I used possibly the best smartphone camera system ever, and I didn't expect it to click like it did
Vivo's system of accessories is way more satisfying than I thought it would be
Everything's new until you try it, and before using the Vivo X500 Pro Max this week, over the course of a few days of consistent camera testing, I was more than a little sceptical of the idea of mounting a large external lens on a smartphone.
It's not that I thought it was a gimmick in its own right, but seeing Oppo's Hasselblad system, for instance, I couldn't help but think I'd rather have an actual camera in one hand and my phone in my pocket.
I think there's still room for measured approaches on that front, but the fact is that the zoom lenses I've been trying on the X500 Pro Max have made a super interesting argument for this kind of system.
How things click into place
First, let's talk details. Vivo's Pro series of X500 phones can work with one of two different Zeiss lenses that you can get your hands on. The more approachable option is the Vivo Zeiss Telephoto Extender Gen 2, a 200mm equivalent zoom lens; the even wilder upgrade is the Telephoto Extender Gen 2 Ultra, which is a 400mm equivalent.
These haven't changed since the X300 Ultra, which they work with too, but the slightly upgraded photo capabilities of the X500 phones should, in theory, make for boosted results (although I didn't have an X300 to compare with).
Installing either of the lenses means getting one of Vivo's phone cases with a mounting ring, then attaching a lens adapter that includes a twist-lock connector. The lenses can then be locked into place, immediately and wildly altering the centre of gravity of your phone.
To account for that, Vivo has a grip attachment that you can also pick up, and a phone case variant with secure slots for both the mounting ring and this grip. It adds physical controls for shooting, including a zoom dial, exposure compensation dial, customisable function button and more.
While they're not quite as responsive as they would be on a great digital camera, they're nonetheless hugely satisfying to use compared to just touch-screen interactions. Of course, grabbing all these extras (collated together into the chunky X500 Pro Max Creator Kit) makes the phone significantly pricier.
A zoom for all occasions
Once you have your choice of lens attached, the world is your oyster, so long as you remember to activate the setting that accounts for those lenses. Otherwise, you'll be dealing with a flipped, upside-down, deeply confusing image.
The lenses really do exactly what they say on the tin, too, letting you zoom in on details so distant that they'll have your jaw dropping at times. My first experiment was a classic one, looking out of my Shanghai hotel's window at an already fairly distant skyline of apartment and office blocks. You can see in the progression of these shots just how wildly I was able to zoom in.
You'll also see that, just like with regular phone zoom, if you push way past the optical range of the lens, which is doable even if it takes you to crazy distances, you can end up with a smeared, AI-heavy reconstruction of what you're looking at. Play within the limits, though, and your photography arsenal really is hugely expanded.
Taken out into the natural world, the shots that are unlocked by the added lenses are striking. I've been on a safari without much of a zoom lens, and while I still love many of the photos I took, I'm certain I'd have used one of these Zeiss optics really happily if they'd been available to me.
That raises one of the questions I had at the front of my mind going into this press trip – would I not rather have a good camera and a phone than one device trying to be both? Well, it's complicated. In my own case, my camera is the Fujifilm X100V, set up for point-and-shoot street photography with no messing around, and while I love it, the main limitation is its fixed lens – no zoom.
I enjoy working around that limitation (in fact, it's kind of the point), but it's undeniably true that there are times when I wish I could get closer to a subject or shot. Now, I'm not sure I'd want to pair the fully kitted-out X500 Pro Max with a camera, because that's basically just carrying two cameras.
However, I can clearly see how someone with photography on the mind might be persuaded by the option to take a phone that shoots terrific stuff even without any accessories, and buy one of these Zeiss lenses to simply extend its range. It's like getting two for a little more than one.
Zoom in past your extender's range, and you'll once again encounter the AI guesswork that can happen without them, but if you can find a subject in the sweet spot (a distance you'll learn fairly quickly), you can produce pretty stunning results.
Taking a step back
Vivo's clearly proud of the camera system it's built for the X500 series, and while it puts the Zeiss telephoto lenses front and centre as an added extra that few other phones can match, it's worth remembering that you wouldn't be using them for all your photography.
They're really situational lenses, and that means the X500 Pro Max's normal shooting is possibly even more interesting to me than its enhanced capabilities. Over the course of a few days of testing, I used the lenses and extenders in a variety of combinations, underlining the versatility that the whole kit gets you.
Use the extenders, and you can get some pretty unreal portrait shots if you have the time and space to set them up.
Stick to just the phone's raw capabilities, though, and you can still produce some brilliant results. Some of my favourite shots from testing were without any extender attached, and especially at low zoom levels – including some night shots that underline how Vivo's processing can do wondrous things.
At times, I'd actually like less of the processing; I'm extremely habituated to Apple's more subtle approach, with three years' familiarity with my iPhone 15 Pro and its more naturalistic approach. Still, for sheer vividness, it's hard to argue with the X500 Pro Max in some of these shots.
So, given how stellar the X300 Ultra already was, it looks like Vivo has managed to quickly raise the game, while also bringing some super powerful internal specs to bear. That leaves us with one big question – where, beyond China, will the phone be available?
The UK seems like it's still a distant prospect for the brand, and while imports to the US have been doable, they're hardly the same as an official release. Time will tell whether the likes of the X500 Pro Max become more readily available on closer shores to home, but my time with its photographic kit so far has left me way more enticed than I expected to be. I might still stick to my X100V for street photography, but I can see a one-device future becoming more and more possible.
