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▲ 5 r/Vivo

Before You Buy the X500 Series: Something Worth Knowing From Vivo's Last Ultra

Note: This post and video was edited entirely on my phone, so it's not meant to be a professionally edited video, It's simply a collection of screen recordings and supporting images I combined as evidence to support the issues discussed below.

Device: Vivo X300 Ultra 512GB (global)

OriginOS Version: PD2547BF_EX_A_16.0.7.9.W20

With the recent Vivo X500 series launch, this post shares the experience and issues from an owner of the previous generation Vivo X300 Ultra as a references for people considering a new X500 device. To be clear, I do not own an X500 serie device, and I'm not claiming these issues exist on X500 series devices, as this post is about my X300 Ultra, where nearly 6 months after launch, multiple cameras issues that can significantly affect the experience still remain despite software updates and repeated reports to Vivo. 

These issues discussed here aren't simply things that are being called bugs because of if I like or not like something, they involve cases where the device fails to perform as designed or advertised. The expectation I have here isn't for the X300 Ultra to outperform a dedicated camera or do anything beyond its capabilities, but for its cameras and features to work consistently and reliably within those capabilities. I've put six of the most impactful issues into one short video. Each is marked #1–#6 in the top-left corner, so those interested in the details can match them with the explanations and reproduction steps further down the post, otherwise, the short video should give you a good idea of what these issues are.

The Six Problems Documented #1 - #6:

#1 - 14mm Color / White Balance Shift

The 14mm ultrawide camera shows a significant color/white balance shift compare with the 35mm main camera and the 85mm telephoto camera. This is most noticeable with the 8 color styles (Refined, Sunlit, Rich, Porcelain, Negative, Positive, Textured, and B/W) that follow the Refined color style processing behavior, excluding Vivid and Zeiss Natural.

The difference is particularly obvious when photographing a blue daytimesky. Compared with the 35mm main camera, the 14mm can shift the sky and most of the scene noticeably toward green/yellow,  resulting in much worse color reproduction from the 14mm ultrawide camera. As shown in the video comparing a 35mm image vs a 34mm cropp from the 14mm ultrawide, showing a significant difference in the colors of the sky from 2 different images shot at very simliar focal lengths.  

#2 - 85mm Color / White Balance Shift

The 85mm telephoto camera has a separate color/white balance consistency issues. In certain scenes, particularly moderately dim scenes containing neutral or white lighting/surfaces, the 85mm camera can introduce a noticeable green cast compared with the 35mm main camera and the 14mm ultrawide camera. this is most noticeable with the Vivid or Zeiss Natural color style. Under the right conditons, switching between the 35mm and 85mm cameras can cause a neutral looking area to shift noticeably toward green on the 85mm.

The issue is more dependent on dimmer lighting and scene conditions than #1, so it may not be immediately reproducible in every environment. Strongly warm or strongly cool lighting can also make the difference less obvious, and this issue can effect not only the live preview but also the final image particularly when using the Vivid or Zeiss Natural color style.

#3 - 35mm to 85mm Camera Switch Artifact

A brief digital artifact can appear in the live preview when switching between the 35mm main camera and 85mm telephoto in lowlight scenes. This artifact appears mainly during the camera transition and disapears almost immediately afterward. It occurs regardless of the color style being used, and this appears to just be limited to the live preview and most likely does not appear in the final captured image as it appears and disappears so rapidly that its unlikely anyone would be able to react to it and press the shutter in time. 

#4 - 50MP Pro Mode Artifacting

This issue occurs specifically with certain 50MP combinations in the Pro modes. I have not observed the same artifacting at 12.5MP, 25MP, or 200Mp, so this is not a general problem with every resolution.

The affected combinations are:

Landscape & Night > Pro Mode 

  • JPG/HEIF formats - Unaffected ✅
  • RAW format - Affected ❌
  • JPG/HEIF formats saved alongside RAW - Affected ❌
  • SuperRAW format- unaffected ✅

Pro Photo

  • JPG/HEIF formats- Affected ❌
  • RAW format - Affected ❌
  • JPG/HEIF formats saved alongside RAW - Affected ❌
  • SuperRAW format - Unaffected ✅

The affected images can show severe digital artifacts that destroy fine details, particularly when photographing small text or other detailed subjects. The pattern I’d observed suggests that the issue is associated with the RAW related processing path, where RAW images are affected, as are JPG/HEIF images that are processed through the same path. SuperRAW is completely unaffected, while certain normal JPG/HEIF combinations also do not show the same artifactings. I cannot confirm Vivo's internal implementation, but the behavior is consistent across these different combinations. The issue is most notceable with the 35mm main camera, as the 14mmultrawide camera isn’t ideal for fine details, and the 85mm camera also doesn’t seem to be as susceptible ti these artifacting as the 35mm main camera.

