Vivo V23 Pro Review: Stands out in the crowd, but is it worth the premium?

Smartphones these days pack the latest and greatest of hardware in their respective price range. Most smartphones come with a top-of-the-line processor, a high refresh rate display and a big battery. There are very few areas left for companies to make their phones stand out from the crowd. Vivo, which is among the top three smartphone manufacturers in India, is betting big on the design department for the V23 Pro - the company’s latest premium smartphone under Rs 40,000 in India. The device has a colour-changing Fluorite AG glass back, which is a first in the country. It also comes with a dual-front camera setup with a 50MP front camera. So, is the Vivo V23 Pro the best smartphone under Rs 40,000 for selfie lovers? Or should you look for some alternatives? After using the device for a week’s time, here is our Vivo V23 Pro review.

Vivo V23 Pro Review

Design

We are going to start with the ultimate selling point of the device, its design. Vivo V23 Pro comes in two colours - Sunshine Gold and Stardust Black. Among the two, the Gold colour has the characteristic of a chameleon. No, it does not blend itself with the colour of the surroundings but a smartphone changing its colour in broad daylight is something new for us. When exposed to UV light or sunlight, the Gold colour turns into shades of green and blue. My knowledge of the exact colour palette is limited so I will stick to calling this shade turquoise. Now the colour might be too flashy for some folks but hey, if you are someone who wants something unique, this one’s for you.

By the way, the colour of the rectangular triple-camera module remains the same, regardless of whether it is light or dark around.

Other than the colour, the phone is also quite light at about 170 grams. Despite sporting a fairly tall 6.56-inch display with a 20:9 aspect ratio, the phone is quite ergonomic to hold. This is possible due to the curved edges of the device. The plastic frame helps keep the weight under check but for the price, we would have loved seeing a metal chassis. While we are at it, the right edge of the phone houses the power and volume buttons, which are quite easy to reach. All in all, the Vivo V23 Pro offers an excellent in-hand feel.

Display and Audio

Design aside, the device also comes with an AMOLED display with a Full HD+ resolution. It is ample bright for both indoor and outdoor usage. We would suggest disabling the auto-brightness as it is too aggressive and brings the screen brightness to its lowest at times. Other than that, the display provides vibrant colours. It also has a 90Hz refresh rate support for a smooth scrolling experience. However, the competition in this price range offers a 120Hz refresh rate display and it would have been nice for Vivo to offer the same on the V23 Pro.

The display offers deep blacks as well, which you will appreciate while watching something like Lost in Space on Netflix. Ensuring that one gets an immersive viewing experience are the curved sides of the display. During my use case for the Vivo V23 Pro review, I did not face any issues with accidental touches as the display curvature is not as aggressive but just good enough to offer a bezel-less look on the sides. 

What is a bummer though is a single-speaker setup. For a smartphone priced under Rs 40,000, it is certainly not acceptable to have a single-speaker setup in 2022. The Vivo X60 Pro (Review) had a similar issue, which was fixed with the Vivo X70 series (Vivo X70 Pro Plus review). There is no 3.5mm jack either as the phone is 7.4mm thick. We hope Vivo’s next V-series phone gets a similar treatment with respect to the speakers which the X-series flagship received. An upside here though is that the company is offering a pair of wired earphones and a USB Type-C to 3.5mm dongle in the box. Now that is something that very few brands offer with the device’s retail box.

Camera

Another selling point of the Vivo V23 Pro is its camera system. Vivo phones, in general, are known to click the best, Instagram-ready selfies. The V-series is known to cater to a user base that wants exceptional cameras, especially the one on the front. With the V23 Pro, the company is offering two front camera sensors inside that wide notch. While the notch gives the device a dated look, the company claims that it was necessary to house the front cameras and other sensors. 

You get a 50MP primary front camera and an 8MP ultrawide camera. While the main front camera clicks detailed selfies with nearly-accurate tones, the 8MP ultrawide is not that great in limited lighting conditions. That 8MP ultrawide sensor is best suitable for well-lit conditions - something like a wedding or a party that you could attend in the post-pandemic era.

Another unique element of the front camera setup is the dual flash on either side of the notch. It is barely visible but throws enough light in dark situations. You can also choose the colour tone of the flash (warm or cool, ie.) Portrait mode is among the best on the V23 Pro but we noticed that it bumps up the exposure on the face slightly. The edge detection is on point in most cases but remember to adjust the bokeh before clicking portrait selfies You can do it later too but best to set it at around f/2.0 to get the creamy blur in the background.

