This Phone Has a Detachable Lens That Turns It Into a Compact Digital Camera

The Vivo X300 Pro is the latest Android phone touting for the lofty position of 2025’s best camera phone. Its credentials? A triple rear camera setup that includes a 200-megapixel sensor and some fancy photography accessories such as a camera grip and a detachable telephoto zoom. I’ve used the phone and wanted to share some of my early test images. 

The phone’s camera specs might sound familiar. A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Oppo Find X9 Pro, which also has a 200-megapixel sensor and also can be bought with a familiar-looking detachable telephoto lens. It’s not a coincidence; Vivo and Oppo share the same parent company, so it’s no surprise they share more in common. The Oppo phone doesn’t have the camera grip, which is a shame — it feels great on the Vivo. It gives the phone a more secure hold, especially when the telephoto lens accessory is attached, adds a handy shutter button and even boosts battery life.

It basically turns the phone into more of a compact digital camera, much in the same way the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s camera grip does. Other specs include a 50 megapixel main camera, 50-megapixel ultrawide, a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 processor and a sizeable 6,500-mAh battery. Vivo hasn’t announced full UK pricing for the phone yet, but I expect it’ll be similar to the Oppo Find X9 Pro — around £1,099 (roughly $1,460). But Vivo doesn’t plan to sell the phone in the US.

I’m looking forward to spending more time with the phone, but for now, here are some choice photo samples I’ve taken with it. All shots are taken in JPEG in auto mode and have been resized in Lightroom for better online presentation.

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Danner boots on a rainy Scottish street. The colors are spot on and the details from the 50-megapixel sensor are pin-sharp. 

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These baked goods looked amazing — and I’m sure they tasted just as good-but I’m on a diet, so this was as close as I got. I love the warmth the phone captured in this shot, and the fine details on the icing of the bun in the foreground look fantastic.

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Elves wearing North Face coats. Captured well by the Vivo X300 Pro.

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This shot of the outside of a festive-looking building is solid. The fine details look clear and the phone worked hard to keep that bright sky under control, although the image does have a bit of an HDR look to it. 

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At 3.5x zoom, the details aren’t quite as sharp, with more noticeable image sharpening and noise reduction. It’s not a bad result, just about what I’d expect from most mid- to upper-range Android phones.

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Slap on that telephoto zoom lens and you can really get up close with the details. It’s impressive how much of the frame I was able to fill with the face of this (frankly, terrifying) nutcracker — especially compared to how small it looked in the earlier shots. The details hold up well, though it’s clear there’s been some software processing to preserve sharpness and reduce noise.

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Similarly, at 10x zoom, the box is clearly visible, but you’d still struggle to read what’s written on it. From where I was sitting, I couldn’t make out a single word, even with a new pair of glasses.

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It’s honestly wild to me that I can use the telephoto zoom to read the box’s details with perfect clarity. Sure, there’s some obvious digital over-sharpening, but it’s still impressive. The bigger question is: Who really needs a zoom this powerful on a phone?

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Switching from the wide to the ultrawide lens, it’s clear how much more it fits into the frame. However, there’s a noticeable shift in exposure — the ultrawide shot appears quite a bit brighter. Detail also takes a hit, especially around the edges of the frame, but overall, it’s still a perfectly decent shot.

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Here’s another shot using the telephoto zoom lens. I love the natural bokeh — the lantern is tack-sharp, while the wall behind it gently falls out of focus.

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And again here — it’s a great zoom setup, and well worth considering if you regularly rely on zoom in your photography, whether for wildlife, sports or anything in between. But how it stacks up against rivals like the iPhone 17 Pro, Galaxy S25 Ultra or the closely related Oppo Find X9 Pro remains to be seen.