Sony Xperia 1 VII vs Vivo X300 Ultra

Sony Xperia 1 VII

The most divisive area: a genuinely standout new ultrawide and great selfies, but a continuous-zoom telephoto that's an engineering marvel undermined by mediocre image quality.

• The trio is a 52MP (48MP effective) IMX888 24mm main, a new 50MP IMX906 16mm ultrawide and a 12MP periscope covering 85–170mm continuous optical zoom.
• The new ultrawide is arguably the one camera that delivers truly standout results — and the selfies are awesome too.
• The upgraded ultrawide is clearly sharper than the competition, in the centre and at the edges.
• The super-advanced continuous-zoom camera is a unique feature, but it's a shame it's bad — it just doesn't produce the photo quality to justify its existence.
• The one-lens 85–170mm continuous optical zoom is an engineering marvel, on par with top-tier ultra flagships at 3x, but only usable to about 10x where Samsung/Xiaomi stay sharp to 20x.
• For a regular non-enthusiast taking everyday pictures, the output can feel disappointing given this is the best Sony has to offer at the price.
• It's a professional camera tool — every parameter can be optimised in detail for results significantly better than rival smartphones, but you must embrace the DSLR-style manual controls.

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.

Sony Xperia 1 VII

Excellent endurance is a genuine strength — but the 5,000mAh non-silicon-carbon cell pairs with lethargic 30W charging and nothing in the box.

• It scores highly for battery life, beating even the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max and topping the comparison pack.
• It earned an active-use score of ~14h44m and ~17h20m in PCMark screen-on testing — typically ending the day with 25–35% left.
• Even gaming Wuthering Waves non-stop at max settings you still get about 4.5 hours before the battery is fully drained.
• Charging is lethargic 30W wired — 0–51% in 30 minutes and a full charge in ~80–90 minutes — plus 15W wireless.
• It's the same 5,000mAh cell as last year and not silicon-carbon, with no power adapter or USB-C cable included.

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.