While you can’t have it just yet, the vivo X300 Ultra is now available in Europe and the first units should ship out in about a week. This will be one of the top camera phones of the year – we have a review unit that we’re currently testing and it looks very promising.
The phone is a beast with a 200MP (1/1.12”) main camera with a 35mm ZEISS lens, another 200MP sensor (1/1.4”) inside the 3.7x/85mm periscope, plus a 50MP ultra-wide (116°) and a 50MP selfie. It has a large 6.82” 1440p+ LTPO display, a 6,400mAh battery with 100W wired and 40W wireless charging and it is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, of course.
The €2,000 price tag is a tough pill to swallow, but that’s what you pay for cutting edge tech. Amazon also has two bundles, both of which cost €2,400 – one has the telephoto extender kit (with a 400mm add-on lens) and the vivo Imaging Grip. The second bundle has only the telephoto extender kit, so see below for a better option.
The vivo ZEISS Telephoto Extender kit is €600, but you can get a 50% discount when you buy it alongside the X300 Ultra. This makes the phone + kit combo €2,300, which is €100 less than the bundle 2 offer above.
The Ultra is the halo product of the series, most people will want the vivo X300 Pro instead. It’s plenty capable with a 50MP (1/1.28”) main camera and a 200MP (1/1.4”) 3.7x/85mm periscope. This one uses the Dimensity 9500 instead of a Snapdragon, but it’s still a top-performing chip. The EU battery is disappointingly small at just 5,440mAh (down from 6,510mAh for the global model). Still, with a solid voucher to drop the price, the Pro costs almost half as much as the Ultra.
By the way, there is a vivo ZEISS Telephoto Extender kit (with a 200mm lens) for the X300 Pro as well, though we’re not sure we want to pay the full €400 for the privilege – it’s better to wait for a discount.
Then there’s the pocket rocket, the vivo X300. This one also has a solid voucher and it is one of the best 6.3” phones on the market right now. It uses the same Dimensity 9500 chip as the Pro and its 5,360mAh battery is almost the same size (note: the global X300 has a 6,040mAh battery). The cameras are different but still capable with a 200MP (1/1.4”) main, a 50MP (1/1.95”) 3x/70mm periscope, a 50MP ultra-wide and a 50MP selfie.
Samsung’s S+ series isn’t doing too hot – the Galaxy S26+ is already under €1,000 even for the 512GB model. But with barely any upgrades over the S25+ and an Exynos 2600 chipset, it’s a tough sell.
Every S26 Ultra ad that we see mentions the Privacy Display. Well, the S26+ doesn’t have it, so let’s look at the Galaxy S25 Ultra instead – it costs just about the same as the S26+ and we think it’s the better phone.
That said, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is only €150 more than the S25 Ultra (looking at the 512GB option) and it brings tangible upgrades over its predecessor. If you can live with 256GB storage, however, the 2025 Ultra is well worth a look.
It’s rare to see a premium iPhone on sale, but the iPhone Air is up to €490 off, which is massive. The phone draws you with its super slim 5.6mm 165g frame and… well, no, that’s it. Jokes aside, you get iOS, a quality 6.5” LTPO display and a surprisingly decent battery life.
There’s also the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge. It was meant to compete against the Air, but it failed and Samsung canceled the series. It has a decent discount right now, so you could consider it over an S+ model if you are sick of thick, heavy phones. The Edge measures 5.8mm and weighs 163g. The 3,900mAh battery doesn’t last as long as the Air (12:06h vs. 12:44h Active Use score), despite being bigger (the Apple battery only has 3,149mAh capacity).
The Google Pixel 10 series has discounts surpassing €300 at the moment. The Pixel 10 Pro goes head to head with the vivo X300, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL takes on the vivo X300 Pro.
The only exception to the above is the Google Pixel 10a, which has a small discount, but it is paired with 3 free months of YouTube Premium and Google One.
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