This Smartphone Has A 400mm Telephoto Lens Attachment – And It Could Replace Your Camera

Chinese OEMs offer some pretty interesting smartphones, particularly with exciting camera capabilities, that hardly ever reach the North American shores. Now, one of these Android phone brands – Vivo — has launched a new phone called the X300 Ultra in international markets. This is notable because the company has traditionally shied away from launching its X-series flagships with the "Ultra" moniker outside of its home market in China. Unfortunately, a North American release is unlikely for the X300 Ultra, and if you really want this phone, you'll have to import a unit.

The X300 Ultra is not your typical Android phone. It not only boasts several top-of-the-line features, including powerful camera hardware, but also has an optional photography kit, which includes an eye-popping 400mm telephoto lens attachment. As is pretty evident from this photography kit, the X300 Ultra is targeted at folks who want to take professional-grade photos from their phone, essentially as a replacement for their camera. First showcased at the Mobile World Congress in March this year and then introduced in China at the end of the same month, the smartphone costs a pretty penny, having a list price of 2,000 euros (~US$2,360). The photography kit is also not cheap at 600 euros. Preorders are currently open in select European markets, with shipments starting April 24. Here's all you need to know about the Vivo X300 Ultra and its impressive photography chops.

The X300 Ultra follows the footsteps of its predecessors: the X100 Ultra and X200 Ultra, both of which had amazing cameras, specifically for phone photographers. So, it's no surprise that the X300 Ultra has an impressive camera hardware that is getting solid feedback from experts, some of whom call it "the best camera phone right now" and "the most coherent camera-first flagships".

In terms of raw hardware, the X300 Ultra packs a triple camera setup on the back, headlined by a 200MP primary shooter featuring a 35mm f/1.85 aperture lens, a big 1/1.12-inch Sony Lytia 901 sensor, and optical image stabilization. There is another 200MP telephoto camera using the periscope technology with a Samsung ISOCELL sensor, an 85mm f/2.67 aperture lens, and support for 3.7x optical zoom. Finally, you get a 50MP ultrawide camera with a 14mm f/2.0 aperture lens and a Sony Lytia 818 image sensor.

However, you can significantly upgrade the telephoto camera abilities of the phone by going with the optional photography kit. Unlike the X200 Ultra, which only gets a 200mm lens extender, the X300 Ultra has the choice to go with a 200mm lens or a 400mm lens attachment, with the latter available in the kit and bringing 4.7x optical zoom support. Both extenders have been engineered with the company's long-time camera partner — Zeiss. The optional kit also includes an imaging grip that has a dedicated camera button and a built-in 2,300mAh battery to add even more juice to the phone. Once the full kit is fitted, the X300 Ultra looks more like a proper camera than a smartphone.

Beyond all the camera stuff, the Vivo X300 Ultra is as decked out as any other 2026 Android flagship. It's powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM. It also features a 6.82-inch OLED display with a 1440p resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and 4,500 nits of peak brightness. Moreover, you get a massive 6,600mAh battery with support for 100W fast wired charging and Wi-Fi 7. Although there is no expandable storage support, there is up to 1TB of onboard UFS 4.1-rated storage, and if you want even more, you can always plug in a fast external SSD, as the included USB-C port is rated for USB 3.2 Gen 2 (up to 10Gbps) speeds.

The phone is IP69-rated for dust and water resistance and runs on Android 16-based Origin OS 16. The Vivo software also packs a pro-grade camera app that will help you get the most out of this camera-first phone. Lastly, the company is promising Android OS updates for five years and security patches for seven years.