vivo X500 Pro Max review

27 October 2026



Lord Bennington, 31 Oct 2026"Till then I'll be enjoying my professional brick... moreSorry, just noticed I clicked the wrong reply button, my last post was meant as a reply to your post, not adsubzero's.

    adsubzero, 31 Oct 2026"Jpeg does not have 10% of the issues many phones have... moreYou're aware that I'm not the one who started the discussion about professional cameras here? Nor do I ever do it really, now that I think about it... I replied to a comment about them regarding default colour profiles, and indeed in the same post asked a question about phone cameras, i.e. their apps, which Nick kindly answered.

    I'm not downplaying anything, I'm sharing my views on the developments in the phone industry, tech progress of phones etc., which is kind of the logical thing to do in the comment sections on a website about phones. 🤷‍♂️ Should you have an opposing view on a certain matter or some of my opinions, feel free to express it.

      Nick Tegrataker, 31 Oct 2026My usual shooting habit is ETTL (Because I occasionally sho... moreI know what you mean, but to stay at your point: "where I no longer consider them to be a representation of the actual scene"... The way you're describing that situation, it sounds like what I mentioned earlier about times where bare eyes struggle with dynamic range too. I observed the sun rising while drinking my morning coffee with it behind a thin cloud for a while where, try as I might, I couldn't make anything out other than a big blob of white. My camera set to 1/8000 etc. could, but if I were to make a wider shot of it, what is an HDR photograph with details in it saying other than "look how mighty my camera is, it can capture anything"? One with a blob of 100%/100%/100% pixels would tell the story of "it was to be a beautiful autumn day with blinding sun in the sky" much better, i.e. represent the actual scene, as you say, or my view of it, better, and I think I'd make it look that way even if I had 30 stops of range, simply because that is indeed what the scene looked like to me. As an engineer I can certainly understand the point of striving for "technical perfection", but is that the same as striving for a "perfect photo"?

      As you may notice, I'm not a big fan of "HDR" and think it too often gets misused to make worse and unrealistic looking photos. Not saying you do that nor that you should share my view, I'm just as happy with respectfully agreeing to disagree, esp. on subjective matters. HDR in the sense of storing and displaying photos/video with actually extended dynamic range is another matter, though incomprehensibly messy with a dozen competing formats and whatnot.

      The thing with apps you're describing is exactly what annoys the hell out of me. Every manufacturer does something completely different (vivo, e.g. stores even 50 and 200 MP "remosaiced" RAWs), every app does something different and none of it documented anywhere to quickly glance and see what might fit one's desires... I'm too old for that, I just want a JPEG and as raw a RAW as possible I can tinker with later if need be. There's beauty in simplicity and I guess my idea of "simple" differs from the one of most people using phones as cameras. 🤷‍♂️🤣

        Anonymous, 30 Oct 2026I had z3+. No dng possible. Jpeg does not have 10% of t... more"Jpeg does not have 10% of the issues many phones have today."

        It also doesn't have 10% of image quality. The only good thing about it is how they used less denoise back then. Nowadays when we got these insanely powerful chipsets, so you can use practically instant multiframe processing, there's NO REASON to use so much denoise. Yet they do... OEMs seem to be afraid to show noise in their photos, because average user would not like it. It sucks, yes, but even with that - the image quality has improved considerably.

        "Motorola has improved lately. After trading omnivision for sony"

        It's not that. Sony sensors are probably the worst nowadays, living on past glory. They are most expensive but at the same time they are the ones with the most issues. Motorola improved because of better processing. And also let's not forget help from AI... As much as people like to fire shots on AI, Motorola avoids it because they use it less offensively.

          Lord Bennington, 31 Oct 2026"Till then I'll be enjoying my professional brick... moreSeriously it's getting old...
          Oh yeah here, let me buy a 2k EUR DSLR/mirrorless camera, with another 3-4k EUR set of lenses and then carry all that in my backpack everywhere with me, just so I can take casual photos. LOL

          It doesn't make any sense for anyone who's not using it for professional purposes to get an expensive camera. Even if someone is thinking "ok then you can just get a cheap APS-C camera", as I've heard over and over, it's still not worth it. It's been proven countless times it's obsolete next to modern phone cameras in 90% of the situations.

            User935, 30 Oct 2026If we ever reach a point where a phone could take the photo... more"Till then I'll be enjoying my professional bricks and their amazing capabilities."

            Enjoy your brick, nobody wants to hear that on a forum dedicated to smartphones. Two completely different use cases, not to forget the portability factor.

            "I'm not even sure what your issue with my comment is, I didn't even say anything against this one or any other phone except that their colours are usually not very good/natural 'out-of-the-box'."

            There's plenty of ppl like you on this site, who for years, have been downplaying any improvement in smartphone photography by comparing them to professional grade hardware that most smartphone users don't care about.