#5 - 28mm ISZ Preview Bug

The 14mm ultrawide uses in sensor zoom (ISZ) to provide a 28mm focal length before eventually switching to the 35mm main camera. Where there is a noticeable live preview issue between 28mm and 34mm, which is the ISZ range between the 14mm ultrawide and the 35mm main camera. This issue is the most noticeable in moderately dim scenes, particularly when using the default 12.5MP resolution , any of the 8 color styles (Refined, Sunlit, Rich, Porcelain, Negative, Positive, Textured,and B/W) following the Refined processing behavior, and with Authentic Lighting enabled. As when switching from 27mm to 28mm, the live preview can suddenly change in several ways at once: the images becomes substantially noisier, the exposure/tonality changes, and the entire preview can appear noticeably different. However, this dramatic change does not corresppnd to the final image, as shown in the 2 supporting images shot in 27mm and 28mm where there’s little to no changes in the actual captured image. Leading to the image preview from 28mm to 34mm completely inaccurate to what the camera actually sees. 

#6 - Pro Photo Aggressive Denoising

There is a separate image quality issue involving aggressive denoising in Pro Photo mode which occurs when shooting JPG/HEIF formats through the RAW related processing path, including:

  • JPG/HEIF formats directly in Pro Photo
  • JPG/HEIF formats saved alongside a RAW image in all photo modes

I found this problem to be most noticeable in darker scenes containing significant texture or fine detail. Instead of simply reducing visble noise, the processing can aggressively smooth parts of the image and remove fine texture. Such as the example wooden floor shown in the video, where the texture and details of the wooden floor were nearly completely erase by the aggressive denoising from the Pro Photo mode. And this is separate from the 50MP artifacting described in #4, As over here the primary problem is loss of texture and detail through excessive denoising, rather than the more severe digital artifacts seen in #4.

How to Reproduce the Issues #1- #6:

How to reproduce #1

Use the default Photo mode with Refined color style, or another color style that follows the same processing behavior, and enable Authentic Lighting. And then point the camera at a clearly blue daytime sky and switch between the 35mm main camera and 14mm ultrawide, the color difference should be visible in the live preview, and with Authentic Lighting enabled, the same color difference can also appear in the final captured image.

How to reproduce #2

Use the default Photo mode with Vivid color style in a moderately dim scene with relatively neutral/white lighting or surfaces, then switch between the 35mm main camera and 85mm telephoto, and give it a second or so where the green cast should be more noticeable after it settles in. And in suitable conditons, the 85mm camera should show a noticeably greener image compared with the 35mm or 14mm cameras.

How to reproduce #3

In a low light scene, open the default Photo mode and repeatedly switch between the 35mm main camera and 85mm telephoto, this should cause a brief digital artifacts to appear over a significant portion of the preview during the camera transition.

How to reproduce #4

For the most noticeable result:

  1. Open Pro Photo mode
  2. Select the 35mm main camera in JPG/HEIF formats
  3. Set the resolution to 50MP / High Resolution
  4. Take a photo of a subject containing relatively small text or other fine details
  5. Take another 50MP photograph of the same subject using the default Photo mode
  6. Compare the resulting images at high magnification

The default Photo mode image should retain substantilly more readable detail, while the Pro Photo image can show severe digital artifacts, not only that, but the same issue also occurs with the affected RAW image combinations listed above.

I have also found a video from a Chinese content creator who’d encountered a similar 50MP Pro Photo issue on the X300 Ultra HERE (Timestamp at 24:23).

