Vivo X200 Ultra Review Roundup - New Camera KING or Import Headache? (ft Tech Edit, TechTablets)

Transcript

0:00 Speaker A: The camera, insane. Speaker B: This one's got a lot of people excited. Speaker C: Proper camera monster. Speaker D: And it lives up to the hype. Speaker E: Welcome back to re review, where we watch all the reviews so you don't have to. Speaker E: Today, we're diving deep into the phone that's aiming for the camera Crown, the Vivo X200 Ultra. Speaker E: Let's hear the first impressions on the design and feel. Speaker F: The Vivo X200 Ultra is an absolute unit. Speaker F: It's a 6.82-inch blur. Speaker F: And that's not just the screen size either.

0:26 Speaker F: It's practically the thickness, too, thanks to this absolute monster of a camera bump. Speaker F: I mean, you can't really call it a bump, can you? Speaker F: Let's face it, this is the table mountain of smartphone cameras. Speaker B: Generally with phones with this kind of big camera arrays, the whole thing kind of slopes outwards, as in it's. Speaker B: It kind of melts to the back. Speaker B: That's the effect brands go for. Speaker B: But here, Vivo's gone the other way.

0:51 Speaker B: They actually pull it inwards at the base. Speaker B: This is a very deliberate choice. Speaker B: Vivo's trying to make this camera array feel like a lens that's protruding out of a camera body. Speaker A: Both sides kind of curve in at the edges into the metal frame that give it a kind of, like, symmetry front to back and make it feel a little bit softer in hand. Speaker A: Metal glass, very, very premium. Speaker A: And I love the satiny finish of the back glass in this white version.

1:18 Speaker G: Now, with the Pro and the Ultra, you can see the difference in the camera. Speaker G: It's a lot thicker. Speaker G: Okay. Speaker G: On the camera island. Speaker G: And you got that red line going through it. Speaker G: That is so sick. Speaker G: Okay. Speaker G: The red color right here is so. Speaker B: Fire the edges here they are chamfered. Speaker B: And both the back and the display have a smooth 2.5D curve at the very edges. Speaker B: Now, the X200 Ultra, it's a big boy, around 230 grams. Speaker B: But those curves, they do help make it more comfortable to hold even with that huge camera bump.

1:46 Speaker C: And a screen that is LTPO tech 120Hz. Speaker C: It's a very nice screen here. Speaker C: This one, it's. Speaker C: And what I like about it is it does support Dolby vision. Speaker C: You've got HDR there as well. Speaker C: Peak is 4,500nits. Speaker C: Indirect sunlight. Speaker C: It is clear the screen. Speaker C: You can make it out 6.82 inches. Speaker C: And it is 1440p while quad HD plus resolution. Speaker E: Now, the X200 Ultra is officially China only.

2:13 Speaker E: But what's the experience like importing it and dealing with the Origin OS day to day. Speaker D: This one runs Origin OS 5 based on Android 15. Speaker D: This is the China model because this one's only sold in China so by default it does not come with Google Apps and it comes with a lot of bloatware like the Chinese apps. Speaker D: But the good news is you can uninstall almost all the Chinese apps. Speaker A: Now let's talk about the setup process and it's actually really easy. Speaker A: Just select English, follow the on screen instructions after that and then when you get to your home screen, Vivo makes it such a piece of cake to get rid of all the pre installed apps you don't want, pinch your screen, select them and then press uninstall and.

2:49 Speaker D: You can install Google apps really easily. Speaker D: You just have to jump into settings. Speaker D: If you type Google you actually can has a option settings Google Basic services to turn on gms and after that you just have to install the Google Play Store which is actually in the Vivo App store. Speaker H: The Vivo X200 Ultra is the first Chinese ROM phone in my experience or unless my memory is failing me to have Android Auto out the box.

3:17 Speaker H: Yes, Android Auto, wired or wireless depending on your car, works seamlessly and I have tested it. Speaker A: No issues running with Chinese software. Speaker A: You're not going to be able to get the level of integration with Google services that you would with a British or American phone, but I was able to get my credit card linked up really easily with Google Wallet. Speaker A: Unfortunately if you use a Pixel Watch or a Samsung Galaxy Watch, no wear OS support on here, which is probably the main limit limitation as far as I'm concerned.