              User935, 30 Oct 2026"all the group photos I've taken with my a7IV dur... moreMy usual shooting habit is ETTL (Because I occasionally shoot for events with a lot of harsh light sources), so I deliberately underexpose many of my photos to protect the scenes in the background. During hiking, I did set my camera to exposure bracketing mode and shot multiple photos at different exposures, and while those that used the higher exposure did manage to save the faces, the brightly lit scenery got washed out and the colours got skewed significantly to the point where I no longer consider them to be a representation of the actual scene. This is why I decided to bring my flash with me to the observatory deck, and it definitely paid off, because that place was even more disastrous in terms of contrast lol.

              "those amazingly sunny places"
              We were travelling around Asia (Taiwan, Korea and Japan) and as someone who has spent most of my life in AU/NZ, I simply didn't know how absolutely harsh the summer weather could be in those eastern Asian countries. Us getting on top of the mountain where the weather tends to get even finer didn't help my cameras at all.

              "Has no option to shoot RAW at all or are you talking some bug or something like that?"
              Oppo's camera app has 2 options when it comes to "Raw" file. One is "Raw", which is in fact a heavily processed 12MP linear DNG file based on a single frame (but automatically stacks frames at night). The details tend to get pretty soft due to auto-applied denoising and highlight clipping is awful, much worse than the real RAW file I would get from GCam, so I rarely use it. The other option is "RAW Max", a very mildly processed 50MP linear DNG file where multiple exposures are blended together. It has fantastic detail rendition (No Quad Bayer artifacts whatsoever) and dynamic range, so this is my go-to shooting mode.
              On GCam I've configured the app in a way that the zero shutter lag mode would only capture a single RAW frame, while HDR+ enhanced/Night Sight would stack 16 of them. These RAW files are not demosaiced so they have a bit more organic rendition to them, but the detail level is significantly worse than the RAW Max due to 50MP capture not being open to Camera2API, and neither is the dynamic range as good.

                copenhagen72, 30 Oct 2026Don't be a retard, you have Auto High Dynamic Range (H... moreAs I already said, HDR stacking on a Sony camera is a JPEG-only function, so in case you don't like the results (e.g. Contrast too low, noisy, weird skin tones) you're out of luck. I did succeed in recovering both people's faces and the bright sky/background on my Find X9 Pro's RAW Max (A stacked 50MP linear DNG file), which wasn't simply possible on the a7 IV's single RAW file due to how wide the dynamic range was in those scenes. DRO applies an automatic tone-curve adjustment to a SINGLE image file so if the shadows are too dark or the highlights are clipped, you can't recover them at all, not to mention that this is also a JPEG-only function.

                Also, in case you didn't look into the page you quoted yourself:
                "The highlight detail in auto HDR is better than that in DRO and with less noise. However, is not recommended to use this function for moving subjects"

                And here's what I said in my previous comment:
                "My friends weren't staying still, but the phone was intelligent enough to stack the frames without any fusion artifacts"

                I know my comment was pretty long, but if you were going to reply to it, I would've appreciated it if you had actually read it first instead of using the R word to immediately insult me.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • nD$
                  • 30 Oct 2026

                  Anonymous, 28 Oct 2026Well the biggest leap forward this year is .. drumroll . ... moreyeah cuz almost 1500mah jump in a year while samsung is stuck at 5000 for 7y is not worth mentioning at all

                    Nick Tegrataker, 30 Oct 2026I recently went on a trip for a month and there were plenty... moreDon't be a retard, you have Auto High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Dynamic Range Optimizer/D-Range Optimizer (DRO) in your Sony A7IV https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00246273

                    You can also hammer nails with your Sony camera.

                      Nick Tegrataker, 30 Oct 2026I recently went on a trip for a month and there were plenty... more"all the group photos I've taken with my a7IV during hiking at the top of the mountain were awfully underexposed as the harsh sunlight completely overshadowed my friends' faces. Exposing for their faces resulted in 1/3rd of the sky turning white"

                      With no hope of recovery from RAW if exposed for the highlights and lifting shadows? Guess I have to rethink my life choices and start visiting some of those amazingly sunny places you people do. 🤷‍♂️😎

                      "Oppo's camera app somehow doesn't provide me an option to shoot in a regular RAW"

                      How do you mean? Has no option to shoot RAW at all or are you talking some bug or something like that?