How to reproduce #5

In a moderately dim scene:

  1. Open the default Photo mode
  2. Use Refined color style
  3. Enable Authentic Lighting
  4. Use the default 12.5MP resolution
  5. Move between 27mm and 28mm, or between 35mm and 34mm

When entering the 28 to 34mm ISZ range, the live preview can change dramatically, but the captured image should not show the same dramatic change, making this primarilly a viewfinder/live preview issue that renders the live preview unreliable.

How to reproduce #6

For the most noticeable result:

  1. Find a moderatly dark scene with plenty of texture or fine detail
  2. Open Pro Photo
  3. Select the 85mm telephoto with the smallest sensor and most susceptible to noise
  4. Use JPG/HEIF formats, or use RAW format with an accompanying JPG/HEIF image enabled.
  5. Take a photo
  6. Switch to the default Photo mode
  7. Match the resolution, color style, focal length, and other relevant settings
  8. Try to capture a scene as close to the Pro Photo image as you can
  9. Compare both images at high magnification

Under these conditions, the Pro Photo image can show substantially more aggressive denoising and significantly less fine texture than the default Photo mode image.

I have also found a reddit post where others have also encountered similar issues with their X300 Ultra's JPG/HEIF photos being heavily denoised when using the Pro Photo mode HERE.

Experience & Concerns:

What is most frustrating isn't that the X300 Ultra has these issues, as no complicated hardware or software is going to be anywhere near perfect, the bigger concern here is that several fairly basic camera issues can significantly affect everyday use, yet remain un resolved nearly 6 months after launch. More importantly, these aren't issues being reported for the first time in this post, that’s not the case here at all, as all 6 have been reported to Vivo through the feedback app months ago, with some reported multiple times with different evidences each time. Yet after multiple software updates, almost all of them remain some how , these issues have been documented and reported for months, but there has been little visible progress toward fixing any of them. 

Vivo's customer support experience has also made things much more difficult, since vivo doesn't officially sell these devices in my country, it's understandable that there aren't local stores or repair services if anything goes wrong with my device. What is difficult to accept is having essentially non official online channel through which to contact Vivo for any help or support simply because my country isn't supported, despite owning the device. To be fair, the X300 Ultra is far from being a bad camera phone, and its hardware has some genuinely impressive capability despite its less impressive specs on paper compared to other Ultra devies of this gen. Such as its ability to capture 200MP RAW single frame images on both the 35mm and 85mm sensors, with support for the 200mm and 400mm teleconverters, and the ability to capture 4K 12bit OpenGate DirectLog with DCG enabled across all three sensors through MotionCam Pro. 

This post isn't claiming that the X500 series, or even other X300 models, necessarily have these same issues, the point is that for anyone considering a new X500 device, it's worth looking beyond the new hardware and considering how persistence issues were handled on Vivo's previous flagship, and what that could mean for the long term ownership experience. As the biggest concern here isn't simply that these bugs exist, it is that they were found, documented, and repeatedly reported months ago, yet many of them remain unresolved today. If anyone here has a way to reach Vivo directly or can help get all these issues in front of the right people at Vivo, it would be greatly appreciated if you can pass them along, where hopefully there is still a chance for these issues to be properly addressed by Vivo.

u/National-Ad1406 — 11 days ago
▲ 2 r/Vivo

Before You Buy the X500 Series: Something Worth Knowing From Vivo's Last Ultra

With the recent Vivo X500 series launch, this post shares the experience and issues from an owner of the previous generation Vivo X300 Ultra as a references for people considering a new X500 device. To be clear, I do not own an X500 serie device, and I'm not claiming these issues exist on X500 series devices, as this post is about my X300 Ultra, where nearly 6 months after launch, multiple cameras issues that can significantly affect the experience still remain despite software updates and repeated reports to Vivo. 

These issues discussed here aren't simply things that are being called bugs because of if I like or not like something, they involve cases where the device fails to perform as designed or advertised. The expectation I have here isn't for the X300 Ultra to outperform a dedicated camera or do anything beyond its capabilities, but for its cameras and features to work consistently and reliably within those capabilities. I've put six of the most impactful issues into one short video. Each is marked #1–#6 in the top-left corner, so those interested in the details can match them with the explanations and reproduction steps further down the post, otherwise, the short video should give you a good idea of what these issues are.

Note: This post and video was edited entirely on my phone, so it's not meant to be a professionally edited video, It's simply a collection of screen recordings and supporting images I combined as evidence to support the issues discussed below.

