Vivo’s Selfie Monitor is a brilliant idea, but it’s not quite the game-changer I hoped for

Vivo makes some of the best camera phones on the market. Between impressive LOFIC primary sensors, professional-grade telephoto glass tuned alongside ZEISS, and custom imaging silicon, its flagship hardware regularly gives competing flagships a run for their money. Yet, Vivo’s top-tier phones share a frustrating limitation with most other flagships. Framing yourself for a vlog or taking a solo travel shot means relying on the inferior front-facing sensor, or pointing the main camera blindly at yourself and hoping for the best.

With the launch of the X500 Pro Max, Vivo introduced a handy accessory to fix this exact problem. The Vivo Selfie Monitor is a compact, detachable wireless display that pairs over Bluetooth to stream a real-time preview directly from the main camera array. When I first got my hands on it, it felt like a stroke of genius. But after having used it for a while, I’ve come across some limitations that make what could’ve been a game-changer feel like an accessory with a few too many caveats.

A better approach than built-in rear screens

Embedding a permanent secondary screen onto the back panel of a device is one way to tackle this problem, as seen on phones like the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max. For quick selfies or vlogs, an integrated rear display is completely seamless. It doesn’t require you to carry an extra accessory and worry about battery management. But you don’t get the same level of flexibility that Vivo’s Selfie Monitor offers.

Vivo’s approach uncouples the preview from your phone, giving you the freedom to step away and plan more creative shots. You can mount the X500 Pro Max on a tripod across the room, set up a tracking shot on a slider, or position the phone at awkward angles while comfortably monitoring and controlling the shot directly from the palm of your hand.

The hardware itself feels thoughtfully designed. Beyond the responsive 3.92-inch touchscreen AMOLED display, the Selfie Monitor includes a physical shutter button for those who prefer tactile feedback and a brightness adjustment button that cycles through four levels, ensuring clear visuals even in direct sunlight.

The accessory is remarkably thin at 5.65mm and weighs just 68g, yet it still packs a 1,180mAh battery and supports wireless transmission up to 10m. It charges over USB-C, comes with a protective silicone case, and features strong internal magnets that snap onto metal surfaces or MagSafe-compatible cases. Pairing is equally seamless and involves just turning on Bluetooth, selecting the accessory, and tapping “Mirror” on the pop-up.

Unlike other affordable wireless viewfinders on the market, Vivo’s Selfie Monitor functions as a two-way remote, letting you control most of the camera interface and even review what you’ve captured. For solo creators, it completely eliminates the tedious back-and-forth cycle of recording a test clip, running to check framing, making adjustments, and doing it all over again until you finally get a shot that works.

Frame rate caps and software blind spots

While Vivo has got the core preview experience right with the Selfie Monitor, power users will quickly hit some head-scratching software walls. For starters, the accessory isn’t for you if you shoot at high frame rates because the previews are capped at 1080p 60fps, 4K 30fps, and 8K 30fps. That’s a serious oversight, given that the X500 Pro Max supports 4K video recording at up to 240fps.

Software restrictions extend to shooting modes as well. The Selfie Monitor supports only a handful of options, including basic Photo and Video, Portrait, Cinematic Portrait, Pro Video, and Landscape & Night modes. The rest of the modes are unsupported, with the screen displaying an error stating “Selfie Monitor Screen is unavailable on the current camera screen” when you switch to them.

If your workflow relies on specialized video formats or high frame rates, the Selfie Monitor quickly becomes more restricted than expected.

The magnetic catch and a case headache

There is also a catch when it comes to mounting it directly to the phone. The X500 Pro Max doesn’t feature built-in magnets, so to snap the Selfie Monitor to the back of the device, you’re forced to use a compatible case. Vivo supplied three official cases with the review unit, but neither the basic silicone case nor the modular grip case feature built-in magnets.

Only the lens mount case without the grip attachment features built-in magnets. So, if you want to use the full camera setup with the detachable lenses and grip, you won’t be able to mount the screen to the back of the device.

An ecosystem wall that hurts the experience

The bigger issue, however, is cross-device software integration. Vivo has built a great accessory, but it has locked it tightly into its own ecosystem. While the company says the Selfie Monitor will work with other Vivo devices, it failed to pair with the X300 Pro. However, that should be fixed with a future software update.

Compatibility with non-Vivo phones was disappointing across the board. Although I managed to pair it with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, it offered only basic screen mirroring instead of the camera interface you get when it’s paired with the X500 Pro Max. The narrow mirroring layout can prove handy in a pinch, but it’s not ideal for precise framing and doesn’t support touch input. With an iPhone, it took multiple tries to pair it over Bluetooth, but I couldn’t get screen mirroring to work. So, unless you plan to buy an X500 series phone, the Screen Monitor is hard to recommend.

Pricing and third-party alternatives

In China, Vivo’s Selfie Monitor retails for 699 RMB (~$104) standalone, and it’s also available bundled with Vivo’s 12,999 RMB (~$1,940) X500 Pro Max Creator Kit. Vivo has yet to share any details about international availability.

At around $100, the Selfie Monitor is a tempting add-on if you already own a Vivo X300 series phone or plan on buying one of the latest flagships. However, given its strict software boundaries, high frame-rate preview caps, and lack of cross-device functionality, you might want to look at some third-party alternatives.

If you like the idea of a wireless monitor that you can slap on the back of your phone to take selfies or shoot vlogs with the main camera, you can find several affordable options like the TTQ Selfie Monitor ($39.99 at Amazon), SmallRig Selfie Monitor ($64.99 at Amazon), or Synco Xview M4 ($39 at Amazon). But they come with their own major tradeoffs.

These universal displays function only as viewfinders and don’t feature a touchscreen. Without two-way interactive controls, you lose the ability to trigger focus, switch shooting modes, or start recording directly from the monitor. You get broad cross-device compatibility, but you miss out on the functionality that makes Vivo’s hardware so compelling.