Tough competition for the Galaxy S26: This compact phone impresses with its cameras and battery life

The major manufacturers no longer offer truly small smartphones, but there are still a few models in the just-over-6-inch range. And adding a more compact model to your flagship lineup is actually all the rage: In addition to the well-established Samsung Galaxy S26, there’s also the Apple iPhone 17e, which is currently one of the smallest phones with plenty of power.

Portability is back in style

The Chinese manufacturer Vivo also wants to attract customers who prefer a slightly smaller smartphone in their hand or pocket, so we had a closer look at the X300 FE in our review: The 6.3-inch display with very slim bezels fits into a body that’s barely larger than that of the iPhone 17e with its 6.1-inch screen. Compared to Samsung’s Galaxy S26, the dimensions are very similar.

While you’ll have to put up with a bit more weight, the Vivo X300 FE also delivers excellent battery life of over 24 hours in our Wi-Fi test and packs plenty of power, which is sufficient for the vast majority of tasks.

Cameras on par with the top models?

It also features the excellent camera setup found in the Vivo X300 family. Of course, it’s been scaled back in some areas – after all, the Vivo X300 FE costs well under US$ 1,100. But it still features highly light-sensitive cameras, a 3x periscope zoom, and up to 100x digital zoom.

In our review, the images appeared very sharp and rich in detail, and the front-facing selfie camera also impressed us.

Streaming Performance and Criticism

Fast WiFi 7 is also on board, enabling transfer rates close to 2 GBit/s – which is more than enough for fast connections to a home server. This makes streaming on your own network a real pleasure, especially since the connection proved to be very stable in our test.

Criticism is directed at the Vivo X300 FE for its noticeable heating under load, though hardly any powerful Android phone currently does a better job in this regard. You’ll also have to make do with a rather slow USB 2.0 port.

For even more details and our final rating of this slightly smaller premium phone, check out our in-depth review.