This will be the first time that Vivo’s ‘Ultra’ flagship phone will arrive in the Indian market. The X100 Ultra never came here, and neither did the X200 Ultra last year. Finally. There were business considerations that made sense at the time, including currency valuations, questions about demand versus shipments that made financial sense, and an ecosystem of lenses that was not as mature as is expected now. Third time lucky, with Vivo’s third generation ‘Ultra’ flagship. X300 Ultra joins existing Ultra-Flagship Competition Samsung and Xiaomi, who have, for different periods of time, already found the specifications (and courage) to sell their ultra flagships in this market. But there is a set of relevant questions that you need to answer.
Vivo X300 Ultra price is ₹1,59,999 and as expected sits at the top of Vivo’s smartphone portfolio, effectively taking over the flagship position from the impressive X300 Pro. But still, Ultra is better than Pro in any scheme of things. There’s the X300 Ultra, then there’s the X300 Pro (that’s it). ₹1,09,999), X300 (approx.). ₹75,999) and X Fold5 ( ₹1,49,999) on one side. The fact that the X300 Ultra will be joined by the X300 FE ( ₹79,999), which we will analyze separately (I think it has a lot of relevance, especially when pricing is considered), strengthens Vivo’s flagship portfolio. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 Ultra both face tough price competition ₹Starting at Rs 1,39,999, and the latter availing the benefits of Leica camera co-partnership.
There is also a lens perspective going on. Vivo X300 Ultra can be purchased with photography kit ₹2,09,999—This includes a Telephoto Extender Gen 2, a Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Ultra, and an Imaging Grip Kit. Each of these can also be purchased separately, and that’s what I would recommend. The 400mm Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Ultra lens is most useful if you feel comfortable carrying it around, and it won’t cost you much. ₹27,999. 200mm Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Price ₹15,999.
Photography as a starting point
The Vivo X300 Ultra’s interactions should be looked at with the camera and photography offering before anything else. There’s a true Zeiss influence visible from the start thanks to this triple camera setup consisting of a 200-megapixel wide camera, a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (this is an important detail for lens accessories) and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide, which is certainly not a weak link if you’ve assumed so from looking at the megapixel numbers. The effect Vivo and Zeiss are going for here is the focal length option.
The camera app will, by default, unlock 14mm, 35mm and 85mm focal lengths, with the latter specifically taking advantage of Vivo’s consistently benchmark-setting image stabilization technology. This lens is preceded by the Telephoto Extender Gen 2 and Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Ultra unlocked 200mm and 400mm equivalent focal lengths. I’ll get to these lenses in a moment, as they deserve their own moment in the spotlight. That said, do you remember the question I posed earlier in this article? You need to decide whether a large lens attachment to the phone (that too a thick mounting capable case) is cumbersome or convenient in your book? I know my answer, and you definitely won’t agree.
That said, it’s important to note the great work Vivo and Zeiss have done with the X300 Ultra’s cameras. As a starting point, the hardware in the game is top notch. It’s a trio on the back, consisting of a 200-megapixel LYTIA 901 sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide LYT818 sensor, and a 200-megapixel telephoto sensor. Interestingly, Vivo has again pushed the envelope with optical image stabilization in all three lenses – the primary wide is CIPA 6.0 standard, the ultra-wide is CIPA 6.5 and the telephoto follows CIPA 7.0 standard, keeping in mind its unique demands.
Not to get confused between specifications and standards, at the moment you won’t find a better still smartphone than the Vivo X300 Ultra for moving shots and action photography – not everyone in the Ultra bracket around it leaves any complaints on that front. This is how good the stabilization technology of Vivo and Zeiss is.
The Camera and Imaging Products Association, or CIPA, is a Japan-based international trade body that maintains the CIPA standard. The CIPA 7.0 stabilization standard is the latest at the moment, and the Vivo X300 Ultra is the first in the Indian market to feature this technology. The Huawei Pura 90 Pro Max is another, although it’s not sold on these shores. What’s immediately obvious, and I say this as someone who has extensively experienced previous
Telephoto, and AI
Think of the Vivo X300 Ultra as a full-fledged camera, especially if you get the telescope lens on offer, and a phone bolted on for good measure. What I’m missing is an option to turn on AI image processing fully (when using the I say this because there are examples at 800mm zoom and beyond, and if the frame is complex, the AI ​​processing becomes a little more obvious.
