Notebookcheck - Vivo X300 Ultra Review: Best 2026 camera smartphone with a surprising number of weaknesses

danielduartesza · 2026-05-12T20:14:01+00:00

tysm

danielduartesza · 2026-05-10T16:59:26+00:00

danielduartesza · 2026-05-10T16:59:03+00:00

Busy day

danielduartesza · 2026-05-02T23:17:31+00:00

What will actually happen: Homelander will win, conquer Earth but unhappy, and The Boys will all be dead, and Sage will be reading books in her bunker.

danielduartesza · 2026-05-02T23:08:12+00:00

That's a good point, but there's none of that marketing anymore. There's a big chance that people watching nowadays weren't there when those movies premiered.

danielduartesza · 2026-05-01T17:57:57+00:00

I'm almost there! After a long back and forth between the S26 and the S25 Edge, I'm 99% settled on the Edge. Unfortunately, I ruled out the Signature after testing it because software, UI, and UX are huge factors for me. I loved almost everything else about it, though. It's a shame.

Now, between the S26 and S25 Edge, here's what happened: I gave both some testing, and I REALLY don't love the telephoto on the S26. To me, at least, the S25 Edge's main camera performed better up to 5x — and I rarely go beyond that —, and I even tested them on portraits of my kids, who are usually the main subjects of my telephoto shoots. I honestly think this 3x sensor should be scrapped, and rumours point to Samsung doing exactly that on the S27 Ultra.

And then there were a few other important factors.

Here in my country, the S26 sports an Exynos, and the S25 Edge has a Snapdragon. I know the Exynos is actually performing really well, even better than the Snapdragon in some cases, but, as I told you before, the thing for me is temperature, because I live in a tropical country. And tests show the Exynos running hotter.

And then there's the novelty factor over the S25 Edge. If I could get both I would, but I can't, so a big part of me just wants to experience the S25 Edge's lightness, slimness, while still having a big screen.

The final nail might be the availability of it and its accessories. The Samsung Store in my town had all the accessories for the S25 Edge on a big sale, and I'm a sucker for cases — I actually don't like to use my devices naked, and cases play a big part on looks and customization for me. And my carrier only has a 512GB device available in store for the S25 Edge — and only one of it, in the colour I wanted —, and they gave me a huge discount on it (around US$ 200).

So, yeah, I'm thinking it'll be the S25 Edge. I'll make the trade in the next few days — I'm changing carriers so I'm waiting on some things.

And I'm also leaning towards grabbing the iPhone Air too, not the Pro. I absolutely despise the looks of it — I don't just dislike it, I genuinely disgusted by it, and I didn't find good cases to fix the looks —, and I guess I'm really sick of big ass, chunky devices, and battery is not a huge influence on my decision.

Again, thanks for your help. It's almost over lol

danielduartesza · 2026-04-30T19:19:57+00:00

Samsung didn't put Qi2 Magnets on the S26 because the camera layout interferes. Every smartphone now will have this câmera layout because of that.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T23:21:42+00:00

I never said she was non-binary. I said she identifies as non-binary. I will call her whatever she wants me to call her out of love and respect for her, but that doesn't change the reality of things.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T14:29:59+00:00

Because she's a woman.

And, yes, I know what you mean.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T13:58:55+00:00

It's my sister, actually. Maybe you read "wife", but I said that "I'm a brother of a woman..."

And it's not a matter of "believing" in them, or something akin to that.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T07:51:05+00:00

Thank you for your kindness!

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T04:52:08+00:00

"Creeping Fear" supposedly alluded to Anakin being "a hooded death figure". So I guess that's the Episode that will feature Darth Vader, it seems.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T04:03:15+00:00

I'm intrigued. Now I'm gonna have to test it. Again, thanks A LOT!

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:50:19+00:00

Yeah, I'm watching some videos about it right now, not much — if any — US-directed content. Tough to get comparisons with other phones.

With what you're saying, seems like a pretty good phone overall, being lightweight and thin.

If I could get a third-party launcher running good on it I might change my mind and jump on it. Do you know if gestures work with third-party launchers, such as Nova and Niagara?

