I discovered an Android telephone that beats the iPhone 17 Professional in video

The iPhone has been held because the benchmark for telephone video recording for so long as I can keep in mind. And the idea isn’t baseless. For the reason that early iPhones, Apple has persistently delivered excessive video high quality, which most Android flagships have did not match. Nonetheless, with Chinese language manufacturers’ latest push towards premiumization, we’re seeing some spectacular digital camera decisions that might doubtlessly dethrone the iPhone. Amongst these elite decisions is the vivo X300 Professional, which carries ZEISS’ pedigree and has repeatedly been hailed for its capacity to interchange a DSLR or mirrorless digital camera.

The vivo X300 Professional simply earns a spot among the many finest telephones for pictures. Whereas I belief it to fulfill my expectations with stills, its video chops actually took me without warning. I really feel it may well lastly surpass Apple, so I made a decision to place the 2 telephones by means of an intense competitors to find out whether or not vivo really beats the iPhone, and the outcomes are fairly fascinating.

Along with the options I focus on under, what actually sparked my curiosity to match the vivo X300 Professional with the iPhone 17 Professional was a comparable digital camera stack. On paper, each Professional telephones have a really comparable main digital camera sensor: a 1/1.28-inch module that shoots at 24mm. For movies, each telephones can shoot 4K at as much as 120fps in the usual video mode. However along with these similarities, vivo claims a bonus with particular Zeiss-designed lenses with an anti-reflection coating and a customized “V3+” co-processor. The latter can also be marketed to enhance portrait movies, ship crisper photos, and velocity up processing.

Since we’ve already put the X300 Professional’s pictures abilities by means of paces in a separate piece, I’ll focus solely on the video options. And what can be higher than beginning with the video characteristic that each Apple and vivo declare is their most compelling?

For the reason that onset of winter, my metropolis, Delhi, has been shrouded in a thick layer of smog. And after I determined to take a brief weekend getaway to a fort-turned-resort in Rajasthan, India, I used to be certain to take the iPhone 17 Professional and the vivo X300 Professional with me. All through the quick journey, I recorded greater than 100 clips, however rigorously curated them to fewer than 10 to make a good side-by-side comparability. The primary set of clips exhibits Cinematic movies shot on each telephones, emphasizing their variations (or similarities) in shade, readability, and smoothness.

Cinematic video is Apple’s time period for portrait movies with added software program background blur, whereas the topic stays in focus. This, as you’d count on, leads to a video that seems to have been shot with a digital camera designed for skilled video, if not essentially for cinema. On this article, I’ll use the phrases Cinematic and portrait mode interchangeably, although they imply the identical factor.

The iPhone 17 Professional can report Cinematic movies at 24 or 30fps, whereas the vivo permits recording at 30 and 60fps. So, an appropriate center floor was to match 4K portrait movies at 30fps. I additionally recorded movies with out HDR (although each telephones help 10-bit Dolby Imaginative and prescient recording) for constant outcomes throughout quite a lot of screens.

Right here’s the primary comparability in daylight:

Whereas each telephones excel at separating me from the background, awash with mustard bushes, the vivo’s video instantly pops with higher distinction and sharpness. The iPhone, in the meantime, smooths out the topic distinction, presumably to make the background bokeh look extra pure. However on this specific state of affairs, the video appears to be like boring and unappealing.

iPhone outshines in low gentle

Apparently, the outcomes present the alternative in low-light circumstances, as within the following scene from nightfall.

The scene captured right here is barely brighter and subsequently comparatively higher outlined. Whereas neither captures a formidable quantity of sunshine — given the shortage of it — the iPhone captures slightly extra element on my spouse’s face. The vivo, alternatively, captures colours extra precisely, although the clip is devoid of particulars, particularly round darker areas like my spouse’s shirt.

The background bokeh is comparable however insufficient in clips from each telephones, primarily as a result of they have been shot with a brief focal-length lens. Nonetheless, the iPhone does a barely higher job of blurring the background.

…even in extraordinarily low gentle

To substantiate this is applicable to different low-light situations, we shot one other clip with indoor lighting inside one of many alleyways. Listed here are the outcomes:

As soon as once more, the iPhone ekes out a win over the vivo X300 Professional. Each the seemingly vintage furnishings within the background and my face seem darker on the vivo. One side that’s constant in each clips above is that the bokeh intensifies as I strategy the cameras. It additionally appears to be like pure in each instances, which compensates for the in any other case satisfactory video high quality.

iPhone makes use of HDR to its benefit

The inclusion of HDR ideas the scales additional in favor of the iPhone, as you’ll discover within the following clip. That’s as a result of, whereas HDR on the iPhone is tied to the video settings, vivo mechanically decides whether or not to make use of it or not in portrait video. This, I really feel, places the vivo at an obstacle, and I hope we may have a guide override sooner or later.

On this case particularly, the iPhone information with HDR whereas the vivo information with out it, additional succumbing to scant indoor lighting.

Fortunately, although, vivo’s losses largely finish right here. Despite the fact that it struggles in low gentle in comparison with the iPhone 17 Professional, it provides two distinctive advantages that Apple has fully neglected.

vivo takes over the iPhone 17 Professional in body charges

The primary profit is the vivo X300 Professional’s help for 60fps recording within the Cinematic mode. Despite the fact that the clips I’ve proven to date look fairly nice at 30fps, the jitter within the following video is straight away obvious as a result of direct comparability between the iPhone’s 30fps and vivo’s 60fps.

Actions within the 60fps clip really feel far more fluid and pure. It is usually extra palatable for social media and provides higher flexibility than simply 24fps and 30fps for the kind of footage you might need to seize.

