Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs Vivo X300 Ultra | TechTalkTown
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs Vivo X300 Ultra
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
Google
8.4
Best big Android, weak Tensor
Vivo X300 Ultra
Vivo
8.7
The video and zoom monster
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
What Reviewers Agree On
It's the best big Android phone — a premium redesign with one of the year's best-looking, best-built bodies.
The 6.8-inch LTPO Super Actua display (3,000-nit peak, up from 2,400) is class-leading and excellent outdoors.
The 50MP main plus 48MP ultrawide and 48MP 5x telephoto take excellent photos, backed by the best AI/Gemini suite on any phone.
16GB of RAM, seven years of updates and a year of Gemini Advanced make it a strong long-term, AI-forward buy.
The big 5,060mAh battery with the new 45W charging is a meaningful step up over the Pixel 8 Pro.
Deal Breakers
Pros & Cons
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
Pros
It's the best big Android phone — a premium redesign with one of the year's best-looking, best-built bodies.
The 6.8-inch LTPO Super Actua display (3,000-nit peak, up from 2,400) is class-leading and excellent outdoors.
The 50MP main plus 48MP ultrawide and 48MP 5x telephoto take excellent photos, backed by the best AI/Gemini suite on any phone.
16GB of RAM, seven years of updates and a year of Gemini Advanced make it a strong long-term, AI-forward buy.
The big 5,060mAh battery with the new 45W charging is a meaningful step up over the Pixel 8 Pro.
Detailed Comparison
Display
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
A 6.8-inch LTPO 'Super Actua' OLED at 120Hz with a 3,000-nit peak — one of the brightest, best displays on any phone.
An improved 6.8-inch Super Actua LTPO OLED, 486ppi, 120Hz, up to 3,000 nits peak with always-on display.
Peak brightness rose to 3,000 nits (up from 2,400); measured a remarkable 2,365 nits in adaptive mode and 1,300+ nits manually.
The new Actua-class display is 35% brighter than the Pixel 8 — better than both the iPhone 15 and Galaxy S24.
The non-typical 1,344x2,992 resolution at 486ppi keeps text and content crisp.
Vivo X300 Ultra
A 6.82-inch 144Hz LTPO AMOLED, now flat rather than quad-curved. Lab measurements put real brightness near 1,900 nits in auto and ~3,300 nits on a small window — among the best panels on any phone — and reviewers single out content consumption and clarity as standouts.
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The Tensor G4 trails Snapdragon rivals badly in benchmarks and modem performance, with the worst battery efficiency among premium flagships.
Camera hardware was barely updated year-over-year, and it lost a head-to-head camera shootout to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
It now costs the same as the competition ($1,099), and some units shipped with a zoom viewfinder tilt bug and post-Android-16 connectivity drops.
Vivo X300 Ultra
What Reviewers Agree On
The camera system — twin ~1-inch 200MP main and 200MP 85mm periscope plus a large ultrawide — is the best-equipped on any 2026 phone and the entire reason the device exists.
Video is class-leading: 4K 120fps 10-bit Log with Dolby Vision recorded on-device (no SSD), 8K30 across the rear cameras, and 4K 60fps on every lens including the selfie.
Battery life is genuinely strong — roughly 16 hours active-use score, ~7h heavy screen-on time, and 13–14 hour days with charge to spare, on the 6,600mAh cell.
The Zeiss 200mm/400mm telephoto extenders deliver real, usable optical reach (8.7x and 17.4x) with surprisingly good handheld stabilisation.
100W wired charging refills the big battery in roughly 46–50 minutes, with 40W wireless on top.
The 6.82-inch 144Hz LTPO AMOLED is among the best displays available, hitting ~1,900 nits in auto and ~3,300 nits peak.
Deal Breakers
The 35mm (~1.5x) default main focal length is polarising — many reviewers find it too tight/zoomed versus the usual 24mm.
It heats up quickly under sustained camera or gaming load and throttles to roughly 60–65% stability in prolonged stress tests.
The full experience needs the expensive Photography Kit — the global bundle approaches €2,600 and the 200mm lens isn't in every box.
Notebookcheck found it 'hardly better than the X300 Pro in camera performance despite top-notch hardware', and Linus preferred Oppo's less over-sharpened processing.
It launched in China first with a rocky early software state (fixed via updates), and global availability/pricing is limited and steep.
Cons
The Tensor G4 trails Snapdragon rivals badly in benchmarks and modem performance, with the worst battery efficiency among premium flagships.