3:51 Speaker H: Banking apps if it's an app from the Google Play store, it will work perfectly on a Chinese rom including banking apps. Speaker H: They all work fine. Speaker H: No issues whatsoever on this phone. Speaker E: Okay, the setup seems manageable and Android Auto is a welcome surprise. Speaker E: Though there's still some conflicting info on the Google Pay working smoothly. Speaker E: No wear OS is a key drawback for some. Speaker E: Being an Ultra, it packs the latest silicon how does the Snapdragon 8 Elite and that big battery hold up by.

4:20 Speaker C: The Snapdragon 8 Elite? Speaker C: My version here that Vivo sent out to me has got 1 TB of storage and 16 GB of RAM. Speaker B: Of course being an Ultra flagship, Vivo's done a good job of running it. Speaker I: Cool. Speaker B: Even during a stress test temperatures never went past 43 degree, but to be honest the stability scores like with other non gaming 8 elites, it's nothing to write home about. Speaker A: When you stress test the X200 Ultra though, things do get a little bit more nuanced.

4:47 Speaker A: 3D Mark Solar based stress test 20 minutes. Speaker A: The first loop when you play back. Speaker A: The test was the highest out of any phone, over 12,000. Speaker A: But it also dropped to the lowest after around eight loops. Speaker A: What that means is you have a lot of throttling going on here and it got quite erratic. Speaker C: Now Gaming with the Snapdragon 8 Elite is as expected. Speaker C: It is very good performance with Genshin impact here on the absolute top settings, it doesn't really skip a beat.

5:17 Speaker C: You do feel the phone get warm. Speaker C: I've noticed that with running synthetic benchmarks like Antutu that it got quite hot. Speaker C: Using the cameras, it gets quite hot. Speaker A: As for the battery, specs are impressive. Speaker A: There's a huge 6,000 milliamp cell. Speaker A: That's a silicon carbon battery, 90 watt fast wired charging and 40 watt wireless charging. Speaker A: The X200 Ultra's battery life is amongst the best out there.

5:43 Speaker A: PC Mark battery drain test this thing stayed alive for 17 hours and 52 minutes screen on time. Speaker A: With that benchmark running, which I'm finding,. Speaker C: Battery life will be most for most people, definitely over a day. Speaker C: I can't quite make it myself personally. Speaker C: With two days I will need to charge on the second day in the afternoon, otherwise it'll probably run out on me. Speaker C: But it's not bad. Speaker A: Using Vivo's fast charger in 20 minutes I was able to get around 48%.

6:11 Speaker A: And if you want a full charge it's 46 minutes, which for a 6000 milliamp battery phone is pretty great. Speaker E: All right. Speaker E: The main event, the cameras. Speaker E: Vivo made some bold choices here, especially with that main sensor. Speaker J: The main camera on the X200 Ultra is where the biggest change happens. Speaker J: And also the most debatable part, the focal length has shifted from the previous 23mm to 35mm and that's a good thing.

6:37 Speaker B: A typical feature of these phones, it's been that 1 inch type primary sensor, a trend that Vivo helped pioneer. Speaker B: But the X200 Ultra does not feature a 1 inch sensor. Speaker B: Vivo instead has chosen to go with the Light 818, a 1x 1.28-inch sensor. Speaker B: And they use this sensor for both the ultra wide and what we can call the primary lens for simplicity. Speaker K: Realistically, the main attraction for the Vivo X200 Ultra, however, is that new main sensor.

7:03 Speaker K: I'm aware we're losing out on that 1 inch sensor type, but in turn we have a 35 millimeter equivalent main sensor, a focal length that gives you a much better compression, allowing not only for the shot to look more natural, because of it, but also giving you more and a better depth of field in the shot itself. Speaker J: As for the downside of the smaller sensor, honestly it's hard to notice. Speaker J: When I shot in near dark conditions without a direct comparison, I couldn't even tell how much the difference there was.

7:34 Speaker J: If I didn't tell you the sensor was downgraded, you probably wouldn't spot the difference. Speaker D: This one is just a clear win for Vivo because Vivo's Ultra Wide sensor uses the exact same sensor as the main camera, the Sony Lyt 818. Speaker D: So sensor size is 1 over 1.3 inch. Speaker D: This is huge for an Ultra Wide sensor. Speaker D: These other two guys, they use a Samsung JN5 ultra wide sensor.

