vivo X300 Ultra review

The competition

At the time of writing, the X300 Ultra is available in Europe with a €2,000 price tag for the single available 16GB/1TB variant. Some €400 extra on top gets you a bundle with the 2nd Gen 400mm telephoto extender, the grip kit and a charger. The phone just launched in Singapore too, where it costs SGD $2,499, which equals about USD $2,000, which is probably indicative of the phone's general price in Southeast Asia and India.

In online stores specializing in gray imports from China, however, you will sell you the base 12GB/256GB version for just under €1,000, which is less than half the price but with the tradeoffs in software we already mentioned.

The pricing of the global model puts the X300 Ultra on par with similarly configured versions of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. In fact, in some regions, the vivo is more expensive. But if you are reading this, we are sure you are likely looking beyond these "safe" options already, and instead, you are after the ultimate cameraphone - something which Apple and Samsung are unwilling to offer these days.

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max • Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is among the competing smartphones that can put up a good fight against the vivo X300 Ultra. It offers a great display, excellent build, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset with 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage, a 6,000 mAh battery with 90W charging and a pretty impressive Active Use Score. Of course, you also get top-notch connectivity and an equally versatile camera setup.

The Oppo Find X9 Ultra is another formidable cameraphone. It has an extra-long battery life, fast charging and a great display. The jury is still out on whether the Oppo or the vivo is the best cameraphone of the H1 2026, but these two are in the running for that title - that much is clear.

The vivo X300 Pro is also a quite capable cameraphone, and going for it will save you some cash, while getting 90% of the same great formula in a slightly more pocketable size.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra • Oppo Find X9 Ultra • vivo X300 Pro

Our verdict

The vivo X300 Ultra is exactly the sort of device an "Ultra" phone should be. It is unapologetically ambitious, unapologetically expensive and unapologetically camera-centric. And honestly, vivo has earned the right to be confident here because the X300 Ultra delivers on nearly every front that matters in a modern flagship.

Starting with the obvious, the camera experience is once again the star of the show. Vivo's decision to stick with a single telephoto setup instead of chasing dual-telephoto trends might sound conservative on paper, but the implementation proves otherwise. The 85mm zoom camera remains one of the most versatile telephoto solutions around, while the new 200MP 35mm main camera is simply superb. The ultrawide camera also continues to stand out from the crowd thanks to its unusually large sensor. Add the extensive video feature set, excellent stabilization and the genuinely useful Photography Kit ecosystem, and the X300 Ultra feels closer to a compact camera replacement than most of its rivals.

But the X300 Ultra is far from a one-trick pony. The display is excellent, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 provides flagship-grade performance, charging is properly fast, and the battery life is noticeably improved compared to the previous generation. OriginOS 6 is also a major step forward for vivo's international software experience. It feels modern, polished and feature-rich in ways that older FuntouchOS releases didn't.

That said, there are still a few rough edges keeping the X300 Ultra from absolute perfection. Speaker quality is merely good rather than class-leading, and vivo's decision to remove the helper buttons like the Shortcut or Camera shutter key feels genuinely puzzling. We also expected better definition from the Portrait photo mode and the 4K videos.

Still, none of these complaints meaningfully change the bigger picture. The vivo X300 Ultra is one of the best Android flagships currently available and arguably one of the most complete camera phones ever made. If you are willing to stomach the asking price and can live with its rather massive camera island and hefty footprint, the X300 Ultra absolutely delivers an Ultra-grade experience.

Pros

• Outstanding and versatile camera system with excellent daylight photo quality.
• Feature-rich video recording with Dolby Vision, Log capture and superb stabilization.
• Excellent LTPO AMOLED display with very high brightness and Ultra HDR support.
• Flagship-grade Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 performance.
• Improved battery life and very fast 100W charging.
• Premium build quality with IP68/IP69 ingress protection.
• eSIM support on international units.

Cons

• 144Hz screen refresh rate is almost never utilized.
• No shortcut key or camera shutter button as seen in the previous models.
• 4K video sharpness from some cameras could be better.
• Portrait mode photos come out somewhat soft.
• Prohibitively expensive, especially in Europe.