Binu Panicker
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo's recent phone, the Vivo V15 Pro, created a huge buzz on the Internet when it launched, thanks to features such as triple rear-camera with a 48-megapixel primary sensor, world’s first 32-megapixel pop-up selfie camera, all-display screen among others.
The semi-premium smartphone has been priced in the sub-Rs 30,000 range and takes on Oppo’s F11 Pro, which has similar specs along with other smartphones in the price range. So, how does V15 Pro stack up against the competition? Let’s check out.
Design
If V15 Pro's design could be described in one word, it would be: stunning. The smartphone sports a beautiful gradient colour design at the back. Though the back is made of plastic, the smooth glossy finish gives the phone a glass-back look, making it feel super-premium to hold.
The Topaz Blue model we reviewed changed shades when held at different angles of light. To say the least, V15 Pro is one of the best-looking smartphones in its range.
As far as physical aspects are concerned, the device houses a volume rocker and power on/off button on the right side, a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, and a Google Assistant button and dedicated microSD card slot on the left.
The SIM tray is placed at the bottom of the phone right next to the micro-USB port and the volume grill. Users can also use the Google Assistant button to assign the phone tasks such as taking a screenshot, or open the Google homepage.
Display
V15 Pro sports an impressive 6.3-inch display all-screen AMOLED display with no notch or a camera punch-hole of any kind. The screen turned out bright with punchy colours, which made watching movies or browsing a great experience.
The display also houses an in-display fingerprint sensor incorporated underneath. The sensor turned out to be accurate and snappy every time we tried to unlock the device.
Performance
V15 Pro is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor which is built on 11nm processor technology. The smartphone is the first in India which runs on SD 675 SoC. The processor backed by 6GB RAM performs almost every operation thrown at it with ease.
The phone tackled CPU/GPU-intensive operations -- playing games such as Asphalt 9 and Sniper 3D -- with ease. However, for some games, such as PUBG, you will have to play at lower settings to avoid experiencing lags.
The phone runs on Vivo’s Funtouch OS 9 based on Android 9 out of the box. However, the UI shares more similarities with Apple’s iOS than Android. For example, the app drawer slides in from the bottom rather than the top as is usual for Android phones. Users who had previously used Android smartphones from other brands may need some time to get used to.
However, it is worth mentioning that the UI is friendly and easy to use. On the flip side, Funtouch OS comes with a large number of bloatware. The saving grace: these can be deleted if not needed.
Camera
The camera is the phone's selling point. V15 Pro sports a triple rear-camera setup with a 48MP primary camera, 8MP ultrawide camera along with a 5MP depth-sensor lens. At the front, the device sports a 32 MP camera placed in a motorised shell, which pops up whenever in use.
Pictures clicked by the primary camera came out strikingly crisp not only in well-lit conditions but also in extremely low-light situations. In fact, the Night Mode on V15 Pro is one of the best we have tested yet, with the rear camera triplets capturing images with stellar details.
The camera also performed spectacularly well when it came to portrait photos. It was able to focus on the subject with surprising level of accuracy while blurring out the background. Apart from standard mode, the rear camera also allows users to capture wide-angle shots with a 120-degree field-of-view.
The rear camera can shoot 4K videos at 30fps without image stabilisation. However, if you drop the quality a notch to 1080p, the EIS comes in play, allowing users to shoot super stable videos.
Coming to the front camera, the 32MP selfie camera pops up the moment we tapped the front camera icon. The 32MP snapper can click selfies with an amazing level of detail. Again, the front camera was stellar as far as Bokeh Mode is concerned with the camera offering multiple portrait lighting effects. As far as video shooting is concerned, the selfie camera can shoot videos at full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Battery
The smartphone packs in a 3700 mAh Li-Ion battery, which supports Vivo’s Dual-Engine Fast Charging technology. It can charge the battery to nearly 74 percent in an hour.
The V15 Pro's battery is extremely good, lasting through the day with ease on regular usage. When subjected to heavy usage such as prolonged gaming and streaming movies over Wi-Fi, the smartphone could eke out about 12-13 hours on a single charge.
Verdict
Priced at Rs 28,999, Vivo V5 Pro is one of the best-looking camera-focussed smartphones, not only in its own segment but also among devices priced in the super-premium range.
Sure, the device comes with its own negatives, which include a not-so-great processor and the absence of a USB Type-C connector, but what Vivo’s V15 Pro promises is photography and boy, it delivers.
Bottom line: If you want an excellent cameraphone, look no further, V15 Pro is among the best you can get.
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