DxOMark has finally published its review of the Vivo X300 Ultra, and the result is a little surprising at first glance.
Despite being Vivo’s most expensive camera flagship and arguably one of the most ambitious camera phones released in recent years, the X300 Ultra did not take the top spot among Vivo devices. Instead, it finished with 170 points, just behind the Vivo X300 Pro’s 171-point score. Huawei’s Pura 80 Ultra currently remains ahead of both at 175 points.
On paper, that one-point difference is almost meaningless. Nobody is going to look at two photos and correctly identify a one-point gap in a DxOMark ranking. Still, the result is interesting because the Ultra costs significantly more and carries substantially more camera hardware.
The explanation seems to come down largely to video.
DxOMark awarded the X300 Ultra a noticeably lower video score than the X300 Pro. According to the review, low-light video performance was one of the weaker areas, with more visible noise and less consistent handling of difficult scenes. The Pro apparently did a better job balancing exposure, dynamic range, and noise reduction under challenging conditions.
The X300 Ultra was built around pushing hardware, especially when it comes to zoom photography. Unsurprisingly, some of its strongest results came in telephoto, ultra-wide, portrait, and zoom testing. DxOMark itself gave the device extremely high marks in several of those categories.
In fact, this is where the rankings become a little more complicated.
Someone who spends most of their time shooting portraits, wildlife, distant subjects, or travel photos may very well prefer the X300 Ultra over the X300 Pro despite the lower overall score. A single ranking number doesn’t always capture those differences particularly well.
DxOMark also pointed to occasional image artifacts and moments where processing could look somewhat unnatural. That’s not a criticism unique to Vivo. Many smartphone brands are now leaning heavily on computational photography and AI processing, and sometimes the software gets a little too enthusiastic.
The result highlights something that smartphone enthusiasts have debated for years: the “best camera phone” often depends on what you actually photograph.
The X300 Pro appears to be the more balanced device according to DxOMark’s testing methodology. The X300 Ultra, meanwhile, feels more specialized. It excels in areas that many photography enthusiasts care deeply about, even if that comes with a few trade-offs elsewhere.
(DxOMark)
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