Vivo T4 Ultra Review: A Major Contender for the Crown of India’s Best Phone Under Rs 40,000

Vivo's T series aims to deliver feature-rich devices with segment-leading hardware. However, while most smartphones in Vivo's T series fall in the affordable to mid-range segments, the Vivo T4 Ultra is the exception.

With a starting price of ₹37,999 and going up to ₹41,999 for the top variant, the Vivo T4 Ultra firmly positions itself in India's premium mid-range segment. But can Vivo's T series continue to deliver a true flagship-like experience at this price point? Let's find out.

PROS

• Stunning 1.5K OLED Curved Display
• Powerful Performance with Excellent Thermals
• Versatile Triple Cameras with Periscope Lens
• 4K 60fps Video Recording on Front & Rear Cameras
• Premium Design with Photolithography Craftsmanship
• Solid Battery Life with Fast Charging Support

CONS

• No Silicon Carbon Battery
• Sub-par IP64 Rating
• Software Requires Refining

Design & Build

The Vivo T4 Ultra follows in the footsteps of its predecessor with its slim and light form factor and curved design. The Vivo T4 Ultra comes in Meteor Grey and Pheonix Gold shades, although our model came in the latter, which boasts a smooth matte finish, giving it a marble-like finish. Vivo uses advanced Photolithography Embroidery Craftsmanship to create this finish, etching around 10 million micro-lines, each just 1 μm wide and 7 μm deep, onto the surface.

The stunning glass back on the T4 Ultra is complemented by a glossy metallic frame, both of which are well-resistant to fingerprints and smudges. Finish aside, the T4 Ultra boasts a slim and light build, measuring 7.5mm thick and weighing 192 grams. The one downside is the sub-par IP64 rating, which only offer minimal splash resistance as compared to the IP68 or higher rating found on most phones in this range. Although this does offer protection in the rain and won't be an issue so long as you don't drop your phone in water.

While the Vivo T4 Ultra's premium aesthetics cannot be understated, it certainly isn't the most comfortable of phone to use, although the case does help with that. The Vivo T4 Ultra undeniably looks and feels like a premium smartphone, but it does make a few compromises in its overall build quality.

Display

For the display, Vivo has opted for a 6.67-inch Curved AMOLED display with a 1.5K resolution (1260 x 2800 pixels) and virtually no bezels to offer a stunning viewing experience. The display remains impressively bright even under direct sunlight, offering a typical brightness of 800 nits, with HBM brightness peaking at 1600 nits and a staggering maximum of 5000 nits, an upgrade over its predecessor's 4500 nits.

The panel boasts a 120Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz touch sampling rate and up to 2160Hz High-frequency PWM dimming. Unfortunately, the T4 Ultra doesn't offer much in terms of an adaptive refresh rate, you can switch between 60Hz and 120Hz or allow the phone to do it for you automatically. We opted to keep the refresh rate locked at 120Hz, which delivered a smooth and fluid experience for both gaming and everyday navigation.

Colours are rich and lifelike, thanks to support for 1.07 billion hues, while Vivo's visual enhancement mode automatically optimises colour and contrast in apps like YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video for a more immersive viewing experience. With HDR10+ support, streaming content looks vibrant and dynamic, especially on platforms like YouTube and Netflix.

While the T4 Ultra skips a notification LED, it compensates with an always-on display that can be set to show relevant information and notifications either all day or on a schedule. Finally, the T4 Ultra does get Schott Xensation glass protection from scratches and drops.

Performance

Moving on to performance and the Vivo T4 Ultra makes no compromises here, opting for a 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ SoC paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. that ran everything I threw at it without slowing down. From Call of Duty: Mobile to Diablo Immortal, the T4 Ultra ran every title on the highest possible settings and frame rates without any hitches.

The T4 Ultra offers excellent sustained performance thanks to an advanced cooling system that includes a total heat dissipation area of 50,000 mm². This setup features a large 4,362 mm² vapor chamber, 13 built-in temperature sensors, and high-performance graphite for layered, efficient thermal management. Now, the phone does get a little toasty (43 Degrees) during a long gaming session for an hour or two, but nothing alarming.

Before we move on to cameras, here are a few results from our benchmarking tests. In our extensive AnTuTu testing, the phone managed an overall score of around 1.8 million points. In Geekbench 6, we saw the T4 Ultra managed a single-core score of 2,201 points and a multi-core score of 7,012 points. These results are in line with the phone powerful specifications.

All things considered, the Vivo T4 Ultra delivers excellent performance for its price, making it a solid choice for gamers and power users alike.

