Vivo X200 Ultra to feature 200 MP external telephoto lens

Gone are the days when Samsung and Apple were the only smartphone manufacturers offering high-quality cameras on their devices. These days, almost every smartphone brand gives special attention to the camera segment of their phones—whether it's Xiaomi with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra or Vivo with the Vivo X100 Ultra.

While there hasn’t been any major announcement regarding the Xiaomi 16 Ultra, Vivo is set to release the X200 Ultra—the successor to the VIVO X100 Ultra—on April 21. While it was almost certain that the device would feature one of the best smartphone cameras, what surprised everyone is that it will also support a 200-megapixel external lens.

The news was confirmed by Vivo Product Manager, Hax Boxiao. According to him, the lens has been co-engineered with ZEISS and will be available as part of a photography kit that you would need to purchase separately. The 200 MP lens reportedly has an f/2.3 aperture and a 200 mm focal length. It uses 13 high-transmittance glass elements arranged in three groups using a Kepler structure, which will allow you to attain 8.7x optical zoom.

The smartphone is rumored to feature a 200 MP Samsung HP9 periscope telephoto sensor (85 mm), and with the addition of the external lens, you will be able to extend the telephoto camera’s range by 2.35x. This enhancement will ultimately allow for a 200 mm pure optical zoom effect in your photos.

The lens is also compatible with RMSC technology, which will reportedly enable the smartphone to offer a second zoom stage that delivers 800 mm optical zoom and 1600 mm digital zoom. The image quality at digital zoom will reportedly be comparable to that of traditional 30x systems.

If all these specs sound impressive and you're curious about the image quality, you won’t have to wait until the smartphone’s official launch. Vivo has already shared some camera samples taken at 200 mm, 400 mm, and 800 mm focal lengths.

As mentioned earlier, the smartphone is set to launch on April 21. Unfortunately, it’s very likely to remain exclusive to China. So, if you live in other parts of the world, you might have to settle for just viewing the Vivo X200 Ultra camera samples online, unless you somehow manage to get your hands on the device.