Smartphones are getting serious about cameras. Take the upcoming vivo X200 Ultra, for instance. Its product manager, Han Boxiao, has been sharing some exciting updates on Weibo. The biggest reveal? This phone will boast not one, but two dedicated camera chips.
These chips work together to take your mobile photography to the next level. The V3+ chip handles the final processing, boosting image quality. The VS1 chip, on the other hand, does the pre-processing, enhancing exposure and focus. It even does image stacking before passing the data to the V3+ for more complex processing, like noise reduction and sharpening.
But that’s not all. The vivo X200 Ultra is also expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which has a top speed of 4.32 GHz and comes with its own ISP. By adding the V3+ and VS1 chips, vivo is taking some of the load off the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which should help with battery life.
vivo claims the X200 Ultra, set to launch in April 2025, will offer portrait photography on par with professional DSLR cameras. It’s all about capturing more light and achieving sharper focus than your average smartphone camera.
The idea of using dedicated camera chips isn’t new. Google, for example, upgraded the ISP in its Tensor G3 chip to support pre-processing for the Pixel 8. Apple uses Deep Fusion to combine multiple images into a single, high-quality JPEG. Samsung and Qualcomm have also teamed up to improve low-light photography and dynamic range in their chips.
Other images of the vivo X200 Ultra have also surfaced, showing off its camera capabilities in comparison to other devices like the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the Canon 5D Mk IV.
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