Vivo V20 Review: Sleek design and quality cameras under Rs 25,000

If you are on a lookout for the best smartphones under Rs 20,000 or Rs 25,000 in India, you are going to find the likes of OnePlus Nord (Review), Samsung Galaxy M51 (Review), Poco X3 (Review), Realme 7 Pro (Review), etc. While these smartphones are light on the wallet when you consider the price-performance ratio, some of these are on the bulkier side.

This is where the Vivo V20 comes into play. Vivo’s marketing the V20’s sleek design language and the camera capabilities, especially the 44MP front camera. The smartphone is only 7.38mm thick and weighs just 171 grams, putting it among the lightest of smartphones in its segment.

Will these factors help Vivo V20 stand out against the competition? Is it the best smartphone under Rs 25,000 in India? We have used the Vivo V20 for more than a week’s time and here is what we think of it.

Vivo V20 Review 

Design and Display

As we mentioned earlier, Vivo V20 is among the most lightweight smartphones in its segment. It is second to the Oppo F17 Pro (Review) with its 171 grams weight but sits at the top of the sleekest smartphones charts with a 7.38mm thickness. Our Sunset Melody colour, however, is 7.48mm thick. Despite the slim form factor, Vivo has managed to make room for a 3.5mm headphone jack.

While we are at the colours, this Sunset Melody colour variant makes the V20 a standout. At first, you might think the smartphone has a blue glass back. But as you look at it from different angles, you will see different shades of pink, purple, and orange - basically a mix of the new Instagram logo. If you want a subtle-looking smartphone, Vivo is also offering the V20 in Midnight Jazz and Moonlight Sonata. Despite having a flashy rear panel, the V20 managed to keep fingerprints at bay.

The rear panel isn’t as curved and we found it to be slippery. Therefore, it is best to use the transparent case that Vivo offers inside the box with the V20. The rear-camera module's design is heavily inspired by the Vivo X50 Pro (Review) and features three sensors. 

The power and volume buttons are located on the right edge. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack next to the USB Type-C port and the loud single speaker grille at the bottom edge.

At the front, there is a 6.44-inch Full HD+ AMOLED HDR10 display that offers vibrant colours and excellent viewing angles. The display is more than enough bright and we did not face any issues while using it in outdoor conditions. The in-display fingerprint scanner is quick to detect and unlock the device.  

We only wished that the earpiece doubled as a secondary audio outlet. There is no 90Hz or 120Hz refresh rate support and you can check our OnePlus Nord review or Realme X3 SuperZoom Review for the same.

For selfies, there is a 44MP front camera housed inside the waterdrop notch. And while we are at it, let's get to the camera performance.

Camera

Vivo V-series are often focused towards offering a quality camera setup, and that is the case with the Vivo V20. The rear camera module has three sensors - a 64MP primary lens, an 8MP ultra-wide camera that doubles up as a macro lens, and a 2MP monochrome sensor.

The camera app is quite user-friendly. You get various modes like Photo, Portrait, Night, Video, etc above the shutter, whereas the HDR mode, flash and camera settings are above the viewfinder. There is a tiny button on the bottom-right corner of the viewfinder for the ultra-wide, bokeh, and macro mode.

Coming to the camera performance, the primary camera clicks sharp, detailed images in daylight. Highlights are not overblown and there is enough detail in the shadows too. The dynamic range too is quite excellent. In low light, the camera struggles to deal with removing noise. There is Night mode to deal with this, which offers better details by bumping up the exposure while not overblowing the highlights.

The 8MP ultrawide camera doubles up as a macro lens, something that should be the case with all smartphones, at least in the price range.  Ultrawide images are quite usable and have the same colour temperature as the main camera. However, there is a noticeable loss of detail and distortion around the edges. The implementation of using the ultra-wide sensor as a macro lens results in better, detailed close-up shots compared to those 2MP sensors. While clicking photos for our Vivo V20 review, we did notice that the ultrawide camera oversaturated the reds in some shots.

The 44MP front camera clicks detailed, sharp selfies. Turn off the beauty mode and you get colour-accurate skin tone with minimum smoothening. Edge detection too is accurate in most situation but there were a couple of instances when the software blurred the ear and hair in tricky lighting situations. Click on the Flickr slideshow below to check photos clicked on the Vivo V20.

Performance and software 

Vivo V20 gets powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G processor paired with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB internal memory. We did not notice any major lag or stutters while performing basic tasks. The device can also manage multitasking quite easily. Our use case mainly included streaming video content, attending video calls, scrolling through social media feed, listening to music, and playing some games.

The problem arises when you play games like Call of Duty Mobile or Asphalt race. There is a noticeable lag at higher settings. While you can play games at medium settings, it is best to avoid this phone if you are into competitive gaming.

RAM Management on Funtouch OS 11, based on Android 11, is quite good. Apps opened from where we left them. Other than some Vivo and Google apps, there were very few third-party apps like Among Us, Amazon, etc. Vivo has incorporated a few gestures and custom features on top of Android 11 features that Google offers.

Battery life is surprisingly good for a phone this sleek. The 4,000 mAh battery can give you a screen-on time of six hours on medium usage. That could be due to the less power consumption from the Snapdragon 720G processor or the absence of a high refresh rate panel. Vivo has bundled a 33W fast charger with the V20, which took a few minutes above an hour to charge the device from zero to 100 percent.

Verdict

Coming to the main question: Should you buy the Vivo V20? Is it the best smartphone under Rs 25,000 in India?

Vivo V20 faces a lot of completion from the likes of OnePlus Nord (Review), Samsung Galaxy M51 (Review), Realme X3 SuperZoom (Review), and a bunch of other smartphones under Rs 30,000 in India. Although most smartphones under Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 prioritise on offering maximum performance, some of them do not offer the best in-hand user experience. 

Vivo V20 distinguishes itself from the competition with its sleek, lightweight design without compromising on the looks. The performance unit is quite modest and not have the best performance unit but is surely capable of getting the job done. That being said, gamers and the ones who prioritise performance over form should opt for much-more powerful OnePlus Nord, Samsung Galaxy M51, Realme X3 SuperZoom, or even the much-affordable Poco X3 (Review).