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Vivo X200 Ultra camera score revealed: A photographer's "Yes!", a videographer's "Maybe"

Cameras that can make phone calls are getting very common these days.

By Peter Kostadinov

Updated: Jun 04, 2025, 1:18 AM

5comments

Camera Vivo

You just know it that when a phone has the "Ultra" sobriquet, it's simply destined to be a super-capable camera phone.

That's a scenario that's definitely true of the recent Vivo X200 Ultra super cameraphone, which easily aims to sit on the same bench as the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Oppo Find X8 Ultra, and the Galaxy S25 Ultra with pretty promising claims in the photography department.

And just like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, it even delivers in terms of excessive but oh-so-interesting accessories, allowing users to turn it into a proper point and shoot camera by attaching the available camera grip, case, and super-long periscope lens to the back. Now that's some commitment to mobile photography!

But what makes the Vivo X200 Ultra so interesting? Aside from the cool optional accessories, it's the powerful Zeiss-powered hardware that excites.

Vivo X200 Ultra	Xiaomi 15 Ultra	Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Main camera 50MP F1.6 35mm OIS, PDAF Sensor: Sony LYT-818 1/1.28" 1.22µm pixels	Main camera 50MP F1.63 23mm OIS, Laser Sensor: Sony LYT-900 1" 3.2μm 4-in-1 Super Pixel	Main camera 200MP F1.7 24mm PDAF, Laser, OIS Sensor: Samsung ISOCELL HP2 1/1.3" 0.6µm pixels New ProVisual Engine
Telephoto camera 200MP F2.3 85mm (3.7X optical zoom) OIS, PDAF ISOCELL HP9 1/1.4"	Telephoto camera 50MP F1.8 70mm (3.0X optical zoom) OIS Sensor: Sony IMX858 Telemacro photography	Telephoto camera 10MP F2.4 67mm (3.0X optical zoom) OIS, PDAF Sensor: Sony IMX754 Sensor size: 1/3.52" 1.12µm
Periscope -	Periscope 200MP F2.6 100mm (4.3X optical zoom) OIS Sensor: ISOCELL HP9 2.24µm pixels	Periscope 50MP F3.4 111mm (5.0X optical zoom) OIS, PDAF Sensor: Sony IMX854 Sensor size: 1/2.52", 0.7µm
Ultrawide camera 50MP F2.0 14mm OIS, PDAF Sensor: Sony LYT-818 1/1.28" 1.22,µm pixels	Ultrawide camera 50MP F2.2 14mm ISOCELL JN5 sensor 1.28µm pixels	Ultrawide camera 50MP, F1.9, 13mm, 120º FoV ISOCELL S5KJN3
Front-facing camera 50MP F2.45 24mm ISOCELL JN1	Front-facing camera 32MP F2.0 21mm (90º FOV) HDR, Portrait mode	Front-facing camera 12MP F2.2 HDR, Portrait mode

Despite the lack of a dedicated periscope, which is a common sight on most Ultra flagships out there, the Vivo X200 Ultra still boasts some impressive hardware. We get dual 50MP cameras responsible for the wide and ultrawide angles, and both employ the rather capable Sony LYTIA-818 sensor, with large 1/1.28" size and pixels.

What's fascinating here is that the main camera uses a 35mm equivalent lens, which is slightly more zoomed-in as compared to pretty much all other phones out there that adopt a wider 23mm-25mm main camera. A 35mm camera like the one on this Vivo phone is excellent for street photography, but you might be forced to take a step back to capture the same scene in comparison with another phone. This makes the ultrawide camera on this phone that much more useful, as it will cover that wider field-of-view.

The telephoto is a 200MP one here, and it has some pretty impressive telemacro capabilities thanks to its super-close focus point of 14cm. This means you can get super-tight and detailed shots of any flora and fauna that would sit still.

Oh, and there's also a capacitive camera button that lets you interact with the camera by swiping, clicking, and tapping. Useful!

