I have with me the latest Vivo X300 Ultra, which was launched at a price of ₹1,59,999. In India, such a price-tag raises one very basic question: “What value additions will I get after spending this much?” Furthermore: why not go for the Apple iPhone Pro or the iPhone Pro Max instead?In this review, I will take you through the different aspects of the phone, how it differs from competitors and what unique features it has to offer. So, let’s start!DesignLike the rest of its family members, the Vivo X300 Ultra visibly comes across as a camera-centric phone. You get to see a big circular frame at the back where the lenses play the star role, promising to capture everything in detail. Compared to the Vivo X300 Pro, the camera module here feels even more aggressive and unapologetic. Vivo clearly wants this phone to stand apart from regular flagship models, and it does. The moment someone looks at the phone, the first thing they notice is the camera set-up.The Vivo X300 Ultra gets a matte glass fibre back panel paired with a sturdy metal frame. The Victory Green colour variant especially looks premium with its dual-tone finish. The phone is heavy at 237 grams, heavier than the Vivo X300 Pro, but it does not feel uncomfortable during regular use. In fact, while clicking pictures horizontally, the weight distribution actually helps with stability. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra also carry bulky camera systems, but Vivo somehow feels slightly more balanced in the hand.Talking about the buttons and ports, Vivo has kept things clean and practical. You get the USB Type-C port, SIM tray, speaker grille, and microphone setup at the bottom. The power button and the volume rocker are placed comfortably on the right side. One thing that is missing here is the shortcut button that Vivo offered on the X300 Pro. The front looks undeniably premium with slim and symmetrical bezels around the display, giving the phone a very immersive look.The phone also comes with IP68 and IP69 certifications, which means rain, dust, or rough outdoor conditions are not going to stop you from taking pictures. Vivo has clearly built this phone keeping photography enthusiasts in mind. And yes, the Vivo X300 Ultra also supports a camera extender system, although I did not get that unit during my review period.DisplayThe Vivo X300 Ultra packs a massive 6.82-inch 2K display with a 144 Hz adaptive refresh rate. This is easily one of the best displays Vivo has used on a smartphone till date. Compared to the Vivo X300 Pro, the Ultra gets a sharper panel, faster refresh rate, and brighter output. The display supports Dolby Vision, 100 percent P3 Wide Colour Gamut, and peaks at 4,500 nits local brightness. Whether one is streaming content, gaming, or simply editing pictures, the display looks vibrant and sharp throughout.Against rivals like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, Vivo comfortably stands tall. Oppo offers excellent brightness levels, while Xiaomi delivers impressive colour calibration, but Vivo’s balance of sharpness, smoothness, and brightness feels slightly more complete overall. The bezels are extremely slim, making the phone look futuristic from the front. Outdoor visibility remains excellent even under harsh sunlight.OS and AIThe Vivo X300 Ultra runs on the Android 16-based OriginOS 6. Compared to older Vivo software experiences, this one feels significantly more polished and modern. Animations are smooth, app transitions are quick, and the UI feels cleaner overall. Features like Origin Island, advanced lockscreen customisation, live notifications, and smarter multi-tasking improve the overall experience.AI is also deeply integrated into the system but thankfully, Vivo has not made it feel gimmicky. You get AI-powered image editing, smart suggestions, contextual search, and productivity features that quietly improve daily usage. Vivo’s AI refinement especially works well with the cameras, helping improve dynamic range, exposure balancing, and image detailing without making pictures look artificial.PerformancePowering the Vivo X300 Ultra is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, replacing the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 used on the Vivo X300 Pro. The review unit I have comes with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage, and the performance throughout my usage remained extremely smooth. Whether it was multi-tasking, editing photos, gaming, or heavy camera usage, the phone never once struggled.Speaking of benchmark numbers, the Vivo X300 Ultra scored 3583 in Geekbench single-core, 10076 in multi-core, garnered a GPU score of 23479, and an AnTuTu score of 3766622. By comparison, the Vivo X300 Pro scored around 35,00,000 lakh on AnTuTu with Geekbench multi-core touching around 10200. Meanwhile, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra recorded Geekbench scores of 3654 and 11369 with an AnTuTu score crossing 3.8 million. The Oppo Find X9 Ultra scored 3630 single-core, 10698 multi-core, and 3950984 on AnTuTu.Yes, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra slightly lead in synthetic benchmarks, but during real-world usage the difference is negligible. The Vivo X300 Ultra feels equally fast and extremely responsive. Vivo’s optimisation also deserves praise because the phone maintains smoothness even during prolonged camera sessions and multi-tasking.Gaming performance is also excellent here. BGMI, Call of Duty Mobile, and other heavy titles run smoothly at high graphics settings. Vivo’s Ultra Gaming Mode improves touch responsiveness and keeps the experience fluid. The phone does get slightly warm during longer sessions, but nothing alarming for a flagship-level processor like this.CameraNow comes the section that truly defines the Vivo X300 Ultra. This is going to be a longer analysis because the cameras deserve it. The detailing here is simply top-notch. The phone delivers exactly what it promises and confidently goes head-to-head with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra. Yes, there is AI refinement in the images, but here it actually feels necessary because the results look premium instead of overprocessed.