This phone could support a crazy 500mm teleconverter lens for 20x optical zoom

The vivo X200 Ultra debuted a 200mm teleconverter lens last year, allowing users to take high-quality ~8x zoom photos. We’ve since seen an escalation of the external lens war, with the vivo X300 Ultra now offering a 400mm teleconverter. However, a new leak suggests that HONOR could up the ante.

Long-time leaker Digital Chat Station reports on Weibo that the HONOR Magic 9 series could have a 500mm teleconverter lens. This equates to a ridiculous ~20.8x tele zoom. Check out the machine-translated screenshot below.

By contrast, the vivo X300 Ultra’s 400mm external lens is equivalent to ~16.6x zoom. So HONOR could have the longest range for a teleconverter lens. I’m intrigued by this possibility as the X300 Ultra’s 400mm lens allowed me to take astounding photos (see the gallery below). It also stands to reason that we could see 1,000mm (~41.6x) lossless-resolution zoom if HONOR’s external lens is indeed paired with a 200MP telephoto camera.

Nevertheless, my own experience with the X300 Ultra and its 400mm lens suggests that HONOR’s 500mm teleconverter could be extremely bulky. I’m also expecting a minimum focusing distance of several meters. So don’t expect a versatile multi-camera experience with this external lens.

Other HONOR Magic 9 series features leaked by Digital Chat Station include a camera grip, a square front camera, a built-in cooling fan, dual 200MP ARRI-branded cameras (presumably main and telephoto), and an ~8,000mAh battery with a small screen.