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Smartphone cameras have become so good that “takes nice photos” is no longer much of a differentiator. At the premium end of the market, the more interesting question is what kind of photographer a phone is actually built for. That distinction is particularly clear with the vivo X300 FE and vivo X300 Ultra.
The X300 FE is the easier, more compact proposition. It has a 6.31-inch display, a substantial 6,500mAh battery and a camera system that puts particular emphasis on telephoto photography. The X300 Ultra goes in almost the opposite direction. It is big, unapologetically camera-focused and equipped with two 200MP rear cameras alongside a 50MP ultrawide. They are clearly related, but they do not feel designed for the same buyer.
The FE makes a case for getting most of the things people actually want from a premium phone without carrying something enormous. The Ultra asks a completely different question: how far can vivo push smartphone photography before the phone starts resembling a compact camera system?
After taking a closer look at both, that difference is ultimately much more interesting than simply comparing specification sheets.
The X300 FE gets the size right
One of the most immediately appealing things about the X300 FE is that it is not enormous. The 6.31-inch display feels refreshingly manageable for a premium Android phone, particularly when so many flagships now sit closer to the seven-inch mark. It also has a 2640 × 1216 resolution and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, so vivo has not treated the smaller screen as an excuse to give the FE an obviously lesser display. There is something quite sensible about the whole approach.
The X300 FE is still very much a premium-looking device, but it does not demand the same commitment from your hands, pockets or handbag as the Ultra. For someone who spends a lot of the day messaging, checking social media, taking quick photographs and generally using a phone one-handed, that difference matters more than another incremental performance bump. And despite the compact dimensions, vivo has managed to fit a 6,500mAh battery inside, alongside 90W wired FlashCharge and 40W wireless charging. That may actually be one of the FE’s strongest attributes.
Smaller phones have historically forced some sort of compromise on battery capacity. Here, the proportions of the device do not immediately translate into a smaller battery, which makes the FE considerably more appealing as an everyday phone.
The cameras are where the FE becomes more interesting
The camera arrangement is also more ambitious than the “FE” badge might suggest. At the rear, there is a 50MP ZEISS main camera, a 50MP ZEISS Super Telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and an 8MP ultrawide. The front camera is another 50MP unit with a wide 92-degree field of view. The main and telephoto cameras are where the phone makes its strongest case.
That 3x telephoto sits in a genuinely useful focal range for portraits, travel, street scenes and everyday situations where you simply cannot get closer to the subject. vivo also allows digital zoom up to 100x, although, as with virtually every smartphone promising triple-digit zoom, the more sensible way to look at it is as additional framing flexibility rather than expecting every 100x image to be something you would print and frame.
The FE also gets vivo’s Stage Mode, which fits neatly with the telephoto emphasis. Concerts and performances are exactly the kinds of situations where smartphone zoom matters because moving closer usually isn’t an option. There is even an optional telephoto extender for buyers who want to take that idea further. It is admittedly rather niche, but it also shows how seriously vivo is treating zoom photography across the X300 range.
The ultrawide is the obvious compromise
Not every camera gets equal treatment. The 8MP ultrawide is considerably less ambitious than the 50MP main and telephoto cameras. On paper alone, that imbalance is hard to miss. It does not necessarily make the camera system poor. In fact, for the way many people actually use their phones, it may be a perfectly sensible place to save some cost.
Think about the photographs sitting in your own camera roll. For many of us, the overwhelming majority are probably taken using the regular camera, portrait mode or a moderate amount of zoom. Ultrawide comes out for the occasional landscape, large group or building. If that sounds familiar, the FE’s priorities make sense.
If ultrawide photography is one of your favourite ways to shoot, however, this is one area where the X300 Ultra’s much more serious setup becomes noticeably more attractive.
The Ultra is a different beast entirely
The vivo X300 Ultra does not really do understatement. The phone has a 6.82-inch 2K display, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage in its Singapore configuration. The battery grows slightly to 6,600mAh and charging increases to 100W wired, alongside the same 40W wireless charging capability.
But specifications such as RAM and processor speed almost feel secondary here. The camera system is what gives the Ultra its personality. vivo has equipped it with three ZEISS rear cameras covering 14mm, 35mm and 85mm focal lengths. The 14mm ultrawide uses a 50MP Sony LYTIA 818 sensor, while both the 35mm main camera and 85mm telephoto step up to a huge 200MP resolution. All three rear cameras also have optical image stabilisation. That is an unusually serious camera arrangement even by flagship standards.
The 35mm camera may be more important than the 200MP headline
It is easy to focus on the enormous megapixel numbers, but the more interesting decision may actually be vivo’s choice of 35mm for the main camera. Most smartphones default to something noticeably wider. That is useful when you need to squeeze more into a photograph, but it can also make people close to the camera look slightly stretched and encourage a very recognisable “phone photo” perspective. Thirty-five millimetres is different.
