Vivo’s X300 Ultra has the best cameras in any phone

A few months ago, I wrote that the telephoto camera is the only lens that matters more, at least when it comes to ultra-class flagships. As phones got better, cameras became a place where manufacturers tried to stand out. As cameras improved, telephoto lenses became the next point of focus. The most recent Ultra phones from Xiaomi, Oppo and Huawei have made telephoto, above all else, their selling point. Vivo’s X300 Ultra is doing something different.

Instead of taking its telephoto hardware to more extremes, Vivo has left it mostly as is. The company has focused its efforts on a significantly improved 35mm main camera, which is unique among the competition for its narrow, natural focal length. With the best ultrawide camera in any phone and new pro-level video features, the result is a camera system that feels evenly balanced between all three rear lenses. It’s a less flashy approach, but the total package is more versatile and useful than its competitors and by far my favorite to use.

The main camera is definitely the best of the three. The 200-megapixel, 1/1.12-inch-type Sony Lithia 901 sensor marks a serious jump in both size and resolution from last year’s X200 Ultra. But it retains the camera’s best feature: the 35mm-equivalent focal length. It’s narrower than most other phones – 23-26mm is typical – but close enough to what photographers see in their default lens that it feels natural, close to the scope of the human eye. This is also close to many focal lengths phones Used to use. If you’ve ever bemoaned the fact that your main camera seems more and more like ultrawide, this is the phone for you.

The telephoto camera has a 200-megapixel resolution, 85mm focal length, and 1/1.4-inch sensor, essentially the same as the X200 Ultra. The slightly narrower f/2.7 aperture might make the X300 seem like a downgrade, but better stabilization and sensor and processing tweaks give this iteration the edge overall.

Then there’s ultrawide. This too has not changed much from year to year, but it remains unique for its sensor size. It is bigger than iPhone 17 Pro main Also supports camera and optical image stabilization. This is a prime camera specification with an ultrawide lens at the top in every sense. No other ultrawide comes close.

The selfie camera is the only one that isn’t particularly impressive: a 50-megapixel shooter with a comparatively small 1/2.76-inch sensor. It’s okay; Other cameras are great.

Photos from all three rear lenses are of remarkably comparable quality in almost any lighting. The only difference I detected is that the telephoto and ultrawide are more susceptible to motion blur when shooting fast subjects like cats or cars, and even more so when it’s dark. Otherwise, choosing between lenses feels like choosing the right focal length to frame a shot, without the usual concerns about tradeoffs in quality. The photos are helped by natural color-processing and a wide range of quite impressive film simulations. Vivo’s color science is my favorite on any phone, and this year is no exception.

Vivo has not just focused on still photography. It’s doubled down on video this year, although the upgrades here are really aimed at professionals. You can now record 4K, 120fps, 10-bit log video on all three rear lenses, import custom 3D LUTs, and use Pro Video shooting mode for full manual control. If you don’t know what half of it means, you’re not alone! This stuff is beyond the needs of most of us, including me.

Like rival Ultra phones, it also has a set of camera add-ons and accessories. My colleague Allison Johnson has already spent time playing with Vivo’s camera grip and separate 200mm and 400mm telephoto extender lenses, which can capture extraordinary shots at a range that no other phone could ever manage. At MWC Barcelona 2026, I had a chance to play around for a while with the custom SmallRig camera cage developed for the phone, which squeezes stabilization, cooling, and fill light into a pretty compact package. These are all sold separately and are based on Vivo’s claim that the X300 Ultra can be the basis of a semi-professional camera system if you want.

However, this is a phone, not just a camera, so I’d better talk about the rest of it too. The biggest flaw with the X300 Ultra for me is its bland design. My black model is a very dull-looking device, and while the two-tone effects on the green and white versions are better, neither is a patch on the camera-inspired aesthetics of the latest Xiaomi and Oppo phones. The camera island of the

Other features are on par with rival Ultra phones, but impressive compared to those from Apple and Samsung: a combined IP68 and IP69 protection rating, a massive 6,600mAh silicon-carbon battery, and a 144Hz refresh rate for its 6.8-inch OLED display. Then there’s the standard flagship stuff, like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM, and a nice promise of five years of Android OS updates and seven years of security patches. The phone runs on Vivo’s OriginOS, an improvement over its older software but still the weakest among the major players, with a bland design and lots of preinstalled apps and ads.

Ultras are tech demos similar to flagship consumer products. They’re an excuse for phone companies to show off not only their technological capabilities, but also a vision for making the “best” phones at the moment. As processors and displays and water-resistance ratings have become universal standards that have proven difficult to improve upon, it’s cameras where manufacturers can set out their stall. And Vivo’s pitch is clear: the best camera is one that’s great at every lens, not just one or two.

As tech demos go, it looks pretty practical, except for the price. The X300 Ultra isn’t launching in the US or UK, but is available in some European countries, including Spain, Italy, and Austria, as well as across Asia. Its €1,999 (about $2,340) price certainly isn’t cheap, and its photography accessories add hundreds more, though it costs the same as the 1TB iPhone 17 Pro Max in the same markets. It’s expensive, but for what you’re getting, it should probably be.

I don’t think it can be the best phone for that money. this is one Very good A phone with great display, big battery and flagship performance. But the design is heavy, and boring, and maybe a little ugly. Vivo’s software also bothers me often. Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra is a slightly better all-round package, with an attractive design and a more polished OS. But the X300 Ultra’s three exceptional lenses are so consistent and so consistently excellent that all other concerns fade away when I use the camera.

If I were investing my money right now, I’d buy the Xiaomi. But if I had to choose who is winning this year’s Ultra Camera contest, my vote would go to Vivo.

Photography by Dominic Preston/The Verge