There’s a good balance in how the colors are tuned, with most photos having a very perceptible richness, without a hint of too much saturation or unnatural colors. This is true, as you’d expect from an ‘ultra phone’ for daytime and low-light photos. If you thought Vivo’s X300 Pro was the company’s best camera effort yet, this sets a new reality to work with. Other small details also matter, such as 4K60fps video recording on all rear cameras as well as the front camera.
My favorite is the new Refined Photography mode, followed by Zeiss (Natural) – the former shows exposure and colors exactly as the human eye saw the frame, and the latter is ideal if you prefer exposures that are a notch higher without ruining the colours.
That said, Vivo needs some work on the camera app, which is a confusing mix of zoom levels in “x” and focal lengths in “mm” measurements. And to be fair, most users would be more comfortable with X number instead. The primary lens on the Vivo Here, it works as 1x and means you get a more focused and likeable tighter approach to the subject.
The X300 Ultra doesn’t have camera control buttons, and that’s a major drawback for a superphone that boasts such serious photography credentials. I couldn’t find a way to make the power key customizable when the camera is in use.
Heft and gravitas
Amidst all the camera focus, it’s entirely human to want to lose focus on the other elements that make the Vivo X300 Ultra an ultra-phone. The design is one of them, quite well made. The Eclipse Black looks particularly classy. There is a large camera island, which is clearly larger than that of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. This is where Samsung has probably done a pretty good job of maintaining a distinct personality with the Galaxy S26 Ultra.
The overall design language is largely similar to ultra-flagships, as space is needed to work with the physics of optics and battery capacity. Likeable, even for a fairly large and bulky phone. Awesome build quality, attention to detail as you would expect. For example, the engraving on the camera ring is something that connoisseurs expect and appreciate.
Vivo has carried over the 6.82-inch Zeiss Master Color display from the previous generation of Ultra flagships in terms of size and resolution, which never came to India. Of course, with the extensive Zeiss influence on the camera, it doesn’t make sense to have a display that doesn’t match the photography output. And on the point of things that just work, the 6,600mAh Vivo uses Semi-Solid-State Battery 2.0 technology.
In the real world, this simply means about two days of battery life under regular workloads, and even with extensive camera use, you’ll still get more than a day before it drops to 15% charge and requests to plug the charger in.
It’s incredible how good the Vivo X300 Ultra is as a camera and a phone. You may have personal preferences for overall tonality and tuning between the three combinations (Xiaomi-Leica, Oppo-Hasselblad and Vivo-Zeiss), but the reality is that the Zeiss optimizations and Vivo’s generational enhancements are on the same level as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra in terms of personal preference for most photography preferences.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as its beating heart, and the That’s one of the many things Vivo’s engineers have focused on improving. I’m glad Vivo is selling the X300 Ultra in just one variant (16GB+512GB), which keeps things simple.
Questions you need to answer
It also requires that simple specific combination, because the real headache is deciding whether to purchase the Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Ultra and the Telephoto Extender Gen 2 accessories. Especially before spending a lot of money on these. Chances are, if you feel the need, you’ll already have a separate digital camera system. Would you give it up for an AI augmented photography experience that may or may not be to your liking?
Secondly, the Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Ultra is comparatively quite heavy and large – try walking around a public place with it. It’s heavy, it will attract unwanted attention, and you don’t want dust getting inside it. you get the idea. Perhaps the more compact Telephoto Extender Gen 2 should have gone further in this direction. Last but not least, when the X300 Ultra’s telephoto sensor can deliver very clear and detailed handheld zoom photos at 1195mm, is there really a need for a separate lens?
(Vishal Mathur is Technology Editor, Hindustan Times. When he doesn’t understand technology, he often searches for an elusive analog space in the digital world.)
