GoKawiilis a senior reviewer with over a decade of experience writing about consumer tech. She has a special interest in mobile photography and telecom. Previously, she worked at DPReview.
Upgrading your phone with a camera grip attachment is one thing. But doll-sized telephoto lenses that you mount on top of the rear camera? C’mon.
I wrote the Vivo X300 off as a gimmick, a funny concept designed to generate attention rather than actual sales. But then I spent a weekend carrying the phone and its elaborate kit of goofy little lenses around — and I had way too much fun.
The Vivo X300 Ultra is an update to one of the very best phone cameras out there. It’s only available in China at the moment, with a global launch that will almost certainly exclude the US. Its rear cameras are no joke: a 200-megapixel main, 200-megapixel 3.7x telephoto, and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. Vivo sells a pro camera grip separately to add a physical shutter button. And if you want to really go for it there are those two telephoto extender lenses, each of which mounts to a special plate putting it in front of the telephoto camera. This year’s edition features a more compact version of last year’s 2.35x adapter, adding up to a 200mm equivalent, as well as a new 400mm option.
You won’t look cool carrying all this around, but you will get some sick shots.
If you’re going to carry a phone like the X300 Ultra, you might as well go all in. I stopped short of using the dedicated bag that Vivo sent alongside my review unit — partially because it smells weird, but also because I needed something bigger for a full day out at the spring fair. But I attached the special camera kit case to the phone, along with the pro camera grip, the telephoto lens adapter plate, and a crossbody strap ripped straight out of Apple’s fall 2025 catalog. I stepped out of the family SUV with 150mg of non-drowsy Allegra coursing through my veins, camera slung across my chest and a suitably ergonomic backpack on my shoulders. Peak parent mode.
I took a few shots around the midway without the attachment lenses, but once we headed for the kiddie roller coaster, I knew it was time. I popped the 200mm extender on and didn’t take it off for at least another three hours. Did I look like a weirdo? Yeah. But I was having too much fun to care.
It took a minute to wrap my head around using a 200mm lens on a smartphone camera. I remembered that I had to care about shutter speed. But once I got the hang of it I couldn’t believe what I was getting away with. Depth! Layers! An optical telephoto lens lets you play with composition in a way that never quite translates with digital zoom. I was taking shots I’d never even attempt with another phone camera, and it was mostly working out.
I figured I’d put the extender lens on the phone, take a few photos, and then remove it until I needed it again, but that’s enough of a hassle that I just left it alone. Anyway, once I started realizing all of the potential for telephoto photos, that’s all I wanted to shoot.
It did mean that the lens kept banging against the carnival ride seats every time I bent over to buckle my kid into a sparkling rocket ship or whatever, but this didn’t seem to do any damage to the camera equipment. Guess I have that sturdy Zeiss construction to thank.
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