Vivo already stormed the market with its World’s first 20 MP front camera smartphone. But this time Vivo has nailed it by bringing a smartphone with two selfie cameras. Surprisingly, the dual selfie camera on Vivo V5 Plus snaps DSLR-like images with bokeh effect in the background. The Vivo V5 Plus seems to be an Elite variant of its selfie-oriented sibling Vivo V5. What’s better than taking a perfect selfie that no other smartphone can snap? We did a Vivo V5 Plus review to see if the phone is worth your money.
What’s in the Box?
- Vivo V5 Plus with built-in battery
- Micro USB Cable
- Charger (5V, 2A)
- User Guides and Warranty Card
- Silicon Clear Case
- SIM Tray Ejector
Vivo V5 Plus Specifications
- Model: Vivo 1611
- Display: 5.5-inch Full HD IPS Display (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution) covered with 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass
- Fingerprint Scanner: Yes, on Home button
- Software: FunTouch OS 3.0 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
- CPU: Up to 2.0 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953), 14nm FinFET
- GPU: Adreno 506
- Memory: 4 GB LPDDR3 RAM
- Storage: 64 GB internal storage, no MicroSD support
- Main Camera: 16 MP f/2.0, PDAF, single LED flash, 4K video @30fps, 480p video @120fps
- Front Camera: Dual (20 MP + 8 MP) f/2.0, Moonlight LED flash, 1080p video @30fps
- Connectivity: Micro USB, 3.5 mm stereo jack, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
- Cellular: 4G LTE, Dual SIM (GSM + GSM), VoLTE-enabled
- Battery: 3,055 mAh Li-Ion (non-removable)
- Dimensions: 152.6 mm x 74 mm x 7.3 mm
- Weight: 158.6 grams
- Colors: Gold
- Price: ₹27,980
Design and Build
Vivo V5 Plus design looks familiar, follows Apple iPhone traces, so the exteriors are very attractive. The design feels premium when we look at the backside of the phone, the back is made from metal. The back also holds a nice chrome-plated VIVO logo embossed. The front appears similar to Vivo V5.
The phone provides a good grip, thanks to the curved edges and its light weight design. It carries just 158.6 grams. Its gorgeous 5.5-inch display has ultra-thin bezels and is covered with a 2.5D curved glass. The display uses the 5th generation of Corning Gorilla glass, hence, gives better protection against scratches. Oppo and Vivo smartphones tend to replicate each other, so the overall design may look familiar.
Before we jump on to the rear camera, let’s look at the front camera configuration. Vivo V5 Plus comes with a dual 20 MP + 8 MP front camera with a Moonlight LED Flash. The two selfie cameras are on the left side, the right is the Moonlight LED flash. On the rear side, it is using 16 MP f/2.0 rear camera with single LED flash. The camera has the ability to record 4K videos.
There’s an ultra-fast fingerprint scanner on the touch home button which now can be pressed as a key. Vivo V5 Plus offers backlit navigation keys providing a good feedback in darker areas.
The phone is equipped with a dedicated AK4376 Hi-Fi audio chip. The Hi-Fi mode can bring you the pure and uncompromised sound experience giving an unmatched sound quality with up to 115 dB signal-to-noise ratio.
On the left side, you have a dual SIM tray in which you can only insert 2 nano SIM cards. There’s no support for any storage expansion. The phone is 4G enabled supporting VoLTE HD calls, but you cannot insert a Micro SD card. Nevertheless, 64 GB sounds sufficient in most cases. The right side has the power and volume controls.
Vivo doesn’t offer a USB Type-C but the same old regular USB port like the others. The bottom has a microphone, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and loudspeakers.
Display
V5 Plus features a 5.5-inch full HD display with curved edges and ultra-narrow bezels for a more comfortable touch. It is covered with a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 5 providing strong protection against scratches.
The display is bright, touch is very responsive, text appears crisp and the color reproduction is good. The overall quality of the display is above average. Its Eye Protection mode filters out blue light to protect your vision and prevent eye strain. You can control the Red and Green LED light indicators from the Settings as shown.
