Introduction:
The Vivo X100 Ultra is vivo’s first Ultra device and the best Flagship smartphone they have ever put together.
What’s on the Box ?
In the box you’ll find the device itself as well as a soft shell rubber case which matches the color of the phone an 8 Amp charging cable and an 80 W charging block.
Price & Availability:
Unfortunately the X100 Ultra is a Chinese exclusive and there are no plans for it to launch in the global market that said it is relatively well priced in China starting at just 6,499 Chinese U on which works out to roughly $900.
Camera Specification:
So you might be very tempted to import one especially since Vivo stated and I quote the X100 Ultra is a professional camera that can also make calls with a statement like that we just have to Kickstart things off.
Straight away with its camera capabilities the module looks fairly similar to the X100 Pro but its sensor Arrangement is slightly different its camera island is noticeably larger and it sticks out. The back plat quite a bit more there’s now improved size T coating a new Vivo V3 plus Imaging chip and the X100 Ultra is vivo’s first device to use their in-house blue image algorithm which has been in development for 8 years and fixes many issues when taking Snaps in low lit environments. The most intriguing sensor here has to be the new Periscope camera which is now a floating telephoto sensor with a minimum focusing distance of just 15 cm and has an 85 mm focal length for a 3.7 time optical zoom but the most impressive thing about it is that it’s using Samsung’s large 1in 1.4 in sized 200 megapixel isos Sal hp9 sensor making it the largest telephoto sensor ever fitted into a smartphone.
It’s also backed by a wide F 2.67 aperture and offers sea 4.5 level Optical image stabilization the main camera has also seen quite a large upgrade over the X100 Pro as the ultra now uses the newer stacked 23 m met 50 megap 1-in type Sony ly t900 sensor with a new lens design an F 1.75 aperture and gets gimbal stabilization that provides 1.5° Hardware stabilization and ois and lastly the ultrawide camera has also been upgraded it’s a half in sized 50 megapix Sony lt600 sensor with an f2.2 aperture and a 14 mm focal length for a 116° field of view.
And all three of these cameras are treated to 3 different color profiles. Thanks to their partnership with Z there’s Vivid which makes colors pop textured which adds more detail in Shadows and natural which is more true to life since natural is the only mode here developed by Zeiss and offers a very good Natural Balance that’s what we’ll be sticking to for the rest of these photos snapshot mode can be used with the main or Periscope and offers incredible zero shutter lag photos portrait mode looks absolutely insane whether using the main or Periscope with near perfect Edge detection super super macro mode has been taken to another level when using the Periscope sensor thanks to its 15 cm minimum focusing distance and 30 times Max macro Zoom.
Macro mode can also be used with the ultra wide and Main cams but there is a bit of a cropping factor and the main sensor struggles when getting too close to a subject the ultrawide sensor takes very good shots whether using the 50 megapixel high res mode or when bending things down to 12.5 Maps the same can be said when using the main though colors are more muted when using pixel B which is also the case when using the Periscope for a 3.7 times optical zoom snap you can shoot at Native 200 megapixels here bend down at 50 megapixels or further bend down at 12.5 Maps which offers the most true to life colors it’s insane how much detail is retained when zooming in by five times or even 10 times. And that very distant building which you probably didn’t even notice when using the main camera comes out extremely visible when zooming in all the way up to 100 times just like the X100 Pro the ultra can also shoot continuous 4K 60 FPS video which lets you seamlessly switch from the ultra wide to the main to the Periscope in a single video but the Altra takes things a step further by allowing you to keep zooming in all the way up to 20 times Zoom which is double that of the pro variant there’s.
Now also an option for silky smooth 4K 120 FPS video which you don’t see very often in smartphones and this leads to extremely clear 4K 120 FPS slow motion video with when using the main or Periscope cameras both of which can record at even higher frame rates when dropping the resolution. Vivo have now improved their stabilization mode which can now be shot at 2.8k 60fps across all three sensors and it’s no surprise to see that all three cameras can record very stable 4K 60fps regular video what is a treat though is that all the cameras can record Dolby Vision Video at 4K 60 FPS but just like the pro variant 8K video is still limited to just the main camera thankfully there’s still 4K cinematic portrait video options. When using the main or Periscope cameras and those large sensors certainly keep things looking incredible when recording video of a human subject at night when recording regular 4K video at night the main sensor certainly takes the lead in terms of exposure detail and stability but all three sensors take phenomenal photos after the sun goes down the Periscope struggles a bit with noise grain when it starts to zoom in and contrast is a bit lackluster but it’s crazy how much lights is led into the lens when zooming all the way up to a 100 times range Super Moon mode is still around and can only be used with the main and Periscope cameras and of course you can still Zoom all the way up to 100 times. And Astro mode is sticking around too which makes for some fun snaps of the night sky and it’s unreal how much gets lit up the X100 Ultra takes arguably the best nighttime photos of a human subject especially when it comes to detail and portrait mode shots come out very warm and Polished.
At night with both the main and Periscope offering insanely good Edge detection it’s hard to fault the Vivo X100 ultra’s back camera capabilities and I was extremely impressed with the results that came from all three sensors in different lighting conditions so I am extremely excited to see how it Stacks up against other topend camera smartphones.
Design & Built:
The device comes in three different colors that being white dark gray or titanium. I have the titanium color variant which has an AG glass back material and it looks extremely premium with nice silver trims all around. But don’t be fooled the titanium color is just the color as the side frames are still made from aluminum it’s quite a bit thicker and heavier than its Pro counterpart coming in at 9.23 MM and 229 G respectively.
