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This time around we’ll be comparing two large powerhouse smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro. The Galaxy S24 Ultra arrived back in January, while the Vivo X100 Pro originally launched in November last year. Its global variant did drop a bit later on, in December. Both of these phones are truly powerful and have great camera setups. On top of that, they’re quite large.
These two are easily some of the best camera smartphones on the market. They are actually camera-centric, to a degree. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. There’s plenty to talk about here, so let’s get into it.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro, respectively
– Screen size:
6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (flat, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2,600 nits max brightness)
6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display (curved, adaptive 120Hz, 3,000 nits max brightness)
– Display resolution:
3120 x 1440
2800 x 1260
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy
MediaTek Dimensity 9300
– RAM:
12GB (LPDDR5X)
16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
256GB/512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
– Rear cameras:
200MP (wide, f/1.7 aperture, OIS, multi-directional PDAF, 0.6um pixel size), 12MP (ultrawide, 120-degree FoV, f/2.2 aperture, Dual Pixel PDAF 1.4um pixel size), 10MP (telephoto, f/2.4 aperture, OIS, Dual Pixel PDAF, 1.12um pixel size, 3x optical zoom), 50MP (periscope telephoto, OIS, PDAF, 5x optical zoom)
50MP (f/1.8 aperture, 1.6um pixel size, PDAF, OIS, Laser AF), 50MP (ultrawide, f/2.0 aperture, 119-degree FOV, 0.64um pixel size, 15mm lens), 50MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.5 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF, 100mm lens)
– Front cameras:
12MP (wide, f/2.2 aperture, Dual Pixel PDAF, 22mm lens)
32MP (wide, f/2.0 aperture, 20mm lens)
– Battery:
5,000mAh
5,400mAh
– Charging:
45W wired, 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless (charger not included)
100W wired, 50W wireless, reverse wired (charger included)
– Dimensions:
162.3 x 79 x 8.6mm
164.1 x 75.3 x 8.9mm
– Weight:
232/233 grams
225 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3/5.4
– Security:
In-display fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic) & facial scanning
In-display fingerprint scanner & facial scanning
– OS:
Android 14 with One UI 6.1
Android 14 with Funtouch 14
– Price:
$1,299+
€1,199
– Buy:
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Best Buy)
Vivo X100 Pro (Vivo)
Phone Comparisons: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro: Design
When the design is concerned, there are quite a few differences here. Both phones are made out of metal and glass (a vegan leather Vivo X100 Pro model is available in China), but that’s pretty much where similarities end. It’s also worth noting that Samsung’s handset uses titanium for its frame, the Vivo X100 Pro utilizes aluminum. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has sharp corners, and flat top and bottom sides. The Vivo X100 Pro is a bit more curvy in general. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a flat display with a centered display camera hole and very thin bezels. The Vivo X100 Pro’s display is curved, while the display camera hole is there, and it’s centered. Its bezels are also very thin.
Both phones have all their physical buttons on the right-hand side. If we flip them around, you’ll see even more differences. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has five different circular islands on the back, four of which are reserved for cameras. Each of those ‘islands’ protrudes straight from the phone’s backplate. The Vivo X100 Pro includes a single camera oreo on the back, with three cameras included inside it, along with an LED flash and some other sensors. You’ll also notice the ZEISS logo back there.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is slightly shorter than the Vivo X100 Pro, but it’s also considerably wider in comparison. Samsung’s flagship is also ever so slightly thinner when compared to the Vivo X100 Pro. On top of that, it does weigh more, but not much. You’ll be glad to hear that both smartphones come with an IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. Both phones do feel very nice in the hand, though they’re very slippery. The in-hand feel is also quite different, which is not surprising.
Phone Comparisons: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro: Display
There is a 6.8-inch QHD+ (3120 x 1440) Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X display included on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. That panel is flat, and it supports HDR10+ content. This display also supports an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The peak brightness it offers is 2,600 nits, and the display aspect ratio here is 19.5:9. The screen-to-body ratio is around 88 percent. The Gorilla Armor protects this panel.
The Vivo X100 Pro features a 6.78-inch 2800 x 1260 LTPO AMOLED display. This panel is curved, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and its display can go up to 3,000 nits in terms of brightness. The display aspect ratio here is 20:9, while the screen-to-body ratio is at around 90 percent.