Software and User Interface
The phone uses Vivo’s customized FunTouch OS 3.0 which is based on the previous Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow version, not the new Android 7 Nougat. Unlike stock Android interface, FunTouch OS is a highly customized software, hence, it may take a time to get latest updates. We received a minor update that optimized the software and fixed few things.
The FunTouch OS usually offers an iPhone-like user interface. It doesn’t offer app drawer but just a homescreen with installed apps. The icons and fonts follow the Apple iOS path, however, the software experience is quite good and easy to use.
The software has a variety of things to do like Smart Split, Smart motion, Smart Click, Super screenshot, SOS Call, One-handed, and many others. Smart Split comes in handy if you receive a text message while watching a movie or a video. It splits the screen into two halves so you can enjoy watching videos on one screen while the other screen lets you reply the message.
Fingerprint Scanner
This could be the fastest fingerprint scanner we ever saw on a phone. Unlocks the phone in a blink of an eye, the fingerprint scanner feels super fast like no other.
The home button can be pressed, as well as, touched. The scanner on the home button can also lock certain apps which can be accessed using your fingerprint. The downside is wet fingers don’t unlock the phone. No other fingerprint gestures are offered along with the scanner.
Hardware, Performance, and Gaming
The octa-core processor with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage may sound like some flagship specifications, but the real world performance actually differs when we compare it with the true flagships like OnePlus 3. Vivo V5 Plus has put a mid-range 2.0 GHz CPU – Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 utilizing 14 nm FinFET technology.
The CPU performance is equivalent to Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Honor 6X and ASUS ZenFone 3 but nowhere near to OnePlus 3 and Honor 8. In fact, it is also not as powerful as Snapdragon 652 found on Samsung A9 Pro and Coolpad Cool 1 Dual. The overall CPU performance of the device will perform like the ₹15K budget smartphones. On the other hand, its 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage should be sufficient for multitasking and storage requirements. The app performance is seamlessly smooth, however, do not expect anything like a flagship performance.
The hardware benchmarks reflect mainstream performance. Most devices under this price range have higher numbers. AnTuTu shows 62,170 points. Geekbench 4 shows 836 points (single-core) and 3,063 points (multi-core). The Adreno 506 GPU shows a score of 2,403 points on Geekbench 4. Quadrant Standard Edition scored a nice 40,246 points.
AnTuTu Benchmark
- 62,170 points
Geekbench 4
- 836 points (single-core CPU)
- 3,063 points (multi-core CPU)
- 2,403 points (GPU)
Quadrant Standard Edition
- 40,246 points
The gaming performance is not surprising. It runs games that do not require heavy resources. Games like Asphalt 8 just ran fine, but Dead Trigger 2 gave us drops in the frame rates and occasionally lags in certain areas. Games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Angry Birds, Dead Trigger 2 and WWE Champions – Free Puzzle RPG were tested on Vivo V5 Plus.
Games Tested on Vivo V5 Plus
- Asphalt 8: Airborne
- Angry Birds
- Dead Trigger 2
- WWE Champions – Free Puzzle RPG
The phone doesn’t heat on load. I used the phone with constant video playback and gaming. The temperatures remain under control.
Storage and Connectivity
Vivo V5 Plus comes with 64 GB internal storage only. No other storage variants and no support for storage expansion i.e. Micro SD card.
The 64 GB storage is sufficient for most people. The storage benchmarks show that the performance is average. A similar priced OnePlus 3 scores extremely well in this segment.
A1 SD Bench
- 268.34 MB/s (Read)
- 191.71 MB/s (Write)
AndroBench
- 280.39 MB/s (Sequential Read)
- 212.89 MB/s (Sequential Write)
- 56.08 MB/s (Random Read)
- 18.45 MB/s (Random Write)
Cameras
Vivo V5 Plus is mainly designed for selfie lovers. So, the major highlight is its dual front camera. It sports two cameras 20 MP + 8 MP on the front side with a Moonlight LED flash. It seems like Vivo has mastered the selfie-centric category and dominates the segment.