Is this enough to beat the rest of the Ultra flagships released this year, like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Galaxy S25 Ultra, and the Oppo Find X8 Ultra?

vivo X200 Ultra

PhoneArena Camera Score

BEST 158

153

PhoneArena Photo Score

BEST 165

164

Main (wide)

BEST 87

Zoom

BEST 29

Ultra-wide

BEST 26

Selfie

BEST 30

PhoneArena Video Score

BEST 155

143

Main (wide)

BEST 83

Zoom

BEST 27

Ultra-wide

BEST 24

Selfie

BEST 28

Vivo X200 Ultra compared to its rivals

Photo

Video

Phone	Camera Score	Photo Score	Main (wide)	Ultra Wide	Selfie	Zoom
vivo X200 Ultra	153	164	85	26	24	28
Xiaomi 15 Ultra	158	165	85	26	26	29
OPPO Find X8 Ultra	157	160	82	23	28	27
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra	158	165	87	23	27	28

Phone	Camera Score	Video Score	Main (wide)	Ultra Wide	Selfie	Zoom
vivo X200 Ultra	153	143	71	22	24	26
Xiaomi 15 Ultra	158	150	78	21	25	26
OPPO Find X8 Ultra	157	155	83	22	25	26
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra	158	150	75	21	28	26

Find out more details about photo and video scores for all phones we have tested on our PhoneArena Camera Score page

Well, despite the strong hardware, this Vivo's rivals come up on top, mostly due to slightly stronger performance in the front-facing camera and video-recording capabilities.

If we only look at the main cameras, the Vivo X200 Ultra performs very well, achieving a pretty high score that puts on par with the rest of its rivals. It's on par with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and just slightly worse than the Galaxy S25 Ultra; the Oppo Find X8 Ultra is soundly beat.

The ultrawide camera on the Vivo X200 Ultra, however, is among the best we've seen. It's on par with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, but is arguably more capable thanks to its exceptional image quality.

The zoom capabilities of the device are mostly fine, but it loses to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, which simply boasts hardware that's better at zooming.

The selfie camera drags down the overall score, as it's just good, but not exceptional.

Vivo X200 Ultra camera spider chart

Pros

One of the best ultrawides we've seen
Excellent detail with no oversharpening
Great colors and superb dynamic range

Cons

Video quality is good, but way less impressive than still photography
The camera setup is a bit peculiar and requires some getting used to
A proper periscope would have been better

Main camera

Vivo X200 Ultra camera score revealed: A photographer's

All things considered, the main camera could easily pass as a short telephoto. It's a bit more zoomed-in than what we're used to, but that's not a weakness. Considering all other properties of this camera, it's pretty much perfect in most areas, giving us wonderful detail with no oversharpening or artifacts present. We'd have loved slightly better overall exposure here as the phone tends to overexpose the image slightly, but apart from that, it's excellent.

Zoom Quality

3.7X zoom

10X zoom

Now, the zoom camera is very capable, it even beats the one on the Oppo Find X8 Ultra in our tests. With no oversharpening and detail that just looks great, this camera impresses despite lacking very impressive hardware.

Ultrawide camera

14mm mode

In standard ultrawide mode, this camera performs very well. You get lovely colors, lots of detail, great dynamic range, and no distortion. That's what every ultrawide should strive to be!

28mm mode

Now that's the mode we are all most familiar with, and here, surprisingly, the Vivo performs pretty much indistinguishable from a standard wide-angle camera. Thanks to the in-sensor 2X crop, you get superb images, with exceptional detail, no oversharpening, exceptional dynamic range, and lovely colors.

Front-facing camera

Selfies are splendid. Great dynamic range, great colors, and excellent exposure. The only downside here is that the sharpness is lacking, especially when compared to such exceptional camera phones as the Galaxy, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and the Oppo Find X8 Ultra.

Video quality

When it comes to video, the Vivo sadly disappoints a bit. Detail is lacking, and the dynamic range isn't great, often resulting in under- or over-exposed portions of the scene. Colors are vivid, even a bit too vivid for our liking, and the stabilization could have been better. Audio capture has some issues, too. Overall, the video capabilities of the phone are slightly less impressive than its still photography prowess.

Conclusion

Overall, the Vivo X200 Ultra is a very impressive cameraphone with many strengths, but you will only like it if you focus on still photography.

Sadly, the overall video capabilities, while good, aren't up to speed with regular still images you might take, which could be slightly disappointing.

The phone excels at stills, with superb detail uninterrupted by oversharpening or artifacts, lovely dynamic range that's seemingly always on point, and colors that could be either vivid or realistic depending on which Zeiss mode you go for.

There's a lot to love here, making the Vivo X200 Ultra a worthy peer of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and the Oppo Find X8 Ultra!

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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.

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