vivo will formally unveil its X500 flagship smartphone series in China on September 21 at 7:00 p.m.—the same time in the Philippines—with much of the lineup’s camera hardware already revealed ahead of the event.
The series will comprise three models: the vivo X500, X500 Pro and a new X500 Pro Max. That also means vivo is jumping directly from the X300 series to X500, skipping the X400 name. The company has not publicly explained the numbering change.
Cameras remain the main event
vivo is putting particular emphasis on video this generation. The X500 Pro series will use a custom Sony sensor vivo calls the Blueprint Imaging 900, with the company claiming up to 17EV of dynamic range. The phones will support 4K video at up to 240fps for slow motion and 4K 120fps HDR recording, while vivo rates stabilization on both the main and periscope cameras at up to CIPA 7.0.
The X500 Pro Max goes further with a 200-megapixel ZEISS APO periscope telephoto camera using the same 1/1.4-inch Samsung HP0 sensor found in the X300 Ultra. vivo has also confirmed support for its 400mm telephoto extender accessory. The smaller X500 Pro instead gets a 64-megapixel Sony LYTIA-610 telephoto camera with an 85mm equivalent focal length.
The standard X500 will not be left with a basic camera setup. vivo says it inherits the X300 Pro’s 1/1.28-inch Sony LYTIA-828 main sensor and pairs it with the same LYTIA-610 telephoto sensor used by the X500 Pro, although its stabilization is rated at CIPA 5.5.
2nm chips arrive on the Pro models
The X500 Pro and Pro Max are confirmed as the first phones to use MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro, its new flagship processor built on a 2nm process. MediaTek says the chip uses a 2+3+3 all-big-core CPU architecture and adds support for LPDDR6 memory and UFS 5.0 storage.
The standard X500 is widely expected to use the Dimensity 9600M instead. A device believed to be the X500 recently appeared on Geekbench with that chip, but vivo has not formally confirmed the pairing ahead of launch.
Other confirmed highlights include a 7,500mAh battery in the X500 and a 6.85-inch BOE Q11 2K display on the X500 Pro Max. Full configurations, charging specifications across all three models and official pricing remain for the launch itself.
For Philippine buyers, the bigger unanswered question is availability. vivo has yet to announce an X500 launch for the Philippines or other international markets, although the X500 series has reportedly started appearing in regulatory databases outside China. vivo currently sells several members of the preceding X300 family locally, including the X300, X300 Pro and X300 Ultra.