Before I dive into the results from both devices, here's an overview of how their specs compare.

Starting with the main camera, Vivo changed its focal length to 35mm this year, so you get optical quality instead of relying on 1.5x digital zoom. Like all other smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 23mm equivalent focal length on its main sensor, but you can always set 35mm as the default if you prefer it.

Also: I compared the 100x zoom cameras on Samsung, Google, and Motorola phones - this model won

I find myself zooming in at 1.2x and 1.5x for my day-to-day shots, so I loved shooting on the Vivo X300 Ultra. However, there were times when I missed having 23mm by default (on the Vivo phone, you can use the ultrawide-angle lens and zoom in to shoot at 23mm).