I've been so wrapped up in Samsung's Galaxy S25 launch that I almost ran out of time to write about a flagship competitor that I've been using for weeks as my own – the Vivo X200 Pro.
I've done a lot of work with Vivo over the years. It's part of BBK Group's umbrella, so its devices are of a similar ilk to the Oppo Find X8 Pro and OnePlus 13 handsets that are also part of the company. Which, clearly, puts this handset in good stead.
While I've long been an advocate of Samsung's Galaxy flagships – the S24 Ultra from last year I still consider among the best premium Android handsets – the one area where the Korean giant is being a little slow is in updating its camera arrangement.
Sure, the S25 Ultra finally updated the wide-angle to be a high-resolution 50-megapixel offering. But that's par for the course for many competitors – ineed, this Vivo X200 Pro has a 50MP main, 50MP wide-angle, and a major 200MP with 3.7x optical zoom too.
The collaboration with Zeiss means access to specialist coatings to deliver top quality – and while I've been casually shooting, now that I've checked out images up close, this Vivo has totally blown my mind.
But there's that not-inconsiderable problem I alluded to in the title. You can't buy the Vivo X200 Pro in the UK. Or the USA. Or really anywhere in the West. The company's website says its operations are 'paused' – so while incredible handsets are getting made to challenge the biggest sellers such as Samsung, the availability is nil.
Which is a shame, as I've gotten so used to using the X200 Pro. Sure, the camera protrusion on the rear is a unit (in a not-so-flattering way) and the dual app store as part of the software is just odd. But there are plenty of other great features on offer that also outshine many a competitor.
Take the battery, for example, which is a 6000mAh cell. That's 20% more capacious than you'll find in almost any flagship of today – and far more than the iPhone 16 Pro houses within. Not only that, as it's silicon-carbon type, the density is higher – so the cell can pack in more energy without affecting space or making the X200 Pro a monster-scale handset.
There's a tonne of power, too, thanks to MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 flagship, which gives Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite food for thought. I've had plenty of top-notch gaming sessions with not even a hint of letup.
All of this and the equivalent purchase price is around £700 if you were to gamble on importing a Malaysian international model. It's got full Google Play Store, Android 14 on board, and a feature set you'd expect to pay twice as much to own – especially when it comes to camera spec.
So here's hoping the future brings Vivo back into the fold, as it's got a huge amount to offer against the biggest of competitors, Samsung included...