Device: Vivo X300 Ultra 512GB (global)

OriginOS Version: PD2547BF_EX_A_16.0.7.9.W20

The Six Problems Documented #1 - #6:

#1 - 14mm Color / White Balance Shift

The 14mm ultrawide camera shows a significant color/white balance shift compare with the 35mm main camera and the 85mm telephoto camera. This is most noticeable with the 8 color styles (Refined, Sunlit, Rich, Porcelain, Negative, Positive, Textured, and B/W) that follow the Refined color style processing behavior, excluding Vivid and Zeiss Natural.

The difference is particularly obvious when photographing a blue daytimesky. Compared with the 35mm main camera, the 14mm can shift the sky and most of the scene noticeably toward green/yellow,  resulting in much worse color reproduction from the 14mm ultrawide camera. As shown in the video comparing a 35mm image vs a 34mm cropp from the 14mm ultrawide, showing a significant difference in the colors of the sky from 2 different images shot at very simliar focal lengths.  

#2 - 85mm Color / White Balance Shift

The 85mm telephoto camera has a separate color/white balance consistency issues. In certain scenes, particularly moderately dim scenes containing neutral or white lighting/surfaces, the 85mm camera can introduce a noticeable green cast compared with the 35mm main camera and the 14mm ultrawide camera. this is most noticeable with the Vivid or Zeiss Natural color style. Under the right conditons, switching between the 35mm and 85mm cameras can cause a neutral looking area to shift noticeably toward green on the 85mm.

The issue is more dependent on dimmer lighting and scene conditions than #1, so it may not be immediately reproducible in every environment. Strongly warm or strongly cool lighting can also make the difference less obvious, and this issue can effect not only the live preview but also the final image particularly when using the Vivid or Zeiss Natural color style.

#3 - 35mm to 85mm Camera Switch Artifact

A brief digital artifact can appear in the live preview when switching between the 35mm main camera and 85mm telephoto in lowlight scenes. This artifact appears mainly during the camera transition and disapears almost immediately afterward. It occurs regardless of the color style being used, and this appears to just be limited to the live preview and most likely does not appear in the final captured image as it appears and disappears so rapidly that its unlikely anyone would be able to react to it and press the shutter in time. 

#4 - 50MP Pro Mode Artifacting

This issue occurs specifically with certain 50MP combinations in the Pro modes. I have not observed the same artifacting at 12.5MP, 25MP, or 200Mp, so this is not a general problem with every resolution.

The affected combinations are:

Landscape & Night > Pro Mode 

  • JPG/HEIF formats - Unaffected ✅
  • RAW format - Affected ❌
  • JPG/HEIF formats saved alongside RAW - Affected ❌
  • SuperRAW format- unaffected ✅

Pro Photo

  • JPG/HEIF formats- Affected ❌
  • RAW format - Affected ❌
  • JPG/HEIF formats saved alongside RAW - Affected ❌
  • SuperRAW format - Unaffected ✅

The affected images can show severe digital artifacts that destroy fine details, particularly when photographing small text or other detailed subjects. The pattern I’d observed suggests that the issue is associated with the RAW related processing path, where RAW images are affected, as are JPG/HEIF images that are processed through the same path. SuperRAW is completely unaffected, while certain normal JPG/HEIF combinations also do not show the same artifactings. I cannot confirm Vivo's internal implementation, but the behavior is consistent across these different combinations. The issue is most notceable with the 35mm main camera, as the 14mmultrawide camera isn’t ideal for fine details, and the 85mm camera also doesn’t seem to be as susceptible ti these artifacting as the 35mm main camera.

#5 - 28mm ISZ Preview Bug

The 14mm ultrawide uses in sensor zoom (ISZ) to provide a 28mm focal length before eventually switching to the 35mm main camera. Where there is a noticeable live preview issue between 28mm and 34mm, which is the ISZ range between the 14mm ultrawide and the 35mm main camera. This issue is the most noticeable in moderately dim scenes, particularly when using the default 12.5MP resolution , any of the 8 color styles (Refined, Sunlit, Rich, Porcelain, Negative, Positive, Textured,and B/W) following the Refined processing behavior, and with Authentic Lighting enabled. As when switching from 27mm to 28mm, the live preview can suddenly change in several ways at once: the images becomes substantially noisier, the exposure/tonality changes, and the entire preview can appear noticeably different. However, this dramatic change does not corresppnd to the final image, as shown in the 2 supporting images shot in 27mm and 28mm where there’s little to no changes in the actual captured image. Leading to the image preview from 28mm to 34mm completely inaccurate to what the camera actually sees. 

