Building on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra‘s photography kit, Vivo now also provides a “SmallRig” housing for the Zeiss camera flagship Vivo X100 Ultra, mimicking the style of a classic camera. Vivo officially launched this accessory alongside the phone. This underlines what is at the heart of the world’s first smartphone camera with a 200-megapixel sensor for telephoto. In addition to impressive zoom features, the best Zeiss camera flagship also offers many new functions for video creators and photographers, such as Dolby Vision Recording and 4K120.
Increasingly, the focus shifts away from solely the main camera; manufacturers now equally prioritize the telephoto camera, often neglected or missing in many smartphones, sometimes even surpassing the main camera in certain aspects. This is definitely the case with the Vivo X100 Ultra.
With a 1/1.4 inch 200-megapixel ISOCELL HP9 sensor from Samsung, significantly more megapixels are available for the 3.7x telephoto lens than for the 23mm wide angle, a 1-inch Lytia 900 sensor from Sony with F/1.75 aperture and new Zeiss T* coating of the third generation, which is intended to reduce optical errors such as flares even better and is extremely translucent. The super telephoto with F/2.67 aperture supports a maximum of 100x zoom and is said to greatly reduce apochromatic distortion. The 50-megapixel ultra-wide angle with a 14 mm equivalent focal length sounds the least impressive.
Many new photo and video features
The Vivo X100 Ultra now features a dedicated street photography mode similar to Xiaomi, offering four focal lengths and an expanded selection of styles. In addition to the existing “Zeiss Natural Mode,” “Textured,” and “Vivid Mode” from the Vivo X100 Pro, the camera app now includes a dedicated black and white mode. Filmmakers will appreciate the ability to record in 4K at 120fps, as well as the added options of Dolby Vision and 4K60 HDR recording. Wide angle and telephoto are optically and electronically stabilized and should achieve a CIPA 4.5 level of stability.
Thanks to the bright and long-range Vario-APO-Sonnar zoom lens, the Vivo masters it better than the competition. By the way, the Vivo image processor that supports the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is also new. Instead of a Vivo V3 chip, there is now a V3+ in the aluminum chassis.
Long-running battery
The Vivo X100 Ultra comes with a 5,500 mAh battery that supports up to 5 hours of continuous 4K recording. Additionally, it performs reliably in cold conditions, even at -20 degrees Celsius. By the way, there is an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the display, which is also a feature that differentiates the Ultra from the Pro.
IP69 & IP68 rated
The manufacturer has certified the Vivo X100 Ultra smartphone with both IP69 and IP68 water resistance ratings. The IP69 rating, providing a high level of protection, is rare for standard smartphones. Typically, these devices are not as robust as specialized outdoor phones with rugged casings. To our knowledge, no other conventional smartphone currently offers an IP69 rating, indicating it can withstand higher water pressure compared to those with an IP68 specification.
Vivo X100 Ultra price and release date
The Vivo X100 Ultra starts at $1,199 on Giztop.com for the 12GB RAM, 256GB storage model. It will go on sale from May 28, 2024. The device supports LTE band 20, catering to European customers. However, it lacks eSIM support and does not offer access to the 5G band n75.