On the back, things aren’t the same. The main 108MP sensor shoots detailed images with neutral-to-mute colours in most cases during the day. This is a good thing as it gives us better control to edit and process the image later in editing apps. However, there were cases when the software boosted RGB colours and gave that Instagram-ready, vibrant shot, which many would like. At night, the camera performance is not as impressive. It bumps up the exposure to make the image look brighter but the images lack details. You will also see noise in the shadows. We might be looking a lot into the details here but hey, Vivo impressed us with the X70 Pro Plus (Review), which is among the best smartphones with an exceptional camera setup. No, we do not expect flagship-grade performance but something close. 

There is a second 8MP ultrawide camera on the back, which is best suited for landscape shots during the day. Do not expect the details to match that of the main camera but the 8MP ultrawide shots are quite usable for your social media uploads. There is a significant dip in quality when shooting at night using the ultrawide camera. Lastly, the 2MP macro camera is something that might offer the best results. We would rather suggest using the 108MP mode to click a high-res image and crop it further in the post to get a better, detailed shot with more accurate colours. Click here or on the Flickr slideshow below to check some sample images we shot for our Vivo V23 Pro review.

Performance 

The Vivo V23 Pro features a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC under the hood. The same processor is found on affordable options like the OnePlus Nord 2, Realme X7 Max (Review). The performance unit can handle most of the games that you throw at it. We played Asphalt 9 and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) for our Vivo V23 Pro review. The games ran smoothly and did not show any lag. With full brightness and about 45 minutes of BGMI gameplay though, the phone gets warm to the touch, which is quite normal. Players into casual mobile gaming will also appreciate the slim, curved profile of the phone. However, this also means that the phone packs a relatively smaller battery. 

The V23 Pro packs a 4300 mAh battery, which might offer a full day’s worth of juice to those who have a moderate use case. I found myself charging the device with the 44W charger by evening. My day typically starts at 8 am and my use case includes lots of social media scrolling, playing games, listening to music and consuming video content on my phone. For someone who doesn’t have a high screen time can maybe get a full day’s charge.

The 44W charger takes a few minutes less than an hour to charge the phone completely from about 5 percent of juice. Of course, you do get a charger in the box. In terms of software, the phone runs Android 12-based Funtouch OS 12 out of the box. The custom Vivo skin has improved significantly over the years but still has some room for more. The new update includes a nano music player, new privacy features introduced in Android 12 like the camera and mic indicator on the top right corner of the screen, etc. There is bloatware, yes, but you can uninstall them.

RAM management seemed fine on our Vivo V23 Pro review unit as apps continued to run from where we had left them. There were a couple of instances when heavy apps like BGMI restarted after we used the camera app to click some sample shots. On top of up to 12GB of RAM, the phone offers 4GB of virtual RAM, which is borrowed from the 256GB internal storage. It isn’t as fast and smooth as any physical RAM but helps keep some apps running in the background when required. 

While the overall performance is good, should you consider buying the Vivo V23 Pro at a starting price of Rs 38,990?

Verdict

Let’s highlight the positives first. The Vivo V23 Pro scores points for its unique colour-changing rear panel design. The slim body with a curved display also makes the Vivo V23 Pro look like a premium device. One might find the notch bothersome but there is a pretty good set of front camera sensors there. Essentially, the phone is best suited for those who want a unique-looking smartphone that helps them stand out from the crowd. Also best suited for those who click a lot of selfies and want to try out the bunch of filters that come with the device.

No phone is perfect and the same is the case with the V23 Pro. While the performance unit can handle games, the competition in the price range offers better processor options. You also don’t get a 120Hz display, which could bother gamers anyway. Add to it the average battery life that will last less than a day if you play heavy games for hours. The main camera on the back is quite good but can offer inconsistent results at times. 

For the gamers in you, consider something like the OnePlus 9R (or the upcoming OnePlus 9RT), the iQOO 7 Legend, etc. You want a better rear camera system? Check Vivo’s own X60, which if you are lucky, can be purchased for around Rs 35,000 in offline stores. The Vivo V23 Pro will justify its premium only to those who want an extraordinary design and a versatile front camera setup for selfies.

Vivo V23 price in India : 8GB + 128GB: Rs 38990, 12GB + 256GB: Rs 43,990.