                      As for the rest, thanks, I appreciate the info! 🍻

                        Mr. Anonymous, 30 Oct 2026My point is that "natural" doesn't exist. No... moreI know that one. Interestingly, the Xperia is on top for daytime shots and I think it was (or maybe second?) last year too, although it regularly gets bashed here for doing everything wrong. Go figure. 🤷‍♂️

                          User935, 30 Oct 2026"Eh, not all the times. With dedicated cameras, due to... moreI recently went on a trip for a month and there were plenty of situations where a flash was/would've been an absolute necessity to balance out an exposure. For instance, all the group photos I've taken with my a7IV during hiking at the top of the mountain were awfully underexposed as the harsh sunlight completely overshadowed my friends' faces. Exposing for their faces resulted in 1/3rd of the sky turning white. My Find X9 Pro, on the other hand, automatically saved pretty much all of the sky through bracketing when I set it to RAW Max mode and exposed for their faces. My friends weren't staying still, but the phone was intelligent enough to stack the frames without any fusion artifacts.
                          The same thing nearly happened when I took photos of my friends from the deck of a tall tower - The indoor lighting was poor and exposing for the scenery below and the sky meant that their faces would be a literal noise fest. Luckily, I learned my lesson and decided to carry a flash with me that day, so I ended up being able to take well-exposed photos. The X9 Pro did manage to capture all the range needed without smearing everything into oblivion, however, without any external equipment, of course.. It didn't beat my flash-equipped, manually shutter-speed adjusted a7IV in terms of pure image quality, but it still did a great job given the sheer size difference. Oh, and those photos I've taken with my phone were instantly editable and shareable with my friends, parents and colleagues. How nice.
                          My X100 VI does have a dedicated HDR stacking mode, but I rarely use it because from what I could tell it doesn't seem to handle motion that well. It's such a pity that Sony can't even do stacking internally at RAW level.

                          I have a GCam port specifically for "purer" RAW (including a non-demosaiced stacked RAW and an actual single-frame RAW) on Find X9 Pro and Find X8 Ultra because Oppo's camera app somehow doesn't provide me an option to shoot in a regular RAW which is indeed a bummer. I rarely use GCam though - Individual phone RAW files are arguably a lot noisier than those from dedicated cameras, and in most cases stacked linear DNG from the stock camera app handles frame misalignment and subject movement quite gracefully. The subjects were sharp in most of the street snaps I had done during the trip (Including those I had taken when I was walking), and surprisingly it even handled panning shots at night without any issue.

                          "Does it actually edit from RAW or does it only support RAW in the sense of opening the JPEG preview from the RAW file and edit that like it does any JPEG?"
                          It can swap out the stock colour filters I've selected at the time of capture without any image quality degradation, so I believe it's fiddling with the RAW file directly rather than opening it as a JPEG.

                            User935, 30 Oct 2026The way I understood prior discussion, it was more good=nat... moreMy point is that "natural" doesn't exist. No camera provides 100% color accuracy.
                            But even if it did, no screen provides 100% color accuracy.
                            Then there's the problem of human "hardware": eyes and brain. We don't see the colors exactly the same as each of us. Plus each has ones own taste and color preferences.

                            But I do get your point. Natural doesn't mean 100% color accurate.
                            Most phones do oversaturate the colors in default mode, that is obvious to most people.
                            But most people still like the results and don't need the "natural" colors.

                            Interesting observation, xiaomi 17 ultra won the blind test on the average of all the results combined: https://www.computerbase.de/artikel/smartphones/leser-blindtest-2026-beste-smartphone-kamera.99533/
                            But LV owns the phone and hates its default color profiles.

                              Lord Bennington, 29 Oct 2026No sane person carries that heavy brick around anymore. Ar... moreIf we ever reach a point where a phone could take the photos I want to take, that might be a conversation worth having. 🍻

                              Till then I'll be enjoying my professional bricks and their amazing capabilities. 😎📷

                              I'm not even sure what your issue with my comment is, I didn't even say anything against this one or any other phone except that their colours are usually not very good/natural "out-of-the-box", which is a thing many owners and even fanboys agree with too.
                              And that I'd like them to come with a semi-decent photo editor like cameras do, with the exact same image profiles their camera app has etc. You think that would be bad and people should pay for Lightroom if they want to do a slight adjustment of a photo they took?

                                Nick Tegrataker, 29 Oct 2026"yet perfectly natural photos/colours in its default i... more"Eh, not all the times. With dedicated cameras, due to the lack of competent auto HDR, there are situations where you would be forced to get around dynamic range limitations"

                                I really must wonder what is it you people are doing that you're always struggling with dynamic range, attempting to see the surface of the sun and inside of a cave in a single photo? 🧐
                                If something can't be handled by the D850's 14.8 (according to dxomark) stops of DR, it's something that has portions that are a blob of white with my eyes (with its instantaneous DR of 10-14 stops according to cambridgeincolour) too. And, philosophically, I'm capturing and conveying my view of the world through a photograph so... 🤷‍♂️
                                I could bracket the thing and merge later. But just never need it, rarely even bother to change metering mode; put -0,3 to -1 EV compensation if I see the scene might have highlights that could push the limits, lift the shadows a bit after I take it and it always just turns out perfect. 🤷‍♂️😄

                                Even with phones I see and saw no issues years ago, logically, as they too have had a DR of over 10 for over a decade (dxomark, Nokia 1020). Just tried seeing what will happen with the bright AF cloud comprising some 10 % of my photo out the window of a dim room with my ancient 5 y.o. phone. Turned out nicely clipped as expected and requested in JPEG, opening the DNG and putting exposure to -0,5 shows there's wiggle room and nice gray tones in them.