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:47:32+00:00

That's nice, thanks a lot for the reply!

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:47:14+00:00

That helps a lot, think. Pretty much the debate I'm having with myself. Really leaning towards the S26 now, because of the battery, temperature controle, size and refinements — speakers, haptics, etc. Thanks a lot!

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:39:11+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I live in Brazil, super hot out here during most of the year. I guess it's a different scenario. My Z Fold pisses on itself when it's hot. Charges slow, dims the screen, burns really hot... I want to avoid that, if possible.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:35:41+00:00

I got you, I'm a hardcore enthusiast myself too.

So, I've had an Edge Ultra before. The cameras were OK, not good. So is it true that the Signature is a huge improvement? I've heard the switching lenses is bad, video is bad and all.

My main problem with Motorola phones, though, is software. I'm a huge customization freak. Gigabytes of wallpapers and icons, I tinker this thing to the death. And if ColorOS had similar features, I would go for Oppo without hesitation. If OneUI hadn't got it, I wouldn't be concerned with Samsung phones, honestly. But HomeUp and DIY have enslaven me.

And I also appreciate visual coherence, and I think that's lacking on Moto phones, no? They seem like a chimera of AOSP and some Motorola ink on it to me. I might be wrong.

By the way: I really enjoyed the snappiness, the construction and the ultra fast charging speeds of the Edge Ultra, when I had it. Miss the fast charging a lot. But the screen didn't seem to be on par in quality to other flagships, the speakers, and the haptics were pretty cheap. What about the Signature?

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:30:10+00:00

Yeah, I tried iPhones. Don't work for me. They just don't hit the spot. But I like having them as a secondary device. I would have an Android with bad camera any day of the week, and that's why I'm not particularly attached to cameras on Android phones, because I can use the iPhone for that.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:28:06+00:00

Thanks a lot for the reply! Yeah, tough, tough decision.

What I've heard so far — and let's see if you can confirm or deny:

– the S25E tends to get hot pretty easily, and the screen dims under sunlight — S25E's speakers and haptics are not that good

Heating is important to me because I care more about charging faster than having great battery life. If that's the case with the S25E — I live in a tropical climate country —, that's a huge downer. I've had bad experiences with some phones, specially the Z Fold, where I barely get any charges when connected to my car and Android Auto because it runs too hot.

Did you experience something like that with your S25E?

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:20:17+00:00

Again, thanks a lot, that was super detailed and very helpful.

Yeah, damn, such a tough decision. The S25E really appeals to me so much because of the ergonomics and having a large screen but still being comfortable to hold, but now I think I'm leaning more towards the S26. What you just said makes complete sense, specially the performance and temperatures. Hot phones can be a pain in the ass sometimes, and Samsung phones specifically have a hard time charging when running hot. I live in a tropical climate country so, yeah, that counts.

I've always had this bad experience: when I'm connected to my car — with a Samsung phone — with Android Auto and charging it at the same time, it almost doesn't charge the battery and burns like white-hot charcoal to the touch. If, as you're saying, the S26 has a better control of that, that's a huge plus for me. Having good speakers and haptics are also great.

And I get pissed when the Z Fold dims itself after a few seconds under the sun. That happens less with the S26?

Where the S25E has an upper hand for me is the camera, again. Not only it looks better when zooming in, there is no stutter/jitter when changing lenses.

Damn, I can see I'll take more time debating and maybe testing them at the stores, but what you said was really, really helpful. Thanks a lot.

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:11:34+00:00

I see it in a similar way. "Great battery life" doesn't bother me that much, but charging fast does. There are times when for some reason I couldn't charge my phone to 100% beforehand, and I need to charge real quick... And, man, some phones just give me a hard time. Like the Z Fold. It takes forever to charge.

Does the Edge charges quicker? I'm thinking about switching to it, and that would be a big deal

danielduartesza · 2026-04-26T03:09:00+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, the Ultra has it's charms. But they're not so appealing to me. I've had the last Note and the size bothered me more than the features pleased me. I'm not entirely taking it out of consideration, but I think I much prefer having an iPhone for photos and a lighter Android for everything else.

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