But it’s seen an upgrade in terms of waterproofing as it now offers an ip68 and ip69 certification meaning it can still be submerged at 1.5 M deep for 30 minutes but can now also withstand close range high pressure high temperature water jets just like with the back glass the front glass protection is also unspecified. However the fingerprint sensor is now ultrasonic unlike the optical one we see in the pro model which means it’s more accurate a lot faster and requires just a tap to get into the action the bezels wrapping around the display seem a bit thicker than the pro variant but the punch hole for the selfie camera is now smaller the main reason for this is because the upgraded selfie camera has a narrower 24 mm focal length but overall it’s seen quite a nice upgrade. Now a Samsung made 1 in 2.76 in size 50 megapixel ISO Sal jn1 sensor with an aperture of F 2.45 and makes use of autofocus so naturally selfies come out looking a lot better than any other Vivo Flagship I have ever tested this makes for more natural colors a lot more detail and much better Edge detection when shooting in portrait mode. And the video quality of x100 ultra as well as the microphone quality it’s good to see 4K 60fps selfie video out the box but unfortunately cinematic portrait video is still limited to 1080p resolution when using the selfie camera though I can’t really complain since 4K video. Also 1080p cinematic video come out looking great even at night with superb lighting and very minimal noise grain selfie photos at night look better than any other Flagship I tested and the Flash does a nice job of eliminating Shadows on my face and provides a more natural skin tone.
I’m very happy to see Vivo finally upgrade the selfie camera on their latest Flagship entry I can’t really complain about the results other than the lack of 4K cinematic portrait video.
Display & Features:
It’s time for us to Deep dive into that new display the display is certainly an upgrade over the X100 Pro but it seems identical when compared to the X90 Pro Plus which was also a China exclusive that being a curved 6.78 in E7 AMOLED screen with a QHD resolution that boasts 517 pixels per inch.
And since it’s a 10bit panel it can display over a billion colors and supports Dolby Vision hdr10 hdr10 Plus and wide Vine L1 conent it still uses ltpo technology for a 1 to 120 HZ screen refresh rate has the same 300 HZ touch sampling rate as well as 1440 HZ pwm dimming which is the same as the X90 Pro Plus but less than the X100 Pro. And just like the pro variant the ultra also has 3,000 nits of peak brightness which is almost double that of the X90 Pro Plus since the X100 Ultra is a Chinese exclusive it comes with vivo’s Chinese software known as origin OS 4 which is skinned over Android 14 it may only come with Chinese ROM. But Google services are rooted into the device so you’ll be happy to hear that all of Google’s apps including the Play Store work with no issues but since the main market for this software is China it’s very Chinese driven the side splash screen is rather Chinese and even though there’s a lot more to customize with origin OS when compared to Vio funou OS we see in the global market it can be a bit overwhelming at times and there are certain features that Global users just wouldn’t find.
Useful I can’t really complain though since funou OS is starting to look very outdated so it’s certainly nice to try something different but I would absolutely love it if if VI took the best from origin OS and the best from fun touch OS and created something unique for their Global devices.
Battery & Charging:
Now Vivo have opted for a second generation silicon carbon battery this year so it’s no surprise to see its battery capacity be increased all the way up to 5,500 mlia hours.
Though its charging has taken a bit of a noock since it’s now limited to 80 W wired and 30 W wireless charging speeds and to keep things cool while charging is a new 3D Vapor chamber cooling system with dual layer Cooling and Rapid freezing mechanisms this will no doubt also keep other components from getting too hot which includes up to 1 tbte of ufs 4.0 storage up to 16 gigs of lpddr 5x RAM and of course the 4 nmet run Snapdragon hn3 CPU which is on par if not better than the DIY 9300 seen in the X100 Pro that said it received the highest and 2u score. I have ever seen produced from a smartphone and while its single core performance outdoes the dimensity chip it’s multia lag slightly behind GPU benchmarking is much of a muchness between the two chipsets.
So naturally we were able to maintain an average of 60 FPS while playing ancient impact on maxed out settings which is a very demanding game to play and we were able to do this without any frame stutters or overheating. Thanks to that new cooling system next I fired up Real Racing 3 and was a bit disappointed to see the X100 Ultra kep the game’s frame rates at 60 FPS even though the game doesn’t limit its frame rates nevertheless we we managed another solid 60 FPS on average but we all know that the Snapdragon hn3 can easily play this game at 120 FPS so I really hope that Vivo address this issue with a future software update. But I was very happy to see that we were able to reach 120 FPS while playing Call of Duty mobile without any frame limitations and barely any frame drops vivo’s Ultra smartphone is also packed to the brim in terms of connectivity there’s of course Bluetooth 5.4 NFC and an IR blaster but it also Al features a 25 antenna signal amplification system for 5.5g in China or 5G around the rest of the world.
There’s also now satellite connectivity though it’s limited to China users only and Vivo have also introduced a longrange Wi-Fi 7 mode for stable connections up to 150 M we are also treated to a USB 3.2 type- C Port an x-axis linear vibration motor an upgraded high performance microphone and of course dual stereo speakers with super audio effect support so let’s go ahead and give them a listen enemy Target sighty Care Pack.
Final Thoughts:
The Vivo X100 Ultra is exactly what you would expect from the best Vivo Flagship smartphone ever made it has Rock Solid performance for gaming and day-to-day tasks an impressive cooling system a large silicon carbon battery a pixel popping display. An upgraded selfie camera with 4K capabilities a back camera setup which is almost unrivaled and a stunning design with a solid build and impressive waterproofing. But unfortunately it’s a China exclusive meaning that its software is not quite Global ready and certain features such as satellite connectivity is limited to just China that said this is probably the best camera smartphone I’ve ever had the privilege of testing so Vivo weren’t lying when they said it’s a professional camera that can also make calls and if that’s what you’re after then it might just be worth importing one let me know your thoughts of vivo’s first Ultra device in the comment section down below.
Well that’s for today… See you in the next topic…