We tested one of the top camera competitors for high-end phones – and it's not even that expensive

Inflation, a memory crisis, supply chain uncertainties: There are many reasons why prices for top-of-the-line smartphones have skyrocketed in recent years. Vivo, for example, officially charges nearly US$ 2,000 for its X300 Ultra, even though online retailers are already offering the device at a lower price. 

The Vivo X300 FE, on the other hand, can sometimes be found for well under US$ 1,000 – a few years ago, that would have been just below the price range of top-of-the-line models. Today, it’s just under half of what you’d pay for a high-end phone.

The limitations aren’t all that significant

What particularly surprises us is that you don’t have to put up with that many limitations at all. Sure, the Vivo X300 FE offers only a USB 2.0 port with slow data transfer speeds and no option for wired display output to a monitor. But thanks to wireless interfaces, that’s easy to work around.

The SoC, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, isn’t quite on par with true high-end phones in terms of performance, but in practice, you’ll only notice this difference with extremely demanding apps.

Top-Notch Build Quality

Otherwise, you get a top-notch glass-and-metal body with a very sturdy build and IP68/IP69 certification for protection against the elements. And the Zeiss-branded cameras are surprisingly high-quality and are hardly inferior to those on significantly more expensive phones.

The Vivo X300 FE has to accept some criticism, particularly for significant overheating under heavy load and the speakers, which aren’t all that loud.

Vivo is taking a risk with the X300 FE

In general, though, it’s fair to say that Vivo is taking a big risk with its 6.3-inch smartphone: Who would buy the Vivo X300 Ultra—which costs twice as much—when they can get a similarly high-quality phone with virtually no significant drawbacks for significantly less money?

Sure, if you absolutely want a large screen or top-tier features like multifocal video recording, then you’ll have to go for the top-of-the-line model.

But the Vivo X300 FE can do almost just as well. By the way, we’ve covered this value-for-money phone in detail in our in-depth review .