Vivo has unveiled three new phones this week. Among them is the much anticipated Vivo X100 Ultra. This is the most high-end flagship phone that the company currently has to offer. And as we discussed in our launch coverage, it takes a big leap in smartphone photography. As a matter of fact, it comes with the largest periscope sensor in the industry.
This versatile camera setup has many of us looking forward to the global launch of Vivo X100 Ultra. But it seems that the company has a piece of bad news for us. The newest camera flagship isn’t making its way outside China.
Why Won’t Vivo X100 Ultra Be Launching Outside China?
Looking back, the last device that Vivo launched in the international markets was the X80 Pro. But since then, the company has been facing patent issues with Nokia, which has made Vivo limit a good number of their flagships to the Chinese market. And it’s the reason why the Vivo X100 Ultra officially won’t be reaching the global markets.
If you’re wondering, the Nokia and Vivo patent dispute is about standard essential patents (SEPs) related to cellular technology. However, these issues are expected to be resolved within this year or the next one. If it does get resolved soon, Vivo may revert its decision about the global launch of X100 Ultra.
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Main Highlights of the Vivo X100 Ultra
There are a lot of things that make the Vivo X100 Ultra stand out from the competition. Among them is the camera setup. It boasts one of the most powerful camera systems on a phone. This smartphone features a combination of a 1-inch main sensor, an impressive 200MP periscope telephoto camera, and a 50MP ultrawide sensor.
As for the 200 MP sensor, it’s the largest telephoto sensor ever used in a phone. It can offer a 3.7x optical zoom and 20x magnification in telephoto macro mode. What’s more interesting is that this X100 Ultra sensor has industry-leading CIPA 4.5 stabilization for sharp images.
Vivo X100 Ultra pairs the versatile camera setup with an in-house BlueImage algorithm for improved photo quality. There’s also a Vivo V3+ imaging chip for processing.
On the front, the X100 Ultra comes with a 6.78-inch curved E7 LTPO AMOLED display. It has a 1440 x 3200 resolution, 1-120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. Under the hood, the flagship phone packs the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. It is paired with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
A 5,500mAh battery powers the internals of the Vivo X100 Ultra. It comes with support for 80W wired and 30W wireless charging. Other highlights include 5G connectivity, two-way satellite communication (in China), and OriginOS 4 based on Android 14.
Pricing and Availability
In China, the Vivo X100 Ultra starts at CNY 6,499 (around $898). The top-end model comes with 16GB RAM and a 1TB storage version. Open sales start on May 28, and as discussed above, you won’t find it in other markets. Of course, you can import the smartphone. However, note that Chinese variants don’t usually offer a smooth experience as the software is geared to the Chinese market.
