vivo X300 Ultra review
Design, build quality, handling
Not a lot has changed with the X300 Ultra design-wise, coming from the X200 Ultra, but there are some noteworthy differences we will go over. The X300 Ultra still, frankly, looks like a display attached to a large circular camera assembly more than a traditional "slab" smartphone. That frankly makes sense, given the X300 Ultra's camera chops.
Vivo has frankly embraced the aesthetic and has leaned hard into it, making the camera island as similar as possible to an actual DSLR lens, complete with writing and grippy ring patterns on the outside. Of course, the appeal is going to be subjective, but we kind of like it, even down to the ZEISS and "T*" logos in the center of the camera island.
Other than that, there is nothing particularly interesting about the phone's back side. We think the particular dual LED flash positioning and shape also play into the whole camera aesthetic nicely. The "VIVO" text has been moved around since last year's model and is not vertical along the phone's side, and it looks a lot more subtle.
While the overall silhouette of the device hasn't changed meaningfully, gone are the slightly rounded corners on the front and back. Both surfaces are now perfectly flat. This makes the middle frame slightly wider, which we do think improves grip somewhat.
Speaking of which, it comes as no surprise that the X300 Ultra is top-heavy with all that camera hardware on one end. In fact, it is kind of impressive that the balance isn't more off and you can actually get a good, comfy grip on the phone.
The vivo X300 Ultra comes in Black, Silver or Green. There is absolutely nothing noteworthy about our black review unit color-wise, while the white and the green variants both have two color segments on the back. It has a bit of a marble-like pattern going on as well.
It is interesting to note that the middle frame is color-matched to the back side, as closely as possible, of course, since it is made of aluminum, unlike the back and front, which are both glass.
Speaking of materials, vivo says that the front and back are covered with something called "Armor Glass", which, in our experience with the vivo X300 Pro, is not very scratch-resistant. As we said, the middle frame is made of aluminum, and both look and feel premium.
The X300 Ultra feels very sturdy and well-made. There is no flex or hollowness to the chassis whatsoever. The phone is also nicely sealed, with an IP68/IP69 ingress protection rating, which should allow it to survive up to 30 minutes in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water. Pretty much the confidence you would expect out of a premium flagship device these days.
The vivo X300 Ultra has a pretty standard set of controls. Particularly now that there is no dedicated camera shutter button on the side, like the one the X200 Ultra has. Frankly, we are not sure why vivo decided to remove it.
vivo X300 Ultra
The volume rocker and power button are both positioned on the right-hand side. Their vertical location is comfortable, and they are nice and clicky, which we appreciate.
There is nothing on the opposite, left side of the device - we are certainly missing the Shortcut key we had on the vivo X300 Pro.
The top frame is mostly empty too, except for a small trio of speaker holes.
The bottom side is the busy one. It houses the Type-C port, a larger grill for the bottom-firing speaker, what seems to be two separate microphone holes and the SIM tray. The SIM tray can hold up to two Nano-SIM cards, and our global review unit also supports eSIM.
As mentioned, the front of the X300 Ultra is also completely flat. Gone is the gentle curve of the X200 Ultra. The display bezels are really thin.
There are no visible sensors anywhere on the front. Everything is nicely tucked away underneath the panel.
The X300 Ultra uses an under-display fingerprint reader. It is of the fancier ultrasonic variety. It is both snappy and reliable, so no complaints there.
