Vivo launches the X500 series, with two phones coming to Singapore

It’s that time of the year again, with Chinese phone brands beginning to launch their new flagship devices. Vivo is the first out of the gate with the new X500 series. While the brand unveiled the X500, X500 Pro and X500 Pro Max, only the base X500 and X500 Pro Max devices will be coming to Singapore.

Here’s what you need to know about these two phones.

Vivo X500

Even though this is the base model in the lineup, the Vivo X500 still packs some nice hardware. The 6.59-inch 1.5K display is quite a bit larger than the X300’s 6.31-inch screen, and it gets a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, a peak brightness of 4,000 nits and IP68/69 dust and water resistance. 

The BlueVolt battery inside has been upgraded to a huge 7,500mAh capacity (up from 6,040mAh), which still supports charging speeds of up to 90W wired and 40W wireless. 

As for cameras, this base model comes with a triple camera array, comprising a 50MP main camera (f/1.68 aperture, OIS, 23mm) backed by the same 1/1.28-inch Sony LYT-828 sensor that was in the X300 Pro, a 50MP ultrawide camera (f/2.0 aperture, AutoFocus, 15mm) with the Samsung JN1 sensor and a 64MP telephoto camera (f/2.55 aperture, 72mm) with Sony’s LYTIA 610 sensor.

Inside, the newly launched 3nm Dimensity 9600M processor is the brains of the whole operation, and this model will come with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. 

Vivo X500 Pro Max

Since the ultimate flagship of the X500 series (the Ultra model) hasn’t been announced yet, the Vivo X500 Pro Max is the top-of-the-line device for now. As befits its status, it gets the largest display, with the 2K Zeiss Master Color Display clocking in at 6.85 inches, and boasts a 1-144Hz adaptive refresh rate, as well as support for Dolby Vision and Ultra XDR.

The larger size allows for a larger battery, and the X500 Pro Max gets a 7,800mAh BlueVolt battery that can support the same 90W wired and 40W wireless charging speeds as its younger brother. 

The upgrades don’t stop there, however. The triple camera array on the X500 Pro Max is completely different from the base X500’s, with the following cameras:-

• Zeiss TrueDynamic main camera: 50MP, 1/1.28” Vivo x Sony LYTIA L910 sensor, f/1.57 aperture, 60FPS AF tracking, AutoFocus, gimbal-grade OIS, 24mm
• Zeiss ultra wide-angle camera: 50MP, 1/2.75” Samsung JN5 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, AutoFocus, 15mm
• Zeiss APO telephoto camera: 200MP, 1/1.4” Samsung HP0 sensor, f/2.67 aperture, OIS, CIPA 7.0 stabilisation, 60FPS AF tracking, 85mm

Additionally, the phone gets video and photo capabilities like being able to shoot TrueDynamic Log videos with 17 stops of exposure value (EV), 4K Dolby Vision Portrait video, 30x long-range motion snapshot and more.

The telephoto camera can be further enhanced if you purchase the telephoto extender kit that comes with a special case, camera grip, and two extenders. You’ll be able to get 200mm and 400mm optical zoom with the extenders (the 200mm extender is also compatible with the base X500).

The phone is equipped with the new Dimensity 9600 Pro, which is MediaTek’s first 2nm chipset and the first that uses Arm’s next-gen CPU and GPU designs. Upgrades include a promised 17% higher single-core performance, 15% better multi-threaded performance, along with 37% and 61% higher efficiency, respectively. 

The chip also allows phones to support LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.0 storage, so we’ll be eager to see whether Vivo has gone all out for the Pro Max or if the Chinese brand will be saving those perks for a possible upcoming Ultra model. 

OriginOS 7

Vivo finally brought OriginOS 6 to global markets last year, and this year, we’re getting OriginOS 7. Aesthetics-wise, it takes a lot of inspiration from Apple, with a Liquid Glass-esque UI design. Animations and lighting effects have been improved as well, with a new “liquid kinetic” effect.

Lockscreens get a bit more fun as well, with elements of the photo able to wiggle, or even flash with light effects. 

Vivo is also improving multitasking by bringing Origin Workbench to their bar-type phones, which allows for up to five apps to be open simultaneously. We really liked this feature on the Vivo X Fold5, so it’s nice that we’ll be able to take advantage of the large 6.85-inch display for multitasking.

Pricing and availability

This is the pricing for the base X500 in China:

And here’s the pricing for the X500 Pro Max, also in China:

Local pricing and availability details haven’t been revealed by Vivo yet, though the company will provide them sometime next month. We’ll update this article when they do come out, so stay tuned.