vivo X100 Ultra review

A fancy telephoto, so-so ultrawide

The X100 Ultra has a camera system with some fairly mainstream components (top-of-the-line, of course, just not exclusive), and one bit that is fairly hard to find elsewhere. The one-inch main camera is more or less the norm among high-end cameraphones nowadays, the ultrawide is more on the modest side of things, and the front-facing camera is very promising, but not exactly special. It's the telephoto on the back that turns heads, though.

The X100 Ultra reports a Samsung HP9 sensor for its telephoto. It's a large 1/1.4" imager with tiny pixels - but there're 200 million of them. It's paired with an 85mm-equivalent lens with stabilized periscope optics and close-focusing capability - down to around 11-12cm. This module is similar in concept to the Magic6 Pro's telephoto, though Honor markets it as 180MP and it's a different sensor model and lens specs.

The main camera is based on the now-proven 1-inch 50MP Sony Lytia imager that can be found in the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and the Find X7 Ultra. Unlike the Xiaomi and its f/1.63-f/4.0 aperture, however, the vivo has a fixed-aperture lens - so too does the Find.

The ultrawide uses another Sony imager - a fairly run-of-the-mill 1/1.95" 50MP one. The lens does have autofocus, so you'll be able to do exaggerated perspective shots with nearby subjects.

The selfie camera makes it a tie at 2:2 for sensor vendors - it's using a Samsung JN1 unit. This one has autofocus too, a notable upgrade over the X100 Pro's setup.

• Wide (main): 50MP Sony IMX06A (Lytia LYT-900, 1", 1.6µm - 3.2µm), f/1.75, 23mm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; 4K@120fps/8K@30
• Ultrawide: 50MP Sony IMX882 (Lytia LYT-600, 1/1.95", 0.8µm-1.6µm), f/2.2, 14mm, multi-directional PDAF; 4K@60fps
• Telephoto 3.7x: 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HP9 (1/1.4", 0.56µm-2.24µm), f/2.67, 85mm, multi-directional PDAF (12cm - ∞), OIS; 4K@120fps
• Front camera: 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN1 (1/2.76", 0.64µm-1.28µm), f/2.45, 24mm, PDAF; 4K@60fps

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

Daylight photos from the X100 Ultra's main camera are hard to fault. Detail is excellently rendered and looks both crisp and reasonably natural, while noise is expertly ironed out. The wide dynamic ensures that even difficult high-contrast scenes are rendered with well developed shadows and minimal loss of highlight information. The color rendition is very pleasing thanks to a dependable auto white balance and well judged saturation levels both outdoors and in.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Vivid (default)

Other than that default Vivid mode, you can also choose one of two other options. The Textured look makes for darker shadows and deeper greens, but also slightly finer and more organic random detail in things like grass tree leaves.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Textured

The Zeiss Natural mode, on the other hand, more or less takes the Vivid approach to detail, but significantly lowers contrast and tones down saturation.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Zeiss Natural

You can also check out a few photos of our resident people shots model, in both Photo mode and Portrait mode.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Portrait mode, 24mm

Comparing the Ultra against the Pro, we're seeing a mild tendency for extra warmth and lushness in greenery, but not much else of a difference.

Daylight comparison, main camera (1x): vivo X100 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro

The full-res 50MP samples from the X100 Ultra give a distinctly brush-stroke-like effect to grass, but can be helpful on occasion to reveal finer texts - specifically in brightly lit outdoor scenes.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

We've been continually amazed at the quality that vivo is capable of extracting from its 2x photos. The X100 Ultra's samples at that zoom level once again look like they've been taken on a dedicated 2x camera, and a high-end one too. Detail is sharp and well defined, processing remains very sensible and there's no uptick in noise. Excellent stuff.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

The high praise also applies to photos of people which essentially maintain the level of per-pixel detail of 1x shots. Obviously, with much improved perspective and facial proportions thanks to the longer subject distance (for the same framing). Subject detail doesn't suffer in Portrait mode either, whether at 50mm or 35mm.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), Portrait mode, 50mm

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), Portrait mode, 35mm

3.7x telephoto camera

The 3.7x telephoto camera can very well take on the role of star of the show. It captures superb photos that are finely-detailed and noise-free. Dynamic range and color reproduction are also excellent.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3.7x)

The X100 Ultra's telephoto does an awesome job for portraits, whether in Portrait mode, or just in the regular Photo mode. There are two Portrait mode zoom levels, and both the native 85mm-equivalent focal length and the 100mm option are equally great.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3.7x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3.7x), Portrait mode, 85mm

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3.7x), Portrait mode, 100mm

Looking at a couple of scenes shot side-by-side with the Pro, the Ultra has a small advantage in the way it renders out-of-focus backgrounds - the Pro's are a little busier, though it's a small difference.

