The quality of cameras has reached stunning heights – and so have the prices of said phones. AI-driven memory price increases are certainly to blame, but those 200MP sensors aren’t cheap either and there are a lot of them.

The vivo X500 series went global at the end of October, led by the vivo X500 Pro Max. It has some of the best cameras (especially when it comes to video), check our review for more details. The Pro Max offers a 50MP main camera (1/1.28” Sony Lytia L910 LOFIC sensor), a 200MP telephoto (1/1.4” Samsung ISOCELL HP0) with a 3.5x/85mm lens and a 50MP ultra-wide (1/2.75” ISOCELL JN5).

It’s powered by the Dimensity 9600 Pro and a 6,750mAh battery. On the front is a 6.85” 1440p+ 144Hz LTPO OLED display. Amazon is offering a €100 discount as a voucher and the vivo Imaging Grip Kit (worth €200) for free.

The vivo X300 Ultra has a 200MP 1/1.12” sensor in the main camera (the Lytia 901) in addition to the 200MP telephoto (the same 1/1.4” HP0 sensor and 3.5x/85mm lens) and a bigger 50MP sensor in the ultra-wide camera (1/1.28” Lytia 818). Instead of a MediaTek chip, the Ultra has the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with more RAM (16GB) and more storage (1TB), which partially explains the €200 price difference to the X500 Pro Max. This one has a similar 6,600mAh battery.

If you prefer small flagships, the vivo X500 Pro has a 6.36” 1216p+ 144Hz LTPO OLED display and a 5,300mAh battery. There’s no voucher here to reduce the price, however, and instead of an imaging grip kit, you get a pair of over-ear headphones, the vivo Headphones Studio (valued at €170).

The petite flagship has the same 50MP 1/1.28” Lytia L910 in the main and another 50MP 1/2.75” ultra-wide, but a smaller, lower resolution 64MP 1/2.0” sensor in its 3.5x/85mm telephoto module. At least it has the same chipset as its larger sibling, the Dimensity 9600 Pro.

Oppo flagships started their global rollout a week earlier than the vivos. The Oppo Find X10 Pro Max costs the same as the X500 Pro Max (if you are looking at the 12/512GB models) and it is one of its main rivals. It uses the same Dimensity 9600 Pro, a similar 6.78” 1272p+ 144Hz LTPO OLED display and has a larger 7,150mAh battery.

The camera section boasts a 200MP main (1/1.3” ISOCELL HPC), a 200MP 3x/70mm telephoto (1/1.56” ISOCELL HP5) and a 200MP ultra-wide (HP5 again). We told you there are a lot of 200MP cameras in the flagship segment.

Instead of a small flagship, the company went with a mid-sized one – the Oppo Find X10. This one has a 6.59” display (1272p+ 144Hz LTPO OLED) and the same size 7,150mAh battery. Alas, this one runs on the Dimensity 9600M, which is really a 9500 chip in disguise.

The 200MP main camera (1/1.4” ISOCELL HPE) is joined by a shorter 200MP 2.8x/65mm telephoto lens (1/1.56” HP5) and a 50MP ultra-wide (1/2.75” JN5). The Find X10 is cheaper than the X500 Pro and it has the better telephoto camera, but it loses out on performance and compactness.

Amazon has a great discount for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra - €820 off for the base 256GB model. However, the excessively slow shipping time (the estimate is between December 3 and January 18) is a major pain. Still, it’s an option worth considering.

Alternatively, there’s the Motorola Razr Fold. The phone may have gone with the second best chipset (Snapdragon 8 Gen 5), but it has nice cameras (50MP 1/1.28” main, 50MP 1/1.95” 3x/71mm telephoto and 50MP 1/2.76” 122° ultra-wide). Plus, it has a larger battery (6,000mAh vs. 5,000mAh) with faster charging (80W wired and 50W wireless vs. 45W and 20W) compared to the Z Fold8 Ultra. However, the Moto is thicker (10.1mm vs. 8.9mm) and heavier (243g vs. 215g) than the Galaxy.

If we scared you off with those flagship prices, here is something more affordable that is almost as good. The Poco F9 Ultra starts at under €800 and even the 16/512GB variant is quite cheap at €850 – that is a great price for a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset.

It has a 6.9” 1200p+ 185Hz OLED display with Dolby Vision (but it’s not an LTPO panel) and an 8,050mAh battery. The cameras include a 200MP main (1/1.56”), a 50MP 5x/114mm periscope (1/2.76”) and a 50MP 102° ultra-wide (1/2.88”). The cameras are quite good, but they are not on the same level as the vivo X500 Pro Max. That said, the 512GB Poco F9 Ultra costs half as much as the 512GB vivo.

There’s also the smaller Poco F9 Pro with a 6.59” display (1156p+ 185Hz, Dolby Vision) and a 6,330mAh battery. This one is quite powerful too with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V series chip and the cameras are close to the Ultra, except for the 50MP 2.5x/60mm telephoto. Still, unless you really want a mid-sized model, we think that the F9 Ultra is well worth the extra cash.

Then there are the Xiaomi 17T Pro and 17T with 6.83” and 6.59” displays, respectively (plus 7,000mAh and 6,500mAh batteries). The Pro features the Dimensity 9500 from last year and a good set of cameras – 50MP main (1/1.31”), 50MP 5x/115mm periscope (1/2.76”) and a 12MP 120° ultra-wide (1/3.06”). The vanilla Xiaomi 17T uses the Dimensity 8550 Ultra chipset instead and its main camera has a smaller sensor (1/1.55”). Here is a more in-depth comparison between the Xiaomi 17T and the 17T Pro.

Even with a small discount, the Oppo Reno16 Pro is quite expensive – we’re mainly concerned about the Dimensity 8550 Super chipset. It’s a great mid-range chip, but at this price you are probably looking for a Galaxy S26 instead.

The Reno16 Pro does have a 6.32” display (1216p+ 144Hz OLED) similar to the Galaxy, but it tops it with a 200MP main (1/1.56”), 50MP 3.5x/80mm telephoto (1/2.75”) and a 50MP 116° ultra-wide (1/2.88”). For comparison, the petite S26 has a 50MP main (1/1.56”), a 10MP 3x/67mm telephoto (1/3.94”) and a 12MP 120° ultra-wide (1/2.55”).

The 6,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging makes the 4,300mAh battery with 25W charging on the S26 look sad. The Reno got an Active Use Score of 19:29h in our test, compared to 15:20h for the Galaxy. A full charge takes about the same for both phones, just over an hour. The Galaxy isn’t taking this lying down – the Exynos 2600 is a higher tier chipset and it smokes the Dimensity 8550.

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