vivo X200 Ultra in for review

This is the vivo X200 Ultra and it’s finally at the office and ready for review. It may be the best phone you wouldn’t be able to get out of China, and that’s a calamity of enormous proportions!

This phone has an ultrawide with the same size sensor as the iPhone 16 Pro Max’ main camera, a 35mm main camera (with that same sensor), and an 85mm f/2.3 zoom camera with the same size sensor as the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s main camera! And if that’s not bonkers enough, vivo sells an attachable lens that converts that 85mm zoom into a 200mm one!

The vivo X200 Ultra comes in Black, Silver, or this lovely Red, and can be configured from 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage, all the way to 16 GB and 1 TB. The phone ships with a USB-A to USB-C cable, a 90W wired charger, and a color-matching rubber case.

vivo sells the additional Photography Kit, which is made in collaboration with PGYTECH and features a phone case, an attachable grip with a shutter and a dial, a lanyard, two different filter attachments, a special adapter for attaching a Zeiss-branded 200mm lens, and said lens.

Well, it’s not specifically a lens but rather a 2.35x teleconverter, which attaches to the top of the 85mm periscope zoom and gives it 200mm focal length.

@gsmarenateam vivo X200 Ultra with Photography kit #vivox200ultra #photographykit ♬ original sound – GSMArena.com

The telescope flips the image upside down, so when you attach it, you need to choose a special Telephoto Extension shooting mode. There, you get the 200mm native optical zoom, as well as steps for 400mm, 800mm, and 1600mm.

The teleconverter lens and photo case

Being a long-term vivo X100 Ultra user, I’ll tell you how the X200 Ultra differs from its excellent predecessor. The new phone is chunkier – the camera bump is thicker, for one.

The old phone has sloping front and rear glass with a thin side frame. The new one has a flat rear panel and a flatter display glass – it’s still slightly curved towards the four edges though.

To sum up, the vivo X100 Ultra feels like a more refined product, whereas the X200 Ultra feels like a solid tool.

The flagship vivo DNA still shines through. The vivo X200 Ultra is jam-packed with the best technology and is a step up from its predecessor in nearly every way – the Snapdragon 8 Elite, a bigger 6,000mAh battery, a brighter zoom lens, a more photo-centric main lens, and a new kick-ass ultrawide.

The vivo X100 Ultra’s main camera doesn’t have a direct successor on the new phone the 24mm f/1.8 unit with a 1-inch type sensor sits between the 14mm and 35mm 1/1.28-inch options on the X200 Ultra.

The vivo X200 Ultra next to the X100 Ultra

We have big plans for the vivo X200 Ultra. We’ll show you how it compares to the X100 Ultra, as well as a surprise camera comparison after that! Stay tuned, folks!