vivo X500 series goes global with less RAM, same prices

vivo’s X500 series is now on sale outside China. The three phones launched in China on 21st September. vivo then took the two most expensive ones to Europe, at a launch event on 27th October 2026.

Those two are the X500 Pro and the X500 Pro Max. The X500 Pro costs EUR 1,399, or about KES 203,000. The X500 Pro Max starts at EUR 1,599, about KES 232,000. Its 1TB version costs EUR 2,199, about KES 320,000. Launch offers run until 30th November.

The cheaper standard X500 isn’t sold in Europe. In Southeast Asia, it’s on sale in Malaysia.

These are vivo’s camera flagships, built with the German lens maker ZEISS. When we wrote about the European event on 13th October, vivo hadn’t given prices, storage versions or battery sizes. Now it has.

Same price, less memory

The X500 Pro costs exactly what the X300 Pro did when it launched in Europe on 30th October 2025: EUR 1,399. But that money bought 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage last year. This year it buys 12GB and 256GB.

vivo’s German store sells only that 256GB X500 Pro. Its Spanish store lists a 512GB version at EUR 1,599, so getting last year’s storage now costs EUR 200 more. Memory is why, as we explained on launch day: the RAM and storage inside a flagship cost several times what they did a year ago. In China vivo raised the price. In Europe it held the price and cut the memory.

Here’s what each version costs on vivo’s own stores in Germany and Spain. European prices include VAT, the EU’s sales tax. Spain is already selling below its list prices as a launch offer.

The EUR 2,199 at the top of the Pro Max range is for the 1TB phone on its own. The full camera kit costs more. vivo calls it the Professional Creator Kit, and in Germany it’s EUR 2,499, about KES 363,000.

The X500 Pro gets the smaller extender only. Germany sells a 200mm kit for it at EUR 1,576, about KES 229,000, and gives away vivo’s Headphones Studio, worth EUR 169 or about KES 24,600, with the plain X500 Pro during the launch offer.

Europe gets smaller batteries, again

The X500 Pro Max has an 8,000mAh battery in China and a 7,800mAh one in Malaysia. vivo’s European stores list 6,750mAh, about 16% less than the Chinese phone.

The X500 Pro is less clear. vivo’s Spanish store lists 6,510mAh, the same as the phone sold in China. vivo’s German store lists 5,300mAh. The EU database has two vivo phones registered for sale from 17th September, rated at 6,305mAh and 5,180mAh, which suggests there are two European versions. vivo hasn’t said which countries get which, or why Europe gets smaller batteries at all.

It’s the same pattern as last year, when the European X300 Pro had 5,440mAh against 6,510mAh in China. So if you’re buying an X500 phone from a European seller, check the battery on the box before you pay.

Both phones’ EU registrations promise at least five years of software updates. vivo Germany adds a three-year guarantee and, as a launch offer, a five-year battery warranty.

The standard X500 and Malaysia

The standard X500 is the cheaper phone in the series, with MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600M chip and a 7,500mAh battery. It isn’t sold in Europe. Malaysia is the only Southeast Asian market where vivo has published prices so far.

What about Kenya?

vivo hasn’t announced the X500 phones for Kenya, or for India. Last year’s route is still the best guide. The X300 Pro reached Europe on 30th October 2025, India on 2nd December and Kenya on 19th December, 50 days after Europe. The same gap would put a Kenyan launch around mid-December.