Vivo reveals its new flagship X500 series of phones, with three new modelsThe X500 Pro Max is the priciest model, succeeding the X300 UltraIt's no longer a secret that some of the best camera phones are coming out of China, and Vivo is very much competing with Oppo and Xiaomi with its flagship 'X' series — it has just revealed the latest crop; the X500, X500 Pro and X500 Pro Max.I'm at the launch event in Shanghai, China, and have already had 24 hours with the Vivo X500 Pro Max, which effectively replaces last year's X300 Ultra. Like the previous flagship, it features a triple front camera array comprising ultra-wide, main, and telephoto Zeiss optics, only this time, the main lens has a 24mm focal length, like most other flagship wide cameras (whereas the X300 Ultra stood out with a tighter 35mm main camera lens).The 3.5x telephoto lens has an 85mm equivalent focal length — a well-loved focal length by portrait photographers — and a mode which unleashes a 200MP resolution, while the 50MP boosted resolution is available for the ultra-wide and main cameras.Tim ColemanTim ColemanThe Vivo X500 Pro Max photographer's kit, in lavish black presentation box. It includes two telephoto converters, grip, additional cases and moreTim ColemanThe 4.7x teleconverter lens (left), 2.35x lens (middle) and grip (right)Tim ColemanI'll be bringing you an in-depth camera comparison soon with the Vivo X500 Pro Max, Vivo X300 Ultra, and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra (a top camera phone from last year) soon, plus more details on the former. In the meantime, I've included some of my favorite photos that I've taken with the X500 Pro Max already, so you can begin to see what it's capable of.The X500 series was announced on September 21 and, at launch, is exclusive to China, with a wider rollout expected later, although it's unlikely to come to the US. With the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Xiaomi 17 Ultra, both now available in the UK, I'll be keeping an eye out for Vivo's release plans with the X500 models.Vivo X500 Pro Max sample galleryI shot this photo using the phone's Portrait mode. I set the bokeh effect to natural and maxed it to f/0.95. However, bokeh effect edits can be made afterwards to photos shot with the Portrait mode (see photo of the phone, above) — I could reduce the strength of the effect if I wanted to. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)The Landscape & Night mode enables high-resolution shooting. I upped the resolution to 50MP and used the B/W color style — taking the exposure reading from the bright part of the sky to get the low key effect. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)I used the regular Photo mode here, and left the phone to its own devices, and the results are really good — color is pleasant, and the HDR effect not overly aggressive. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)The famous Bund skyline in Shanghai. I used a long exposure effect for the vistaTim ColemanAnd here I add the 4.7x teleconverter lens, which works with the 3.5 zoom camera for a 400mm effective focal length. This was shot handheld and the image is still pretty sharpTim ColemanThe telephoto camera is a 3.5x zoom optic, with an equivalent 85mm focal length. Tim ColemanHere I've used the 10x zoom setting, which is a digital zoom from the 3.5x telephoto Zeiss lensTim ColemanAnd here's a cute kitty with longest coat, well, just because! (Image credit: Tim Coleman)