Meet and greet the Vivo X200: Dimensity 9400 SoC with a Zeiss camera

As promised, the Vivo X200 series is now officially unveiled and it brings three more high-end phones to the market:

• Vivo X200 Pro
• Vivo X200
• Vivo X200 mini

Let's talk about the standard model, the so-called "vanilla" X200.

The Vivo X200 is powered by MediaTek’s latest flagship processor, the Dimensity 9400, which was recently unveiled.

All three X200 models feature the Dimensity 9400 SoC, which is always a welcomed move (yes, I'm pointing fingers at Apple right now). SoC, or System-on-Chip, combines all or most components of a computer or other electronic system onto a single chip.

The new MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset marks a significant upgrade from its predecessor, the Dimensity 9300. This new chip improves overall performance, especially for tasks like gaming and artificial intelligence (AI).

One of the key changes in the Dimensity 9400 is its "All Big Core" design. This means that it uses only powerful processing cores instead of mixing smaller and larger ones, which is a departure from the previous model. The Dimensity 9400 features a high-performance core called the Arm Cortex-X925 that operates at speeds over 3.62 GHz, along with three additional Cortex-X4 cores and four Cortex-A720 cores. As a result, it offers up to 35% faster performance for single tasks and 28% faster performance when handling multiple tasks compared to the Dimensity 9300.

Additionally, this new chipset is manufactured using a more advanced 3nm process, which makes it not only faster but also more energy-efficient. In simple terms, this means that devices using the Dimensity 9400 can do more without draining the battery as quickly, leading to better battery life overall.

What else?

Of course, a phone is more than just its chipset, however powerful it might be.

The Vivo X200 features a metal and glass body, with a quad-curved screen (the display curves slightly at the edges). Though the curves are minimal, giving the feel of a flat screen, the design aims for a balance between aesthetics and practicality.

The 6.67-inch AMOLED display boasts a 2800 x 1260 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, offering a 20:9 aspect ratio. The frame of the phone remains flat, while the back mirrors the quad-curved design of the screen. All buttons are conveniently placed on the right side, and the back houses a camera array that contains the phone's primary cameras.

On the rear, the Vivo X200 includes a trio of 50-megapixel cameras: the main Zeiss-branded camera comes with an f/1.57 aperture and optical image stabilization (OIS), an ultrawide camera with an f/2.0 aperture, and a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. This seems pretty respectable to me, especially the f/1.57 aperture on the main camera. The lower the "f/" number, the better light-gathering capabilities. Since photography is about light, well, more light gathered is better.

The phone’s battery is substantial at 5,800mAh, supporting 90W wired charging, though wireless charging is absent. Additional features include an optical in-display fingerprint scanner and IP68/IP69 certification for water and dust resistance. The device also offers Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity.

The Vivo X200 comes pre-installed with OriginOS 5 in China, while the global version will run on Funtouch 15 OS, based on Android 15. Color options include Carbon Black, Moonlight White, Sapphire Blue, and Titanium Gray.

In terms of RAM and storage, options range from 12 GB to 16 GB of RAM, with storage capacities from 256 GB to 1 TB. Prices in China start at CNY4,299 (approximately $606) for the 12/256 GB model and go up to CNY5,499 (approximately $776) for the 16/1 TB variant. Global availability and pricing have yet to be confirmed, so stay tuned!