Vivo X500 Pro Max vs Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.85-inch Vivo X500 Pro Max (with MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro) that was released on September 21, 2026, against the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max, which is powered by Apple A20 Pro. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Vivo X500 Pro Max
  • Comes with 2433 mAh larger battery capacity: 8000 vs 5567 mAh
  • 38% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (4838K versus 3504K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
  • Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (90W versus 60W)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • 10% higher pixel density (507 vs 460 PPI)
  • CPU with a higher amount of cores (+2)
  • Weighs 24 grams less
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
  • The rear camera has a 4x optical zoom
  • Supports Dolby Atmos sound technology
  • 13% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4725 and 4172 points

Review

Evaluation of Vivo X500 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
12 / 256 GB
VS
12 / 256 GB
37.3
(Mediocre)
Value Index
36.4
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.85 inches 6.9 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3168 pixels 1320 x 2868 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.8:9 19.5:9
PPI 507 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 144 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-144 Hz) Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 3000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 4400 nits 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Armor Glass Ceramic Shield 2
Screen-to-body ratio 90.9% 91.6%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display

Design and build

Height 163.32 mm (6.43 inches) 163.4 mm (6.43 inches)
Width 76.82 mm (3.02 inches) 78 mm (3.07 inches)
Thickness 7.95 mm (0.31 inches) 8.75 mm (0.34 inches)
Weight 225 g (7.94 oz) 249 g (8.78 oz)
Waterproof IP69 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Silver, Orange Black, Silver, Blue, Burgundy
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display No
Screen-to-body ratio

Performance

Chipset specifications of Vivo X500 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro Apple A20 Pro
Max clock 4550 MHz 4930 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 3 + 3) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 3.1 GHz: C2-Pro
- 3 cores at 4.35 GHz: C2-Pro
- 2 cores at 4.55 GHz: C2-Ultra
- 4 cores at 2.64 GHz:
- 2 cores at 4.93 GHz:
L3 cache 16 MB -
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 2 nanometers 2 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) MediaTek NPU 1090 Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Mali-G2 Ultra NX MP12 7 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 1536 896
GPU clock 1800 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS ~5529.6 GFLOPS ~2903 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Vivo X500 Pro Max and Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 55104
Single-core score 4172 4725
Multi-core score 12688 12575
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
4838033
CPU 1388289 964766
GPU 1881401 1393271
Memory 488503 400483
UX 1079840 745645
Total score 4838033 3504165
Samples Less than 3 Less than 3

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 5333 MHz 4800 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.1 NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 17 iOS 27
ROM OriginOS 7 -
OS updates 5 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 8000 mAh 5567 mAh
Max charge power 90 W 60 W
Battery type Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (40 W) Yes (25 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes Yes (77% in 30 min)
Full charging time - 0:55 hr

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 8064 x 6048
Zoom Optical, 3.5x Optical, 4x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS No
4K video recording Up to 240FPS Up to 120FPS
1080p video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 119° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 200 MP
3) Ultrawide: 50 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
4) Depth
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.6 f/1.5 - 4.0
Focal length 24 mm 24 mm
Sensor Sony LYT-910 -
Sensor size 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch) 1/1.28" (≈ 0.78 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 200 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/2.7 f/2.8
Focal length 85 mm 100 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL HP9 -
Sensor size 1/1.4" (≈ 0.71 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.56 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 15 mm 13 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KJN5 -
Sensor size 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 0.7 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 50 megapixels 18 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4896 x 3672
Aperture f/2.0 f/1.9
Focal length 20 mm 20 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KJN1 CMOS
Sensor size 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) -
Pixel size 0.64 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 6.0 6.0
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 -
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2026 September 2026
Release date September 2026 September 2026
Launch price (MSRP) $1299 $1299
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger Yes, 90 W Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the battery life is more important to you, then choose the Vivo X500 Pro Max. But if the software and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
16 (88.9%)
2 (11.1%)
Total votes: 18

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!