Vivo unveils its X500 series in China, blending advanced photography and cinematic video features, including 8K Live Photos, 4K HDR at 120fps, and gimbal-like stabilisation in a flagship upgrade aimed at content creators.
vivo has launched its X500 series in China, moving the focus of its latest flagship phones towards video as much as still photography. The line-up includes the X500, X500 Pro and, for the first time, the X500 Pro Max. The company says the aim is to let users capture footage with a more cinematic look straight from the phone, without relying heavily on post-production.
According to vivo, the X500 Pro and X500 Pro Max use a main sensor developed with Sony under the Blueprint Light and Shadow 900 name, with a claimed 17EV dynamic range and very low read noise. In practical terms, that should help the phones retain more detail in scenes with strong backlight or sharp contrast. The company says that tuning with its imaging algorithms extends its “backlit and still clear” pitch from photography into video, where difficult lighting often causes phones to lose highlights or crush shadows.
The video package is unusually ambitious for a smartphone. Reuters-style reporting from specialist coverage notes support for 4K slow motion at 240fps, with interpolation modes extending that further, as well as 4K HDR video at 120fps. vivo is also touting 8K Live Photo capture and six new cinematic colour styles, alongside a dedicated movie mode designed to produce a more film-like result with minimal editing.
Stabilisation and zoom remain central to the series. The X500 Pro Max is said to use a gimbal-like optical stabilisation system on its main camera, while the Pro models are rated at CIPA 7.0 for their main and telephoto modules. That should help with walking shots, travel clips and fast-moving scenes such as concerts or sport. On the long end, the X500 Pro Max carries a 200-megapixel telephoto camera and can be paired with an external 400mm-equivalent telephoto converter, turning the handset into a more serious reach-focused device.
Processing duties are handled by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro, paired with vivo’s V3+ and VS1 imaging chips. That combination is intended to speed up the pipeline from capture to finished output, especially when handling high-resolution video and multi-frame processing. Chinese reports also indicate a large battery on the Pro Max variant, underlining vivo’s attempt to make the phones practical for heavy imaging use.
vivo says the X500 series is scheduled to reach Taiwan in mid-October, with local launch timing, specifications and pricing to be confirmed by the company’s official announcement there.
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