Vivo X500 Pro Max revealed — here are my favorite photos taken with the potentially iPhone-beating flagship camera phone

Vivo reveals its new flagship X500 series of phones, with three new models The X500 Pro Max is the priciest model, succeeding the X300 Ultra It's no longer a secret that some of the best camera phones are coming out of China, and Vivo is very much competing with Oppo and Xiaomi with its flagship 'X'

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>Vivo reveals its new flagship X500 series of phones, with three new models</strong></li><li><strong>The X500 Pro Max is the priciest model, succeeding the X300 Ultra</strong></li></ul><p>It's no longer a secret that some of the <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/best-cameraphone">best camera phones</a> are coming out of China, and Vivo is very much competing with Oppo and Xiaomi with its flagship 'X' series — it has just revealed the latest crop; the X500, X500 Pro and X500 Pro Max.</p><p>I'm at the launch event in Shanghai, China, and have already had 24 hours with the Vivo X500 Pro Max, which effectively replaces last year's X<a href="https://www.techradar.com/phones/i-took-the-vivo-x300-ultra-to-hong-kong-and-it-proved-teleconverter-lenses-arent-just-a-gimmick">300 Ultra</a>. Like the previous flagship, it features a triple front camera array comprising ultra-wide, main, and telephoto Zeiss optics, only this time, the main lens has a 24mm focal length, like most other flagship wide cameras (whereas the X300 Ultra stood out with a tighter 35mm main camera lens).</p><p>The 3.5x telephoto lens has an 85mm equivalent focal length — a well-loved focal length by portrait photographers — and a mode which unleashes a 200MP resolution, while the 50MP boosted resolution is available for the ultra-wide and main cameras.</p><figure role="gallery"><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AbaT88FCkwr4cmstQbhdwM-1920-80.jpg" alt="The Vivo X500 Pro Max phone in user's hand" /><figcaption><small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kernZoAGWnoXmEmQrSyUZM-1920-80.jpg" alt="The Vivo X500 Pro Max phone in user's hand, they are editing a photo" /><figcaption><small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7Bf6FunmXLU5Fi8vysWnMN-1920-80.jpg" alt="The Vivo X500 Pro Max phone complete photographer's kit, with telephoto converters, grip, additional cases and more, in black presentation box" /><figcaption>The Vivo X500 Pro Max photographer's kit, in lavish black presentation box. It includes two telephoto converters, grip, additional cases and more<small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EFRpXJYqzdYyDHQXapSzdM-1920-80.jpg" alt="The Vivo X500 Pro Max phone complete photographer's kit, with telephoto converters, grip, additional cases and more, in black presentation box" /><figcaption>The 4.7x teleconverter lens (left), 2.35x lens (middle) and grip (right)<small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure></figure><p>I'll be bringing you an in-depth camera comparison soon with the Vivo X500 Pro Max, Vivo X300 Ultra, and <a href="https://www.techradar.com/cameras/i-took-over-2-000-photos-with-the-incredibly-versatile-oppo-find-x9-ultra-here-are-my-favorites-including-portraits-long-exposures-and-panoramas">the Oppo Find X9 Ultra</a> (a top camera phone from last year) soon, plus more details on the former. In the meantime, I've included some of my favorite photos that I've taken with the X500 Pro Max already, so you can begin to see what it's capable of.</p><p>The X500 series was announced on September 21 and, at launch, is exclusive to China, with a wider rollout expected later, although it's unlikely to come to the US. With the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and <a href="https://www.techradar.com/phones/xiaomi-phones/xiaomi-17-ultra-review">Xiaomi 17 Ultra</a>, both now available in the UK, I'll be keeping an eye out for Vivo's release plans with the X500 models.</p><h2 id="vivo-x500-pro-max-sample-gallery">Vivo X500 Pro Max sample gallery</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:2500px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:75.28%;"><img id="WqBd3Z6LnMVFCDteyUcN26" name="Vivo X500 Pro Max" alt="Woman in a field of hay" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WqBd3Z6LnMVFCDteyUcN26-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="2500" height="1882" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">I shot this photo using the phone's Portrait mode. I set the bokeh effect to natural and maxed it to f/0.95. However, bokeh effect edits can be made afterwards to photos shot with the Portrait mode (see photo of the phone, above) — I could reduce the strength of the effect if I wanted to. </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Tim Coleman)</span></figcaption></figure><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1875px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:133.33%;"><img id="2NMpSsGfNbkC7KncSVoZy" name="Vivo X500 Pro Max" alt="A sky scraper in Shanghai, with stormy clouds above it, black and white" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2NMpSsGfNbkC7KncSVoZy-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1875" height="2500" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">The Landscape & Night mode enables high-resolution shooting. I upped the resolution to 50MP and used the B/W color style — taking the exposure reading from the bright part of the sky to get the low key effect. </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Tim Coleman)</span></figcaption></figure><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:2500px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:75.00%;"><img id="rUJQENU2Bgwc38ZxQAnEN6" name="Vivo X500 Pro Max" alt="Woman in long overcoat, framed by an arch of an old town and there's snow on the ground" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rUJQENU2Bgwc38ZxQAnEN6-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="2500" height="1875" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">I used the regular Photo mode here, and left the phone to its own devices, and the results are really good — color is pleasant, and the HDR effect not overly aggressive. </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Tim Coleman)</span></figcaption></figure><figure role="gallery"><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ziHp7LdETSXWyWVEkpauS6-1920-80.jpg" alt="The famous Bund skyline over the Haungpu river in Shanghai, at night" /><figcaption>The famous Bund skyline in Shanghai. I used a long exposure effect for the vista<small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/yhDtYZ4NQZBnxo9UYcKW75-1920-80.jpg" alt="Clousep of the Natural History Museum in famous Bund skyline over the Haungpu river in Shanghai, at night" /><figcaption>And here I add the 4.7x teleconverter lens, which works with the 3.5 zoom camera for a 400mm effective focal length. This was shot handheld and the image is still pretty sharp<small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure></figure><figure role="gallery"><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sBkuZbPASA8C8xYwYutjS5-1920-80.jpg" alt="Man in a classic Mercedes with the driver's door open — there's a bright red and orange studio backdrop" /><figcaption>The telephoto camera is a 3.5x zoom optic, with an equivalent 85mm focal length. <small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GpQzuTPH3j5k7iqki5DKv5-1920-80.jpg" alt="Man in a classic Mercedes with the driver's door open — there's a bright red and orange studio backdrop" /><figcaption>Here I've used the 10x zoom setting, which is a digital zoom from the 3.5x telephoto Zeiss lens<small role="credit">Tim Coleman</small></figcaption></figure></figure><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:2500px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:75.00%;"><img id="92HGFt9HDMM6uYXMbeQxF6" name="Vivo X500 Pro Max" alt="Long haired cat sat on a concrete floor indoors" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/92HGFt9HDMM6uYXMbeQxF6-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="2500" height="1875" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="caption-text">And here's a cute kitty with longest coat, well, just because! </span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Tim Coleman)</span></figcaption></figure> </article> ]]>