vivo X200 Ultra review

Design, build quality, handling

Modern-day high-end cameraphones all tend to have similar designs and the X200 Ultra isn't unlike other Ultras - current models from competing brands and vivo's own Pro and Ultra models share the same broad strokes. The X200 Ultra does have its own personality too, of course.

The large circular camera assembly is the default approach to fitting several large-sensor modules. The X200 Ultra has its three cameras neatly arranged, with a fourth circle just for appearances. What's most unusual is that there's no gradual transition between the flat back and the camera bump - it's a one-step design with the entire 61mm circle sticking out by a good 7mm. Compare it to the X100 Ultra with its intermediate step and two chamfers.

X100 Ultra (left) next to X200 Ultra

You'd think it would be an issue or at least a nuisance in handling but we didn't experience it catching on to the insides of pockets or anything, though that just might vary from person to person (and pocket to pocket). If anything, we feel like you could use the camera bump to prop up the phone with your index finger, lifting some of the weight off of the pinkie.

The glass back of our red review unit has a frosted finish with a bit of a pearlescent effect going on - it's sort of a royal red hue that looks quietly stylish rather than flashy. The black colorway has a bit of a knurled crosshatch texture, while the silver option has vertical stripes up to the camera bump equator. Each has its own appeal, but the fact that the different colors come with different effects could be an issue - what if you like silver but you don't care for the striped texture?

Over on the front, vivo has moved away from the distinctly curved sides on the X100 Ultra. The X200 Ultra could mostly be described as having a flat facade, though there's now the gentlest rounding of the panel along the entire periphery, ensuring a pleasant swiping experience without compromising handling (if we assume that more pronouncedly curved screens are detrimental to handling, that is). Still, the Find X8 Ultra is almost perfectly flat, this one isn't quite.

The fingerprint reader is where you'd expect it to be and it works without incident - yor thumbs find it naturally, and it's fast and reliable.

The flatter front has resulted in a flatter frame too - there's now a more substantial aluminum rail to hold on to. A new addition this time around is a camera control button - or, rather, a touch and press sensitive strip placed where a shutter release button would be, if the X200 Ultra was a camera-camera.

We're a bit skeptical about its usefulness - on this vivo as much as on any other phone. In any case, if you're a fan, you get to have it, and if you don't want it, you can disable it.

The X200 Ultra is dust-tight and water-resistant and carries IP68/IP69 ratings - so it's good for submersion, as well as high-temperature water jets.

The SIM slot will take up to two nano SIMs, but the phone doesn't have eSIM support.

The X200 Ultra has a Photography Kit designed for it that includes a case, a battery grip, and a handful of lanyards, among other bits and pieces. Most importantly, though, the kit features a telephoto extender lens that takes the zoom camera all the way to a 200mm equivalent focal length.

We took an in-depth look at the extender in a separate article.