Both of these phones offer great displays. They are both vivid, have great viewing angles, and have deep blacks. Both panels also get more than bright enough when you need them too, just make sure to leave adaptive brightness on and tune it up when needed, the phones will learn your use rather quickly. There is one glaring difference between these two panels, though. The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s panel fights reflections a lot better thanks to Gorilla Armor. That aspect was actually quite surprising, it’s above anything else in the market at the moment. Other than that, both panels are outstanding.
Phone Comparisons: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro: Performance
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy fuels the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The phone also comes with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. On the flip side, the Vivo X100 Pro is fueled by the MediaTek Dimensity 9300 processor. The global variant of the phone includes 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and it also offers UFS 4.0 flash storage. They do have different chips, but they both offer great performance.
When it comes to regular, everyday tasks, such as opening apps, multitasking, multimedia consumption, taking pictures, browsing, messaging, sending emails, and so on… both smartphones do a fantastic job. Those chips are more than powerful enough for such tasks, and do them with ease. There is really no major difference that we’ve noticed in that regard. Things are a bit different when it comes to games, even though both do a good job there too.
When you run the vast majority of games, you’ll barely see a difference. If you run a truly graphically demanding game, like Genshin Impact, however, you’ll notice that the Vivo X100 Pro gets a bit hotter in comparison. That does not affect the gameplay, however, and it’s not like you can’t hold the device, but it does get hotter in comparison. It never got too hot too hold for us, though, not even after an hour of Genshin Impact. What we did notice is slight frame drops.
Phone Comparisons: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro: Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra includes a 5,000mAh battery on the inside. Vivo’s flagship has a 5,400mAh unit. Contrary to what you may think based on these battery capacities, the Galaxy S24 Ultra does offer better battery life, at least that was the case for us. It lasted longer in our battery drain test, and it also did a bit better in actual usage. Don’t get me wrong, though, both smartphones excel in that department.
Getting 7-8 hours of battery life is possible with both phones, as long as you’re not gaming. Well, staying on Wi-Fi does help too, as well as not taking too many pictures. But even if you do those things, the numbers you’ll get are great. We did notice that the Galaxy S24 Ultra generally offered better battery life, and even managed to cross that 8-hour screen-on-time mark at times. So chances are you’ll be happy with both in this regard. Your mileage may vary, though, of course, for a number of reasons.
In regards to charging, the Vivo X100 Pro destroys the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung’s flagship supports 45W wired, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The Vivo X100 Pro supports 100W wired, 50W wireless, and reverse wired charging. It charges much, much faster in comparison. One thing to note is that the Vivo X100 Pro comes with a charger in the box, unlike the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Phone Comparisons: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs Vivo X100 Pro: Cameras
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has four cameras on the back. It has a 200-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto unit (5x optical zoom). The Vivo X100 Pro, on the flip side, has a 50-megapixel main camera (1-inch camera sensor), a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (119-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto unit (4.3x optical zoom).
With that being said, both smartphones offer great camera performance. In fact, both phones lean towards slightly warmer tones in terms of pictures. Their main cameras do a great job during the day. They provide plenty of detail, and do a great job with HDR. We did prefer results from the Vivo X100 Pro during nighttime, at least in most situations. The Vivo X100 Pro handled light sources better in low light, especially with difficult scenes. Samsung handset did a great job too, though.
Ultrawide and telephoto cameras on both phones do their best to keep up with the color science of the main cameras. The Vivo X100 Pro’s ultrawide cameras did a better job with that, it was more consistent. Secondary cameras did a commendable job during the day, while they were a level below the main shooters in low light. Portrait shots were better on the Vivo X100 Pro, while we did prefer high-zoom shots from the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It’s all a matter of preference, though, as both did a great job.
Audio
Both of these phones have stereo speakers. In fact, their stereo speakers are basically on the same playing field in terms of loudness. We did prefer the sound coming from the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it was slightly clearer. Both sets of speakers are really good, though.
You will not get an audio jack on either one of these two smartphones. You can always utilize their Type-C ports if you need to connect your wired headphones, though. If you prefer to go wireless, the Galaxy S24 Ultra supports Bluetooth 5.3, while the Vivo X100 Pro supports Bluetooth 5.4.