Apple's new variable aperture might be nice, but this lesser-known Chinese brand might have it beat

Apple took a decent chunk of time out of its most recent iPhone presentation to detail the new variable aperture it's added to the iPhone 18 Pro, and it therefore got plenty of attention. It was trumpeted in a way that might make you think this is the first time one's appeared in a smartphone, even before you consider whether it's the photography revolution it might be presented as.

I'm in Shanghai right now, with Vivo, at its launch event for the X500 series, and it's a pretty succinct confirmation of just how big other smartphone makers are going on the photography (and videography) side of things.

Once again, like on the X300 before it (Vivo's skipping the 400 nomenclature), a big part of the attraction here is the option of photography accessories that are almost hard to believe (unless you're an Oppo fan, of course). It helps that there's an impressive-sounding phone underneath that, too.

The phones will all run Vivo's new Origin OS 7, which rolls out starting today on the X300 Pro, layered on top of Android. While there's always a question about whether this sort of lineup will come to shores beyond China, Vivo says it does indeed plan international versions of the new phones.

For now, the specs being shown off are for the Chinese models, and they're impressive. There are three models, going from the X500 to the X500 Pro and then the X500 Pro Max. They each run MediaTek processors (the new 2nm Dimensity 9600 Pro in the two Pro phones), but all three models come with 12GB of RAM as standard, which is welcome.

The real stars here are the cameras, though, which continue Vivo's collaboration with Zeiss, along with Sony – resulting in some theoretically stunning sensors. The Pro Max has a 200MP telephoto lens, for instance, and even the selfie camera is a new 50MP wide-angle one. The Pro phones will be graced with 4K 240fps slow-motion recording and 4K 120fps HDR video with direct HDR output, to make it clear that video is a focus this year, too.

That's underlined by a new sensor in the Pro Max in partnership with Sony, offering 17 EV UltraHDR video – basically making its exposure potential huge, and its colour capture hopefully super impressive.

That's before you add on the many optional extras that can turn the phones from standard smartphones into basically modular cameras. This includes attachable zoom lenses, a grip for physical camera controls, and more than one type of modular case for securing these add-ons.

Unsurprisingly, the X500 Pro Max also once again underlines the way Chinese brands have moved first on battery capacities – it boasts a 7800mAh battery. That's one of the biggest we've seen on a phone this year, and it'll doubtless be fairly huge for battery life, which remains surely the biggest concern for many people looking to replace older phones.

When you see spec lists like these, of course, the other big question that crops up is pricing – and Vivo's only talking in Chinese currency for now. The lineup starts from ¥5499, though, going up to ¥6499 and ¥6999 for the Pro and Pro Max respectively, which comes out pretty similar to the X300 series, which could be had in the US for around $800 or less, so expect a conversion that lines up roughly with that mark again.