Vivo X300 Ultra Review: So Close to Perfection It Hurts
Vivo's first Ultra ever sold outside China pairs a dual-200MP Zeiss camera system with class-leading battery life — independent reviews call it one of the best camera phones ever made, with a sky-high price as the one clear catch.
The Vivo X300 Ultra marks a genuine first: Vivo's top-tier Ultra branding, previously kept as a China exclusive while only the Pro tier went global, is now sold worldwide. Digital Trends summed up the result bluntly — "so close to perfection it hurts" — and that framing holds up remarkably well across independent reviews.
Design and Build
Available in Phantom Black and Alpine White, with IP68/IP69 water and dust resistance and a 3D ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, the X300 Ultra's build quality drew little criticism across reviews. The one consistent design complaint: Digital Trends specifically called out the removal of the dedicated camera control button that featured on the X200 Ultra, calling it "a step backwards for a device that places such heavy emphasis on photography."
Display
A 6.82-inch LTPO OLED panel at 2K resolution (3168 x 1440) runs up to 144Hz with a genuinely bright 4,500 nits local peak brightness. 91Mobiles called it "among the best available" — a strength that's drawn essentially no criticism across the reviews surveyed for this piece.
Camera
This is where the X300 Ultra earns its reputation. A 200MP Sony LYT-901 main sensor at 1/1.12-inch, paired with a 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HP0 telephoto offering 3.7x optical zoom on a gimbal-stabilised mount, and a 50MP Sony LYT-818 ultrawide, make up the core system — with optional 200mm and 400mm screw-on Zeiss teleconverters available for genuine long-range work. GSMArena's testing praised Vivo's decision to stick with a single, highly capable telephoto rather than chasing a dual-telephoto trend, calling the 85mm zoom "one of the most versatile telephoto solutions around." 91Mobiles found the three-lens system "the most consistent I have tested on any smartphone," while noting the teleconverter kit is genuinely optional — useful for planned, distant shoots, not something casual users need to buy. Android Authority's comparison against rivals specifically noted the X300 Ultra offers "superior camera hardware" versus the Galaxy S26 Ultra, at a real cost premium.
Performance
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on a 3nm process, with 12 or 16GB of RAM, delivers exactly the performance this price commands — Digital Trends called it "incredibly fast" with effortless multitasking and excellent gaming performance. The one honest caveat, also from Digital Trends: thermal management under sustained heavy workloads could be better, though performance retention compared favourably against competing devices even with that limitation.
Software
OriginOS 6 has genuinely matured, per Digital Trends, into "a polished and genuinely enjoyable software experience." That said, reviewer opinions on its visual style split in an interesting way — Android Authority's reviewer using the Chinese model felt it looked "too much like iOS," while a colleague using the global model felt the opposite, that ColorOS and Magic OS looked more like clones of Apple's own recent redesign. 91Mobiles flagged lockscreen notification polish and software update policy as genuinely trailing Samsung and Google, a real if secondary criticism.
Battery and Charging
A 6,600mAh battery with 100W wired and 40W wireless charging delivers what Digital Trends called battery life "among the best in the flagship segment," with a 50% charge achievable in just over 20 minutes per Trusted Reviews' testing. One genuine caveat from Notebookcheck's detailed power testing: idle power consumption measured noticeably high initially, though a subsequent software update measurably improved it — worth knowing that early units may have shown worse real-world endurance than the battery capacity alone would suggest.
Verdict
GSMTechTok Verdict
The Vivo X300 Ultra has earned some of the strongest independent review consensus of any phone in this catalog — a genuinely best-in-class camera system, excellent display, strong performance, and class-leading battery life. The honest, repeated catches are the removed camera control button, some early software polish issues, and a genuinely high price that puts it in direct competition with the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S26 Ultra. If photography is your priority, it's very difficult to find a better phone currently available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Vivo X300 Ultra the first Vivo Ultra sold outside China?
Yes — this is genuinely the first time Vivo has taken its top-tier Ultra branding to a global audience, after keeping previous Ultra models as China exclusives and selling only the Pro tier internationally.
What happened to the dedicated camera control button?
It's gone. Digital Trends specifically called this out as a step backwards for a phone this focused on photography, since the X200 Ultra had one and reviewers found it genuinely useful for quick camera access.
Does the X300 Ultra actually need the optional teleconverter lenses?
No — 91Mobiles was clear that the three native lenses are more than enough for casual, spontaneous photography. The 200mm and 400mm screw-on teleconverters make sense specifically for planned shoots of distant subjects, not everyday use.
Price history · 90 days · GBP
X300 Ultra
Current
£1,399
90d Low
£1,308
18 Aug
90d High
£1,426
29 Jun
Launch price
£1,399
All-time low ↓
Price tracking from major UK retailers. Updated daily. Prices may vary.
How it compares: X300 Ultra vs X300 Pro
Vivo
X300 Ultra
From £1,399
Vivo
X300 Pro
From £1,099
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Chip
Dimensity 9500
200MP + 200MP Zeiss
Main cam
200MP Zeiss APO telephoto
6,600mAh · 100W
Battery
6,510mAh
From £1,399
Price
From £1,099
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