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-Kabir Jain
Camera decisions on an “Ultra” phone are never simple, and it looks like Vivo is still working through them for the X500 Ultra. According to tipster Digital Chat Station, the company hasn’t finalised the camera hardware yet and is currently weighing multiple periscope telephoto sensor options before settling on a final setup.
Three Sensors, Three Different Trade-offs
Vivo is reportedly testing three 200-megapixel telephoto sensors, and they’re not identical; each comes in a different size:
- 1/1.12-inch, the largest of the three
- 1/1.3-inch
- 1/1.4-inch
The 1/1.12-inch sensor is being treated as the more aggressive option, aimed at pushing telephoto performance further. The two smaller sensors are apparently seen as more balanced picks, the kind of choice that prioritises overall camera design over squeezing out every bit of zoom performance.
It comes down to the usual physics problem with phone cameras. A bigger sensor generally means better light gathering and cleaner shots at longer focal lengths, but it also eats up more space inside the phone and complicates the camera module design. The smaller sensors trade a bit of that telephoto punch for a slimmer build and simpler engineering.
This Isn’t the First Camera Rethink for the X500 Ultra
This isn’t the first time Vivo’s camera plans for this phone have shifted. Back in June, the same tipster claimed Vivo had scrapped a prototype with a dedicated 10x periscope lens, and was instead sticking with a single 200MP periscope camera relying on in-sensor zoom instead of a second dedicated telephoto lens. So the camera setup on this phone has clearly been a moving target for a while now.
Still Early Days for the X500 Ultra
Since the phone is still in development, none of this is final, and Vivo could easily land on a different sensor by the time it goes into mass production. What is clear is that the company’s spending real time comparing hardware here rather than just carrying over last year’s setup.
Don’t expect this one anytime soon either. The X500 Ultra likely won’t launch this year, with a debut expected in the first half of 2027 across both China and global markets.
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