Vivo smartly plays the game, it mainly concentrates on the selfie camera rather than the rear camera that many smartphones manufacturers are focusing on currently. Now coming to its rear camera, it offers a 16 Mp f/2.0 PDAF camera with a single LED flash.
Vivo V5 Plus Camera Specifications
- Camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, PDAF
- Optical Image Stabilization (OIS): N/A
- Rear Flash: Single LED Flash
- Features: Bokeh (front), Face Beauty, Enhanced Beautification HD, Panorama, Geo-tagging, Tap to Focus, HDR, Night, Ultra HD, PPT, Anti-Shake, Professional, Slow-Motion, Time-Lapse, Color Filters, Burst Shot
- Video Recording: Up to 4K video recording, 2160p@30 FPS, Slow Motion 480p@120 FPS
- Front Camera: Dual 20 MP + 8 MP, Autofocus
- Sensor (Front): Sony IMX376 Exmor RS (20 MP)
- Video Recording: Up to 1080p @30fps
- Front Flash: Yes, Moonlight LED Flash
Vivo V5 Plus Camera Samples
The rear camera images look decent. Although it doesn’t support OIS, the result is satisfactory. The rear camera supports Face Beauty mode which detects faces and creates a beauty image. The rear camera performance is very good in the daylight. However, when we talk about the low light shots taken from rear camera are average. Other cameras in this price range may perform better in low light. Apart from the photography, the camera does 4K video recording and slow motion videos of 480p at 120 frames per second.
The 20 MP Dual Front Camera Takes Stunning Selfies
The front camera is remarkable, takes amazing selfies. But what is so special about the 20 MP dual camera? The selfies you take will appear as the photos are actually taken from a professional DSLR camera. It gives you a bokeh effect in the background.
The aperture can be controlled to add a depth of field. You can further adjust the focus manually after the image has been taken. In case you want to focus on a particular object, you can re-focus the image in the gallery. In low light, the selfies are a masterpiece, its Moonlight flash really works.
Just in case, if you are wondering how good are the selfies, take a look at the samples taken from the Vivo V5 Plus front camera.
Selfie Samples
Battery Runtime
Vivo V5 Plus sports a merely larger 3,055 mAh non-removable battery. When we talk about the battery performance, it is average if used frequently. The battery performs well on moderate usage. Thanks to its 14 nm Snapdragon 625 CPU, the battery lasts about a day and a half on moderate use.
The battery has power saving options – Low power consumption mode and Super power-saving that lets you even achieve longer battery runtimes if you are on low battery. We shared Vivo V5 Plus battery test results that show you the battery consumption of the apps and games installed.
It takes about 2 hours to completely charge the battery from 0% to 100%. Vivo offers a fast charging technology known as ‘Dual-engine quick charge’ utilizes two charging chips that charges the phone notably fast.
Vivo V5 Plus Battery Test Results
[table id=82 responsive=flip /]
Pricing, Variants, and Warranty
Vivo V5 Plus may sound overpriced, it is available at ₹27,980 on both online and offline stores in a Gold color variant. There is only one color and storage variant as of now.
As much as Vivo is doing with its offline marketing, we think it has great offline support compared to what OnePlus, Xiaomi and Honor has. Vivo may benefit from its offline support, and you get the phone easily services in your local service center. It has an After-sales service option that lets you find a local Vivo service center near your city.
Verdict
With it’s 20 MP dual front cameras,Vivo V5 Plus takes selfies like never before. If you plan to take your best selfies and share it on social media, we would suggest you keep Vivo V5 Plus as a priority. However, if it doesn’t fit your budget you might want check the cheaper variant selfie phone Vivo V5.
Strength
- Best Selfie Camera – Takes Stunning Selfies
- Super Fast Fingerprint Scanner
- Good Overall Camera Package
- Good Display Quality
- User-Friendly UI
- Huge 4 GB RAM
Weakness
- No Storage Expansion