Cameras

The Vivo T4 Ultra has an impressive set of cameras, even going by premium mid-range smartphone standards.

• 50MP Sony IMX921 primary sensor with OIS and an f/1.88 aperture
• 50MP Sony IMX882 periscope-telephoto sensor with OIS, an f/2.6 aperture, 3x optical zoom
• 8MP Galaxycore GC08A8 ultrawide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture
• 32MP Galaxycore GC32E1 front camera with an f/2.45 aperture

The Vivo T4 Ultra elevates the T series' hardware focus with a robust, versatile camera system that stands out in the premium mid-range segment. Leading the setup is a 50MP Sony IMX921 main camera with OIS, delivering crisp, natural-looking photos in daylight and maintaining impressive dynamic range with auto HDR enabled. In low light or challenging indoor scenarios, the camera continues to perform, keeping scenes bright, detailed, and free from excessive noise, thanks to Vivo's advanced processing and stabilization.

Supporting the main sensor, an 8MP ultrawide lens ensures consistent colour reproduction, with only minor softening at the edges, particularly in dimmer settings. However, the highlight is the 50MP Sony IMX882 periscope telephoto lens, offering 3x optical, 6x lossless, and up to 100x digital zoom. This lens excels up to 20x zoom for crisp detail, and even functions as a macro camera at 15cm, though clarity decreases at very high magnifications.

Portrait mode is strong, producing sharp edge detection and customizable bokeh effects, while Supermoon and Ultra Dark modes provide creative options for night photography-though they stop short of flagship-level results. For video, the T4 Ultra records 4K at 60fps on both front and back cameras, with OIS delivering smooth footage. Electronic stabilization is also available at 1080p.

The 32MP front camera captures sharp, vibrant selfies in daylight and holds up reasonably well in low light, ideal for social media use. Altogether, the camera suite blends flexibility, reliable performance, and creative features, offering excellent value in its class.

Software

Running on Android 15 with Funtouch OS 15, the Vivo T4 Ultra's software experience feels unusually polished for its class. I appreciated the promise of three years of OS updates and four years of security patches. Funtouch OS 15 itself is visually lively but noticeably smoother than previous versions, and I found features like AI Note Assist, Live Text for instant text extraction from images, and on-device Call Translation genuinely handy in daily use.

The Circle to Search feature felt intuitive, and Link to Windows made it easy to sync up with my PC workflow. Performance-wise, the Priority Scheduling model and zRAM compression gave apps a snappier feel, while Origin Animation and Aqua Dynamic Effect added a playful, modern touch to the interface. There is some bloatware-Facebook, Amazon, LinkedIn, PhonePe, Spotify, Snapchat, and Netflix were all pre-installed-but most can be uninstalled, even if a factory reset may bring a few back.

All told, the Vivo T4 Ultra's software blends thoughtful AI tools, security longevity, and a responsive, vibrant UI, making it feel both current and genuinely useful in practice.

Battery

The Vivo T4 Ultra packs a sizable 5,500mAh battery that comfortably lasts a full day on moderate use, including gaming, photography, social media browsing, and YouTube streaming.

However, it still feels like a bit of a letdown, particularly considering so many phones in this range use silicon carbon cells that run cooler, offer higher battery capacity, and are better suited for slim design. The phone also comes with a 90W adapter in the box that can give you a full charge in under an hour, which comes in clutch when you're in a hurry.

Overall, while the battery tech could have been more cutting-edge, the Vivo T4 Ultra still delivers dependable all-day power with fast charging that keeps up with a busy lifestyle.

Miscellaneous

The Vivo T4 Ultra features an earpiece doubling as a secondary speaker, delivering loud, balanced stereo sound with good separation, especially in landscape mode. Audio quality is consistently strong through both speakers and headphones, complemented by audio super resolution and super audio features. Haptics are decent, though not customizable, and the in-display optical fingerprint scanner provides convenient, modern security.

Verdict

After spending considerable time with the Vivo T4 Ultra, it's clear this phone punches well above its weight. From the stunning display and flagship-grade performance to the surprisingly versatile camera setup, the T4 Ultra checks almost all the right boxes for a premium mid-range device. Yes, there are minor compromises, the IP rating and battery tech could be better, but they don't take away from what is otherwise a rock-solid package.

At ₹37,999, the Vivo T4 Ultra stands out as a true underdog in the sub-40K segment, especially when you consider the performance and polish it brings to the table. It's fast, stylish, feature-packed, and genuinely fun to use. If you're looking for a reliable all-rounder that doesn't break the bank, don't sleep on the Vivo T4 Ultra, it's one of the best-kept secrets in this price range.