A new leak suggests Vivo could be experimenting with a much longer zoom camera for its next Ultra flagship.
According to the leak, Vivo is currently testing a 10x telephoto camera for what is believed to be the Vivo X500 Ultra. If true, it would represent a fairly significant change in strategy for Vivo’s Ultra lineup.
The current X300 Ultra relies on a single 200MP periscope camera that offers around 3.7x optical zoom, while rival devices have started pushing much further. Oppo’s Find X9 Ultra, for example, combines a 200MP 3x telephoto with a separate 50MP 10x periscope camera, giving it a clear advantage when it comes to long-range photography.
Huawei also made headlines last year with the Pura 80 Ultra, which featured a 9.4x periscope solution and demonstrated just how much reach modern smartphone cameras can achieve. With Huawei now rumored to be skipping a Pura Ultra successor in 2026, and competitors continuing to push zoom capabilities, it would not be surprising to see Vivo experimenting with a dedicated 10x periscope of its own.
Over the past few years, the Ultra segment has gradually become a camera race. Sensor sizes increased first. Then came larger periscope cameras, variable apertures, and increasingly complex computational photography systems.
Vivo has traditionally been one of the more aggressive brands when it comes to mobile photography, particularly through its long-running partnership with Zeiss. That alone makes the rumor a little easier to believe.
For now, though, the 10x camera remains just that: a test configuration. Whether Vivo ultimately ships it is another question entirely. But if the company can make a 10x telephoto camera work without significantly increasing size, weight, or cost, it could end up being one of the more interesting hardware upgrades in the next wave of camera-focused flagships.
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(Source: Smart Pikachu on Weibo)
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