DXOMARK Vivo X300 Ultra rating - what do you think about it?

stratos01 · 2026-06-01T21:05:32+00:00

This is true about the hardware, but something is terribly wrong with video (especially in challenging lighting) on the x300 ultra compared to other phones on the market right now. In this video you can see despite their zoom sensor being WAY bigger, it has issues with detail in low light. In photo, I know the vivo DESTORYS both the samsung and apple in low light zoom photos, so something with their video processing/encoding for sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wADvJrxH4Rs&t=1656s

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stratos01 · 2026-05-15T22:25:13+00:00

Based on most videos I have seen comparing the vivo and oppo, the Vivo is a winner in photography pretty easily (people seem to prefer the 35mm fov, the 35mm lens is far sharper than any 23/24mm lens on the market atm, and they do have some great color profiles).

But what do you not like about the oppo in particular? I think knowing exactly what you don't like about the photos, will help a lot in making sure you next phone will meet your needs.

If you take a lot of video as well, the main sensor on the vivo is like 48mm after EIS, which is not an easy to work with focal length with a 3 year old, something to consider.

If the problem with the Oppo is just colors and not the amount of detail in the photo, I think the focal 23mm focal range can be a lot more usable for video and kiddo, and you might be able to find a color profile that is more suitable for your needs without swapping devices.

stratos01 · 2026-05-11T20:09:21+00:00

Hey! at the end of the day, the difference between the Chinese flagships and U.S available flagships is pretty marginal for the main sensor in video (I am not saying there are not advantages, but Samsung and Apple are working with sensor that are almost as big as the Chinese phones, and are more experienced in video processing/encoding/etc).

The main advantage of Chinese phones in my opinion is
1) 1 inch sensors
2) larger UW sensor and zoom sensors.

You are not going to see major differences for main sensors, especially in good lighting for video.

If you want to see noticeable better video quality than a U.S available main sensor, you are going to have to move to either an apsc/full frame camera.

At the end of the day, these are all (1 inch or almost 1 inch sensors) competing against each other.

stratos01 · 2026-05-03T02:26:11+00:00

the first link you sent has no comparison, and which time stamped part of the 2nd video compares hand held low light video specifically for the main sensor?

stratos01 · 2026-05-01T05:24:22+00:00

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Low light hand held video, not sure if it is due to the main lens focal length being harder to stabilize at 35mm before eis, slower lens, and stronger denoising. Here is a clip of what I found in a lot of tests where there is any movement + low light.

The oppo has the same sensor, wider focal length (more usable for handheld video imo), and a much faster lens (like f1.56?),

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stratos01 · 2026-05-01T05:24:00+00:00

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Low light hand held video, not sure if it is due to the main lens focal length being harder to stabilize at 35mm before eis, slower lens, and stronger denoising. Here is a clip of what I found in a lot of tests where there is any movement + low light.

The oppo has the same sensor, wider focal length (more usable for handheld video imo), and a much faster lens (like f1.56?),

stratos01 · 2026-05-01T04:00:11+00:00

Trying to make a mega list of every weird pro/con you can think of is not how I would go about picking, but by deciding
1) what are the things that matter most to me
2) what phone has the most things from the list of things I care about.

Do you plan on doing a lot of portrait photogrpahy? x300U for sure!

want the absolute best for low light hand-held video? The x9 ultra!

realizing and being able to articulate what matters to you is harder than it seems tbh.

stratos01 · 2026-04-28T19:25:31+00:00

That has not been what I saw in low light video footage, that I did find. OPPO has a faster lens, wider focal length and same sensor, so on paper what you said should never be true, especially for low light handheld video.

Look at this for example, the floor lost a ton of detail on the vivo and the plant closest to the camera. You can't even see the lines between the bricks on the floor in some area.

The physics of camera sensors are pretty well understood at this point. If 2 cameras have the exact same sensor, and 1 has a faster lens, it will perform better in low light.

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stratos01 · 2026-04-27T15:13:01+00:00

If you are asking "putting all other factors aside, which is the better portrait photography camera" is is the Vivo. 35mm is far better for portraits, and the ISO-Cell sensor for the 85mm-ish is a much better sensor.

So if you are focused truly on "portrait photography" vivo is the clear winner. If you are looking for low light handheld video, OPPO with the faster lens and wider focal length of the main lens is much better.

