realme 14 Pro+ 5G vs. vivo V50 5G Comparison Review

realme and vivo are undeniably among the best brands out there offering solid smartphones with great camera capabilities. While they were technically sister companies in the past, they have since grown quite distinct from each other.

realme continued to polish their mid-range lineup, while vivo is slowly but surely establishing itself as a force in the flagship segment—with the vivo X200 Pro as a prime example.

In this review though, we’re taking our sights to their latest mid-range offerings which are the realme 14 Pro+ 5G and the vivo V50 5G.

Both models are priced at PHP 27,999USD 488INR 42,063EUR 451CNY 3,542, but each comes with its own set of pros and cons, with one seemingly packing more value than the other. But what exactly are the differences? You’re about to find out in this comparison review.

Design and Construction

If you’ve seen last year’s models, you’ll most likely recognize that the new ones stick to similar aesthetics.

realme kept things symmetrical with the realme 14 Pro+ 5G, keeping the centered camera island for its triple-camera setup. This time, though, the lenses are arranged in a triangular layout, and the fluted camera outline is gone, and is replaced by a polished, metallic chrome-like finish in gold accenting.

Despite the change, its overall design still looks and feels premium. You’ll also notice the triple LED flash system, which we’ll talk about later in this article.

One thing that caught our eye is that the realme’s camera lenses kinda resemble a fidget spinner if you look closely. How to unsee?!

Anyways, our unit is in the Pearl White colorway splashed with this unique, subtle ocean wave pattern. And what’s even more interesting is its color-changing aspect. However, for this feature to work, the phone needs to be in a cold environment with a temperature of at least 16-degrees Celsius.

If that parameter is met, you’ll see the phone start to splash some blue textures throughout the panel.

Meanwhile, the vivo V50 5G offers a more subtle look. Our unit is in this Mist Purple colorway, sporting this iridescent effect on the matte housing. It does retain the design from last year, too, keeping the oval shaped camera bump on the upper left corner.

Although, there are a few changes to be seen here. Gone is the flicker sensor, but it has a larger Aura Light in exchange.

Looking up close again reveals the fluted camera ring that showcases a textured diamond pattern. In my opinion, this small detail added a sense of sophistication to the phone’s overall look.

Sure, the vivo V50 5G doesn’t have any quirky design feature like a color-changing back panel, it still shaped up to be one of the prettiest devices we’ve ever seen.

Both supports IP69 rating

On the subject of build quality, I’m happy to report that both phones come with IP69 rating for dust and water resistance. That’s the highest level of IP rating typically found on the flagships, and it’s absolutely a welcome addition in mid-range devices like these.

Additionally, the former gets a military-grade shock resistance, or in other words, it’s another layer of protection against accidental drops. Notably, the vivo V50 5G gets an SGS Five-Star drop resistance, so it should be pretty tough as well.

I also like the fact that both models have curved edges, making them more comfortable in the hands.

With all that said in the design department, I got to say, both phones really do have compelling looks. The color-changing feature on the realme 14 Pro+ is neat, but no matter how ‘cool’ this feature may be, it wouldn’t be as effective in a tropical country like the Philippines.

Unless you’re living in Baguio City or always have your air conditioning turned on, then you’d appreciate the color-changing back of the realme 14 Pro+.

Design-wise, both the realme phone and the vivo V50 5G did a great job. Both offer unique aesthetics, while also evoking a distinctly premium look and feel. So, they both get a point this round.

Display, Multimedia, and Biometrics

Flip both phones over, and you’re greeted by quad-curved AMOLED panels running at a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. The similarities in the display end here though.

The realme 14 Pro+ sports a larger 6.83-inch panel and with a crisper 1.5K screen resolution. On the other hand, the vivo V50 has a tad bit smaller 6.77-inch display, but it’s only a Full HD+ panel.

The difference in screen resolution is not much, but apparently, the realme 14 Pro+ has relatively thinner bezels than the vivo V50. This is especially noticeable when you look at the corners of both panels, with the vivo phone having a thicker chin.

Despite such key differences, both were still able to deliver good visuals and decent audio output. Both support dual stereo speakers, producing sound with a nice balance to the highs and mids. The bass is there for both devices, but it wasn’t as punchy as we’d hoped.

For biometrics security, both models use in-screen fingerprint sensor along with face recognition. Unlocking them was quite fast, and their sensors can accurately read my fingerprint most of the time.

Both phones also come with their own screen glass protection: the realme phone gets a Gorilla Glass 7i, and the vivo phone gets what they call Shield Glass. Both should essentially offer scratch and shatter resistance for both displays.

With that, I’m giving the point to the realme 14 Pro+ thanks to its marginally better display and thinner bezels. Don’t get me wrong, both still offer a satisfying viewing experience, nonetheless.

Cameras

Moving on to one of the most crucial parts in this comparison: the cameras.

On paper, the realme 14 Pro+ 5G one ups the competition with its triple Sony cameras at the rear: a 50-megapixel main shooter with OIS, a 50-megapixel telephoto lens also with OIS, and an 8-megapixel ultrawide. Apparently, the said Sony sensors here were also used in flagship devices.

Meanwhile, the vivo V50 5G is left with a dual rear setup led by a 50-megapixel main with OIS, and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. Though, we mustn’t forget that despite being a regular V50 variant, its cameras are co-engineered with ZEISS.

From their camera specs alone, the realme phone would secure the point here. Why? Because it has a complete set of cameras for flexibility, not to mention, we’re talking about flagship Sony sensors.

Sure, the ZEISS optics was a really nice addition, but I would’ve preferred if the V50 made its second camera as a telephoto rather than an ultrawide. Having a telephoto lens means you can shoot in longer zoom ranges without sacrificing much of the image quality and sharpness.

