vivo launched its T4 Ultra smartphone in India today, as the successor to last year’s T3 Ultra. This gets a familiar quad-curved screen, and a large 5500mAh battery, but comes with an upgraded camera setup that includes a periscope telephoto camera and a faster Dimensity 9300+ processor. Is this a worthy upgrade to the T3 Ultra? Let use dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- vivo T4 Ultra 8GB + 256GB version in Meteor Grey colour
- Silicon case
- USB Type-C Cable
- 90W FlashCharge wall adapter
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick start guide and Warranty information
Display, Hardware and Design
The vivo T4 Ultra sports a 6.78-inch (2800×1260 pixels) 1.5K 20:9 aspect ratio, 460 PPI quad curved AMOLED display and 120Hz refresh rate. The display is bright even outdoors under sunlight, since it has a typical brightness of 800 nits. HBM brightness is 1600 and the screen has up to 5000 nits peak brightness compared to 4500 nits in the predecessor. The colour output good as well since it has 1.07 billion colors.
You can select from standard (default), professional and bright screen colour modes. You can select smart switch that can switch or force it to 60Hz or 120Hz. It has 300Hz touch sampling rate and up to 2160Hz High-frequency PWM dimming.
Visual enhancement optimizes the color and contrast in apps like YouTube, Netflix and Prime Video for more vivid display effects. It has Scratch- and Drop-Resistant Shield Glass, co-developed with German glass expert SCHOTT, which is Schott α
It also has HDR 10+ support, which works for YouTube and Netflix. The phone doesn’t have a notification LED, but this has an always-on-display that shows contextual info and notifications all day or as per schedule.
The phone has a 32MP front camera inside the punch-hole. There is an earpiece on the top edge which works as a secondary speaker. There is a small chin below the screen. It has an in-display optical fingerprint scanner. The haptic feedback is decent, but there is no option to control the strength manually.
Coming to the button placements and ports, the phone has a power button and volume rockers on the right. On the bottom, there is a dual SIM slot, primary microphone, USB Type-C port and a speaker grill. The secondary microphone is present on the top along with vent for speakers.
The Meteor Grey color variant that we have takes inspiration from ancient Indian lore, which perceive the cosmos as a source of wisdom and power, with meteorites seen as celestial gifts from the universe, says the company.
It also comes in Phoenix Gold colour. Inspired by the elegance of phoenix feathers, Phoenix Gold showcases cutting-edge craftsmanship. Using advanced Photolithography Embroidery Craftsmanship- it etches approximately 10 million micro-lines—each just 1 μm wide and 7 μm deep—across the surface.
These lines mimic feather-like textures using smooth, flowing strokes, resulting in a Golden Phoenix Feather Texture on the back panel Within the microscopic grooves, 1024 precision-cut reflective facets manipulate light and shadow to create subtle gradients and dynamic shimmer. Plasma polishing boosts surface brightness by nearly 15%, giving the finish a luminous, satin-like glow that shifts gracefully under sunlight—delivering both visual depth and a sense of movement.
The Meteor Grey colour that we have is just 7.43mm thick and weighs 192 grams, even though it packs a 5500mAh battery. The phone has IP64 ratings for dust and splash resistance, which is a downgrade compared to IP68 ratings in the T3 Ultra.
Camera
- 50MP rear camera with f/1.88 aperture, SONY IMX921 sensor, OIS
- 8MP ultra-wide camera with Galaxycore GC08A8 sensor, f/2.2 aperture
- 50MP 3x periscope telephoto camera with 1/1.95″ Sony IMX882 sensor, f/2.55 aperture, 15 cm macro up to 10x, up to 100x hyper zoom
- 32MP front-facing camera with 1/3.1″ Galaxycore GC32E1 sensor, f/2.45 aperture
The phone still has aura light with 1800K–5000K smart color temperature adjustment that is good.
The camera UI is the same as other phones running Funtouch OS. It includes several features such as AR stickers, Pro mode, long exposure, 50MP mode, supermoon, and more.
Coming to the camera quality, the daylight shots are brilliant, and it is recommended to enable HDR option which automatically switches on HDR according to the shot, so that the dynamic range is good. The camera can focus quickly. The 8MP ultra-wide camera does a decent job.
The main highlight is the new 50MP periscope telephoto camera that offers 3x zoom, 6x loss less zoom, and it goes up to 100x for hyper zoom. The quality is good up to 20x, after that you don’t get much details. The telephoto camera can also shoot macro shots at 15cm, which is decent. Even though there is up to 20x zoom in macro mode, you lose details when you zoom beyond 6x. The periscope camera is a good addition to the T4 Ultra.
The portrait mode is good as well, with good edge detection. Low light shots are good with a lot of details and less noise, and the OIS helps as well to stabilize the images. The night mode automatically enables ultra dark mode if there is very less light, and that makes it better, but it takes a few seconds to process. There is also supermoon mode, which is a good addition, but you can’t compare it to flagships. The 32MP front camera is good in daylight, and could have been better in low-light.
Check out some camera samples below
It can record videos at 4k resolution at up to 60 fps from the front and rear cameras. It has standard and ultra stabilization, but the resolution is down to 1080p in standard and ultra options since it crops the content. OIS does a good job in stabilization. There is a cinematic portrait video option which is limited to 1080p 30 fps.