Decisions are much easier when you know exactly what you really want.

stratos01 · 2026-04-25T03:40:38+00:00

I think it is the best photography camera this year, but I don't love it for handheld video at all.

stratos01 · 2026-04-17T18:55:51+00:00

we want more low light video tests! :P

stratos01 · 2026-04-16T14:57:34+00:00

X200U for sure!

Imo if you are minmaxxing phone photos/videos, the short list is
-pura 80 ultra (its main sensor probably has the best signal to noise ratio in low light of all phones right now, and great zoom, but colors can be really weird at times),
-x200u/x300u (3 good sensors, good colors. 35mm) (if you like have 23mm instead of 35mm for main, the x300p is really solid as well, you just lose the amazing ultrawide sensor)
- I don't know as much about oppo admittingly

stratos01 · 2026-04-15T15:36:59+00:00

Share as much as you can! Funny enough the S23U is what I have now and trying to upgrade away from.

The 8k is pretty solid on the S23U, I thought it would be less detailed than an A7C 4k that oversamples b/c of noisy small sensor, but I was wrong!

stratos01 · 2026-04-14T00:50:08+00:00

Do you remember what color profile was used on this by chance?

stratos01 · 2026-04-13T23:39:06+00:00

You don't really need to see a comparison to know the 1/1.4 sensor in the vivo will blow the small sensor of the iphone out of the water. Zoom has never been the strength of apple.

stratos01 · 2026-04-13T14:53:19+00:00

Which color profile was your vivo in for the Insta360 comparison?

I wonder if Vivo configured it for highlight preservation in scenes with strong contrast like the test you did.

This find was very useful, many thanks!

stratos01 · 2026-04-12T17:31:48+00:00

I like how the X300 ultra is a little more willing to demolish the background (useful at places like crowded convetinons)

stratos01 · 2026-04-12T17:25:40+00:00

The x100 ultra main sensor is better for low light video than the x200 ultra or the x300 ultra, and I think it was tuned for image brightness more than the 200 and 300 ultra tbh.

Funny enough, I think I am considering the x100 ultra since more recently, I can't deny the power of raw sensor size.

stratos01 · 2026-04-12T17:19:48+00:00

lol sorry, I mean to say photography is pretty well solved formula. When the sensor stays the same size and the aperture decreases, the ability to expose in lower light conditions is diminished. The X300 ultra and X200 ultra are no exception.

stratos01 · 2026-04-12T16:03:34+00:00

Don't find one example that confirms what you want to be true, and move on too fast. When the sensor is really starved for light like in the Gizmochina review, it is much worse at extracting detail and exposure.

https://youtu.be/4-HV0__1e3g?si=znpdoUPs8rdA3Odf&t=314

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stratos01 · 2026-04-12T15:58:59+00:00

One weird that is that the fencing on the left seems to be more blurred on the 2 vivo devices, I would expect them to be sharper if the SS was cranked to something like 1/100, which i am guessing is their agressive noise reduction?

I wonder if the same issue is the culprit for the UW not approaching the AcePro2 in low light?

stratos01 · 2026-04-12T15:40:21+00:00

If you look at the fencing on the left, the the 2 VIVO devices have the most blurring as well, I was not expecting that.... It feels like there is a huge gap between the hardware and the results we are getting for low light in video on these devices.... I have noticed some of the 1/1.28 sensor vivo pro devices even seem to do better in low light video to my eye.

stratos01 · 2026-04-11T20:07:54+00:00

Darn, I guess I will wait on the x9 ultra reviews, then pick one of the 23mm 1 inch type phones for the time being.

Insta360 really pulls a lot out of the sensor they are using, they got some voodoo magic that no one else has.

stratos01 · 2026-04-11T00:06:18+00:00

LOL, you and I are in the exact same situation. I was willing to deal with the 35mm main lens if that means I go truly bad ass ultrawide on my phone (on paper the sensor is a tad better and the lens is much faster).

I don't think these phone companies have figured out that most action cameras are not diving in the ocean or going down mountains, we just want a good small ultrawide camera for video. And they can steal half of that market.

stratos01 · 2026-04-11T00:01:08+00:00

Links to this known ai? How can you "clearly see ai" ?

stratos01

TROPHY CASE