7:59 Speaker D: 1 Over 2.75 sensor size almost twice as large as 1 over 2.75. Speaker C: The ultra wide which I'm using right now, this is, well, I think one of the first phones that I have used and tested at least that has optical image stabilization. Speaker D: Once you move to low light conditions or high contrast scenes, Xiaomi and Oppo's Ultra Wide camera just completely falls apart. Speaker D: And Vivo's Ultra Wide is just much better. Speaker D: Like the difference is so jarring you don't even have to zoom in to pixel peep.

8:26 Speaker D: Just look at these shots. Speaker D: Even from afar. Speaker J: The 200 megapixel HP9 is a no friend this time. Speaker J: The only upgrade is a slightly larger aperture. Speaker J: Everything else remains the same. Speaker J: It also supports a macro mode and I'd argue it's the best telephoto lens on any smartphone. Speaker J: No debate. Speaker F: One thing's for sure, the Vivo X200 Ultra sports one of the absolute best zoom cameras on any smartphone ever.

8:52 Speaker F: Up to around the 460mil focal length, you'll consistently get sharp photos that still look great when blown up onto a monitor. Speaker C: Now the zoom shots with that periscopic 3.7 times optical zoom camera look really good. Speaker C: Plenty of detail there. Speaker C: I like the colors. Speaker C: Using the Zeiss preset, Low light performance across all of the cameras has been fantastic. Speaker C: I think it's the best I've seen. Speaker C: A true champion when it comes to low light performance.

9:19 Speaker C: We have that Zeiss T star coating as well, which makes a big difference. Speaker C: Cutting down on the reflections, the glare that can sometimes ruin shots. Speaker E: Vivo seems to be pushing video features hard this year too. Speaker E: Let's see how it stacks up for. Speaker D: Recording for video performance. Speaker D: I Already thought the X200 Pro is one of the best video camera phones around and I think the X200 Ultra is going to take it to another level. Speaker D: Because stabilization has been improved across all three lenses, you can shoot at 4K 120 for all three lenses.

9:45 Speaker B: And when you are using such a large sensor ultra wide for that, you get great results even with ultra steady shots. Speaker A: And perhaps most surprising, this became the most impressive vlogging phone I've ever used. Speaker A: I just plugged in my external microphone to it and use the ultra wide for filming 4K60 video. Speaker A: Because of the bigger sensor, there's some relatively good good background foreground separation and I know I'm in frame and I'm in frame in 4K front facing camera.

10:18 Speaker C: This is 24 millimeters, 50 megapixels, has electronic image stabilization and you can shoot 4K 60 and 4K 30, which I'm doing right now. Speaker C: Quality reasonably good. Speaker C: I tested out on my camera comparison. Speaker C: The stability of this electronic image stabilization is okay here, but there are other phones that do better. Speaker J: Really? Speaker J: The X200 Ultra is currently the only Ultra flagship with an autofocus enabled selfie camera.

10:44 Speaker A: Log video is incredible. Speaker A: Its file sizes are much more modest than those of iPhone prores footage. Speaker A: So it's much more realistic for me to be able to shoot loads of log without the need for an external hard drive. Speaker A: But even when you're not shooting in log, 4k60 just looks really, really beautiful. Speaker C: Now the audio quality is fine, it's acceptable, but again, it's not actually the best here. Speaker C: And I do hope that Vivo can improve the microphones.

11:12 Speaker C: And our audio quality is my only real complaint when it comes to the video performance from this phone. Speaker E: Okay, let's talk about that optional photography kit with that giant sniper scope lens. Speaker E: Is it worth the extra cost and hassle, especially when compared to its main rivals? Speaker K: Now with this unboxing, of course, we get this really special full photography kit. Speaker K: We've seen this trend gaining momentum. Speaker K: Xiaomi did it. Speaker K: Vivo tested the waters with the X100 Ultra.