#6 - Pro Photo Aggressive Denoising

There is a separate image quality issue involving aggressive denoising in Pro Photo mode which occurs when shooting JPG/HEIF formats through the RAW related processing path, including:

  • JPG/HEIF formats directly in Pro Photo
  • JPG/HEIF formats saved alongside a RAW image in all photo modes

I found this problem to be most noticeable in darker scenes containing significant texture or fine detail. Instead of simply reducing visble noise, the processing can aggressively smooth parts of the image and remove fine texture. Such as the example wooden floor shown in the video, where the texture and details of the wooden floor were nearly completely erase by the aggressive denoising from the Pro Photo mode. And this is separate from the 50MP artifacting described in #4, As over here the primary problem is loss of texture and detail through excessive denoising, rather than the more severe digital artifacts seen in #4.

How to Reproduce the Issues #1- #6:

How to reproduce #1

Use the default Photo mode with Refined color style, or another color style that follows the same processing behavior, and enable Authentic Lighting. And then point the camera at a clearly blue daytime sky and switch between the 35mm main camera and 14mm ultrawide, the color difference should be visible in the live preview, and with Authentic Lighting enabled, the same color difference can also appear in the final captured image.

How to reproduce #2

Use the default Photo mode with Vivid color style in a moderately dim scene with relatively neutral/white lighting or surfaces, then switch between the 35mm main camera and 85mm telephoto, and give it a second or so where the green cast should be more noticeable after it settles in. And in suitable conditons, the 85mm camera should show a noticeably greener image compared with the 35mm or 14mm cameras.

How to reproduce #3

In a low light scene, open the default Photo mode and repeatedly switch between the 35mm main camera and 85mm telephoto, this should cause a brief digital artifacts to appear over a significant portion of the preview during the camera transition.

How to reproduce #4

For the most noticeable result:

  1. Open Pro Photo mode
  2. Select the 35mm main camera in JPG/HEIF formats
  3. Set the resolution to 50MP / High Resolution
  4. Take a photo of a subject containing relatively small text or other fine details
  5. Take another 50MP photograph of the same subject using the default Photo mode
  6. Compare the resulting images at high magnification

The default Photo mode image should retain substantilly more readable detail, while the Pro Photo image can show severe digital artifacts, not only that, but the same issue also occurs with the affected RAW image combinations listed above.

I have also found a video from a Chinese content creator who’d encountered a similar 50MP Pro Photo issue on the X300 Ultra HERE (Timestamp at 24:23).

How to reproduce #5

In a moderately dim scene:

  1. Open the default Photo mode
  2. Use Refined color style
  3. Enable Authentic Lighting
  4. Use the default 12.5MP resolution
  5. Move between 27mm and 28mm, or between 35mm and 34mm

When entering the 28 to 34mm ISZ range, the live preview can change dramatically, but the captured image should not show the same dramatic change, making this primarilly a viewfinder/live preview issue that renders the live preview unreliable.

How to reproduce #6

For the most noticeable result:

  1. Find a moderatly dark scene with plenty of texture or fine detail
  2. Open Pro Photo
  3. Select the 85mm telephoto with the smallest sensor and most susceptible to noise
  4. Use JPG/HEIF formats, or use RAW format with an accompanying JPG/HEIF image enabled.
  5. Take a photo
  6. Switch to the default Photo mode
  7. Match the resolution, color style, focal length, and other relevant settings
  8. Try to capture a scene as close to the Pro Photo image as you can
  9. Compare both images at high magnification

Under these conditions, the Pro Photo image can show substantially more aggressive denoising and significantly less fine texture than the default Photo mode image.

I have also found a reddit post where others have also encountered similar issues with their X300 Ultra's JPG/HEIF photos being heavily denoised when using the Pro Photo mode HERE.

