vivo X500 Pro Max and X500 Pro · A 200 MP ZEISS zoom, 8,000 mAh and a 2 nm chip

vivo benchmarks the Pro Max against the X300 Pro in its own footnotes, so that is the comparison. All figures are from vivo's Chinese spec pages for both phones.

Is it worth moving from an X300 Pro? The battery and the 2K panel are real gains, and the stabilisation upgrade matters for low-light and telephoto shots. The telephoto itself is the same resolution, size and reach, so anyone buying for zoom alone gains most from the new G2 Ultra teleconverter, which vivo lists for this phone alone. The price rise is the part that needs justifying, and vivo has made that case with hardware rather than a new camera headline.

vivo launched the X500 series in China on 21 September, and it spends most of its own product page on one thing: the camera system around the Pro Max's telephoto. That is where this article starts too.

The periscope is a 200 MP ZEISS APO unit on a 1/1.4-inch Samsung HP0 sensor behind an f/2.67 lens at 85 mm. APO stands for apochromatic, ZEISS's label for its strictest correction of colour fringing, so bright edges against a sky should stay free of purple halos. It gives 3.5× optical zoom from the main camera, and because the sensor holds so much detail, vivo says crops beyond that stay sharp; digital zoom runs to 100×. The stabilisation is rated CIPA 7.0, which means it holds a frame steady at longer exposure times from the hand, and the same lens focuses down to 15 cm for close-ups taken from a distance. It uses the same HP0 sensor vivo fitted to the X300 Ultra this spring, and early side-by-side footage shows the two periscopes behaving almost identically, so this phone's gains lie around the lens rather than in it.

The accessories are what make this series unusual. vivo sells two clip-on ZEISS teleconverters: the G2, which extends reach to a 200 mm equivalent and weighs 153 g, and the new G2 Ultra, which reaches a 400 mm equivalent and, by vivo's own account, meets ZEISS's APO standard only when paired with the X500 Pro Max. vivo's footnote is open about how the equivalents are reached: the optics are combined with a crop inside the camera app. In practice this is the reach for a stage from the back of a concert hall or a bird on the far side of a lake.

The main camera is a 50 MP 1/1.28-inch sensor at 24 mm and f/1.57, co-defined with Sony and called 蓝图光御 900 (Blueprint 900). vivo rates it for 17 EV of dynamic range in its Log mode, which is what keeps a sunset sky and a face in shadow both readable in one frame, and it also carries CIPA 7.0 stabilisation. A 50 MP ultrawide and a 50 MP selfie camera complete the set.

Video is where vivo wants the series judged. It records 8K, shoots 4K slow motion at 240 fps natively, keeps subjects in focus with tracking at 4K 120 fps and records 10-bit Log at 4K 120 fps, with LUTs applied in the camera. A 3.92-inch preview screen, sold on its own, attaches magnetically to the back through a case, so the rear cameras can be used for selfies, and it works as a remote viewfinder and shutter from up to 10 m away.

An 8,000 mAh battery in a phone that is 8.12 mm thick is the number on this spec sheet worth stopping at. It uses a single cell whose anode is 25% silicon, which is how vivo packs more energy into the same volume, and vivo says it keeps supplying power at minus 30 °C, with the whole phone usable at minus 20 °C. OPPO's Find X10 Pro Max, on the same chip, also carries 8,000 mAh, so vivo shares the top of this generation rather than holding it alone.

Charging is 90 W wired with the charger in the Chinese box and 40 W wireless with vivo's own 50 W stand. vivo lists reverse charging over the cable only, so you can top up earbuds from the USB-C port but not by laying them on the back.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro is built on a 2 nm process with two top cores at 4.55 GHz, three at 4.35 GHz and three at 3.1 GHz, and a Mali-G2-Ultra-NX GPU. For games, vivo claims 144 fps in supported titles and ray tracing at 120 fps across the map. By early accounts the phone stays only warm to the touch after an hour of sustained benchmark load.

The X500 Pro is the phone for anyone who wants the camera system without the size. At 6.36 inches, 151.78 × 71.92 mm and 192 to 197 g, it keeps the MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro, the 50 MP Blueprint 900 main camera with CIPA 7.0 stabilisation, the 8K and 4K 240 fps video, 90 W and 40 W charging, and IP68 and IP69.

