This is no longer just a phone! The Vivo X300 Ultra, aiming to replace professional mirrorless cameras, is coming to the Czech Republic

Until now, the vivo brand in the Czech Republic has played it somewhat safe, reserving its sharpest ammunition for the domestic Chinese market. However, with the vivo X300 Ultra, this era ends. A device has arrived in our editorial office that makes no compromises and goes directly after the best on the market, including the recently launched Oppo Find X9 Ultra. With a price tag of 46,999 CZK, vivo clearly signals that it is no longer “just another in line,” but a player who wants to dictate the rules of mobile photography.

Photographic Revolution: Why is 35mm more than 24mm?

The main draw of the X300 Ultra is its optical audacity. While almost every modern smartphone uses a focal length of around 23–24mm as its main lens (which is essentially a wide-angle shot), vivo, for the first time here, is massively betting on 35mm for its main sensor, the Sony LYTIA 901 (1/1.12″). For a layman, it’s just a number; for a photographer, it’s a holy grail. The 35mm focal length is the foundation of documentary and reportage photography – it offers a natural perspective close to the human eye and eliminates the unpleasant facial distortion at the edges that is simply unavoidable with common 24mm lenses.

And what if you need a wider shot? Here comes the second ingenious move. The ultrawide lens (14mm) uses a giant Sony LYTIA 818 sensor with a size of 1/1.28″. That’s an area that other flagships have for their main cameras! Thanks to the brutal resolution and chip quality, you can use this ultrawide even with a crop to 24mm or 28mm (so-called in-sensor crop), and still get an output that quality-wise outperforms the main sensors of regular phones. Vivo essentially gives you two top-tier “main” cameras in one.

The crowning glory is the 85mm ZEISS Gimbal-Grade APO telephoto lens. With a resolution of 200 Mpx and a huge sensor (1/1.4″), it is currently one of the best periscopes on the market. APO certification guarantees that you won’t see chromatic aberration (purple fringes) even when shooting in harsh backlighting, and the three-axis gimbal with CIPA 7.0 certification keeps the image stable even during extreme digital zoom.

Pocket Cinematography in 10-bit

Where the X300 Ultra leaves the competition behind is video. Forget that only the main sensor can do 4K 120 fps. Here, all three lenses can handle it. And it’s not just about frame rate. The phone supports 10-bit Log format and professional APV 422 codecs. Thanks to compatibility with the ACES workflow, you can mix footage from vivo with material from professional cinema cameras in post-production without noticing a difference in colors.

For enthusiasts, there’s also a Pro Video Mode, which resembles the interface of professional cameras. You have control over everything from exposure to manual focus pulling, and thanks to four microphones with directional characteristics, the phone can handle demanding sound scenes without immediately needing an external microphone. I’ve tried it myself, and the output is not far from, for example, the DJI Mic Mini, if the phone is at a reasonable distance from the speaker.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a battery that won’t freeze

Under the hood beats the best Qualcomm has produced – the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Combined with a dedicated VS1+ coprocessor for RAW image processing, this is brutal computational power. The phone doesn’t just “take pictures”; it performs millions of operations in real-time to make even a night shot look like it came from a large mirrorless camera sensor. With 16 GB RAM and 1TB storage, you are essentially limitless.

The battery is also extreme. A capacity of 6,600 mAh with a body thickness under 8.5mm is a small miracle of chemistry (second-generation BlueVolt semi-solid-state technology). Furthermore, it is designed to function reliably even in frosts down to -20 °C. When you add 100W wired and 40W wireless charging, you have a machine for all-day intensive creation without fear of running out of power.

IP69 Certified Design

Visually, the vivo X300 Ultra references classic cameras. The ribbed metal ring around the camera module is not just for decoration but emphasizes the craftsmanship. The display with a brightness of up to 4,500 nits and a resolution of 3168 x 1440 pixels ensures perfect readability even in direct midday sun when composing a shot.

An interesting feature is the IP68 and IP69 certification. This means the phone is resistant not only to submersion but also to high-pressure hot water jets. The OriginOS 6 system (Android 16) with a promise of 5 years of major updates then provides assurance that this investment will not become morally obsolete in two seasons.

Price and Bonuses: Is it worth it?

The price of 46,999 CZK is high, but vivo justifies it with premium service. Included in the price are a three-year warranty, one year of display protection, and a five-year warranty on battery capacity. If you are serious about photography, the Photographer Kit version for 56,999 CZK with a teleconverter and physical grip transforms the phone into a full-fledged professional tool.

Furthermore, when purchasing during the introductory offer, you can take advantage of a trade-in bonus of 7,000 CZK, which brings the price down to much more tolerable levels. We in the editorial office are already out and about with the phone, preparing a detailed photo test for you that will show whether 35mm is truly the “gamechanger” it appears to be at first glance.

Is the 35mm focal length on the main sensor an attraction for you, or do you prefer classic wide-angle shots?

Source: own, press release