Having an ultrawide camera is okay, but I really don’t find much utility for it aside from doing the trend of taking group selfies in 0.5x zoom.

But enough of the technicalities, let’s see some of our sample shots here.

We found the images taken from the realme 14 Pro+ 5G surprisingly good for a mid-range phone. The image quality has a good color reproduction and impressive dynamic range. The vivo V50 5G does achieve the same level of quality, incorporating its own style thanks to ZEISS tuning.

However, as you’d expect, the vivo V50’s limit is taking zoom shots. It is limited to 2x zoom while the realme 14 Pro+ could go for longer focal lengths. Although, it counters with its ultrawide shots with overall better clarity and contrast.

And speaking of ultrawide, the vivo V50 5G features a 50-megapixel selfie shooter that covers a wide field of view—allowing for group selfies.

In low-light scenarios, both devices also do just fine, and remember the triple flash system on the realme phone that I said earlier? It basically does the same thing as vivo’s Aura Light. Both features serve as a fill light which are pretty bright, and you have the liberty to adjust the flash color to a warmer or a cooler tone.

For videos, both phones do well, offering good contrast, sharp details, and decent dynamic range. You can expect stable shots too from both phones.

In the camera department, realme still gets the point for its more versatile camera system.

Performance and Benchmarks

Now, let’s talk about performance, both phones are equipped with Qualcomm chipsets, notably in the same series. The realme 14 Pro+ runs on the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 while the vivo V50 features the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 (without the “s”).

In our testing, the gap in performance wasn’t too big. Both phones managed to get over 800K points in ANTUTU, but the realme 14 Pro+ has had relatively better results in PCMark. It also had significantly higher stats in ANTUTU storage, meaning that loading times when gaming should be faster on the realme device.

The vivo V50 was slightly ahead in 3DMark, and both got similar numbers in Geekbench CPU and GPU tests.

In real world use cases, you can expect both phones to be snappy and quick for your day-to-day tasks. Both phones are decent for gaming, and I must say, they can handle some graphic-demanding titles.

We tried playing Zenless Zone Zero on both phones and while it was playable in High custom settings, I’d recommend toning the image quality down to Medium and tweak some other settings to Low to get stable frame rates.

For casual and MOBA games like Honor of Kings and Mobile Legends, they ran very smooth using both devices. The phones heated up for a bit when playing a game, but it wasn’t too big of a deal.

Now, what really sets the realme 14 Pro+ apart from the competition is the amount of storage that it comes with for the same price. You see, while both phones are priced at PHP 27,999USD 488INR 42,063EUR 451CNY 3,542, the realme phone comes with a larger 512GB of storage as compared to the 256GB on the vivo handset.

This made the realme 14 Pro+ 5G secure a point this round, giving the realme a three-point lead in this comparison.

Battery and Charging

Battery-wise, both phones pack the same 6000mAh capacity with varying charging speeds: the realme 14 Pro+ supports 80W and the vivo V50 gets a slightly faster 90W of charging.

Interestingly, despite having the same battery capacity, the latter delivered a significantly longer battery life. In our PCMark test, the vivo V50 lasted a solid 21 hours and 3 minutes. Meanwhile, the realme 14 Pro+ 5G was only able to last 11 hours and 28 minutes.

Setting aside the numbers, we’ve had prior hands-on experience with the two phones. Both do last longer than an entire day with regular use. But if you’re like me who’s always on their phone, doom-scrolling and playing games, then you can still expect decent battery life for half a day at least.

Using the chargers that the phones came with, charging them full takes just about an hour.

It’s quite interesting how the vivo V50 managed to surpass over 20 hours of runtime in our test, but it’s indeed a good indicator of how efficient the phone is. Thus, I’m giving the point to the V50 this time.

Connectivity and Other Features

On the software side, both phones run Android 15 with the realme phone skinned with realme UI 6 and the vivo with Funtouch OS 15. I must say, I really like the realme UI 6—it has a more updated look, and animations that look more fluid and alive than Funtouch OS.

However, you can still find ads and bloatware here and there for both Android skins, which is quite a bummer for a mid-range device.

realme promises up to two major OS upgrades and three years of security patches. vivo, on the other hand, hasn’t specified its update policy for this one. In India however, the brand is giving the V50 up to three major OS upgrades and four years of security patches.

Despite the longer support, vivo’s Funtouch OS is no fun for me, and it could really some improvements, at least in terms of design and fluidity. That said, I’m still giving the point to the realme 14 Pro+ 5G this round.

Price/ Which one should you get?

After putting the realme 14 Pro+ 5G and the vivo V50 5G through their paces, here’s the bottom line: both phones offer excellent value at PHP 27,999USD 488INR 42,063EUR 451CNY 3,542, but one definitely stands out.

The realme 14 Pro+ 5G is that device that checks almost every box: great camera versatility, a larger, more refined display, and plenty of storage for the same price (that’s 512GB). It’s a reliable all-rounder phone, performing well across the board without any glaring weaknesses.

The vivo V50 5G, on the other hand, is all about design and refinement. It also sports that premium, sleek feel, and the ZEISS optics surely bring a certain level of quality to the table. However, it falls a bit short in terms of overall versatility compared to the realme, particularly in the camera department where it lacks that third telephoto lens.

So, if you’re after a well-rounded, dependable phone with great performance, camera flexibility, and storage—the realme 14 Pro+ 5G is the way to go. The vivo V50 5G is still a great option on its own merit, but it doesn’t quite match the realme when it comes to cameras.

At the end of the day, you’re not making a wrong choice with either, but if we had to pick, the realme 14 Pro+ 5G gets the slight edge here.

realme 14 Pro+ 5G vs. vivo V50 5G specs