Daylight comparison, telephoto camera: vivo X100 Ultra (3.7x) • vivo X100 Pro (4x)

The 50MP mode on the telephoto doesn't appear to be bringing a whole lot of extra detail, and neither does the full-res 200MP one, we reckon.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3.7x), 50MP

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3.7x), 200MP

Daylight comparison, telephoto camera: vivo X100 Ultra (3.7x) • vivo X100 Pro (4x)

The X100 Pro's telephoto cam is great itself, of course, its longer lens giving it a slightly tighter frame. At long subject distances, the two are very much comparable in their capabilities. There's little to split the two at 10x either - in broad daylight, at least.

Daylight comparison, telephoto camera, 10x: vivo X100 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro

Close-ups

The X100 Ultra's telephoto has a really small minimum focusing distance (11-12cm), allowing for high-magnification close-ups. Add to that the 10x digital zoom, and a dedicated Super macro mode, and the X100 Ultra becomes a mightily capable camera for capturing tiny subjects.

Close-up samples, telephoto camera (3.7x)

Close-up samples, telephoto camera (10x)

The Super macro mode adds another zoom level to the regular photo mode options - a 2x of sorts from the 85mm-equivalent native focal length - 7.4x (170mm). This mode also gives you sliders image parameters and filters, but also a manual focusing option.

A simulated bokeh slider is also on the menu, though the depth of field of this camera at close-focusing distances is so shallow that it's almost an issue, so the option to blur out-of-focus areas even more is hardly necessary. If anything, a two-step changeable aperture that would increase the DoF would be more useful, though we can imagine it's not all that trivial to implement.

Close-up samples, Super macro mode (3.7x)

Close-up samples, Super macro mode (7.4x)

Close-up samples, Super macro mode (10x)

A case could be made that the X100 Pro's close-up results are superior, in the sense that its larger depth of field is more forgiving for subjects that aren't entirely planar (which is, realistically, most subjects). We'd still argue, however, that the Ultra has better resolving power and a nicer detail rendition for such applications.

Close-ups comparison, Super macro mode: vivo X100 Ultra (3.7x) • vivo X100 Pro (4x)

Close-ups comparison, Super macro mode: vivo X100 Ultra (7.4x) • vivo X100 Pro (8x)

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide does remarkably well in most metrics too, only it doesn't quite shine when it comes to absolute sharpness - it's not that it's bad, but it's not as sharp as the one on the X100 Pro or some other high-end cameraphones. That aside, it does manage to capture excellent dynamic range and likeable colors.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x)

The ultrawide's 50MP mode produces shots that look like upscaled versions of the regular ones, so we don't see much use in it.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x), 50MP

Selfies

The selfies from the X100 Ultra are very good, though not entirely perfect. We're not strictly fans of the heavily sharpened detail rendition, though we do appreciate the detail itself. Skin tones are life-like and colors are vibrant overall, and the wide dynamic range is great to see as well.

Selfie samples

We'd say the Ultra scores an easy win over the Pro for selfies on account of its better handling of backlit scenes and the ability to focus both far and near.

Selfies comparison: vivo X100 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro

Low-light photo quality

Main camera

In low-light the X100 Ultra produces essentially the same photos in full Auto as it would in the dedicated Night mode. You get a subtle notification of its Night mode processing in Photo mode with a crescent icon in the viewfinder corner - neither the icon gets in the way, nor the processing.

The main camera's photos have a rather expressive look, characterized by a healthy shadows boost and well preserved (but not too artificially restored) highlights. The colors are vibrant too, with maybe a little too much warmth with certain types of lights. Detail is great as well.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

There are subtle differences between the Ultra and the Pro here, mostly in the color presentation, though we'd be perfectly happy with either set of photos.

