big way.
It’s easy in theory, if a little awkward in practice, to connect the lens to the X300 Pro, as you’ve got a bayonet-style mount akin to a real camera lens. So it takes 10 to 20 seconds to screw on the lens. On the upside, you can keep the adapter ring attached and still use all the rear cameras. By contrast, the Find X9 Pro’s adapter blocks all but the periscope camera, forcing you to remove both the lens and adapter ring when you’re not using the extender. Either way, the X300 Pro is still ridiculously top-heavy with the lens attached.
One of my complaints about using the X200 Ultra’s telephoto extender was that you had to enter a standalone “telephoto extender” mode that was relatively basic when it came to options. This approach has since been emulated by OPPO and the Find X9 Pro’s add-on lens. Fortunately, the X300 Pro camera app now offers a telephoto extender toggle in most of the major modes. That means you can pair the external lens with a variety of shooting options, including Portrait mode (with styles), access to various color profiles, the Landscape and Night suite, Pro mode, street photography mode, and Snapshot mode. I much prefer this approach, as it makes for a far more versatile shooting experience.
Vivo X300 Pro external lens: What about photo quality? You can capture some great long-range zoom shots with the X300 Pro and its lens attachment. The lens enables 200mm (~8.3x) native shots as well as 400mm (~16.6x) lossless resolution images. I generally found that 200mm and 400mm shots offered plenty of resolvable detail, pleasing colors, and mostly consistent contrast. Pictures also generally delivered a good sense of depth, as opposed to the flat, bokeh-free shots you’d expect at this range.
Image quality becomes more of a gamble beyond 400mm. Snaps at 800mm (~33x) can look good, depending on the subject, but it’s generally hit-or-miss at this focal length. Zoom all the way in to 1,600mm digital zoom (~66x) and I found that humans usually looked like waxworks. However, I was surprised by the 1,600mm image of the lighthouse below, suggesting that landscapes and buildings benefit most from AI zoom enhancements. I also thought the 1,600mm snap of the seagull was pretty great, with a pleasantly shallow depth of field and relatively sharp feathers.
... continue reading