The Vivo X200 Ultra is threatening to dethrone Apple and its iPhone 16 Pro as the video capture smartphone king.
Established leaker Digital Chat Station has been at it again, this time revealing some of the camera features of Vivo’s forthcoming flagship phone.
The most eye-catching of these is that the Vivo X200 Ultra will finally beat Apple on the video front, toppling the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max from their shared throne.
“For the first time, the video capabilities of Android phones have surpassed those of Apple,” the tipster claims (via machine translation).
Vivo’s path to greatness
Of course, we’re not going to take such claims at face value. It’s far from unusual for manufacturers to make wild claims about their camera system being the best in the business.
However, Vivo has a track record in the camera phone game. The Vivo X100 Pro packed outstanding camera specs. It might not be widely available, but all reports suggest that the Vivo X200 Pro is a stunner in the camera department too.
That includes video, where LOG support has been added and 4K capture at 120fps is possible.
Connor Jewiss / Foundry
Why this would be a big deal
For a number of years now, Apple’s iPhone range has been the best in the business when it comes to video capture.
Other phones may come forward with eye-catching features (8K springs to mind) that appear to better the latest iPhone. But when it comes to the simply matter of capturing footage smoothly, evenly and accurately, with balanced colours and excellent dynamic range, nothing else comes close.
Put it this way: respected directors have filmed movies using iPhones before. Check out Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane and High Flying Bird.
Or read up on Danny Boyle’s forthcoming zombie sequel, 28 Years Later, which was shot predominantly on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both that and the iPhone 15 Pro were the video champs for much of 2024.
Have you heard of any other phone brand being used for such a high profile production? If the Vivo X200 Ultra sticks the landing, you might soon enough.
What else do we know about the Vivo X200 Ultra camera?
In a separate Weibo post from a user known as Xiaomu Technology, the Vivo X200 Ultra’s camera specs appear have leaked.
It’s claimed that we’ll be looking at a 50Mp 1/1.28″ Sony LYT-818 main camera, another of those same sensors on ultra-wide duty, and a pixel-packed 200Mp 1/1.4″ Samsung ISOCELL HP9 periscope camera.
An accompanying image shows the phone from the side with a vast camera module (always a good sign) and what appears to be a dedicated camera shutter button.
Of course, the Vivo X200 Ultra could become the best camera phone on the market, but if it doesn’t make out of China it would be of limited value. We’re not holding our breath on that front.
