In the early to mid-2000s, cameras in phones already existed but they could only produce shots that looked dark and pixelated. If you wanted a good photo, you’d have to shell out thousands for a digicam or if you’re flushed, a DSLR.
When Quality Meant Carrying Extra Gear
While digicams were easier to carry, DSLRs, on the other hand, were bulky and heavy which meant carrying a separate bag to place it in. Not to mention, it costs a fortune to own, not just because of the body but also because of the accessories you need with it.
Where Smartphones Started to Carve a Path
As the years went by, smartphones quietly evolved to the point where they have surpassed digicams in both portability and quality. Now that that’s been conquered, they’re setting their sights for the next big thing, professional grade cameras. At the forefront of that push is vivo’s X series.
Today, the vivo X300 Ultra not just stands as a smartphone with a good camera, it’s a smartphone built for the sole purpose of replacing the camera entirely. I mean just look at the massive camera module mound, it looks like a phone built around a camera and not the other way around.
Buy One, Get Three
At the heart of it all is a 200 MP 85mm ZEISS Gimbal Grade APO telephoto sensor that captures everything from portraits, concerts, basketball games, and street scenes clearly from a distance even without using the extenders.
Replicating that on a dedicated camera means buying either a zoom lens or an 85 mm prime lens, both of which are bulky and expensive. And if you’re worried about the quality, the vivo X300 Ultra zooms while maintaining detail, accuracy, and stability, as if you were shooting just a few feet away.
And vivo did not stop there.
Say you’re a filmmaker or an aspiring one, the 35 mm Sony LYTIA 901 ZEISS documentary camera should provide you with all your needs to create content that tells a story or maybe even someone’s story. And as for your landscape needs, the 14 mm ultra-wide camera captures wide shots without losing quality.
With just these three lenses, the vivo X300 Ultra’s price is already starting to make sense. I mean it’s not cheap by any means but comparing that with a dedicated camera and the accompanying lenses, and well… It’s gonna be a close fight.
Not Your Ordinary Video Camera
All that I’ve mentioned so far are still on the photography side. The vivo X300 Ultra’s video capabilities are another thing.
4K at 30fps isn’t a rarity these days. In fact, a lot of new smartphones come standard with 4K/30fps, some even reaching 60 fps, the vivo X300 Ultra goes beyond that.
Aside from supporting a multi-focal 4K at 120fps, it also supports 10-bit Log video recording, Dolby Vision, and professional color workflows that would rival more expensive cinema cameras.
For us normies, these features may sound excessive, but for creators, vloggers, and filmmakers, they are what we would call “non-negotiables”.
Log video gives the user more flexibility when color grading because it retains much more data. Dolby Vision improves dynamic range which captures the details in the brightest and darkest parts of a scene. And last but not the least, vivo’s Pro Video mode gives the users a lot of manual control, similar to what you would find on professional grade cameras.
Gear Up
If you’re still unconvinced, then the vivo X300 Ultra’s photography\er kit should hit the message home. For an additional ₱40,000, you’ll get two ZEISS telephoto extenders, one 200 mm and one 400 mm equivalent focal lengths. Plus a dedicated grip that adds physical controls, zoom levers, mounting support, and an additional 2300 mAh battery to keep you going.
Other accessories include a tripod collar ring, 2 mount rings, a filter adapter ring, a phone strap with 3 quick release hooks, and a lens adapter ring, all made in collaboration with PGYTECH.
At this point, the vivo X300 Ultra feels more like a camera than a smartphone. But make no mistake ‘cause the smartphone side also means business.
Here’s a few shots that we took using the two telephoto extenders.
As Good as It Looks
Under the hood is Qualcomm’s best, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. This combination handles gaming, editing, and multitasking without breaking a sweat. Plus, there’s also a dedicated Pro Imaging Chip VS1+ to handle all the image processing.
To give you an idea just how powerful this phone is, we ran our usual suite of benchmark apps. In AnTuTu Benchmark V11, the vivo X300 Ultra managed to score a whopping 3,908,893. On GeekBench 6, it scored 3506 in single-core and 10126 in multi-core then on the GPU side, it scored 27839.
Powering everything is a 6600 mAh BlueVolt battery, and if you’ve ever used a vivo device or read one of our previous reviews then there’s a good chance that you’ve already heard of vivo’s reputation when it comes to battery life.
That being said, with our testing, the vivo X300 Ultra managed to last 20 hours and 33 minutes. Still impressive but not as impressive as the X300 Pro’s 23 hours. Although I think that comes with the territory, especially with such a massive camera.
Charging on the other hand gets a slight boost, from 90W on the X300 Pro to 100W FlashCharge so downtime on the X300 Ultra won’t keep you for longer.
It’s Not for Everyone and That’s Okay
After all that’s said and done, one thing is clear, the vivo X300 Ultra is not for everyone. But that’s not the point. Most of the people that’ll invest in a phone of this caliber are creators, vloggers, filmmakers, and enthusiasts who work heavily with photo and video production.
For those people, the ₱109,999 (₱149,999 if you opt for the photography kit) is easier to swallow. For everyone else, myself included, the vivo X300 Ultra feels like dreaming of buying a Bugatti or a Koenigsegg. Not something most people will buy, but something that pushes the entire industry forward.
Window to the Future
Since I’ve already used the analogy of cars, I’ll give you another one. Almost everyone can agree that F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport. It’s where cutting-edge technologies debut. Not everyone can afford to drive or even buy one (if it’s even possible) but many of us still tune in. That’s because most of the technology that debuts in Formula 1 trickles down at some point to the more accessible commuter cars.
The same can be said for smartphones. The features that we enjoy now like fast charging, high refresh rate displays, and useful AI features used to only exist on higher end smartphones. But now, almost every smartphone, regardless of the price point, enjoys those features I just mentioned.
Who knows… we could see these camera innovations on vivo’s next mid-range devices.
Get the vivo X300 Ultra in vivo concept stores nationwide or online via vivo e-store and Shopee.