                                And given that HDR modes on phones still only save JPEGs to my knowledge (and/or perhaps some Ultra RAW/Pro RAW/whatever computational linear DNG garbage) plus all the obvious problems of multi-exposure whatever like ghosting etc., I'd much rather have a RAW than extended dynamic range, even if it could lead to slightly more noise when pixel-peeping the shadows.
                                Or do they now save individual RAWs they used for an "HDR" JPEG like Open Camera can do? I'm quite annoyed by the phone manufacturers not publishing any documentation or decent user manuals so one can inform themselves.

                                "Yes, Oppo's gallery app can edit RAW files taken on my phones."

                                Does it actually edit from RAW or does it only support RAW in the sense of opening the JPEG preview from the RAW file and edit that like it does any JPEG? If it's the former, that's cool.

                                "but I don't use free RAW developers provided by the camera manufacturers as they are usually seriously lacking in features"

                                Well, if we're arguing that phones suffice as a camera for 95 % of people, I'm sure you can also see that some of the remaining 5 % could find a free RAW processor sufficient. At the very least, it would motivate people to start thinking in terms of what their photo could turn into from RAW instead of just hoping for the camera(phone) to do a miracle for them in JPEG, be it for the case of slight f-ups easily recoverable using RAW (e.g. the clipped cloud I mentioned above) or anything else.

                                  Mr. Anonymous, 29 Oct 2026Maybe it's just a coincidence that your personal taste... moreThe way I understood prior discussion, it was more good=natural rather than good=fits someone's personal taste, and I doubt many would say that a D850's default/auto profile doesn't produce colours/photos that would objectively or "objectively" fit the "pretty true to life" category.

                                  Could be people I was replying to meant something else and could be that I'm somewhat biased, can't say you're wrong there. 🍻

                                  Plenty of reviews with plenty of JPG and RAW samples online. Feel free to take a look at some and judge yourself, for what that's worth without seeing a scene in actual life, but it can certainly give you an idea. The picture control profile is clearly listed in any file's EXIF. As said, there's even a free RAW editor from Nikon you can install, download RAW samples (NEF files) and switch picture control to "Auto" if the photo was taken with another one to see what it'd look like or explore what the other ones do etc. 🤷‍♂️ I'm annoyed with Nikon for requiring a (free, but still) account for the latest versions of NX Studio, you can find 1.8.0 on Softpedia, that one still doesn't. If you're interested in what I'm talking about, if you're not, that's also perfectly fine by me. 🍻

                                  Don't want to push this completely off-topic, my point was just that default colours should be something more or less natural, and given that we have the possibility of always saving RAW, any change for any specific photo we aren't 100 % satisfied with should be a couple taps/clicks away, like it is for me on my camera or PC using the camera manufacturer's free software. Don't see why any of that should be different with a so-called "cameraphone", especially ones advertised with "pro" and "DSLR-like" in every other sentence.

                                    Im sorry but that camera bump is so big that it should be point of measuring thickness of phone, as its like saying that truck is just just 6 feet tall because bonet is 6 feet tall, and no one care that back is 13 feet...

                                      Sam N8 808 owner, 30 Oct 2026I think what LV wanted to say has something related to anal... moreI don't know what exactly LV wanted to say, but there is indeed at least one thing, and it's a huge one, that did get, significantly and measurably, way worse "thanks to digital". Ironically, because of its lack of limitations compared to the analog counterpart, but the end result is the same, music got worse.

                                      So you do literally need the analog vinyl if you want to hear stuff that isn't barely listenable brickwalled garbage. E.g.:

                                      Vinyl: https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/226929

                                      CD/digital: https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/226584

                                      There's even worse examples, there's slightly better ones. But unless you spend most of the time listening to classical, jazz and similar, or original releases of stuff from 80's and early 90's, there's close to no exception, vinyl or a vinyl rip will have far more dynamic range and hence sound far better than CD/streaming.

                                        • R
                                        • Rkm
                                        • FY0
                                        • 30 Oct 2026

                                        The 12.5mp mode is pretty much redundant now. 25mp is not taxing to hardware and 50mp gives meaningful improvements. Don't know why it is the default mode anymore.

                                        25mp mode also looks way more natural here.

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