Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra vs Vivo X300 Ultra

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Same sensors as the S25 Ultra (200MP main 1/1.3in, 50MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 50MP 5x periscope, 12MP selfie) but the main and 5x get wider apertures (f/1.4 from f/1.7; f/2.9 from f/3.4). Reviewers agree the low-light gain is real and visible without leaning on AI. New software tricks: APV codec for near-lossless 1080p/4K video, Horizon Lock super-stabilization, and an expanded Photo Assist with generative editing. The unloved 10MP 3x sensor and AI-aggressive 30x+ zoom are the recurring weak points.

• 200MP main with new f/1.4 aperture lets the sensor 'collect more light, resulting in quicker exposures with less motion blur' — Verge confirms lower ISO and faster shutter speeds than the S25 Ultra in side-by-side testing
• Forbes' two-week test on low-light cat photos found 'much more vivid colors' and 'sharper details with more enhanced shadows' versus the S25 Ultra — 'the difference feels truly drastic'
• Engadget's challenging backlit Grogu shot showed the S26 Ultra outperform a Pixel 10 Pro on subject exposure — 'managed to make an already great main camera just a bit better'
• 10MP 3x telephoto is dated and the only zoom range where image quality visibly sags — Trusted Reviews calls it 'particularly dated' compared to Oppo's 200MP zoom in the Find X9 Pro
• Ars Technica notes shots 'tend to look a bit overprocessed in the 3x to 4.9x zoom range' because the 10MP sensor can't keep up between the 1x and 5x optical primes
• 5x periscope with the new top-mounted-lens design produces a more pleasant bokeh and brighter low-light shots, though minimum focal distance extends about half to 52cm
• Minimum focus distance on the main camera 'definitely got worse' — MKBHD says macro mode survives but close-up subject sharpness is a noticeable downgrade
• Horizon Lock super-stabilization is 'one of the best executions we've seen' — keeps video level even when you flip the phone upside down, though capped at 4K
• APV codec lets you record near-lossless 1080p/4K log video with external-storage support — Ars calls it 'just about every feature you could want' for serious mobile video
• Android Authority finds AI zoom degradation kicks in around 30x — 'a fake sharpness… almost like rendered in a video game' — and the 100x mode is essentially marketing
• Color tuning has been dialled down this year — Trusted Reviews says Samsung 'avoided the overly-green and red hues of previous flagships for something a little more neutral'
• Forbes contributor Paul Monckton frames the camera as '5x better but 3x worse' — flagship aperture upgrades on the main and periscope, but the 3x telephoto sensor stagnates

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.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, paired with 12 or 16GB RAM and up to 1TB storage, comfortably tops every published Android benchmark and trades blows with the iPhone 17 Pro in single-core. A redesigned, larger vapor chamber keeps sustained performance up, though Wild Life stress runs still shed 30-40% of peak GPU output under load.

• Engadget records a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 11,240 (vs 9,828 on the S25 Ultra) and GPU score of 25,403 — the fastest Android scores currently published
• Trusted Reviews measured 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test stability at 67.6% — a big jump from the S25 Ultra's 58.4% and ahead of the Honor Magic 8 Pro (55.4%)
• Ars Technica records the S26 Ultra topping all benchmark charts on paper but losing 'about 40 percent of its graphical performance' under prolonged stress
• Linus Tech Tips' stress test showed the S26 Ultra outperforming an iPhone 17 Pro by ~34% and a OnePlus 15 by ~5%, but flagged that it 'gradually gets worse over time' as thermal throttling kicks in
• 39% NPU improvement enables on-device Galaxy AI features without round-tripping to the cloud — Ars praises the 'local-only private AI processing' toggle
• Android Authority confirms the S26 Ultra holds Wild Life Extreme leadership over the OnePlus 15 for the first 12 loops before settling 'just a hair behind' — a meaningful reversal from the S25 Ultra era
• Genshin Impact at max settings ran at a 'mostly solid 60 FPS' on LTT's review unit, with occasional hitching once the chassis got noticeably warm in hand
• Sustained 30-minute heavy-workload test by a YouTube benchmarker showed the S26 Ultra ahead of iPhone 17 Pro Max in multi-core throughput but losing on efficiency — 11% battery usage on iPhone vs more on the S26

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.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

The S26 Ultra inherits the same 5,000 mAh capacity Samsung's used since the S20 Ultra — six years unchanged — but 60W wired charging is genuinely faster and Qi 2.2 25W wireless is overdue. Reviewers split: most say battery life is 'fine' but no longer flagship in a market where OnePlus 15 ships with 7,300 mAh and Oppo Find X9 Pro packs 7,500 mAh. Charging speeds are now a competitive feature, not a weakness.

• Same 5,000 mAh battery as the S25 Ultra, S24 Ultra, S23 Ultra, S22 Ultra, S21 Ultra and S20 Ultra — 9to5Google calls this 'easily the most egregious spec Samsung hasn't changed'
• Phone Arena's real-world diary measured average 100% screen time at just 6 hours 1 minute — 'just not very impressive' next to iPhone 17 Pro Max's nearly 9 hours on the same test
• Engadget's local video rundown measured 30 hours 3 minutes — only ~30 minutes longer than the S25 Ultra; chip efficiency gains, not capacity, are doing the work
• 60W wired charging: 0-50% in 18-19 minutes, 0-75% in 30 minutes, 0-100% in 47-53 minutes across multiple independent tests
• Mrwhosetheboss' charging test confirmed 47 minutes 0-100% versus 1 hour 19 minutes for the iPhone 17 Pro Max — a 32-minute charging gap in Samsung's favor
• Wireless charging upgraded to Qi 2.2 25W but built-in Qi2 magnets are still missing — Ars Technica says you 'can add that functionality back in by choosing the right case, but that's not a very premium experience'
• Trusted Reviews' MWC use case 'had to top up the phone every single day with my power bank', 'never once making it through a full day' under heavy travel
• 1-month long-term reviewer found average usage of 46-47 hours between charges with light-to-moderate use — closer to 2 days when on Wi-Fi all day with no GPS
• Owner-comparison post on r/OnePlus: S26 Ultra battery 'wasn't getting me through a full day sometimes' after 2 months — OnePlus 15's 7,300 mAh got the user back to ~59% at end of heavy first day
• Engadget calls Samsung's continued omission of Qi2 magnets 'the major annoyance' and hopes 'this is the last time' the flagship ships without them

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.