Camera hardware was barely updated year-over-year, and it lost a head-to-head camera shootout to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
It now costs the same as the competition ($1,099), and some units shipped with a zoom viewfinder tilt bug and post-Android-16 connectivity drops.
Vivo X300 Ultra
Pros
The camera system — twin ~1-inch 200MP main and 200MP 85mm periscope plus a large ultrawide — is the best-equipped on any 2026 phone and the entire reason the device exists.
Video is class-leading: 4K 120fps 10-bit Log with Dolby Vision recorded on-device (no SSD), 8K30 across the rear cameras, and 4K 60fps on every lens including the selfie.
Battery life is genuinely strong — roughly 16 hours active-use score, ~7h heavy screen-on time, and 13–14 hour days with charge to spare, on the 6,600mAh cell.
The Zeiss 200mm/400mm telephoto extenders deliver real, usable optical reach (8.7x and 17.4x) with surprisingly good handheld stabilisation.
100W wired charging refills the big battery in roughly 46–50 minutes, with 40W wireless on top.
The 6.82-inch 144Hz LTPO AMOLED is among the best displays available, hitting ~1,900 nits in auto and ~3,300 nits peak.
Cons
The 35mm (~1.5x) default main focal length is polarising — many reviewers find it too tight/zoomed versus the usual 24mm.
It heats up quickly under sustained camera or gaming load and throttles to roughly 60–65% stability in prolonged stress tests.
The full experience needs the expensive Photography Kit — the global bundle approaches €2,600 and the 200mm lens isn't in every box.
Notebookcheck found it 'hardly better than the X300 Pro in camera performance despite top-notch hardware', and Linus preferred Oppo's less over-sharpened processing.
It launched in China first with a rocky early software state (fixed via updates), and global availability/pricing is limited and steep.
We measured a maximum of over 1,900 nits in auto-brightness mode and over 3,300 nits when lighting up a smaller portion of the screen.
Consuming content, scrolling the web, pixel-peeping and zooming in on text — it doesn't get any clearer, or with the 144Hz any smoother, than the display on the X300 Ultra.
It delivers an excellent max brightness of around 1,935 nits with a 75% white pattern and a peak of 3,328 nits with a 10% pattern.
Vivo has gone with a flat display this time, a clear shift from the quad-curved style of the X200 Ultra.
It's a 6.82-inch AMOLED with a claimed 4,500-nit HDR peak that can reach that figure in a one-person window watching HDR content; PWM sits around 3.5% at max brightness, better for flicker-sensitive users.
An absolutely stunning display with terrific, bass-heavy stereo speakers to match.
Cameras
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
A 50MP wide, 48MP ultrawide and 48MP 5x telephoto plus a 42MP selfie. Excellent computational photos, but the hardware was barely updated and it lost a shootout to the iPhone.
It takes incredible photos, as expected from a premium phone — a class camera system.
Camera spec: 50MP wide, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto and a 42MP front camera.
In an iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Pixel 9 Pro XL shootout, the iPhone won — its images looked brighter and it preserved highlights better.
Reviewers were surprisingly critical of camera and especially video quality for a Pixel, and noted the camera hardware wasn't noticeably updated this year.
Some units shipped with a viewfinder bug where the image tilts significantly to one side when using zoom.
Magic Editor can auto-reframe, suggest the best crop and expand an image — the AI photo tools remain a Pixel standout.
Vivo X300 Ultra
The reason the X300 Ultra exists: a near-1-inch 200MP 35mm main (Sony Lytia 901), a 200MP 85mm periscope, and the best ultrawide sensor on the market, tuned with Zeiss. Reviewers near-universally rate it the best-equipped camera phone of 2026 — with two important caveats: the 35mm default is divisive, and on raw image quality it's only marginally ahead of the cheaper X300 Pro.
At the center is a 200MP main that's nearly a 1-inch sensor (Sony Lytia 901), backed by a 200MP 85mm-equivalent periscope telephoto — the phone is focused on camera quality and, even more so, video.
Featuring three extra-large image sensors, the X300 Ultra's uncompromising camera hardware earned a solid rating — but it's hardly better than the cheaper X300 Pro in actual camera performance despite the top-notch hardware.
I'm not sure I've seen better results from even 1-inch sensors — it's so close to 1-inch and the 35mm focal length makes for more cinematic-looking shots; the 85mm periscope is the sweet spot for portraits.