It has long been a popular focal length for documentary, street and everyday photography because it provides enough width to show context without making everything feel excessively stretched. Pairing that perspective with a 200MP sensor gives the X300 Ultra a camera that feels more deliberately photographic rather than simply chasing the widest possible field of view. For people who shoot people, food, cities, travel or everyday life, that approach makes a lot of sense.
Then there is the 85mm telephoto
The 200MP 85mm ZEISS APO telephoto is arguably the most interesting camera on the phone. At roughly the sort of focal length traditionally associated with portrait lenses, 85mm naturally lends itself to photographing people without having to stand uncomfortably close to them.
But the appeal goes beyond portraits. This is also the camera you are likely to reach for when photographing concerts, architectural details, wildlife, performances or anything else happening at a distance. vivo has added optical stabilisation and autofocus tracking to the setup, which are particularly relevant once you start shooting at longer focal lengths where every small movement becomes more obvious. This is also where the optional telephoto accessories start to make more sense.
The X300 Ultra can be paired with extenders that reach towards 200mm and 400mm-equivalent focal lengths, effectively transforming the phone into a much more specialised photography setup. Is everyone going to carry additional optics around with their smartphone? Absolutely not. But that is exactly what makes the Ultra interesting. It does not feel designed around what everyone needs.
You can tell who vivo thinks will buy the Ultra
The X300 Ultra is for the person who already thinks about photography. Someone who knows why 35mm and 85mm are useful. Someone who wants to photograph a performer from across a venue rather than accepting that the image will just be a tiny figure in the middle of the frame. Someone who takes hundreds of travel photographs and would rather carry a smartphone than a dedicated camera.
And increasingly, it also makes sense for creators who shoot and edit content directly on their phones. The large 6.82-inch display has a resolution of 3168 × 1440, while the 1TB storage capacity gives considerably more breathing room for high-resolution photographs and video. That combination makes the Ultra feel less like a conventional flagship that happens to have excellent cameras and more like something built around imaging from the start.
But there is no hiding the size
There is a trade-off. The X300 Ultra is big. With that 6.82-inch screen, sizeable rear camera housing and substantially more photography hardware, it inevitably has more physical presence than the FE. That is not automatically a negative. A large display is excellent for looking through photographs, editing video, watching content and using the phone as a work device. The substantial camera module is also there because vivo has fitted genuinely large imaging hardware behind it.
But these are still things worth thinking about before choosing between the two. The FE is the phone that disappears more easily into everyday life. The Ultra makes you accommodate it. For some buyers, the photography improvements will make that trade completely worthwhile. For others, the sheer convenience of the smaller FE may matter much more after the excitement of buying a new phone wears off.
Performance is almost the least interesting difference
The X300 Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, while the FE uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. The Ultra therefore has the stronger platform of the two, particularly for heavier gaming, processing and creative workloads. But this is one of those specification differences that needs a little perspective.
Modern premium processors are already exceptionally powerful. For normal messaging, browsing, photography, social media, streaming and productivity apps, the FE is hardly operating in budget-phone territory. The Ultra’s additional power becomes more meaningful if you are doing the things the phone is actually designed around, including processing high-resolution images, shooting demanding video or gaming heavily.
For everybody else, the difference between “very fast” and “even faster” is unlikely to be the reason to choose one over the other. The cameras and physical size are far more meaningful.
A huge battery in both is good news
The battery capacities are surprisingly close. The FE gets 6,500mAh, while the Ultra increases that only slightly to 6,600mAh. The Ultra obviously has more demanding hardware to power, including a significantly larger, higher-resolution display and faster processor, so those numbers should not be interpreted as meaning the two devices will necessarily deliver identical endurance.
But it is reassuring to see large batteries in both. The FE supports 90W wired and 40W wireless charging, while the Ultra goes up to 100W wired and retains 40W wireless charging.
For day-to-day use, the difference between 90W and 100W is probably less important than the fact that both phones offer seriously fast charging in the first place.
OriginOS 6 feels like part of vivo’s bigger flagship push
Both phones run OriginOS 6, vivo’s current Android experience. There is plenty going on here, from visual customisation to AI-assisted tools and photography features, although the software inevitably requires some adjustment if you are switching from another Android manufacturer. The camera interface in particular has a lot to offer simply because there are so many different shooting options available across these phones.
That can be a little overwhelming if you simply want to open the camera and take a photograph. But it is also part of the appeal for someone buying the Ultra specifically because they want more control over what their phone camera can do.The FE strikes the more approachable balance. You can largely ignore the more specialist tools and use it as a straightforward smartphone camera. The Ultra almost encourages you to dig around and experiment.
