Vivo T4 Pro Review: A big, bold upgrade that feels just right

Vivo T4 Pro

It’s not often that Vivo gives its T-series such a meaningful refresh, but the Vivo T4 Pro is a clear example of how a mid-range phone can evolve without losing sight of what made it good in the first place. Launched as the successor to the T3 Pro, this one is packed with several upgrades — a bigger battery, a telephoto camera, IP69 certification, and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset. Of course, there’s a small price bump too, but does the added cost translate into better value? I’ve been using the phone for over a week, and here’s what’s good and not so good about the phone.

Vivo T4 Pro design and display
At first glance, the Vivo T4 Pro doesn’t deviate too far from its predecessor. Despite a familiar design, the phone looks and feels fresh and well-built. The curved AMOLED panel is still here, and that’s a good thing because it adds a sense of premium flair that most phones in this price band simply can’t match. The quad-curved 6.77-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support is excellent for media, gaming, or even just scrolling through Twitter or Instagram.

Brightness levels are where Vivo has made a leap forward — 1500 nits typical brightness and a staggering 5000 nits peak brightness. That’s straight flagship territory. And it shows in day-to-day use; even under harsh sunlight, everything looks sharp and vibrant. Add in features like 2160Hz PWM dimming and a 480Hz touch sampling rate, and you know Vivo is serious about the visual and gaming experience here.

On the design front, the phone is thin (7.53mm) and surprisingly light at 192g, despite the larger battery inside. The rails curve into your palm neatly, making it easy to hold for long sessions. My review unit was the Nitro Blue variant, and the glossy finish with a dual-tone pill-shaped camera module does give the phone a more premium aura than you’d expect at this price. The phone is also IP68 and IP69 certified, which means it’s resistant to dust and can handle more than just accidental splashes. Very few mid-range phones check both boxes.

Vivo T4 Pro cameras

Now to the main highlight — cameras. Vivo has added a telephoto lens this year, and honestly, it changes the game for the T-series. The triple-camera setup includes:

50MP Sony IMX882 primary with OIS

50MP 3x periscope telephoto with OIS

2MP depth sensor (a filler, really)

On the front, you get a 32MP selfie shooter, up from 16MP on the T3 Pro.

Vivo T4 Pro Camera

In daylight, the main 50MP sensor shines. Photos are crisp, with vibrant colours and good HDR
performance. Vivo’s image processing does tend to push colours slightly towards saturation, but I don’t mind it — social media loves such output anyway. The telephoto lens is where things get interesting. At 3x zoom, you get clear, detailed shots that look far more natural than digital zoom from the main lens. Even up to 20x, results remain usable, though pushing it beyond that to 100x is more gimmick than utility.

Portrait mode is excellent, thanks to the combo of a dedicated telephoto and Vivo’s Zeiss-inspired processing. Edge detection is spot on, and the gradual background blur almost mimics DSLR results. The only disappointment? No ultra-wide camera. It’s hard to ignore this omission because most rivals in this segment include one.

Low-light performance is good, but not perfect. The dedicated night mode helps, and in extremely dark conditions, the ultra-dark mode kicks in — though it takes a couple of seconds to process. The results are decent, with minimal noise, but still a notch below Vivo’s X-series.

Selfies have improved a lot with the new 32MP sensor. Edge detection in portrait selfies is better, and the skin tones look natural, even in artificial lighting. Video recording maxes out at 4K 30fps, with OIS and electronic stabilisation keeping things steady. However, switching to ultra-stabilisation limits you to 1080p, which feels like a trade-off and might be a deal breaker for some.

Vivo T4 Pro performance
The V30 doesn’t try to dazzle on paper with top-tier hardware, but it settles into a balance that feels well considered once you start using it every day. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 is not the fastest chip in Qualcomm’s portfolio, yet in a phone like this, it makes more sense than an all-out flagship processor. In daily use, I found the experience to be consistently smooth — opening apps, juggling between social media, streaming, and the occasional photo edit felt effortless.

Where this phone differentiates itself is in its ability to handle sustained workloads without heating up in your hand. Running a 30-minute session of Call of Duty: Mobile on medium-to-high graphics kept frame rates steady with only a mild warmth on the back panel, nothing that pushed me to lower settings. Games like Asphalt 9 and Genshin Impact do demand more, and here the phone prefers balanced presets rather than maxed-out visuals, but the experience remains playable and fluid.

Vivo T4 Pro display

Multitasking also benefits from Vivo’s software optimisation. With 12GB RAM on the unit I tested (and the option to extend further using virtual RAM), background apps rarely needed reloading. Paired with the 120Hz refresh rate, the UI felt consistently fast, and even prolonged browsing sessions with dozens of Chrome tabs didn’t show signs of slowing down.

Vivo T4 Pro software

The phone ships with Android 15 and FunTouch OS 15 on top. Vivo promises four years of major Android updates and six years of security patches. Not the best, but still top-notch in its segment.

FunTouch OS itself has matured well. Gone are the overly cartoonish icons and animations; what you get now is a clean, functional UI with smooth transitions. Vivo has also added subtle AI-powered tools like AI Eraser, Circle to Search, and Live Transcript Assist. They’re useful without being gimmicky.

That said, pre-installed apps remain a minor annoyance. You do get some bloat like Facebook, Snapchat, and Amazon out of the box, though thankfully, all can be uninstalled.

Vivo T4 Pro battery

Battery life is where the Vivo T4 Pro truly impressed me. The phone packs a 6500mAh battery — a big bump from last year’s 5500mAh cell — and it delivers. Even with heavy use (5G, camera, gaming, and social media), I easily got through a full day and still had about 30% left. With moderate use, two days is very much possible.

Charging is quick too, thanks to 90W FlashCharge. It takes around 30 minutes to hit 50% and just under an hour for a full top-up. The combination of a huge battery and fast charging means you never really have to worry about battery anxiety.

Vivo T4 Pro ports

Verdict: Worth the upgrade?

So, is the Vivo T4 Pro a worthy successor to the T3 Pro? Absolutely. It may not be flawless — the lack of an ultra-wide camera and average low-light performance are definite misses — but everything else is a step up. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chip, the telephoto camera, the 6500mAh battery, the IP69 rating, and that gorgeous curved AMOLED display make it a very compelling package.

At a starting price of Rs 27,999, Vivo has nailed the balance between performance, design, and battery life. It’s a phone that doesn’t just look premium but also feels reliable day in and day out. If you’re someone who values a telephoto lens, a strong display, and all-day battery life, the T4 Pro makes a lot of sense.