Three things are smaller. The periscope is a 64 MP ZEISS APO unit on a 1/2-inch sensor at 85 mm and f/2.52, on a Sony LYT610 sensor, so it keeps the 3.5× optical zoom and CIPA 7.0 rating but gathers less light than the Pro Max's 200 MP 1/1.4-inch sensor, which matters most after dark and in heavy crops. It works with the 200 mm G2 teleconverter, but vivo lists the 400 mm G2 Ultra for the Pro Max only. The battery is 6,510 mAh, the same capacity as the X300 Pro, which is a lot for a phone this size. And the X500 Pro has no satellite messaging at all, and supports eSIM only on its 1 TB configurations.

The panel is a 2660 × 1216 BOE Q11 at 459 ppi, and on paper it is the brighter of the two, at 4,500 nits peak against the Pro Max's 4,400.

Both phones are flat-screen slabs with an aluminium frame, and the Earth Echo, Clear Sky and Afterglow colours have a glass back vivo calls Tidal Cold-Carved Glass. vivo does not name the Night Shot back material, but that version is the thinnest and lightest of each model. The camera island is a large round disc with a knurled ring, styled after a pancake camera lens, and it spans most of the back's width, so the phone lies flat on a desk and does not rock when you type on it.

Both are rated IP68 and IP69: vivo tests them in 1.5 m of still fresh water for 30 minutes and against high-pressure jets at 80 °C, though, as vivo says itself, water damage is not covered by the warranty.

The Pro Max's display is a 6.85-inch 2K panel on BOE's new Q11 emitter material, at 3168 × 1440 and 507 ppi. It runs 1 to 144 Hz, with the 144 Hz tier used in supported games, and peaks at 4,400 nits with 2,000 nits across the full screen, which is the figure that decides how readable it is in direct sun. It can dim to 1 nit at night, and the fingerprint reader under it is a 3D ultrasonic sensor.

Both phones run OriginOS 7 on Android 17. The feature most worth knowing about is Atomic Workbench, which keeps up to five apps running in the foreground and lets you drag images and text between them. vivo promises 72 months of lasting smoothness for the software, but that is a performance claim, not an update commitment, and vivo publishes no OS or security update schedule for these Chinese models.

Several features are specific to the Chinese market. The 1 TB Pro Max configurations send short Beidou satellite messages through China Mobile, and the travel tools cover 30 minutes of free emergency data abroad and automatic network switching at the border crossings into Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam. vivo's AI assistant, 蓝心小V, in its Pro mode, plans multi-step tasks such as travel itineraries, with a paid monthly tier beyond the free allowance.

vivo's recommended retail prices in China:

X500 Pro Max - 12 GB + 256 GB – ¥6,999, roughly €910 or $1,045 - 12 GB + 512 GB – ¥7,999, roughly €1,040 - 16 GB + 512 GB – ¥8,499, roughly €1,105 - 12 GB + 1 TB with satellite messaging – ¥8,999, roughly €1,170 - 16 GB + 1 TB with satellite messaging – ¥9,499, roughly €1,235 - 16 GB + 1 TB creator kit – ¥12,999, roughly €1,690

X500 Pro - 12 GB + 256 GB – ¥6,499, roughly €845 or $970 - 12 GB + 512 GB – ¥7,499, roughly €975 - 16 GB + 512 GB – ¥7,999, roughly €1,040 - 12 GB + 1 TB – ¥8,499, roughly €1,105 - 16 GB + 1 TB – ¥8,999, roughly €1,170

The creator kit is the whole system in one box: the phone, both the G2 and G2 Ultra teleconverters, the imaging grip and camera case, the preview screen with its magnetic case, and a shoulder strap. On the standard configurations the teleconverters and the preview screen are sold separately. Every box includes the 90 W charger, a cable and a case. The colours are Earth Echo, Clear Sky, Afterglow and Night Shot. vivo's own store opens sales of the Pro Max on 24 September, and of the first X500 Pro configurations on 29 September. The standard vivo X500 launched alongside them from ¥5,499 on the 3 nm MediaTek Dimensity 9600M, and is not covered here.

This is a China-only launch, and vivo does not sell phones in the US. Imported into a market where vivo does not officially sell it, the price gains customs duty and local sales tax on top, so the real cost outside China is noticeably higher than the conversions above.