Nothing Phone (3a) vs Vivo X300 Ultra

Nothing Phone (3a)

A 50MP main co-engineered with Samsung plus a genuinely useful 2x telephoto — strong for the price, though the 8MP ultrawide is weak and it can't match the Pixel.

• It packs a 50MP main with OIS, a 50MP 2x telephoto, an 8MP ultrawide and a 32MP front camera.
• The dedicated 2x telephoto is a clear upgrade over the Phone 2a and takes genuinely good-looking shots at 2x.
• A telephoto camera at this price is a good one to have — unusual for a sub-$400 phone.
• It's a shame the camera doesn't stack up against the Pixel 9 series, and the weaker zoom is a real downside versus pricier rivals.
• The 8MP ultrawide is pretty bad — it's really only there for the occasional wide perspective shot.
• Video tops out at 4K30 on the main and telephoto (no 4K60), with 1080p60 on the front camera.

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.

Nothing Phone (3a)

The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 handles everyday use and casual gaming at 60fps, but it can stutter under heavier loads and the UFS 2.2 storage is slow.

• It runs a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB UFS 2.2 storage.
• You can find ways to make it stutter when gaming or moving through heavy apps, but the performance still can't be faulted for the price.
• Gaming is solid for a budget phone — Call of Duty Mobile, Genshin Impact and Asphalt all held ~60fps at default settings (33–37°C).
• Demanding titles like Genshin or Wuthering Waves can't hold a constant 60fps for more than 30 minutes or at higher settings.
• The slow storage and processor raise real questions about long-term performance expectations.
• Nothing's software is well optimised — there are occasional stutters when heavily loaded, but overall it runs nice and smooth for the price.

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.

Nothing Phone (3a)

A 5,000mAh cell that comfortably lasts a day to a day and a half with no overheating, plus fast ~50W wired charging — though there's no wireless charging and no charger in the box.

• The 5,000mAh battery easily delivers a day and a half, sometimes two, with zero overheating.
• Real-world screen-on time ran roughly 6.5–8.5 hours, including an 8.5-hour run on mobile data with hotspot use.
• Even with the 5,000mAh cell it's still a one-day battery champ, comfortably ending the night with 25–30% left.
• A measured charge test took it 1% to 90% in exactly one hour on a 45W charger, with a 50W charger faster and a full charge in ~1h10–15m.
• It supports up to 50W wired charging but there's no wireless charging — a notable omission even at this price.
• Against newer 6,000–7,000mAh competitors the 5,000mAh capacity is starting to look modest, though it's far from bad.

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.