CHINESE smartphone brand, Vivo, has followed in the steps of its sister brand, OPPO (both are under the BBK Electronics umbrella), in releasing a selfie-centric mid-ranged smartphone in the guise of the V5.
The V5 sports a 20-megapixel front-facing camera, edging the latter’s 16MP F1s offering. While the secondary camera is the focal point of the whole device -- which was launched on the latter part of November last year -- the V5 (P 12,990) is a decent phone if one disregards some annoying features including the uber-sensitive capacitive navigation buttons.
The positive: The camera -- the secondary camera, at least -- was beautiful, in fact, if the only thing one were to look for in the phone is the quality of its front-facing camera then this would undoubtedly be the winner. The front-facing camera works well in low-light conditions and offers decent digital retouching via its ‘One-Tap makeover’ function.
The music: Having had a V3Max, one of the company’s claims to fame has always been hi-fi audio. The V3Max has had the ‘Hi-Fi and Smart’ tagline while the V5 has the ‘Camera and Music’ tagline, showing the shift of the company towards better camera features and better audio. Comparing it side-by-side with the V3Max, the V5’s audio sounds marginally better and clearer than its predecessor though both still suffer a bit of distortion at full volume but the audio quality is pretty good for a mid-ranged smartphone.
Games/performance: With 4 GB of RAM, the phone performs well when it comes to gaming. It does suffer a brief lag when switching in between heavy gaming sessions (this writer, was playing Asphalt 8: Airborne and Bravius Final Fantasy) but it doesn’t really detract much from the experience.
Multi-tasking is also a breeze, so enjoy that extra RAM.
The design: Holding the Vivo V5, the first thing one will notice is that it looks identical to the OPPO F1 series, this writer -- who has a family member owning an F1 Plus -- has mistaken one for the other numerous times. Obviously, the V5 has taken design cues from the arbiter of smartphone designs, the iPhone, which is apparent from it capacitive navigation buttons. The home button particularly is identical to the iPhone 7. The V5 also ditched the square-ish body of its V3/V3Max predecessor, opting to have a more rounded faux-metal unibody design, also used by the F1 series.
Fortunately, the rounder design didn’t affect the grip of the phone, it still feels solid and secure to the touch.
The display: The phone does not have a full HD display, which is a bit disappointing when almost any mid-range phone has one, and for a person who’s used to seeing full HD might find the downgrade a bit jarring though the colors are still sharp and clear, but it’s just not full HD.
The battery: Vivo retained the 3,000 mAH battery for the V5, which is pretty decent for an entire day of light-to-medium use. The only thing though, the phone does not support quick charging so it takes over an hour to get the full juice.
The navigation buttons: While this writer appreciated how the V5 had its capacitive navigation buttons backlit -- it was a bone of contention between the V3Max and I as the former sorely lacked backlighting -- it was too sensitive, especially the home button: a single tap is registered as double and instead of coming back to the home screen, one is dragged to the Google Search Window.
The negative: The primary camera. While the secondary camera was afforded a massive upgrade, from the previous 8 MP on the V3 to 20 MP on the V5, the primary camera was left as it is. The camera from its previous iteration was nothing extraordinary, in fact, it was too average and since no upgrades were forthcoming for the V5, it still is too average.
VIVO V5 SPECS SHEET:
Size/Display: 5.5" with 720x1080 pixels and 71.8% screen-to-body ratio
Battery: 3,000 mAH
CPU: Octa-core
Storage: 4 GB
Memory: 32GB expandable to 256 GB
Primary Camera: 13 MP, phase detection autofocus, LED Flash (can take video at 30fps, 1080p)
Secondary Camera: 20 MP, f/2.0, 1/2.8" sensor size, 1080p
Colors: Gold and Gray
Price: P12, 990
The positive: The camera -- the secondary camera, at least -- was beautiful, in fact, if the only thing one were to look for in the phone is the quality of its front-facing camera then this would undoubtedly be the winner. The front-facing camera works well in low-light conditions and offers decent digital retouching via its ‘One-Tap makeover’ function.
The music: Having had a V3Max, one of the company’s claims to fame has always been hi-fi audio. The V3Max has had the ‘Hi-Fi and Smart’ tagline while the V5 has the ‘Camera and Music’ tagline, showing the shift of the company towards better camera features and better audio. Comparing it side-by-side with the V3Max, the V5’s audio sounds marginally better and clearer than its predecessor though both still suffer a bit of distortion at full volume but the audio quality is pretty good for a mid-ranged smartphone.
Games/performance: With 4 GB of RAM, the phone performs well when it comes to gaming. It does suffer a brief lag when switching in between heavy gaming sessions (this writer, was playing Asphalt 8: Airborne and Bravius Final Fantasy) but it doesn’t really detract much from the experience.
Multi-tasking is also a breeze, so enjoy that extra RAM.
The design: Holding the Vivo V5, the first thing one will notice is that it looks identical to the OPPO F1 series, this writer -- who has a family member owning an F1 Plus -- has mistaken one for the other numerous times. Obviously, the V5 has taken design cues from the arbiter of smartphone designs, the iPhone, which is apparent from it capacitive navigation buttons. The home button particularly is identical to the iPhone 7. The V5 also ditched the square-ish body of its V3/V3Max predecessor, opting to have a more rounded faux-metal unibody design, also used by the F1 series.
Fortunately, the rounder design didn’t affect the grip of the phone, it still feels solid and secure to the touch.
The display: The phone does not have a full HD display, which is a bit disappointing when almost any mid-range phone has one, and for a person who’s used to seeing full HD might find the downgrade a bit jarring though the colors are still sharp and clear, but it’s just not full HD.
The battery: Vivo retained the 3,000 mAH battery for the V5, which is pretty decent for an entire day of light-to-medium use. The only thing though, the phone does not support quick charging so it takes over an hour to get the full juice.
The navigation buttons: While this writer appreciated how the V5 had its capacitive navigation buttons backlit -- it was a bone of contention between the V3Max and I as the former sorely lacked backlighting -- it was too sensitive, especially the home button: a single tap is registered as double and instead of coming back to the home screen, one is dragged to the Google Search Window.
The negative: The primary camera. While the secondary camera was afforded a massive upgrade, from the previous 8 MP on the V3 to 20 MP on the V5, the primary camera was left as it is. The camera from its previous iteration was nothing extraordinary, in fact, it was too average and since no upgrades were forthcoming for the V5, it still is too average.
VIVO V5 SPECS SHEET:
Size/Display: 5.5" with 720x1080 pixels and 71.8% screen-to-body ratio
Battery: 3,000 mAH
CPU: Octa-core
Storage: 4 GB
Memory: 32GB expandable to 256 GB
Primary Camera: 13 MP, phase detection autofocus, LED Flash (can take video at 30fps, 1080p)
Secondary Camera: 20 MP, f/2.0, 1/2.8" sensor size, 1080p
Colors: Gold and Gray
Price: P12, 990
