vivo X100 Ultra review

Competition

The vivo X100 Ultra competes with the best in the business on the camera front, but the industry-leading picture-taking handsets are typically also the most well-rounded and, in turn, the priciest. With all that in mind, just because the vivo's availability is limited to the Chinese market, doesn't mean its rivals aren't obvious.

Still, let's start with another China-specific release, the Oppo Find X7 Pro. Battery life is nearly identical between the two, but the Find is notably faster to charge, while both feature excellent displays. Out of these two truly excellent camera systems, the vivo will tend to be superior in the dark with its telephoto - a small difference, but it just might be important enough.

The latest Xiaomi Ultra is a global model with all the positive implications for a Google-dependent customer. The 14 Ultra is probably somewhat better at video capture than the X100 Ultra, while in photography the vivo might just be superior for zoom in action vs. a better ultrawide on the Xiaomi. The Xiaomi lags behind in endurance but does counter to some extent in top up speeds, though the vivo still has the upper hand in display brightness.

Speaking of zoom action, the Honor Magic6 Pro comes the closest with its telephoto solution to the one on the X100 Ultra, also relying on a 200MP Samsung sensor (even though the Honor's specs say 180MP). The vivo's implementation is superior in our experience, and we'd pick the X100 Ultra as the better cameraphone altogether. The two are relatively well matched on the fundamentals, so that won't settle it, but the Honor's Google support is a strong advantage.

Of course, no Ultra comparison can be complete without a Galaxy, and the S24 Ultra makes a strong case for itself as a camera, despite its imaging hardware looking a bit unimaginative on paper. The Galaxy is, in fact, potentially more versatile as a video recording device (in terms of controls and settings), while the photography side of things is harder to call. The S24 Ultra has the S Pen, of course, with all the benefits for work and play, plus Samsung's One UI, which is a lot of people's favorite take on Android.

Oppo Find X7 Ultra • Xiaomi 14 Ultra • Honor Magic6 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro

Finally, if you especially enjoy the vivo X100 Ultra's camera system over the above bunch, but you're not too excited about living with its Chinese software, the X100 Pro might just be the right thing for you. It's not the same telephoto, but it's not half bad either and only slightly behind at the things that make the Ultra great - closeups and zoom power. The differences in the main and ultrawide cameras, meanwhile, are as good as non-existent.

vivo X100 Pro (left) is a viable alternative to the Ultra

Verdict

Every now and then we're faced with a phone that we know we're going to love for one reason or another, but we can't have for one reason or another. Usually, it's China-only cameraphones.

The vivo X100 Ultra is one such case. It's got top-class camera hardware, with standout bits at the telephoto side of its zoom range, and it easily converts the numbers into genuinely good photos and video. At this level, comparisons against other phones need to be very specific and tailored to your particular preferences, and a paragraph or two won't tell you which is the best for you. But with a setup that only falls short in one area (and only sort of - the ultrawide is good, but not great), the X100 Ultra is easily one of the best choices for a wide range of shooting enthusiasts.

The X100 Ultra is also a proper flagship handset in the other metrics, of course - it's got a high-end display, tip-tier performance, and solid battery life, with only the slow-ish charging being a blemish when it comes to the fundamentals, but hardly a dealbreaker.

So as on previous occasions when placed in a predicament of this sort, we can conclude in a similar fashion. The X100 Ultra is an amazing cameraphone and we'd be happy if future iterations make it to international markets so we can enjoy them without the concessions of the regional software. As it stands, it's of limited appeal and can only be recommended in niche cases, for folks who know what they're getting into.

Pros

• IP69 in addition to the regular IP68 - so you can pressure-wash it?
• One of the brightest displays we've tested.
• Spectacular telephoto camera, particularly great at night and at close range.
• Actually great selfies.

Cons

• Only available in China and it's on the Origin OS software branch.
• The ultrawide camera is not among the best around.
• Measured charging speed not very competitive.