11:38 Speaker K: But this, this is a serious upgrade from what Vivo offered before. Speaker K: And this, this is the highlight. Speaker K: This is the reason why the kit stands out. Speaker K: Size, in collaboration with Vivo, has delivered something special. Speaker K: A high quality attachable lens. Speaker K: This lens uses the periscope camera and gives you a 2.35 optical zoom. Speaker I: So when you use the telephoto adapter, it just clicks into a second bayonet mount on top of the bigger bayonet mount, which is kind of funny.

12:11 Speaker I: And sometimes a message pops up telling you to switch to teleconverter mode. Speaker F: And While the Vivo X200 Ultra's regular telephoto shooter is stupidly good. Speaker F: The results when you slap on this attachment are frankly ludicrous. Speaker F: Capturing remarkably crisp shots of your subject from afar. Speaker A: Photos can look a little bit AI heavy, I have to say, but video, it looks astoundingly good, almost documentary grade.

12:38 Speaker I: Obviously it's quite hard to stabilize such a long lens and it definitely doesn't focus as quick as when you don't have the adapter on. Speaker I: But I think you'll agree if I can keep it steady, the visuals are pretty impressive. Speaker A: Would I recommend the 200 millimeter lens and photography kit?

13:03 Speaker A: And there are three barriers to picking one up in my opinion. Speaker A: The first is are you really going to be carrying that lens around with you? Speaker A: Second barrier to entry is the case just doesn't feel gravel. Speaker A: And the third is the battery grip is super bulky. Speaker D: But so far from my early testing, I do think this zoom lens, it's better than the zoom lens in the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Speaker D: Even though they have the same hardware. Speaker D: The fast aperture here and Vivos. Speaker D: In my opinion, superior, more mature processing does come into Play.

13:31 Speaker A: The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is another obvious alternative. Speaker A: And if you like that hyper contrasty Leica look, you may want to pick one of those up instead of the Vivo X200 Ultra. Speaker A: In addition, that's widely available in the West Europe specifically, so it's easier to get working with your services and buy one starting with the closest competition in my opinion, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra.

13:56 Speaker A: Oppo has an even spread of four cameras around the back. Speaker A: There's no log video. Speaker A: Videographers will definitely prefer the Vivo X200 Ultra. Speaker A: Vivo's processing doesn't soften things quite so much. Speaker C: Here is the X200 Ultra right next to the X200 Pro. Speaker C: The Pro is still one of my favorite phones and if you don't need 35 millimeter for the main camera, you want 23 and you've got the same zoom camera as well with the Pro.

14:23 Speaker C: I would still go for the Pro. Speaker C: The Pro is global as well if you get your hands on it. Speaker A: The pricing for the X200 Ultra is going to depend on whether you get the photography kit or not. Speaker A: If you do pick up the kit, it's going to come with a one terabyte version of the phone, so it'll be very pricey. Speaker A: 1,500 Pounds, around that roughly $2,000 plus any shipping and import duties. Speaker A: Etc. Speaker D: Camera here. Speaker D: To another level, it's not even expensive.

14:49 Speaker D: The whole kit with the lens and the snap on case and the camera grip it sells for around US$180, so. Speaker E: The Vivo X200 Ultra it's clear that Vivo took some risk ditching the 1 inch sensor for that versatile 35mm main lens and a seriously upgraded ultrawide. Speaker E: The performance is flagship level, battery life is excellent and the software is manageable even for importers, especially with Android Auto now included.

15:14 Speaker E: Though watch out for the wear os incompatibility on the camera front, it edges out the competition in overall flexibility, low light zoom consistency and video features, particularly with that class leading ultrawide. Speaker E: The 35mm main camera offers great natural depth and compression. Speaker E: The downsides? Speaker E: It's China only. Speaker E: The optional photography kit, while optically impressive with a teleconverter, adds significant bulk and the case materials don't feel ultra premium audio recording quality could still be improved.

15:42 Speaker E: Overall, the consensus points to Vivo X200 Ultra being arguably the best overall camera phone right now, especially if you value the 35 mm perspective and top tier video features. Speaker E: However, the import hurdles mean that it's best suited for enthusiasts willing to navigate those challenges. Speaker E: For many, the globally available X200 Pro or the Xiaomi 15 Ultra might be more practical choices. Speaker E: That's it for our ultimate roundup review of the Vivo X200 Ultra.

16:08 Speaker E: Find links to full videos down below and come back for more re reviews where we watch older reviews so you don't have to.