Vivo’s telephoto extender makes the world’s best phone camera better

When Xiaomi and Realme both rocked up to February’s Mobile World Congress with concept smartphones featuring attachable camera lenses, Vivo’s executives must have had a quiet chuckle knowing they were ready to launch the real thing just two months later.

Its flagship X200 Ultra went on sale in China a few weeks ago. Even by itself, it’s probably the best camera phone in the world right now, but it’s made even better by a unique accessory: a custom-made 2.35x telephoto extender lens, which attaches to the phone’s existing 3.7x telephoto for a total of 8.7x optical zoom, or the equivalent of a 200mm lens. It sounds (and looks) absurd, but it’s arguably a natural move for Vivo, which has built its brand around a long-running partnership with Zeiss and a growing reputation for crafting some of the best camera systems in any Android phone.

From a design standpoint, Vivo has split the difference between the two concepts I saw in Barcelona earlier this year. Realme imagined attaching full-size DSLR lenses on a phone’s existing camera, and Xiaomi pitched a custom, compact lens with its own built-in sensor that could magnetically snap onto a phone’s back.

Vivo echoed Xiaomi in creating custom hardware — co-engineered with Zeiss — but followed Realme by piggybacking on the sensor and other hardware already in the phone. This sits on top of the 200-megapixel telephoto, mirroring its f/2.3 aperture, but as a result has to make do with its 1/1.4”-type sensor, which is large for a phone, but undeniably small by camera standards. The cynic might say this is a more extravagant version of the clip-on lenses companies like Moment have been selling for years, or that Nothing sells as cheap add-ons to its budget CMF Phone 2 Pro, though neither operates on quite this scale.

The X200 Ultra is an outstanding camera in its own right, just edging its closest rival, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and that’s before you strap on this extra lens. With the extender, I’ve taken photos and filmed videos I scarcely believe came out of a phone, and made my peace that I’m going to get some stares while doing so.

It excelled at taking shots in conditions ranging from bright sunlight to the variable lighting of a Feeder concert, with natural depth and impressively accurate colors. It has limits, and performance drops in proper darkness — street scenes at night looked better without the lens attached, especially when moving subjects like people and traffic were involved.

There’s also a slightly artificial sheen to some shots, signs of aggressive sharpening and other post-processing. The closer you zoom in, the more obvious that is, and pushing shots to the app’s maximum 1600mm option creates all the telltale signs of heavy digital zoom. But that still doesn’t detract too much when you’re taking photos that show off each hair on a bumblebee’s back, or the translucent texture of its wings.

That’s one reason I’m more impressed with the video capabilities, which lack most of that artificiality but are no less detailed. Excellent stabilization plays its part here, keeping output steady even at zoom levels where the slightest hand movement could ruin a shot.

The X200 Ultra is already a big, heavy phone, and strapping a telephoto lens to one end does nothing to help its weight or balance. It’s better than you might think, though, so long as you use it with the rest of the camera kit it’s sold as a part of, which includes a clip-on camera grip, filter ring mounts, and both wrist and shoulder straps, all for CNY1,699 (about $240) including the lens, though US importers like Giztop are offering it for $399 all in.

Vivo has taken more than just inspiration from Xiaomi’s photography kits for its Ultra flagships, shipping an almost identical camera grip, right down to the button layout and included battery, so that it doubles as a compact power bank. It may not be original, but it’s a good enough design to be worth stealing, and all the more important when paired with the add-on lens, balancing the weight and helping to keep this comfortable to use. Without the grip, this feels awkward and weighty, unnatural to hold; with the grip, it just feels like a slightly odd camera.

Vivo outsourced most of the kit’s design to PGYTech, and the quality has suffered. After just a few weeks of use, my case has fractures in each corner, the kickstand feels flimsy, and the quick-release button for filter rings and lens mount occasionally gets stuck. That’s a problem given the lens can’t be mounted without the case — I’d be pretty worried that the case will break before too long, leaving the lens entirely useless. A minor peeve is that the lens mount is capital-U Ugly, so I refuse to leave it on the phone 24/7. That means I can’t swap the lens on and off without changing the mount at the same time, adding just a little bit more friction to the process.

And friction, or lack thereof, is essential to this telephoto’s appeal. It lives and dies by the idea that it’s more convenient (and often cheaper, even counting the phone itself) than a fully fledged camera. I’ve met a lot of people who seem skeptical about that, but it’s already won me over in just a few weeks. I don’t carry a digital camera around by habit, but I bring an old ’70s film SLR when I travel. It’s bulky, heavy, and takes up half my backpack, or it has to hang around my neck all day. I love it, but I can’t help but resent it a little, too.

Carrying this around feels different because it’s easy to disassemble. I’m already carrying the phone and it’s only a few seconds’ work to slip the lens and camera grip off. They’ll fit into my sling bag with room to spare for sunglasses and earbuds. And at the risk of a few “Is that a Vivo X200 Ultra telephoto lens in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” jokes, I’ve even managed to stuff the whole set inside my jeans. You can’t do that with a DSLR.

And yeah, of course, a DSLR would take better photos. So would a mirrorless, and maybe even the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III that TikTok has been strangely obsessed with. But that isn’t the point. Because this might not be as good as a camera, but it’s for sure better than any phone out there at the same zoom distance. It’s a midway point, a half-step beyond the phone and toward the full camera, whether for a budding enthusiast considering investing in a larger setup or an experienced photographer who wants something lighter.

This isn’t a camera, but it’s not trying to be — it just wants to meet photographers in the middle.

Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge