Vivo T3 Ultra review

After Vivo released four phones in the T3 series, many thought that the company was done for the year, but Nope! Here comes the ‘Ultra’ edition of the series. This is the first time having one of the Ultra models within the set of T series. Usually, the term Ultra versions means having the most tantalizing features, a concept which is actually valid since Ultra is most often utilized to advertise the best possible configuration of a line of products.

This is usually the case for the Vivo T3 Ultra but when it comes to the Vivo V40 (review) things get a little more complicated. Priced at Rs 34999 the V series device comes in the same class as Vivo T3 Ultra and offering ZEISS optics helps it to turn heads. Yet can the Vivo T3 Ultra deliver a distinctive proposition that might appeal to more customers? Want to know what I thought of it, read my extended review below.

Verdict

Like other Vivo T3 Ultra models, this one does not support ZEISS branding and filters in the camera system; however, the phone still has impressive camera quality for the given price range. Having a powerful and efficient processor, matching display with seamless and engaging animations, and water and dust protection in IP68, Vivo T3 Ultra is a good choice to all-rounder at its price

Design and display

So far as the design is concerned, it resembles the V40 series than it has the typical T series and follows the design language similar to the V40 handsets. It has a circular camera array in the form of a vertical material on the rear part, which is a reminiscence of the V40 series. Below this module is the Aura light ring enhancing its look. We have seen this in the V40 review that minimalistic work gives the phone an elegant look and a very comfortable grip.

It is almost hard to tell which phone is the Vivo T3 Ultra and which is the V40 unless the camera module that houses a ZEISS logo is checked. Chassis: The two colors that are being provided with the product are Lunar Grey and Frost Green and both the colors look quite nice. Among its outstanding qualities is the possession of the dual stereo speakers especially for those who watch their videos without headphones.

The Vivo T3 Ultra has rather thin 5,500mAh battery and it is quite comfortable to hold this smartphone in one hand. Use of power button and volume rocker is quite easy and conveniently positioned such that one does not have to flex them. The design of the bottom speaker with a pinky fitment at times it covered the next to Type-C port did not significantly affect its workings.

The screen measures 6.78 inches, has a 3D Curved AMOLED panel with a 1K (1,260 by 2,800) resolution and has a 120 Hz refresh rate and up to 4,500 nits of screen brightness. This high brightness makes it possible to read without straining especially in summer when the light is brightest. Once again, this segment was once led by the Realme GT 6T but now it marginally surpasses the Vivo T3 Ultra in this category.

The colors are bright and contrast is deep, black is really black and brightness is good, the refresh rate is 120Hz – all of them satisfy the price point of t3 Ultra. Namely, I like flat panels since the means edges do reduce the viewing angles to some degree. Still, if you are used to the curved display this one will do you just fine as well.

Cameras

Of course, the camera is one of the key aspects for which people choose Vivo this or that model, so certain expectations are expected. But wait let’s take a look at the specifications first before we get into its results. The Vivo T3 Ultra recreational device has a 50MP Sony IMX921 digital rearview optical image stabilizer; the backside integrates a large 1/1.56-inch sensor, an f/1.88 aperture diaphragm, and the company’s exclusive proprietary high tech Camera-Bionic Spectrum line.

The phone has 8MP ultra-wide lens and the same feature as the V40 series, known as the Smart Aura Light for better shots in the low light conditions. The phone also supports flicker sensor, in case of any flickering of videos on the screen. On the front, there is a 50MP ultra-wide-anglecamera with a 92 degree field of view, f/2.0 ultra klar lens, and features an AI Facial Contouring that avoids distorted facial shapes.

When it comes to picture quality, the Vivo T3 Ultra did a good job in taking photos and was especially great for portrait shots some of the time the processing tweaked skin and lighting for an HDR appeal. Having said that, many users should be satisfied with the results. On the other hand, there was a relatively major issue observed when recording videos indoors due to the presence of flicker sensor.

Performance and Software

However, the distinct success story of the Sharp Vivo T3 Ultra compared to the V40 is an improved performance. I liked the V40 but pointed out that its processor could have been done better as it came with the same chipset as that of the previous model. On the other hand, Vivo T3 Ultra will be driven by the significantly more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9200+. This octa-core chipset is based on second-generation 4 nm process and has a super-performance prime core Cortex-X3 CPU that operates at 3.35 GHz frequency, the highest in its T series.

