iPhone 15 Pro vs Vivo X300 Ultra

iPhone 15 Pro

Apple

8.6

Smaller, lighter Pro — same A17 + USB-C 3.0, no 5x periscope

Vivo X300 Ultra

Vivo

8.7

The video and zoom monster

iPhone 15 Pro

What Reviewers Agree On

Grade-5 titanium frame drops weight to 187g (~19g lighter than 14 Pro) — most-praised in-hand feel of any small flagship
Same A17 Pro 3nm chip with hardware ray tracing, 8GB RAM, NVMe — same performance as the $200-more Pro Max
Same USB-C 3.0 (10Gbps), Action Button, ProMotion 120Hz, 2000-nit peak as the Pro Max — Pro features in a compact body
Same Apple Intelligence support on iOS 18+ — future-proofs through iOS 23+ in 2030s
Genuinely pocketable 6.1-inch flagship — increasingly rare in a 6.7"+ Pro-Max-dominant market
WIRED 8/10 — 'iPhone 15 Pro is the small Pro that finally tempts large-Pro owners'

Pros & Cons

iPhone 15 Pro

Pros

Grade-5 titanium frame drops weight to 187g (~19g lighter than 14 Pro) — most-praised in-hand feel of any small flagship
Same A17 Pro 3nm chip with hardware ray tracing, 8GB RAM, NVMe — same performance as the $200-more Pro Max
Same USB-C 3.0 (10Gbps), Action Button, ProMotion 120Hz, 2000-nit peak as the Pro Max — Pro features in a compact body
Same Apple Intelligence support on iOS 18+ — future-proofs through iOS 23+ in 2030s
Genuinely pocketable 6.1-inch flagship — increasingly rare in a 6.7"+ Pro-Max-dominant market

Detailed Comparison

Cameras

iPhone 15 Pro

48MP main + 12MP ultrawide + 12MP 3x telephoto + 12MP TrueDepth front. The notable miss vs the Pro Max is no 5x Tetraprism periscope — the Pro is stuck at 3x optical, the first time Apple meaningfully gated zoom by phone size.

Cameras: 48MP main (f/1.78, sensor-shift OIS), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2), 12MP 3x telephoto (77mm, f/2.8), 12MP TrueDepth selfie.
NO 5x Tetraprism periscope — Apple kept it Pro Max exclusive. The 15 Pro caps at 3x optical telephoto with computational zoom to 15x.
48MP main + ProRAW + ProRes via USB-C 3.0 enable creator-grade workflows the smaller phone can now handle.
Daylight photo quality matches the Pro Max — sensor, processing and software are identical except the periscope.

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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.

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.

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.
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.

Performance

iPhone 15 Pro

Same A17 Pro 3nm chip with hardware ray tracing, 8GB RAM and NVMe storage as the Pro Max. Apple Intelligence on iOS 18+ requires this chip. Launch overheating issues real but largely fixed via iOS 17.0.3.

A17 Pro 3nm with 8GB RAM and NVMe storage — fastest mobile silicon at launch, identical to the Pro Max.
Apple Intelligence support on iOS 18.1+ — A17 Pro is the minimum chip required, future-proofs the phone.
Hardware ray tracing enables console-grade ports: Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding, Assassin's Creed Mirage run natively.
Launch overheating: A17 Pro ran hot in gaming and 4K shoots; iOS 17.0.3 mitigated but didn't fully eliminate — affects the smaller Pro slightly more due to thermal headroom.
In 2025, A17 Pro remains an absolute performer for everyday + intensive use — aged extremely well.

Vivo X300 Ultra

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 plus Vivo's custom imaging silicon delivers flagship benchmark numbers and strong gaming, but the camera-heavy hardware runs hot — sustained stress tests show roughly 60–65% stability and the camera app warms it up fast.

At the heart is Qualcomm's current flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, supplemented by Vivo's custom VS1 and V3-Plus imaging chips.
It boots in 16 seconds (vs 21s for the S26 Ultra and 19s for the iPhone 17 Pro Max) and posts an AnTuTu score over 3,800,000, stronger than Samsung.
In a prolonged stress test it throttled CPU performance to about 60% of peak — in line with other high-powered flagships — and 3DMark stability landed around 63–66%.
It gets a bit hot after 30–40 minutes of gaming, but with no throttling even past an hour and never uncomfortable to hold; boost mode at max graphics gives around 4 hours of Wuthering Waves on a full charge.
Native 120fps gaming with smooth/very-high graphics in many titles, with temperature barely crossing 35°C and power draw around 4W in battle-royale modes.
Under sustained camera/imaging load the front reached ~46.8°C and the back ~45.2°C, and around 47°C the refresh rate drops slightly though not all the way to 60Hz.

Value & Verdict

iPhone 15 Pro

$999 starting (128GB base) — the value pick of the iPhone Pro line if you don't need the 5x periscope. Now $600-800 used with 6+ years of iOS updates remaining. The rare compact iPhone flagship.

Launched at $999 (128GB base) — same starting price as the 14 Pro, but Apple bumped the Pro Max base to 256GB.
At $600-800 used in 2026, the iPhone 15 Pro is the best compact iPhone value with the latest A17 Pro chip and Apple Intelligence support.
vs Pro Max ($200 more): Pro Max adds the 5x periscope, bigger 6.7" display and 256GB base. Pro wins on pocketability and price.
Best for: existing iPhone Pro users on the 12/13 Pro who want USB-C + titanium + A17 Pro in a small body, and don't need the periscope.
WIRED 8/10 — 'the small Pro that finally tempts large-Pro owners' to switch back to a compact iPhone flagship.

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.