It still holds the record for the best portrait-mode photos on a smartphone, especially at 85mm and 135mm; the 14mm ultrawide is sharp edge to edge.
Battery & Charging
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
A 5,060mAh battery with new 45W charging — improved over the Pixel 8 Pro, but Tensor inefficiency means the worst endurance among premium flagships.
A 5,060mAh battery with 45W wired (37W actual, ~70% in 30 min advertised), 23W wireless via Pixel Stand and Battery Share.
Google introduced a new 45W Power Delivery brick; measured 67% at the half-hour mark with a Samsung 45W charger.
Still the worst battery life of the premium phones due to the weak Tensor processor.
Owner battery is ~26–30 hours on normal use, where a OnePlus easily gets ~48 hours.
Despite the small year-over-year capacity bump (5,060 vs 5,050mAh), one owner found it has significantly more battery life than a Pixel 7 Pro.
Vivo X300 Ultra
Vivo grew the silicon-carbon cell 10% to 6,600mAh while keeping the body the same size. Real-world endurance is strong — ~16h active-use score, ~7h heavy screen-on, 13–14 hour days with charge to spare — and 100W wired refills it in under an hour, with 40W wireless.
Vivo increased the battery by 10% to 6,600mAh despite the phone being practically the same size on paper.
In our battery test it earned an active-use score of almost 16 hours; 100W charging took it 0–66% in 30 minutes and a full charge in 46 minutes, plus 40W wireless. A charger is in the box except in Europe.
On the China version I'm finishing entire 13–14 hour days with 25–30% left; the global version keeps the 6,600mAh cell so battery life should comfortably last 12–13 hours of heavy use.
Getting nearly 7 hours of screen-on time with very heavy usage from the 6,600mAh silicon-carbon unit, with 100W wired and 40W wireless charging support.
After a 4-hour heavy-usage simulation the phone still had ~45% battery left, which is solid by today's standards, and 100W wired charging takes about 45 minutes to full.
In a head-to-head charge race against the Oppo Find X9 Ultra (80W), the Vivo on 100W finished first at 50 minutes 20 seconds to the Oppo's 52:39.
Value & Verdict
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
At $1,099 it's 'the best big Android phone,' but it now costs the same as the competition while trailing on raw performance and battery.
Android Police's verdict: the Pixel 9 Pro XL is 'the best big Android phone.'
Google's latest Pro is 'one of the most all-round excellent phones ever made.'
Choice is great — the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL give the best displays and cameras Google offers in two sizes at various price points.
A 2025 revisit found it more frustrating than expected — much to still love, but parts haven't held up as well as remembered.
After 3 months an iPhone switcher rates it among the best premium phones owned, on par with the iPhone Pro Max.
An owner of both the Pixel 9 Pro and OnePlus 13 says the OnePlus 'destroys' it on the SoC and questions the price.
Vivo X300 Ultra
This is a deliberately niche, camera-first flagship: roughly €1,175 in China for 512GB, around £1,399 globally for the phone, and close to €2,600 for the full kit. For the people it's aimed at it draws some of the strongest praise of any 2026 phone; for everyone else, a cheaper X300 Pro or the Oppo Find X9 Ultra may make more sense.
Last year's X200 Ultra was, in my opinion, one of the best smartphones of 2025 — and this is the best smartphone I've ever used, with the best camera application I've ever used, provided with zero script from Vivo.
The cameras are nothing short of amazing — this is the best Android camera phone, with image quality better than anything from Samsung.
The versatility here is just ridiculous — more like a phone in a camera than the other way around, a camera system built from the sum of its many parts.
If you accept the 35mm main, are willing to tolerate AI processing in some scenes, and don't mind the front-camera stabilisation limits, this Vivo is an excellent choice.
Comparing it directly with the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, even though the Vivo looks great at a glance you could edit the Oppo image and get better detail because the Vivo isn't all over-sharpened and crusty.
Schools the Galaxy S26 Ultra in zoom quality without an excessive camera count — shaping up to be one of the best camera phones not just for 2026 but 2027 and 2028.
The 35mm main is divisive — many feel 24mm is better for phone photography and that 35mm is too tight; cropping to 23–28mm shows a noticeable detail drop.
To buy the global version you'd need to spend at least €2,600 since it's currently impossible to get the phone without the additional kit — recommended for those who love mobile photography and creative features.
If you're a fan of Vivo's camera/colour science but want a bigger global battery for less money, the X300 Pro is the device to go for — the Ultra is the specialist pick.