Software, UI and Apps
Coming to the software, the phone runs on Android 15 with Funtouch OS 15 on top. It runs Android security patch for March 2025, but it should the latest security patch soon. The phone will get 3 Android OS updates and 4 years of security updates, according to the press release. However, the vivo India website mentions 2 major Android upgrades and up to 3 years of security updates, same as the T3 Ultra.
Funtouch OS 15 brings vivo’s Priority Scheduling model for 15% faster app startup time, has zRAM compression algorithm, resulting in a 40% boost in compression speed, vivo’s Origin Animation for a more natural and intuitive user experience. The Lightning-Speed Engine offers faster app launches, and Aqua Dynamic Effect adds a visually pleasing touch to system interactions.
AI features include AI Note Assist for summarizing, translating, and extracting to-dos across 20+ languages, Live Text for pulling text from any image instantly. It also offers on-device Call Translation, making language barriers a thing of the past. There is Link to Windows that enhances collaboration between your vivo device and PC. It also has Circle to Search feature.
Out of 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, about 7.3GB is usable, out of which 3GB is free when the default apps are running in the background. There is additional 8GB RAM expansion feature. Out of 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, 222.47GB is free out of the box.
Apart from the usual set of utility and Google apps, it comes preloaded with a lot of apps such as Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn, PhonePe, Spotify, Snapchat, Amazon and Netflix. These apps can be uninstalled, but they come back after reset.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The phone has an optical in-display fingerprint sensor which immediately unlocks the phone just by keeping your finger on the sensor. You can add up to 5 fingerprints. There are different animation styles that display when you unlock, which you can disable. The phone also has face unlock that can unlock the phone in seconds, but it is not as secure as fingerprint.
Music and Multimedia
The default Music Player also has equalizer and DeepField sound effects. It doesn’t have FM Radio support. There is audio super resolution, and super audio features. Audio through the stereo speakers are good. Audio through the headphones is good as well.
This has Widevine L1 so that you can play HD content on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming apps. It also supports HDR playback on Netflix and YouTube.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has the usual set of connectivity features such as 5G with support for 5G SA: n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n18/n26/n28F/n38/n40/n41/n48/n66/n77/n78 | NSA: n1/n3/n5/n8/n28/n40/n77/n78. Jio and Airtel 5G work out of the box. It also has dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 be (2.4 + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.4, GPS + GLONASS, and it also has NFC support. We did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume is good, even though it is present on the top edge.
The vivo T4 Ultra’s body SAR is 0.998 W/Kg and head SAR is at 0.994/Kg which is almost similar to the V40 and is well under the limit in India which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
It is the first phone to be powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9300+, which is an overclocked version of the Dimensity 9300. This uses third-generation TSMC’s 4nm process tech, and the Arm Cortex-X4 core now operates at up to 3.4 GHz compared to 3.25GHz in the 9300 while retaining 3 x performance core clocked ARM Cortex-X4 cores at a slower 2.85GHz and 4 x Cortex-A720 cores clocked at 2.0GHz.
This also gets 10% performance boost in APU, and the 12-core Arm Immortalis-G720 GPU has a 2nd generation hardware ray tracing engine for fast ray tracing experiences at a smooth 60 FPS, along with console-grade global illumination effects.
The phone has 50,000 mm² total cooling area which includes 4362 mm² large vapor chamber, and 13 built-in temperature sensors, large vapor chamber as large as 4362 mm² and high-performance graphite for layered, high-efficiency cooling, says the company.
We did not face any issues or frame drops in the graphic-intensive games like COD, BGMI and Genshin Impact. There is also 120fps gaming in games like BGMI. Thermal throttling was there. In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 52.8%, and the temperature shot up from 27 to 48 degrees. The score is decent, but it heats up more on intensive usage, such as gaming. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
Battery life
Coming to the battery life, the phone packs a 5500mAh (typical) 3rd gen silicone anode BlueVolt battery. It can easily last for a day with normal use, but it with heavy use battery drains quickly. Hope this can be fixed with update. I got over 5 of screen on time with over a day’s mixed Wi-Fi and 5G use, which is decent, but it could have been better.
Since the phone has support for 90W fast charging, it can charge up to 50% in about half an hour, and 100% takes less than an hour.
Conclusion
The vivo T4 Ultra is a decent upgrade to last year’s T4 Ultra when it comes to camera, even though there is an increase in the price. The phone also shines when it comes to the screen, and offers a smooth performance, but heat up quickly on intensive tasks such as gaming and long camera use. Even though IP64 ratings are good, wish the phone had retained IP68 ratings.
Pricing and availability
The vivo T4 Ultra is priced at Rs. 37,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model, 12GB + 256GB model costs Rs. 39,999 and the top-end 12GB + 512GB model costs Rs. 41,999.
It will be available from vivo.com, Flipkart and offline stores starting from June 18th. With bank offer, the effective starting price if Rs. 34,999.
Alternatives
If you need a periscope telephoto camera in the price range, there is realme 14 Pro+ with a mid-range chipset and a better battery life. If you don’t need the periscope telephoto camera, the vivo V50 with dual 50MP rear, and 50MP front cameras, ZEISS optics and a slightly better battery life is a good deal in the similar price range.
Pros
- 120Hz quad curved AMOLED HDR display is good
- Good cameras
- Smooth performance
- Good build quality, Sleek design
- Decent battery life, 90W fast charging
Cons
- A lot of preloaded apps
- Heats up quickly on intensive use