Alongside the chipset is an 11-core Immortalis-G715 GPU, to boost graphical performance. Vivo T3 Ultra must-haves include up to 12GB RAM, up to 256GB storage space. As you would have already noted the Extended RAM feature can be used to increase the RAM to about a maximum of 24 GB for intensive operations.

The first was a comparison of the final score and benchmark of this phone for the convenience of the reader, with the Realme GT 6T and Honor 200 using the AnTuTu benchmark test which identifies other quantitative performances by evaluating a phone’s hardware and software efficiently. As this brand says that the Vivo T3 Ultra can achieve an AnTuTu score more than 1,600,000, the test result that I got is 1,445,926.

In this case, Realme GT 6T was ahead just a little, while Honor 200 was behind, which proves that MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ is actually a good chipset that can handle almost everything effectively.

Then to assess the performance of the system on utilizing its CPU for operations, we performed the Geekbench test. On the same test, the Vivo T3 Ultra outperformed the two competing devices and clearly pointed out that it can handle CPU intensive tasks flawlessly.

Burnout test was used to determine how these phones perform given high level of demand. Here, the Honor 200 was best placed, enduring 79.3 percent of their initial best under stress while GT 6T and Vivo T3 Ultra retained 58.4 percent and 54.2 percent respectively. As this suggests that the Vivo T3 Ultra could be fall short under great pressure, I did not come across such problems like, app freezes or slow responses during these normal operations, more so since we did not use the extra RAM feature during this test.

Starting with Vivo T3 Ultra, the phone has Android 14 with FunTouchOS 14 out of the box. Fortunately I preloaded the phone with nearly 47 applications and yet the phone doesn’t appear cluttered and the users don’t have a feeling that the phone is full of applications. Like in the V40 series, the animations on the user interface are fluid and look very nice. Regarding its performance, it is a fine piece of tech, With a chipset that is as powerful as the Snapdragon 855, and a refresh rate of 120 Hz the device could not feel more smooth.

What is more, AI has not been given so much attention by Vivo as it can be seen in other brands. As of now, Vivo T3 Ultra comes with a couple of AI options like the AI Erase and AI Photo Enhance but it hasn’t transplanted AI into all features of the software. When we asked Vivo about this, they responded that based on their survey, users in this segment do not heavily engage AI options. About the removal of the AI voice, as for me I like the features like AI Summary and AI Speak already implemented in OPPO devices, I can understand why Vivo decided so.

So, there is nothing new about FunTouchOS 14 compared to the V40. The users will be able to use the same apps such as V-Appstore which is the Vivo’s own app store, iManager which is responsible for cleaning and securing the phone and also contains AI named Jovi Home which provides the user with the recommendations based on the users’ activity.

Battery life and charging speeds

The battery of the Vivo T3 Ultra boasted of a high capacity of 5,500mAh, and the battery performance was constantly good throughout my test period. There were days that my battery makeup would last me to the next morning, other days it was drained by evening and needed to be charged.

In our test of PCMark battery, the battery lasted for 12:14 hours, which is still lower than some products of the same category. However, in the actual usage, it is almost similar or slightly differable with that of the existing machines in the same or closer generality.

The Vivo T3 Ultra has a Fast Charging that allows the device to go from 20% to 100% in approximately 38 minutes. However, one should mention that the phone gets warmer when this option is enabled. Without the 80W fast charging and 60W this device still takes roughly 47 minutes to fill the battery from 20% to 100%.

During our gaming test, where we played three popular titles—BGMI, Real Racing 3, and Call of Duty: Mobile—for 30 minutes each, it appears that the T3 Ultra lost a cumulative of 23% battery percentage. This is a little higher than expected when compared to the phone’s rivals, meaning that the battery of the phone gets to drain faster whenever is used to run demanding games.

Final verdict

The Vivo T3 Ultra can be said to be a perfect combination of the mentioned two devices which are the V40 and V40 Pro. It integrates the high performance of the Pro model together with the costs-saving model while retaining the look and feel of the battery capacity of both V series smartphones. While perhaps not quite a match for the Pro model in terms of camera functionality the T3 Ultra is fairly strong in the photography category and yes is IP68 dust and water resistant. Another contender in this price range is the Realme GT 6T but what we have here the T3 Ultra is more elegant.

Editor’s rating: 8.5 / 10

Reasons to buy

• The phone comes with a powerful and capable processor
• This is the first T series phone with IP68 dust and water resistance
• The phone is capable of clicking impressive portrait shots

Reasons not to buy

• The flicker sensor on the phone doesn’t seem to help
• The image processing can produce overly smoothened images at times

Test by: Hussian and Mahesh

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