Chinese handset maker Vivo has gained all the attention in term of quality and style. Vivo is categorized in one of the few Chinese companies who offers retail both online and offline. The company has launched the Vivo V5 as the successor of its earlier Vivo V3 Max. Vivo V5 smartphones could be another flagship offering from the company with premium looks.
This selfie-centric device packs some interesting specifications in the midrange smartphone segment. The device itself is good and stands up to the mark if you compare Vivo V5 to any other regular Chinese offerings like Gionee S6s and Oppo F1s. Vivo launched V5 in India with a price tag of Rs. 17,999 which is acceptable but not so cheap. Check out the Vivo V5 review and find out if this the one for you or not.
Design:
The sleek form factor of Vivo V5 stands as the highlight of the device and is the apparent reason for the good looks. The built quality of the phone is good with a solid aluminum exterior which offers a better grip on the phone. The subtle design around the spine really makes it handy and gives the phone a premium look. The flat side panel is also accredited for the gripping job and the slight curve towards the rear dulls the rough edges.
Also Read: Samsung Galaxy On8 Review
Vivo V5 measures dimensions of 75.50mm x 153.88mm and is 7.76mm thick and weighs about 154 grams which lighter in terms of a 5.5-inch smartphone. An oval shaped home button is arranged on the front panel which also doubles as the fingerprint sensor. However, the home button acts just by a touch which means you can’t click it physically.
Capacitive keys are arranged on the either side of the home button with backlight. On the rear, Vivo V5 flaunts a matte finish panel is provided with the camera sensor, and flash along with VIVO logo beautifully carved in a chrome lining. The power button and the volume rockers are adjusted on the right edge and hybrid SIM tray on the left. A 3.5mm audio jack and micro USB port are housed on the bottom along with the loudspeaker grille.
Display:
Coming to display section in Vivo V5 review, the smartphone features a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution at 267 ppi density. The screen is big enough and serves all the basic needs adequately. Be it web browsing, playing games, reading books and watching movies. But when comparing it to other phones in the segment, the display what Vivo is offering for V5 is too low.
By employing an IPS LCD screen, Vivo V5 display lacks sharpness is observed in games and movies. However, colors what display offers are punchier. Viewing angles are good, the presence of ambient light sensor results in better visibility under bright sunlight.
Vivo V5 enables a good range of settings to customize display according to your usage and to reduce stress on eyes. Other flagships in this price range offer better display than this which is not acceptable when you’re paying 18k.
Specs review:
Vivo V5 is powered by a 64-bit Octa-core processor which clocks at 1.5GHz and is coupled with 4GB RAM. An internal memory of 32GB is provided and is expandable maximum up to 128GB with the microSD card slot in the Hybrid SIM tray. Vivo V5 provides you a hybrid SIM slot which doubles up as a microSD slot as well. You need to choose in between a SIM card or a MicroSD card.
No frame drops or such issues were noticed even while playing heavy graphic games. Even heavy usage of the phone didn’t let to any heat issues. You don’t complaint about any lag issues while running multiple apps on the phone. Vivo V5 provides fingerprint scanner which works really fast and is far better than what we expect. It quickly unlocks your phone in just 0.2 seconds and also offers to add multiple fingerprints.
The water resistant fingerprint sensor protects the phone if you have wet fingers while using the phone. However, it doesn’t mean that you can submerge your phone into water. You also get other typical features in the phone like Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and FM radio. Apart from this, the phone also features USB OTG option which allows you to read the files from USB directly when you plug it in.
Vivo V5 is good at audio range, both speaker and headphones provide an excellent listening experience. The inbuilt speaker is really clear enough and loud to enjoy the music. Thanks to AK4376 dedicated Hi-Fi audio chip. The dual 4G ready SIMs will come in handy for hassle free video streaming. The home button works though gestures like one tap for going back on the home page and long tap redirects you to Goggle Now page. Referring to the benchmarks, V5 scores 40,916 points in AnTuTu and 21fps in GFXbench graphics test.
Software:
Vivo V5 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with company’s custom UI FunTouch 2.6 OS over it. Few elements in the FunToch OS have the likes of iPhone such as spotlight search, shortcuts by swiping the lower panel and no app drawer.
Like its predecessor Vivo V3, Vivo V5 also has a split-screen 2.0 mode which allows you to use different apps at the same time by splitting the screen. This feature works well without any glitches but what remains a question is does it seem much beneficial to us? FunTouch UI offers few smart features like ‘smart wake’ which allows you to type letters on display to open predefined apps etc.
Vivo V5 also provides few settings and features like shake for switching on the flashlight, visitor mode, etc. which most of the Chinese phones doesn’t offer. Double tapping on display lights up the screen to have a quick glance on notifications.
Camera:
Coming to the camera department of Vivo V5, 20 MP front facing camera steals all the show. The Sony IMX 376 sensor with F/2.0 aperture and 5P lens delivers amazing selfie shots. Selfies in various light conditions impress you with excellent detail and natural colors. The front camera has a LED flash, which Vivo calls it Moonlight flash.
This Moonlight flash in Vivo V5 stands unique among the other phones, it doesn’t burn out and gives you natural picture effect in low light conditions. The Face Beauty 6.0 option provided softens the skin tone while taking selfie shots.
The Vivo V5 on the rear side has 13MP sensor with flash and PDAF technology. The camera app launches really fast and captures great pictures with bright and good detailing. The smartphone is able to autofocus on the objects quickly, and no shutter lag is found.
The camera app comes with different shooting modes such as Panorama, Face Beauty, HDR, Night, Filter, Motion Track, Watermark and more.
Battery:
Vivo V5 is backed by a 3000 mAh non-removable battery which may last up to a day. The battery serves about 4 to 8 hours on non-stop heavy usage. One downside in the battery is it sports the microUSB port, where the world is opting USB C type port for fast charging. It is still good at serving the need, but you need to carry you own charger to get the fast charging benefit.
On running benchmark app for 10 minutes, the battery is dropped by 3 percent. A heavy gaming session for 22 minutes drops 11%. The battery didn’t run out of juice and served up in 6 hours & 15 minutes on FHD video playback with full brightness while WiFi /4G is turned on. Vivo V5 battery takes 2 hours 19 minutes to gain back its power to 100% using the wall charger.
The Vivo V5 smartphone will be exclusively available on Flipkart and you can buy by clicking this link Vivo V5
Pros:
- Slim and light design
- Display
- Good perfeomance
- Excellent front camera
Cons:
- Hybrid SIM slot
- Rear camera could have been better
- FunTouch UI
Verdict:
Vivo V5 is a stylish selfie-centric smartphone with premium looks and decent hardware. The phone will take the selfie experience entirely to a next level. The combo of specs and features are good at its range for typical usage. The phone performs all your tasks with ease. Battery life and display of the device are quite acceptable. You actually find no compromises for choosing the extended set of cameras. Finally, Vivo V5 is the right buy for you if you are a great selfie lover. If you are not, you have many alternatives around you in few lesser bugs.
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