Low-light comparison, main camera (1x): vivo X100 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro

At 2x, the X100 Ultra's main camera doesn't excite quite as much in the dark as it does in daylight. Darker scenes will tend to have a more processed water-colory look, though still more than acceptable. Better light, on the other hand, means same great photos as during the day.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x)

3.7x Telephoto camera

The telephoto is in its element at night. It captures excellent detail across both shadows and highlights and maintains its composure even in the darkest of scenes (like the second one). It also doesn't suffer from astigmatism quite as much as a lot of the competitors.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3.7x)

While the Pro's telephoto isn't half bad in the dark, the Ultra consistently outperforms it, capturing sharper and better detailed shots.

Low-light comparison, telephoto camera: vivo X100 Ultra (3.7x) • vivo X100 Pro (4x)

There's a meaningful advantage for the Ultra at 10x as well, where it still manages to capture a lot finer detail than the Pro.

Low-light comparison, telephoto camera, 10x: vivo X100 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro

Ultrawide camera

Once again, the ultrawide isn't quite as remarkable as the other ones. The key flaw, or combination of flaws, is that its photos tend to be soft and heavily sharpened all at the same time. On the other hand, exposures are generally very well judged, particularly in terms of shadow development. Colors are also hard to fault.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

There's not a whole lot of difference between the Ultra and the Pro though there can be subtle variation in white balance.

Low-light comparison, ultrawide camera (0.6x): vivo X100 Ultra • vivo X100 Pro

Video recording

The vivo X100 Ultra can record video up to 4K60 with all of its cameras - the three rear ones, and the front-facing one. The main camera and the telephoto are also capable of 4K120, and the main one can do 8K30 at 1x and 8K24 at 24fps - quite the varied list of capabilities.

The default codec is h.265 but you can switch to h.264. Dolby Vision capture is also on the menu, on all three rear cameras in 4K30 and 4K60.

There is 'regular' video stabilization available in all resolutions and frame rate combos (including 4K120). That could be a combination of optical and electronic stabilization, or one, or the other, depending on mode, though there will be some sort of stabilizing action going on at all times. It can't be disabled - even though the viewfinder shows a crossed-out icon for stabilization in its default state. That's because the toggle actually controls the 'Ultra stabilization' which offers added stability but limits your resolution to 2.8K (still, at either 30fps of 60fps).

Daylight 4K videos out of the X100 Ultra's main camera are excellent overall, whether at 30, 60, or 120fps. Detail is great and is presented in a reasonably natural fashion, with a considerate approach to sharpening (it's a bit more aggressive at 120fps, but not dramatically). The Ultra has a small edge when examined head-to-head with the Pro - the difference is not huge, but still observable. Colors are generally on point (ever so slightly off at 120fps), dynamic range is excellent. The 8K mode does resolve a bit more detail, though what you're going to do with it still escapes us.

The 2x zoom level offers acceptable to good detail for those instances when you want to bridge the gap between the main main camera's native field of view and the 3.7x times telephoto.

The telephoto's performance is also up to a high standard in all metrics. We're looking at detailed 4K footage (no difference between 30fps and 60fps) with pleasing colors and wide dynamic range. The 120fps mode is actually even sharper, but it comes with a wider field of view - it's likely just the OIS that's active in this mode and the EIS introduces a crop in the other frame rates. There's a similar approach on the main camera at 1x, though not quite as evident in terms of coverage and sharpness difference.

The ultrawide's footage is more in good territory overall. Global parameters are looking great, but detail is trailing what you can get from the finest out there.

Stabilization is very good on the X100 Pro, though quite to a 'wow'level. There's a an ever so slight floatiness to the telephoto's footage that doesn't go away when pointing the phone in one general direction, and it's also there at the end of a pan. The main and the ultrawide don't appear to suffer from this and pan more confidently, though the walking shake is not ironed out quite as expertly as on some other phones.

In low light, the main camera does admirably and captures wide dynamic range with well contained highlights (better than the Pro) and very good shadow development. Detail is solid as well, and so too is the color rendition. The ultrawide is also superior to the Pro's in the dark, and records sharper videos with less noise - not spectacular in isolation, but not half bad for an ultrawide. Similarly, the X100 Ultra shows its strength in low-light video recording with the telephoto - it's not plagued by astigmatism as quite so many periscopes are, and it captures very good detail, while maintaining color saturation and wide dynamic range.

Video sample playlist

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.