So where has vivo actually compromised on the FE?
The answer is refreshingly straightforward. The ultrawide camera is the most obvious hardware compromise. The processor sits slightly below the Ultra. You do not get anything approaching the Ultra’s dual-200MP imaging setup. And the FE obviously lacks some of the more specialised creator-focused camera hardware and flexibility.
But vivo has retained the things that arguably matter most for everyday use: a good-sized OLED screen, strong main camera, useful telephoto, large battery, fast charging and premium-level performance. That is why the FE does not feel like it exists simply to make the Ultra look better. It has a pretty clear reason for being.
Then you see the X300 Ultra’s price
The Ultra costs S$2,499 in Singapore for the 16GB + 1TB configuration, with Volcano Black and Steppe Green listed as the available colours. That changes the conversation. At S$2,499, this is not a phone you buy because it is slightly better than another Android flagship. There needs to be something here that you specifically want. For the Ultra, that something is clearly photography.
If you are going to use the telephoto regularly, shoot high-resolution content, experiment with the different focal lengths or take advantage of the optional photography accessories, there is a much stronger argument for spending this kind of money. If almost everything you photograph eventually ends up compressed into an Instagram Story or WhatsApp family group, things become harder to justify. That is not criticism of the Ultra so much as acknowledgement that it is a specialised product. And specialised products rarely make sense for everyone.
The FE is probably the one most people actually need
This is where I think the X300 FE makes its strongest case. The Ultra is clearly the more impressive phone. But the FE feels like the easier phone to live with. You still get serious zoom capability, an excellent-sized battery, fast charging and a display that does not feel like a downgrade. You simply lose some of the photographic excess. And for many people, “some of the photographic excess” is exactly what they can afford to lose. That makes choosing between these phones less about which one wins and more about how much photography matters in your everyday smartphone use.
Who should choose the vivo X300 FE?
Choose the X300 FE if you want a premium Android phone that is relatively compact without feeling stripped back. It makes particular sense if you regularly use the main and telephoto cameras but are less concerned about having the best possible ultrawide. It also feels like the better fit for someone who wants a phone first and a capable camera second. The 6.31-inch size is easier to manage, the 6,500mAh battery is unusually generous for the form factor and the 3x telephoto gives it considerably more photographic flexibility than many compact smartphones.
Who should choose the vivo X300 Ultra?
Choose the X300 Ultra if the camera is one of the first things you look at when buying a phone. The combination of 14mm, 35mm and 85mm cameras gives it far more creative flexibility, while the dual 200MP sensors and optional telephoto accessories push the photography side well beyond what most people need from an everyday smartphone. It also makes more sense for people creating a significant amount of photo and video content directly on their phones, especially with 1TB of storage and that large 2K display. You will simply need to be comfortable with both the size and the price.
There is also a new M1 deal worth knowing about
For anyone considering the Ultra in Singapore, vivo and M1 are currently running a “Pay $0, Get 2 Phones” promotion until 31 August 2026. New and existing M1 customers who purchase an eligible vivo X300, X300 Pro or X300 Ultra on an M1 Bespoke Contract or Flexi Plan, together with sign-up to an eligible Family Plan, can get the X300 Series device with $0 upfront payment and receive a complimentary vivo Y11 worth S$279, while stocks last. Eligible plans start from S$54.95 per month.
The X300 FE is not included in this particular promotion, so that is worth noting if you are deciding between the two devices covered here. The complimentary Y11 itself has a 6,500mAh BlueVolt battery, 5G connectivity, IP64 dust and water resistance and OriginOS 6, making it a potentially useful second phone for the family rather than simply another freebie sitting in the box.
The verdict
The vivo X300 FE and X300 Ultra are both camera-focused phones, but they arrive at that idea from completely different directions. The X300 FE is the more pragmatic device. It is smaller, easier to accommodate in everyday life and still gives you a useful 3x telephoto, substantial battery and premium hardware. The comparatively modest ultrawide is the obvious weak point, but the overall package makes sense.
The X300 Ultra is much harder to ignore. Two 200MP cameras, a 35mm main focal length, an 85mm telephoto, optical stabilisation across all three rear cameras and optional telephoto extenders make it one of vivo’s most ambitious attempts yet at turning a smartphone into a serious photography tool. It is also S$2,499. And perhaps that makes the choice surprisingly simple.
If your camera is an important feature on your phone, the X300 FE gives you a lot of what you are likely to use without the size and excess of the Ultra. If photography is one of the main reasons you buy a phone, the X300 Ultra is the one that makes considerably more sense. The Ultra is unquestionably the more exciting device. But for most people, the FE may well be the smarter one.
Disclosure: vivo provided The Vent Machine with the vivo X300 FE and vivo X300 Ultra for editorial consideration.
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