Vivo X500 Ultra is said to get a giant 200Mpx telephoto lens. The ultrawide camera is also reportedly in for a big jump.

The Vivo X500 Pro series will go on sale in the Czech Republic on November 16, but the biggest smartphone photography enthusiasts are mainly looking forward to the spring flagship. According to Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station, Vivo is preparing one of the most interesting camera setups we’ve ever seen on a mobile phone for the X500 Ultra model. The LOFIC technology is reportedly coming to two cameras.

LOFIC will also be offered by the ultrawide camera

The Vivo X500 Ultra is expected to feature the same 50Mpx Sony Lytia 910 sensor under both the main and ultrawide lenses. This is a 1/1.28″ sensor with LOFIC technology, which is designed to ensure high dynamic range. Vivo already uses it in the main camera of the X500 Pro series.

For the main camera, the Ultra would thus remain roughly on par with the Pro Max, but an October leak attributed a longer focal length of 35 mm instead of 24 mm to it. The jump is expected with the ultrawide lens. The X500 Pro Max has a 1/2.75″ sensor, so the new one’s area would be approximately 4.6 times larger. This should be particularly noticeable when shooting in low light.

Telephoto lens reportedly gets a gigantic sensor

An even more significant change is expected for the telephoto lens. According to the leaker, Vivo is testing a 200Mpx Samsung ISOCELL HPU sensor with a size of 1/1.12″. Both the X500 Pro Max and this year’s X300 Ultra have a 1/1.4″ telephoto sensor, so the new sensor would have an approximately 56% larger area.

It should be added, however, that leaks surrounding the Ultra are still in flux. In October, a telephoto lens size of 1/1.2″ was mentioned, and last week Notebookcheck even wrote about two 200Mpx cameras. Moreover, everything concerns test units. The unveiling in China is expected in the first quarter of 2027, according to Notebookcheck, with Vivo’s vice president previously mentioning March or April. The global version has already appeared in the Turkish IMEI database, according to GSMArena, so the Ultra could also make it outside of China.

What the X500 Pro and Pro Max already offer

Those who don’t want to wait for the Ultra have a choice of two models that will soon go on sale in the Czech Republic. The Vivo X500 Pro Max starts at 39,999 CZK and features a 200Mpx Zeiss telephoto lens with an 85 mm focal length, reaching up to 400 mm with a teleconverter. In our Pro Max review, we particularly enjoyed that the telephoto lens focuses from as close as 15 cm and can also handle macro photography, as well as the Moment mode, which makes the phone shoot like a classic camera. Weaker points are zoom above 20× and performance under sustained load.

The smaller Vivo X500 Pro, priced at 33,999 CZK, has a 6.36″ display and weighs 192 grams. In our test, it scored 86 out of 100, mainly for its two-day battery life with a 6,510 mAh capacity and an excellent main camera. The compromise is a 64Mpx telephoto lens with a smaller 1/2″ sensor. Compared to both models, the Ultra should add a larger telephoto lens, a significantly better ultrawide camera, and according to earlier leaks, a Snapdragon chip instead of the Dimensity 9600 Pro.

Is a larger telephoto lens worth waiting for the Ultra until spring?

Source: Notebookcheck