Hold up, Vivo just threw a curveball. Just days after unveiling the X500, X500 Pro, and X500 Pro Max in China, the company's apparently got another flagship cooking. According to tipsters on Weibo, a Vivo executive spilled that an X500 Ultra is still in development and could hit shelves between March and April 2027. Vivo hasn't officially confirmed this yet, but the leak suggests the Ultra line isn't going anywhere.
This is actually kind of interesting because most folks assumed the newly launched X500 Pro Max would be Vivo's absolute top dog. That phone's already a serious beast for photographers, packing a 50MP Sony LYTIA L910 main camera with a 1/1.28-inch sensor and a bonkers 200MP 1/1.4-inch periscope telephoto with 3.5x zoom. But apparently Vivo wants to keep the Ultra as its own separate tier above everything else, which means the X500 Ultra has a genuinely high bar to clear.
Looking back at how Vivo handled the X300 Ultra gives us some clues about where this could go. That phone brought a massive 200MP 1-inch Sony LYTIA 901 main sensor, matching 200MP telephoto, and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 paired with Vivo's own VS1+ imaging chip. In India it's priced at Rs 1,59,999, which opened up a whole new premium segment. The X500 Ultra could push that formula even further with rumored 200MP periscope sensors in different sizes and possibly even a 35mm main camera setup.
Vivo's been leaning hard into the accessory angle with recent Ultra models too. The X200 Ultra offered a 200mm addon lens, and the X300 Ultra introduced a 400mm telephoto extender. The X500 Pro Max already supports a 400mm accessory, so the Ultra will need something equally ambitious to justify its existence. If Vivo follows tradition, expect the Ultra to be positioned as the ultimate photography specialist, with bigger sensors, more advanced imaging hardware, and unique camera accessories that set it apart.
For someone eyeing the Pro Max, the Ultra really only matters if you're prioritizing photography above everything else and can wait several months. The Pro Max already delivers serious telephoto capabilities and accessory support, but if Vivo's leaks pan out, the Ultra could be the answer for photography purists who want the absolute cutting edge in mobile imaging hardware.
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