Vivo V5 Review: Just buy it for the selfie camera!

With the growing selfie craze among people, more and more smartphone companies are now launching camera-centric smartphones into the market. A few days back Oppo launched the Oppo F1s camera phone, which was termed as Selfie Expert by the company. Now the latest entrant to the list is Vivo V5 with 20MP front snapper along with Moonlight Selfie Flash (as Vivo likes to call it). Without any further delay, let’s check out if the latest Vivo smartphone justifies its price of Rs. 17,980 and checks all the boxes.

Box Content:

  • Vivo V5
  • SIM ejector
  • Transparent back cover
  • A charger
  • USB cable
  • Earphones

Build and Design

At the first look of the phone, the Vivo V5 looks premium. It has a unibody design with a nice metallic finish. The build quality is also good; the handset is slim and lightweight at 154 grams and is not slippery in the hands.

The power button and volume rockers are on the right, while the SIM slot sits on the left-hand side of the phone. Vivo V5 features a hybrid SIM slot much like other phones nowadays. A microSD card of up to 128GB can be infused to expand storage.

At the back is a slight camera bump and nothing else. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the home button at the front and over the display is the front camera with flash. Vivo V5 comes with backlit capacitive buttons on the either side of the home button.

Display

The display of the phone is 5.5-inch HD display (720p) with Corning Gorilla Glass protection on top. Though it doesn’t have an FHD display, there isn’t much to complain in that segment as it is bright and the text appears fairly sharp.

Performance

The processor powering the phone is 1.5 GHz Octa Core MediaTek MT6750 along with 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage capacity. The device manages to pull off day-to-day tasks with ease, but it cannot be called a solid performer. Vivo V5 scored 2423 in the Antutu benchmarking results, which is below Redmi Note 3, OnePlus One and Nexus 6 scores.

The operating system powering the phone is FunTouchOS 2.6, which is based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The OS is snappy and offers some cool features and shortcut options which you’ll soon get used to e.g. Long screenshot in S-capture and global eye protection as on the iPhone.

The gaming experience on the smartphone was decent, while we would say you not to expect much while playing Asphalt 8: Airborne and the likes that are graphically demanding.

Although the processor is a drawback of Vivo V5, the fingerprint scanner won’t disappoint you in any way. I was quite impressed with the amazingly fast speed with which it reads the finger impressions (within a fraction of second). I never have to place my finger twice at the home button to unlock the phone.

Camera

Now the highlight of the phone. The rear camera on the Vivo V5 is 13MP shooter which takes pretty decent photos in the bright sunlight. We took some shots in the daylight and the primary camera captured detailed images. Although, the images taken in the low light conditions were mediocre and you can see the noise more clearly. The primary camera is supported by Flash, but it doesn’t help much. While testing, we saw that blues appear purple-ish in some of the pictures.

At the front is a 20MP moonlight selfie camera, or you can simply say 20MP front camera with a flash. The selfie camera is the secondary thing after fingerprint sensor Vivo can boast about this phone. It features Sony IMX376 sensor with f/2.0 aperture. The selfies captured with the front snapper in the natural light were detailed, and you can see color reproduction quality in the samples. The Face Beauty mode turns photos to the softer side and eradicates the need to beautify them by shifting to another app. (Wooooh! Too much for a selfie fan.)

In dark conditions, the role of flash comes into play. It does capture good photos by providing artificial light, but the images are not as good as in the daylight condition. You can notice a little bit of noise in the photos. Overall, the selfie camera is impressive.

Battery

A 3000mAh battery is stuffed to the device, which is ideal for a day-long usage and maybe more (depends on the usage). If you’re a heavy user whose daily usage includes movies watching and games, the battery will last for a day. For an average usage, it could last for close to 2 days. Vivo V5 falls short when it comes to fast charging.

Pros

  • Superfast fingerprint scanner
  • Front camera is great
  • Good battery life

Cons

  • Laggy performance
  • Poor rear camera
  • Lacks fast charging

Verdict

Vivo V5 excels in some areas like camera and battery but lags behind some budget smartphones in others. Don’t expect much in terms of performance, but if you are a selfie lover, then the mid-range Vivo V5 is a sweet deal. The smartphone is available on Flipkart and Amazon.

About the author

Mary Woods

Mary is a passionate tech enthusiast with over 4 years of experience in writing about global technological advancements. Currently based in Miami, she has a deep interest in all things tech and is particularly drawn to the wonders of the modern internet. Writing about the latest technological trends online is not just her expertise but also her hobby. Mary’s dedication to exploring and sharing the latest in technology makes her a key contributor to PC-Tablet.com, where she brings her insights and enthusiasm to every article she writes.

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