Vivo’s latest X500 lineup has three smartphones, and sits in the middle of the standard X500 and the extravagant X500 Pro Max is the small X500 Pro. It’s a compact flagship that promises top-tier performance, capable cameras, and a massive battery with fast charging that will keep you away from a charger for as long as possible.
I’ve spent the last few days with it, and I have to say, this is a seriously well-rounded smartphone. I have to admit, I was quite skeptical when I looked at the spec sheet. The Pro branding comes with certain expectations, especially from a company that has pushed smartphone photography as aggressively as Vivo. The Vivo X500 Pro loses the larger 200MP telephoto camera found on its Pro Max sibling, while OriginOS has never been my favorite Android skin.
However, using the telephone has challenged quite a few of these reservations. In fact, coming directly from the Google Pixel 11 Pro, there are already some things about the Vivo that I will find hard to give up.
A compact phone that gets the true flagship polish
The first thing that struck me about the X500 Pro was just how well it was put together. There is a reassuring solidity to the construction, with a clean dual-tone design that I found very elegant and understated. The 6.36-inch display is also a refreshing change from the increasingly huge flagship phones we’re used to. It’s bright, vibrant, and wonderfully smooth, with enough screen real estate for everyday tasks while remaining comfortable to handle.
But what really felt special were the edges. Vivo built them to be Razer thin, almost to the point of disappearing, and Vivo did a fantastic job of keeping them uniform around the entire display. Coming straight from the Pixel 11 Pro, the difference was pretty obvious. Another small detail that I appreciate is the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. It’s fast, conveniently placed, and adds to the overall sense of polish.
OriginOS surprised me more than the hardware
If there’s one aspect of the X500 Pro that really blew me away, it’s OriginOS 7. I’ve always considered Vivo Software to be a tab behind some of my favorite Android interfaces. This is one thing where the Google Pixel UI shines with its simplicity, yet thoughtful design. The OriginOS version’s heavy use of translucent, Liquid Glass-inspired elements did little to change that initial impression.
But after using it, I have to give some credit to Vivo. There is an impressive amount of customization available, and several small decisions make the interface very enjoyable. Take the Quick Settings panel for example. You can customize the size of individual tiles, allowing frequently used controls to become larger while keeping less important ones compact. It’s a clever way to make better use of the available space.
Vivo even lets you keep the traditional combined notification and quick settings shade. I absolutely despise the split swipe-down approach adopted by various Android manufacturers, including Samsung. Having to reach over the phone to reach one side of the screen to swipe just to access a notification or switch seems like unnecessary complexity. It’s one of the reasons why I appreciated Google’s approach on the Pixel 11 Pro, and I’m glad Vivo is giving users the choice.
I was also pleasantly surprised to discover Motion Cues, a feature similar to Google Motion Assist. It’s designed to reduce motion sickness when using your phone in a moving vehicle, and seeing this kind of thoughtful addition on the Vivo was a welcome surprise. To be fair, this is something with Android 17, but availability still depends on how Google Play Services run on a device and the custom skins of different brands.
There are still aspects of the interface that I’m less happy about. The aesthetic of frosted glass is everywhere, and its visual effects can get a little tiring after a while. But after these first few days, I can confidently say that OriginOS deserves more credit than I’ve been giving it.
The cameras are capable, even with the missing megapixels
Cameras have become a defining part of Vivo’s flagship identity, so naturally I was eager to see what the X500 Pro could do. His biggest compromise is obvious. While the Pro Max gets a massive 200MP ZEISS APO telephoto camera, the smaller Pro gets a 64MP periscope telephoto lens. Both offer an 85mm-equivalent focal length, but the larger model has an advantage in sensor hardware and long-range flexibility.
Fortunately, the actual photography experience has been reassuringly good so far. The main camera delivers the kind of image quality I’d expect from a premium Vivo flagship, and during my initial testing, I didn’t find myself reaching for the more expensive model every time I opened the camera app.
The telephoto is also a capable performer in its own right. I still want to spend more time testing its limits, especially with distant subjects and challenging lighting, before I decide how significant that hardware gap really is.
For everyday photography, however, the X500 Pro has already left a positive impression. There’s a lot to like here, even if the Pro Max has the flashier hardware.
Battery life and charging is in a league of its own
Chinese OEMs are miles ahead of the curve in terms of battery life and endurance. While using the Pixel 11 Pro as my daily driver, I would be used to its battery life and charging speed. They were perfectly manageable. Nothing too great, but just enough to get you by.
But returning to a Chinese flag ship shows what exactly I’ve been missing. During a recent airport layover, I spent nearly an hour on a call while simultaneously using the X500 Pro’s hotspot to provide Internet access to my laptop. That’s a reasonably demanding combination of tasks. When I finally checked the battery indicator it was still over 90%.
I was not running a controlled battery test, and the result will vary of course depending on the signal strength and other conditions. Even then, it was an encouraging demonstration of how much stamina Vivo squeezed into this relatively compact phone.
The 6,510mAh battery is gigantic for a device of this size, and the 90W wireless charging is another welcome benefit. If you want to go wireless, Vivo lets you charge up to 40W, which is faster than wired charging on the Galaxy S26, another compact flagship from this year.
I know the Pixels, Galaxies and iPhones of the world offer perfectly serviceable battery life. But trust me, spend some time with a phone like the X500 Pro, and it will show you that you can free up faster charging and a great battery. It is a powerful quality of life improvement.
A smaller flagship with a lot of promise
Under the hood, the X500 Pro uses MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro chipset, the same processor found in the larger Pro Max. In early benchmarks this chip fits Everything I’ve done so far is smooth and responsive, although real performance testing, extended gaming sessions and benchmarks will have to wait for the full review.
The X500 Pro starts at 6,499 yuan in China, while European prices start at €1,399. That’s a little over $1,500, which is where it starts to compete with the iPhone 18 Pros.
Nevertheless, my first impressions are overwhelmingly positive. The X500 Pro has a beautifully proportioned display, excellent build quality, useful software customization, and battery endurance that has already made an impression on me.
I’d like to spend more time with the cameras, examining long-term battery life, and seeing how the Dimensity 9600 Pro performs under sustained workloads. But after just a few days, the experience was very promising.