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This time around we’re comparing one of the best camera smartphones around, with one of the most popular smartphones in the world. We’ll be comparing the Vivo X100 Pro vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both of these phones originally arrived in the latter part of last year. They both offer great camera performance, and they’re both large flagship smartphones. These phones are quite different, though.
They have completely different software builds, of course. The Vivo X100 Pro comes with Android, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max is iOS-based. In addition to that, they have completely different designs and even specifications. Comparing them will be quite interesting. We’ll start things off by listing their specifications, and will then move to designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance.
Specs
Vivo X100 Pro vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max, respectively
– Screen size:
6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display (curved, adaptive 120Hz, 3,000 nits max brightness)
6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion (flat, 120Hz, HDR10, 2,000 nits)
– Display resolution:
2800 x 1260
2796 x 1290
– SoC:
MediaTek Dimensity 9300
Apple A17 Pro
– RAM:
16GB (LPDDR5X)
8GB
– Storage:
512GB/1TB (UFS 4.0)
256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
– Rear cameras:
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)
48MP (f/1.78 aperture, second-gen sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, macro photography), 12MP (telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 5x optical zoom)
– Front cameras:
32MP (wide, f/2.0 aperture, 20mm lens)
12MP (f/1.9 aperture) + TrueDepth
– Battery:
5,400mAh
4,441mAh
– Charging:
100W wired, 50W wireless, reverse wired (charger included)
20W wired, 15W wireless (MagSafe & Qi2), 7.5W wireless (Qi), reverse wired charging (charger not included)
– Dimensions:
164.1 x 75.3 x 8.9mm
159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm
– Weight:
225 grams
221 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.4/5.3
– Security:
In-display fingerprint scanner (optical) & facial scanning
3D facial scanning
– OS:
Android 14 with Funtouch 14
iOS 17
– Price:
€1,199
$1,199
– Buy:
Vivo X100 Pro (Vivo)
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (Apple)
Vivo X100 Pro vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Design
If you check them out side-by-side, you’ll see plenty of differences. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s corners are considerably rounder, while the phone also has flat sides all around. The Vivo X100 Pro has proportionally curved front and back sides, and a considerably thinner frame on the sides, than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Yes, the phone has a curved display compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s flat panel.
The Vivo X100 Pro also includes a display camera hole on its display. Apple’s flagship has a pill-shaped cutout. Both smartphones have very thin bezels around their displays. If we flip them around, you’ll see considerably different backplates. The Vivo X100 Pro has a circular camera island, which is centered on the back. There are three cameras in there, and it protrudes quite a bit. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera island is in the top-left corner, and it’s considerably smaller. It also protrudes less.
The Vivo X100 Pro has all of its physical buttons on the right-hand side. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s are spaced out. Its power/lock button is on the right side, while the volume up and down buttons, and the Action Button are on the left-hand side. The Vivo X100 Pro has a slightly larger display, and it’s taller, narrower, and thicker than the iPhone 15 Pro Max… not by much, though. Its global variant is by 4 grams heavier, while the vegan leather model, which is available only in China, has the same weight as the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Both phones do offer an IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. Both phones are also quite slippery, at least when it comes to global models. Using a case may be a good idea.
Vivo X100 Pro vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Display
The Vivo X100 Pro includes a 6.78-inch 2800 x 1260 LTPO AMOLED display. That panel is curved, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The peak brightness of this panel is 3,000 nits, in theory. The display aspect ratio is 20:9, and the screen-to-body ratio that the Vivo X100 Pro offers is around 90%.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max, on the other hand, has a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. This display is flat, and it has an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. HDR10 content is supported here, as is Dolby Vision. The maximum brightness this display can reach is 2,000 nits. The display aspect ratio the panel offers is 19.5:9, while the screen-to-body ratio is at around 89%. The Ceramic Shield Glass protects this display.
Both of these panels are really good. They’re not only immensely sharp, but they have good viewing angles too. Both displays are quite vivid and have deep blacks, not to mention that the touch response is good too. They also get bright enough when needed, though the Vivo X100 Pro does have a slightly advantage in that regard. We still don’t know what display protection is applied on top of Vivo’s display, but it has been doing a good job thus far.
Vivo X100 Pro vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Performance
Vivo’s flagship is fueled by the MediaTek Dimensity 9300 SoC. That 4nm processor comes paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is fueled by the Apple A17 Pro processor, while the phone includes 8GB of RAM and utilizes NVMe flash storage. Do note that neither of these two smartphones offers storage expansion, though.
When it comes to performance, they both do a great job. Regular, everyday tasks are not a problem at all, for either phone. They fly through everything you throw at them. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a tendency to be slightly snappier in some situations, but the difference is almost not noticeable. They’re great at opening apps, jumping between them, browsing, messaging, image processing… everything runs pretty great.
The gaming is a slightly different beast, but both do a good job. The iPhone 15 Pro Max had issues with heating up at first, but Apple solved that. Now, the Vivo X100 Pro does end up being warmer after an hour of intense gameplay. We used Genshin Impact for our tests. We’ve noticed some dropped frames, but other than that, the performance was not affected. Neither phone got too hot to hold or anything like that.
Vivo X100 Pro vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Battery
The Vivo X100 Pro packs in a 5,400mAh battery, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max ships with a 4,441mAh unit. Apple’s handsets usually don’t need as large batteries to offer similar battery life, mainly due to different software, so keep that in mind. Both of these phones can cross the 7-hour screen-on-time mark during usage, and we’ve even been able to push them through the 8-hour mark at times.
There are some things to note here. If you do graphically-intensive tasks on them, those numbers will go down. We didn’t game at all during those days. Also, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a noticeably better standby time compared to the Vivo X100 Pro. Your mileage may vary, of course. We used both phones mostly on Wi-Fi during our test days, though not exclusively, of course. Your usage will be different, ranging from your apps and habits to signal strengths.
When charging is concerned, the Vivo X100 Pro humbles the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The device supports 100W wired, 50W wireless, and also reverse wired charging. The iPhone 15 Pro Max supports 20W wired, 15W wireless (MagSafe and Qi2), 7.5W wireless (Qi), and 4.5W reverse wired charging. The Vivo X100 Pro also includes a 100W adapter in the box, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max ships without one.
Vivo X100 Pro vs Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max: Cameras
The Vivo X100 Pro has a 50-megapixel main camera (1-inch sensor), a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (119-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (4.3x optical zoom). The iPhone 15 Pro Max, on the flip side, includes a 48-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom).
With that in mind, both smartphones do a great job when it comes to photography. They both lean towards warmer colors in images. They both also do a great job with daylight shots, though we did prefer the portrait photography from the Vivo X100 Pro, and it also did better in most demanding HDR shots. The iPhone 15 Pro Max was more reliable in general, though. We’ve noticed slightly more details in the Vivo X100 Pro ultrawide photos.
In low light, they both do a great job. The Vivo X100 Pro does tame light sources much better, though, and flares too. Other than that, both of them do a great job. The Vivo X100 Pro does have a tendency to brighten up low-light scenes more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The video recording is better on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is not surprising.
Audio
Both of these phones do include stereo speakers. Speakers on both smartphones are loud enough, and they’re on the same playing field in that regard. The sound that comes from them is pleasing, and you won’t notice any distortion. Well, a little bit at the very highest of volumes, but it’s almost not noticeable.
Neither of the two phones has an audio jack. They do have Type-C ports, however, to which you can connect your wired headphones. If you’d prefer to go wireless, the Vivo X100 Pro supports Bluetooth 5.4, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with Bluetooth 5.3 support.