Review: Vivo V7 Plus, a phablet made for selfie lovers

Phone is equipped with what the company calls ‘World's first 24 Megapixel Selfie camera’

Vivo entered the growing smartphone market in Pakistan with the launch of its flagship device Vivo V7 Plus earlier this month.

The Chinese company sent in a testing device for the review purpose. Before proceeding with our review, here are the specs:

Vivo’s latest flagship device is nearly a 6-inch phablet with narrow bezels and a FullView display with 84.4% screen to the body ratio. The one we received was in Matte Black  colour. The phone is powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 along with 4GB RAM, 64GB of internal storage with the option of an expandable memory of up to 256GB via microSD card.



V7 Plus is equipped with a 24-megapixel front camera with group selfie and portrait mode along with a 16-megapixel rear camera. Vivo’s latest flagship device runs on customised Funtouch OS 3.2 which is based on Android’s Nougat 7.1.

The smartphone is available in the market for Rs 35,999.

Design and user interface

Normally, when you think about a device with a 5.9-inch screen, you would expect a huge device that some people might get difficulty in holding it. Vivo has been able to fit a near 6” FullView display on comparatively a smaller V7 Plus body owing to near its bezel-less design and 18:9 aspect ratio. The phone is just 7.7mm thick and weighs 160gm, therefore, it doesn’t really feel bulky.

PHOTO: NARENDAR KUMAR

While the device large FullView display is perfect for watching videos and playing games, the 1,440 x 720 screen resolution along with pixel density of just 269ppi is a let down.

V7 Plus has plastic back cover but it’s premium finish give the impression of metal back.

On the bottom of the device, you have the 3.5mm headphone slot, Micro-USB port and a speaker grille. Vivo's decision to stick with the micro-USB port instead of going for USB-C type is questionable as more and more of the smartphone makers are opting for USB-C.

PHOTO: NARENDAR KUMAR

On right side of the device you have power button and volume rocker, while the SIM slot is placed on left. V7 Plus is a dual-SIM phone and has a dedicated slot for microSD card so you won’t have to trade off between using two SIMs and having extendable memory.

Vivo’s latest flagship device runs on customised Funtouch OS 3.2 which is based on Android’s Nougat 7.1. The User Interface (UI) looks inspired from Apple’s mobile operating system iOS. The UI also has a Control Centre which can be brought on screen by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and is customisable.

Camera

Vivo’s V7 Plus, equipped with what the company calls ‘World's first 24 Megapixel Selfie camera’ with f/2.0 aperture, lives up to its promise of helping you take ‘clearer selfie’. Though it has a front flash, the camera is capable of taking great photos in low light without even using the flash.

PHOTO: NARENDAR KUMAR

If you are one of those people who love to take selfies with their friends and families, then V7 Plus’ panoramic wide-angle selfie feature got you covered. You can take wider selfies by simply moving the phone. Beside these features, you also get the usual beauty mode that is even available for video calls in addition to Portrait Mode.

PHOTO: NARENDAR KUMAR

Back camera of the phone is of 16MP and has an aperture of f2.0. Vivo has added bunch of features to the camera including Ultra HD, Professional Mode which lets you control exposure, white balance etc. One of the interesting camera features is Live Photo option, it records a few seconds of video with the image. Just 'tap and hold' to play it. This might sounds familiar because it is similar iPhone’s Live Photos feature.

Hardware and performance

V7 Plus is powered by Snapdragon 450 processor with Cortex-A53 CPU and Qualcomm’s own Adreno 506 GPU along with 4GB of RAM and 64gigs of internal storage which is expandable up to 256GB via microSD card. During the testing, we didn’t face any problem switching between apps and playing games.

PHOTO: NARENDAR KUMAR

However, Vivo’s decision to go with an Snapdragon 450 processor is a let down as considering the price tag of Rs35,999 the device should have come with at least Snapdragon’s better processors like 625.



Powered by a non-removable 3225 mAh lithium-ion battery, the device is guaranteed to get an average user through out the day with an average of 25-30 per cent battery life left.

Biometric security

Vivo V7 Plus comes equipped with fingerprint sensor, which has become one of the key security features in mid-range devices. The sensor is placed on the back of the device just under the back camera.

PHOTO: NARENDAR KUMAR

Once setup, the fingerprint sensor is the quickest way to unlock your phone. You can also use it to take selfies.

Verdict

All in all, Vivo V7 Plus lives up to its reputation as a selfie phone. While Vivo's decision to go with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 and low pixel density of 269ppi is a let down, the device's 24 megapixel wide-angle front camera capable of taking clear pictures in even low light conditions makes it a device for those who love to up their selfie game.