Experience & Concerns:

What is most frustrating isn't that the X300 Ultra has these issues, as no complicated hardware or software is going to be anywhere near perfect, the bigger concern here is that several fairly basic camera issues can significantly affect everyday use, yet remain un resolved nearly 6 months after launch. More importantly, these aren't issues being reported for the first time in this post, that’s not the case here at all, as all 6 have been reported to Vivo through the feedback app months ago, with some reported multiple times with different evidences each time. Yet after multiple software updates, almost all of them remain some how , these issues have been documented and reported for months, but there has been little visible progress toward fixing any of them. 

Vivo's customer support experience has also made things much more difficult, since vivo doesn't officially sell these devices in my country, it's understandable that there aren't local stores or repair services if anything goes wrong with my device. What is difficult to accept is having essentially non official online channel through which to contact Vivo for any help or support simply because my country isn't supported, despite owning the device. To be fair, the X300 Ultra is far from being a bad camera phone, and its hardware has some genuinely impressive capability despite its less impressive specs on paper compared to other Ultra devies of this gen. Such as its ability to capture 200MP RAW single frame images on both the 35mm and 85mm sensors, with support for the 200mm and 400mm teleconverters, and the ability to capture 4K 12bit OpenGate DirectLog with DCG enabled across all three sensors through MotionCam Pro. 

This post isn't claiming that the X500 series, or even other X300 models, necessarily have these same issues, the point is that for anyone considering a new X500 device, it's worth looking beyond the new hardware and considering how persistence issues were handled on Vivo's previous flagship, and what that could mean for the long term ownership experience. As the biggest concern here isn't simply that these bugs exist, it is that they were found, documented, and repeatedly reported months ago, yet many of them remain unresolved today. If anyone here has a way to reach Vivo directly or can help get all these issues in front of the right people at Vivo, it would be greatly appreciated if you can pass them along, where hopefully there is still a chance for these issues to be properly addressed by Vivo.

u/National-Ad1406 — 11 days ago
▲ 2 r/Vivo

Has anyone else noticed this strange viewfinder issue in Zeiss Natural mode (X300 Ultra)?

Screen Recordings of the viewfinder in Zeiss Natual

I bought the Vivo X300 Ultra for its camera, but after several months of ownership and multiple OTA updates, I'm honestly surprised by how many camera software issues still remain. This is one of the more recent ones I've come across, and I wanted to share it to see whether others have noticed the same behavior or have found any way around it. I've attached screen recordings showing the issue on all three cameras (14mm, 35mm, and 85mm), as screenshots don't capture it nearly as well. The recordings show exactly what I see in the live viewfinder while using the camera in Photo mode. 

When shooting in the Zeiss Natural color style, I occasionally encounter certain low-light scenes where making very small adjustments to the camera's framing causes parts of the image to abruptly change brightness and exposure. In my example, the night sky repeatedly shifts between a light gray tone and an almost black tone, even though I've only pointed the camera slightly to the left or right and the scene is otherwise nearly identical. Simply shifting the camera side to side causes the viewfinder to continuously switch between these two states.

Testing details:

  • Device: Vivo X300 Ultra (Global)
  • OriginOS version: PD2547BF_EX_A_16.0.7.2.W20 (the latest version available)
  • Happens on all three cameras (14mm, 35mm, and 85mm)
  • Only occurs when using the Zeiss Natural color style
  • Still occurs with HDR on/off, different resolutions, Authentic lighting on/off
  • Restarting the Camera app and rebooting the phone do not fix it
  • Switching to another color style immediately resolves the issue

Interestingly, this only affects the live viewfinder. The saved photo itself appears normal. However, that doesn't make this any less of a problem as the viewfinder is what we rely on to judge composition, exposure, and color before taking a photo. If the preview is constantly flickering between two different looks, then it's no longer a reliable representation of the scene, making it impossible to compose and evaluate a shot accurately. 

At this point, what disappoints me most isn't this one bug—it's that a flagship device at this price, marketed so heavily around its camera system, still has so many software issues affecting the overall photography experience months after launch. The hardware is clearly excellent, which makes these software problems even more frustrating. If anyone else has noticed similar behavior, or knows a way to report this directly to Vivo, I'd really appreciate hearing from you. Hopefully, this is something Vivo can investigate and address in a future update.

reddit.com
u/National-Ad1406 — 3 months ago