Vivo, the Chinese phone maker known for its budget-friendly devices, released its new V27 series in India in early March, priced from $289 to $459. The mid-range smartphone lineup consists of the V27, V27 Pro, and V27e, with the V27 Pro being the premium model. TechNode has been trying V27 Pro out for the last fortnight and below are our thoughts.
The specs
The V27 Pro features a 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen, 50MP front and rear cameras, a 4,600mAh battery, 66W fast charging support, and a FunTouch OS 13 system based on Android 13. The Aura Light Portrait System is equipped with a Sony IMX766V Sensor and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) support, which can create clear natural night photos in low-light environments.
Powered by Dimensity 8200, a competitive 4nm chip, the V27 Pro is available in two colors, namely the Magic Blue and Noble Black. It offers three storage variants: 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 512GB; the prices are respectively 37,999, 39,999, and 42,999 rupees ($462, $486, $523).
Sleek design
The V27 Pro’s most unique design features include its incredibly thin body design, color-changing back panel glass, and a 3D curved display with a 120Hz refresh rate.
Vivo shaved the device’s thickness down to 7.4mm, making the V27 Pro the thinnest phone with a curved edge screen in the company’s history. The thickness of the Noble Black edition is 7.36mm while the thickness of the Magic Blue edition is 7.4mm. The thin design also makes the phone lightweight, weighing only 182g. But the phone does feel occasionally slippery in hand without a case, however. So the accompanying transparent phone case is a must if you want to ensure a good grip on the device.
The phone’s back cover can change colors from light blue to dark blue depending on the light, adding to the phone’s stylish feel.
The V27 Pro offers a 6.78-inch 3D curved screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz and ultra-high brightness. The 120Hz refresh rate and a visual enhancement feature provide a smooth gaming and video-watching experience. The 3D curved screen offers rich detail, but the device lacks stereo speakers, meaning the sound quality of the phone is average at best.
Beautiful night shooting
The rear camera of V27 Pro has a 50MP OIS Ultra-Sensing Camera with Sony IMX766 sensor, which allows users to shoot clear, natural, and atmospheric night photos with ease. In addition, OIS allows for a longer exposure and increases light intake by six times, producing more stable snapshots and boosting image quality in low-light conditions.
The following are some night street scenes we took with the device:
On cloudy days, the V27 Pro struggles to accentuate and enhance the natural light. Images taken in overcast conditions can therefore look a little dull and mediocre. However, the camera performs much better in warmer, brighter climates. Here are some photos we took to demonstrate the contrast between cloudy days and sunny days shooting with the phone:
The V27 Pro comes with a new wedding-style portrait feature, which is inspired by styles from Indian weddings. We did not have the opportunity to shoot a wedding, but this feature is worth exploring. The mode allows users to select three different filters, such as Prosecco, New Retro, and Pastels. Each one creates unique aesthetics, allowing users to choose the best style based on their preferences.
Performance and software
The V27 Pro is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 (4nm) chipset as its core processor, which is paired with 8GB/12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage. The storage isn’t expandable. The V27 Pro scored 839,769 points on the AnTuTu software benchmarking system, which is a good performance for mid-range phones in similar price ranges. As a reference, the Apple iPhone SE 2022 (iPhone SE 3) AnTuTu overall benchmark score is 762,983. Daily tasks such as watching videos, screen scrolling, sending messages, and playing games are relatively smooth compared to other mid-range phones. However, the phone does slow down and heat up a bit when running multiple apps in the background or playing high-performance games for more than an hour.
The V27 Pro comes pre-installed with the latest version of FunTouch OS 13, which is based on Android 13. It is a highly-customized mobile OS system based on Android. The “app pinning” feature helps to secure sensitive data that is convenient when someone else uses your phone. It is the capability to lock an application on the device’s screen and restricts the user from accessing anything else on the phone. However, this feature comes with a certain limitation as you will affect other functions on your device such as incoming calls, notifications & alarms.
Its split-screen mode is also effective, especially when wanting to copy information from one app to another, or when sending a message without interrupting the video-playing.
While the phone comes with a 4600 mAh battery and support for 66W fast charging, it lacks wireless charging capability. Another downside is that the phone comes pre-installed with a slew of unnecessary apps. Also disappointing is the phone’s lack of dust and water resistance, making it less adaptable to different conditions.
Conclusion
The V27 Pro is an attractive phone with a decent design and impressive nighttime photography capabilities. It can be a good mid-range phone for customers with a limited budget.
Pros
- Elegant design and color-changing back panel
- Takes high-quality photos in low light
- 66W fast charging support
- 3D curved AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate
- Triple camera system with a 50MP main camera
Cons
- Slippery without phone case
- Lack of stereo speakers
- No wireless charging support
- Lacks water and dust resistance
- Comes with unnecessary pre-installed apps
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