With a starting price increase of over 1,000 yuan, the vivo X500 fires the first shot in September's domestic flagship candybar phones market.

On the evening of September 21, vivo launched the X500 series, firing the first shot in the autumn battle of domestic candybar flagship phones.

Last year, the vivo X300 series was released on October 13th, but this year, the X500 series was released a full 22 days earlier.

At the press conference, vivo Vice President Huang Tao also mentioned that in the past few years, vivo's annual flagship launch events have mostly been held after mid-October. Some users even joked that after returning from their National Day holiday trip, watching a flagship launch event that focuses on travel photography would be a perfect way to relive the holiday that had just ended.

This year, vivo couldn't wait until October.

With rising storage prices, cost pressures are becoming a common problem for mobile phone manufacturers. At the same time, new flagship models are being released in a short period. As price increases become increasingly unavoidable, whoever releases their phone first has the opportunity to enter consumers' upgrade choices sooner and secure limited budgets.

The standard version of the X500 has seen a significant price increase.

The X500 is available in three versions: 12GB+256GB, 12GB+512GB, and 12GB+1TB, priced at 5499 yuan, 5999 yuan, and 6999 yuan respectively.

All-weather technology on-site photography

Compared to the same memory version of last year's X300, the starting price of the X500 has increased by 1,100 yuan.

Furthermore, the high-end version of the X500 has also been downgraded. The previous generation X300 had a top configuration of 16GB RAM + 1TB HDD and a launch price of 5799 yuan, but the highest configuration of the X500 has now had its RAM reduced to 12GB.

After raising prices, vivo began to incorporate more features previously exclusive to the Pro version into the standard version.

Imaging is the key upgrade for the X500 standard edition. The main camera uses the same Blueprint×Sony LYTIA-828 sensor as the vivo X300 Pro, featuring a large 1/1.28-inch sensor size; the telephoto lens is the first to feature the same Blueprint×Sony LYTIA-610 sensor as the X500 Pro, supporting 64MP resolution and 4K 120fps cinematic slow motion.

Live streaming has become a new selling point for this generation. The X500 supports native 8K Live output and native 4K cinematic Live, and includes features such as AI photography guidance. In terms of performance, it is equipped with a Blue Crystal x Dimensity 9600M processor and OriginOS 7.

The standard version is moving closer to the Pro version, which is vivo's explanation for this round of price increases.

Moving up the price range, the X500 Pro and X500 Pro Max further differentiate themselves. Both models are equipped with the Blue Crystal × Dimensity 9600 Pro processor, built on a 2nm process, and feature upgraded GPU and dual NPU architecture. On the imaging side, they integrate V3+ and VS1, enhancing 60fps autofocus, super-resolution for telephoto videos, and 4K high frame rate Log video capabilities. The Pro Max also features a 6.85-inch 2K screen and a Zeiss 200MP APO super telephoto lens.

Prices also continued to rise. The 12GB+256GB version of the X500 Pro Max is priced at 6,999 yuan, with the highest reaching 8,999 yuan, thus covering a price range from 5,499 yuan to nearly 9,000 yuan for the X500 series.

The X500 is just the first shot. With more domestic flagship phones launching in September, this year's competition will answer a question sooner: as flagship phones become increasingly expensive, who can still entice consumers to spend money on upgrades?

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