Vivo X300 Ultra is on the brink, the ultra-camera phone bringing major upgrades

Pixel phones used to be the king in the smartphone camera department, but not anymore. After the Google Pixel phones, the Korean-giant "Samsung" caught up to the camera-game. Later, the Chinese phone-makers like Oppo and Vivo caught up. It was really interesting to see how the software processing also known as image processing played an insane role initially. Now smartphone camera hardware finally caught up to the image processing. Also, Oppo and Vivo finally caught up to what used to be Pixel's leagues-ahead camera processing. Last year's Vivo X200 Pro was already top of the line an "A" grade camera. Then this year's Vivo X300 Pro takes the camera quality to even further at an A+ grade. Recent news now revealed that the cherry-on-top "Ultra" version is coming soon. Today, I am going to talk about the specs and what to expect from the Vivo X300 Ultra smartphone.

Major upgrades are gonna be on the processor and camera hardware. The Vivo X300 Pro had a Mediatek Dimensity 9500 (3 nm) processor vs the coming Vivo X300 Ultra will have the Qualcomm SM8850-AC Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm) processor. So you see the big shift there with Dimensity vs Snapdragon. The max clock-speed difference on a single core between the two is 4.6 GHz on Snapdragon vs 4.2 GHz on Dimensity. That's not a big difference but if you compare all 8-cores, there is a significant difference between those 2 processors. The Vivo X300 Ultra is gonna be noticeably more powerful than the Vivo X300 Pro in terms of processing speed.

The camera hardware has some pretty significant upgrades too. On the Vivo X300 Pro the main camera was 50 MP, but with this new Vivo X300 Ultra the main camera is upgraded to 200 MP, which is a huge hardware upgrade in my opinion. You can take better photos with more resolution and details at daytime. Vivo has good image processing to help optimize the hi-res 200-MP shots. Also, the telephoto lens will have good upgrade too. Now the resolution remains the same 200 MP, so the upgrade in on the stabilization mechanism. The Vivo X300 Ultra will be having Gimbal OIS tech. This Gimbal-like stabilization not only shifts the lens or sensor (like OIS) but also moves the camera module. If true, this could be a big deal to watch out for.

Slightly larger and higher resolution display with the upcoming Vivo X300 Ultra phone. The size difference is 6.78 inch on X300 Pro vs 6.82 inch on Vivo X300 Ultra. The resolution is 1260 by 2800 on X300 Pro vs 1440 by 3168 pixels on the X300 Ultra. So, slight upgrade with the resolution but noting significant. Also, the battery is 7000 mAh now vs 6510 mAh on the X300 Pro. Charging is faster via wired at 100 watts on the Ultra vs 90 watts on the Pro.

There might be display-port feature baked into the USB 3.2 connection for the Vivo X300 Ultra, which the Vivo X300 Pro doesn't have. Because of the Snapdragon processor that I detailed earlier, the GPU will be upgraded too. Arm G1-Ultra GPU on the Vivo X300 Pro vs Adreno 840 GPU (Snapdragon) on the Vivo X300 Ultra smartphone. The wide-angle camera, wireless charging, front camera, Operating System and water-resistance ratings are pretty much remains the same.

For the coming Vivo X300 Ultra, listings show the telephoto section already includes a periscope module with 3.7× optical zoom at 85 mm equivalent, and the same optional add-on zoom lens spec (f/2.3, 200 mm, 2.35× optical) appears in early spec sheets, suggesting Ultra will support this external tele-converter too. In practice, that means X300 Ultra would combine its native telephoto and the physical Zeiss-branded extender to push even further in optical reach.

The core difference is that the Ultra’s native camera hardware and sensor layout are expected to be more advanced overall. So, both phones can have the add-on zoom lens but the on-board camera hardware upgrade on the Vivo X300 Ultra will make the add-on have more extended functionality. In my opinion, the accessory kit is very exciting to look at when attached to the phone - kinda looks like a cool rig. I hope more brands come up with this kinda add-on in the future.

Check out those articles from above, you can click on those linked images to read the articles. A while ago I published a review of the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G smartphone, check that out if you are into budget phones. In case you are interested in portable speakers, I compared 3 Boombox type speakers from 3 different brands such as Soundcore, Tribit and JBL. So don't forget to also check out that detailed comparison article about the JBL Boombox 3 vs Tribit Stormbox Blast vs Soundcore Boom 2 Plus.

The Vivo X300 Ultra is rumored for a March 2026 launch in China, with a global rollout expected shortly after in Q2 2026. The previous Vivo X200 also had an Ultra version, the Vivo X200 Ultra, which was released in April, 2025. So it is almost certain that the Vivo X300 Ultra is coming soon. On top of that the leaks give us a lot of technical details about the hardware.

You should expect noticeable difference in gaming and video editing. If you are a pro smartphone user, you might get a smoother and faster app-opening experience. The image processing might feel faster with better image quality. Also, the display will be slightly better that you may not notice right away. The battery life and charging will be a bit better. With some other minor improvements here and there, I think the "Ultra" name kinda gets a pass from me. Check out gsmarena.com for more specs.

Also, please check out the JBL Charge 6 vs Charge 5 story for highlights.
IF you're interested in mid-sized portable speakers, check my JBL Charge 6 vs Bose SoundLink Plus article. The JBL Charge 6 did better in the head-to-head comparison.