The vivo X200 Ultra is the kind of phone that is built to cause envy in those that don’t have it – which will be almost everyone outside of China, since vivo has not announced any plans to make the Ultra available outside of its home market. We know some of you will try importing it, but most can only sigh wistfully.
The X200 Ultra builds on the already powerful hardware of the X200 Pro with a sharper display (1440p+ vs. 1260p+) and a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset taking over from the Dimensity 9400.
More important are the camera upgrades – the 50MP 1/1.28” main sensor now sits behind a 35mm lens, a classic focal length in photography. Another 50MP 1/1.28” sensor is inside the revised ultra-wide camera (the Pro only has a 1/2.76” sensor). Even the impressive 200MP 85mm periscope got all the more impressive with a wider aperture (f/2.3 vs. f/2.7).
The vivo X200 Ultra starts at CNY 6,500 ($900/€775) for the base 12/256GB model. The top of the line model is the 16GB/1TB version with satellite connectivity for CNY 8,000 – or CNY 9,700 if you include the Photography Set. For comparison, the vivo X200 Pro starts at CNY 5,200 for a 12/256GB phone.
Looking at other Ultras, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra starts at the same CNY 6,500 price (12/256GB). This one has a more smartphone-like 23mm lens with a 1”-type sensor behind it, plus a 50MP 70mm periscope, an additional 50MP 135mm periscope and a 50MP ultra-wide.
Oppo Find X8 Ultra • Xiaomi 15 Ultra
Unlike its peers, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is available globally – not in the US or Canada, but most other regions. A 12/256GB unit is also priced at CNY 6,500. Like the Oppo, it has a 23mm 1”-type main camera and two periscopes – 50MP 70mm and 200MP 100mm – plus a 50MP ultra-wide. The Chinese model has a matching 6,000mAh battery, but the global variant has only 5,410mAh capacity.
The vivo X200s feels like an iterative upgrade over the vanilla X200. And it is, though vivo positions it as a successor to the X100s from last year, even though that was a larger phone (6.78” display vs. 6.67” on the X200s). Compared to the X200, it bumps up the chipset to Dimensity 9400+ (from the non-plus 9400) and uses UFS 4.1 storage (up from 4.0). It also increases the battery capacity by 400mAh to 6,200mAh and adds 40W wireless charging.
The base vivo X200s 12/256GB starts at CNY 4,200 ($575/€500), which is only a small bump over the X200 12/256GB at CNY 4,100.
Time to vote – are you interested in the vivo X200 Ultra? What if vivo never brings it to your country, will you try importing a unit?
Now for the vivo X200s – it’s not as drool-worthy as the Ultra, but with solid hardware and lower price, it’s a great value-for-money device. Would you have one if you could?