Apple misses out on natural portrait video

The opposite manner I discover vivo’s portrait video superior to the iPhone’s is its help for the telephoto lens. Whereas the X300 Professional permits recording a portrait video utilizing its 3.5x (85mm equal) lens, the identical is capped at 2x digital zoom on the iPhone.

Apple’s determination, regardless of its superior R&D and taller claims about video creation, actually baffles me and makes me surprise why it wouldn’t think about using the brand new 4x telephoto digital camera for Cinematic movies. In spite of everything, higher zoom permits for a shallower depth of video, leading to a extra pure bokeh, as you’ll be able to see within the video under.

Another excuse to belief vivo’s telephoto is the 200MP sensor, which not solely outresolves the iPhone 17 Professional’s 48MP sensor however can also be bigger, an vital consider gentle seize.

I imagine this characteristic alone is sufficient to persuade anybody trying to purchase a telephone for tasks with professional-like video results with minimal labor. The pure bokeh of the three.5x, aided by the software-enhanced background bokeh, makes the video look a lot extra putting.

4K 120fps: Each excel with out a clear winner

Whereas the comparability based mostly on the portrait movies is extra definitive, each telephones additionally come very shut by way of common video recording options. Each can report at 4K 120fps, and whereas 120fps has restricted help on on-line video platforms and social media, it may be used to create smoother slow-motion movies than native Slo-mo. Each telephones report slow-motion movies at both Full HD 240fps or 4K 120fps, however the closing output is rendered at solely 30fps, making it look a bit uneven.

As a substitute, I desire to shoot in the usual video mode at 4K 120fps after which sluggish it down later. Moreover showing smoother, recording at 4K 120fps additionally eliminates the flickering in low gentle that slo-mo movies are often plagued with. Right here’s how they evaluate.

Each clips, initially shot at 120fps, are slowed right down to 60fps. I truthfully fail to notice which one provides higher high quality. Whereas the iPhone video has a nicer stylistic look, the vivo appears to be like sharper. The colours within the iPhone’s video are hotter, although it doesn’t essentially provide higher publicity or brighter shadows than a few of the low-light movies above. I desire the vivo, although my spouse leans extra in the direction of the iPhone’s video, so there’s undoubtedly a subjective factor to understand right here.

Whereas the daylight outcomes are fairly comparable, the iPhone once more provides barely brighter colours in one other video shot at nightfall.

The iPhone once more captures the ambiance with a tad extra lighting and extra heat, making the video look extra interesting. Once more, the vivo’s video appears to be like barely sharper, although the much less illuminated colours nullify that benefit.

Not like the Portrait video mode, vivo X300 Professional additionally will get a guide toggle for Dolby Imaginative and prescient. This will fortunately treatment a few of the clip’s darker elements and enhance visibility, bringing itcloser to the iPhone 17 Professional.

Moreover the benefit of extra cameras at your disposal, vivo additionally provides a broader set of options to customise movies each throughout and after recording. The X300 Professional helps you to select between two ZEISS results, which change the shapes of the blurred artifacts or any tiny sources of sunshine behind you. These options are along with the aperture (for blur depth) and publicity controls that the iPhone provides.

What actually stands out for me are the varied digital camera LUTs (predefined shade filters) impressed by precise ZEISS lenses. There are at the very least a dozen such choices. Not solely that, however vivo additionally seems to have addressed situations the place you by chance shoot with a shade filter after which discover it later.

These LUTs may be fully eliminated utilizing the X300 Professional’s devoted editor for portrait movies, which sits individually from the usual video editor.

Since vivo provides a variety of choices on this editor, I imagine they deserve their due recognition. These choices are accessible by tapping the Portrait video icon on the top-left of the video preview in vivo’s media gallery, Albums.

This opens up two predominant choices. The primary permits selecting the topic of focus for the portrait video, after which rising or lowering the bokeh’s depth. As you’d count on, the main target intently tracks faces, however it additionally permits me to concentrate on different objects if I ever need to present the topic out of focus for inventive causes.

The second menu opens up LUTs once more. Right here, along with altering or disabling the LUT used whereas recording, I can even change the depth. What actually fascinates me, although, is the flexibility to set completely different LUT intensities for the background and the topic. With this, I can both make the topic pop or make it look extra subdued.

Whereas the precise {hardware} capabilities provide substantial grounds for calling the vivo X300 Professional a worthy iPhone 17 Professional rival, these modifying options assist it firmly grasp the lead.

The vivo X300 Professional evidently excels at video, particularly when there’s adequate daylight. Whereas the iPhone prioritizes softer textures and artificially hotter tones, the vivo emphasizes vibrant colours and higher sharpness. It admittedly lags in low lighting, particularly with comparatively inferior HDR controls in comparison with the iPhone. But it surely compensates for these shortcomings by letting you shoot cinematic movies at a a lot smoother body price whereas additionally supporting all lenses, not simply the first one.

Different capturing modes additionally provide comparable outcomes, however what actually seals the deal for me are the intensive post-processing and modifying options that the vivo provides by default. To unlock these on the iPhone, you’d both must shoot with third-party digital camera apps, corresponding to Filmic or Blackmagic, or use modifying instruments like Filmora or LumaFusion, which would require added expenditure on high of the same old Apple Tax.

The one problem you may face is discovering the vivo X300 Professional to purchase in your area, because it’s in restricted provide — and doesn’t help US carriers. Nonetheless, for those who’re within the APAC or EMAE areas and love capturing video, it is a flagship undoubtedly value your consideration.