We are down to the last quarter of 2024 and this year has been jam-packed with many phone releases that we have seen left and right.
One of the newest phones launched in the Philippines is the vanilla vivo V40 5G boasting a very notable upgrade — the cameras on this one are now all ZEISS-ed up!
Sure, this makes it a bit more interesting in the sub-30K peso price range. But does having ZEISS-tuned cameras alone make it THE better choice over other affordable camera-centric smartphones, such as the OPPO Reno12 5G?
We’re about to find out in this comparison review. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
Right out of the box, we’re greeted with striking looks with both units sporting the purple colorway.
Although they looked nearly identical — with the upper left-aligned camera islands, curved sides, and aluminum frames, as well as polycarbonate back panels — each phone has a certain distinction: the cameras.
The vivo V40 has this oval-shaped camera island with different protrusions separating the actual sensors from the LED fill light and what seems to be a flicker sensor. On the other hand, the Reno12 opts for a rectangular shape module with vertically aligned three sensors.
I personally appreciate the V40’s design that looks much more appealing to the eyes. Design is subjective so, go ahead and share in the comments which smartphone design you would prefer between the two.
Moving on, a significant advantage of the vivo V40 is its stronger build. It has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. However, it lacks display protection, which is kind of a bummer considering its price.
The Reno12 does have Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, but sadly, it’s the opposite because there’s no IP rating here. Then again, users can always slap on a screen protector film to their phones, so the V40 lacking scratch resistant glass won’t be much of a problem.
Aside from a more striking design, the vivo V40 gets the point this round thanks to its IP68 rating as an added layer of protection.
Flip both phones over, we see curved display panels here. The Reno12 sports a 6.7-inch display and the vivo V40 boasts a tad bit larger 6.78-inch display both of which are AMOLED panels.
They do run at a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, but the V40 one ups the Reno12 with a higher 1.5K resolution (2800 x 1260 pixels) and much brighter screen with a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. In stark contrast, the Reno12 is left with a Full HD+ resolution (2412 x 1080 pixels) and 1,200 nits of peak brightness.
This just means that the V40’s screen should be more visible outdoors even under direct sunlight.
When it comes to display quality though, both phones do not disappoint. Their panels support HDR10+ for more vivid colors and dual stereo speakers for immersive audio. This is actually the first time a vivo V-Series model got a dual speaker setup, so that is a nice upgrade.
Audio quality for both is decent at best ‘cause I do find them lacking in bass. But for the most part, they get the job done. Maximum playback on YouTube is 4K at 2160p for both phones despite the difference in display resolution.
While the vivo V40’s brighter screen is good on paper, it’s really not a major advantage. Like I always say, such peak brightness can only be achieved when viewing HDR content. And in vivo’s case, it can only achieve 4,500 nits of brightness under the sun where the phone automatically activates its so-called “sunlight mode”.
With that, I will give both phones a point this round.
Now, let’s talk about performance.
Both phones run on 4-nanometer mid-range chipsets from Qualcomm and MediaTek. Apparently, the more powerful one here is the vivo V40 equipped with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 running at max clock speeds of 2.63GHz.
For configuration, both phones pack 12GB of on-board RAM with up to 12GB extended memory combined with 256GB of internal storage.
Powering the Reno12 is the Dimensity 7300-Energy with a slightly lower 2.5GHz clock speeds. However, the gap in performance is not that ‘slight’ in our benchmark tests.
In ANTUTU, the V40 garnered a higher score at 815,842 points, while the Reno12 had a lower score of 642,338 points.
| vivo V40 5G | OPPO Reno12 5G |
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 | MediaTek Dimensity 7300-Energy |
| 815,842 | 642,338 |
| 5,419 | 3,169 |
| 1,162 | 1,042 |
| 3,216 | 2,948 |
| 3,496 | 2,594 |
| N/A | 2,528 |
| 10,675 | 12,683 |
The same goes for other tests like 3DMark Wild Life and Geekbench 6. Weirdly enough, in PCMark, the Reno12 got the higher score.
In real world use cases, the performance gap is even more obvious. We played some graphic-demanding titles like Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, and Zenless Zone Zero on both models.
The V40 handled high graphics settings with no stutters, however the Reno12 struggled a bit, and it was only able to get stable frame rates at 60 fps when we reduced the graphics settings to medium.
We also noticed that the Reno12 gets heat up significantly faster than the V40. What we’re possibly seeing here is the MediaTek-Qualcomm difference in chipset performance. Thus, the vivo V40 easily gets the point this round.
Camera performance is another key advantage of the vivo V40. It is now co-engineered with ZEISS, a notable departure from previous lineups where only the Pro models get ZEISS tuning.
Its specs include a dual rear setup headlined by a 50-megapixel main sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS), and another 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor. The front camera is also a 50-megapixel sensor that has autofocus.
The Reno12 has a triple rear setup but they’re less capable on paper: a 50-megapixel main with OIS, an 8-megapixel ultrawide, and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. The front uses a 32-megapixel selfie shooter.
How I wished both of them to have a telephoto lens instead of ultrawide sensors, but here we are.
With ZEISS tuning, the V40 gets an entire suite of different shooting modes. The V40 outputs photos with more dramatic processing, especially when the ZEISS mode is turned on.
Meanwhile, the photos coming out of Reno12 are decent and obviously look more natural. For daytime shots, both do perform well until it gets to nighttime.
Another one of V40’s tricks is the so-called Aura Light which is now brighter this time around. With that, portrait shots get a bit more acceptable in little to no light source at all. The Reno12 on the other hand just doesn’t cut it since the phone only has the usual LED flash.
As for videos, both phones do give justice to stabilization that also applies in capturing 4K content at 30 fps. The vivo V40, again, has the upper hand in night videography thanks to that nifty Aura Light feature.
Check out some our sample shots here as seen on their full written reviews:
A commendable feat from vivo is the introduction of silicon-carbon battery to the V-Series. As we have explained in our video, this newer tech allows for higher battery capacity without sacrificing a slimmer profile.
At just 7.58 mm thin, the V40 packs an impressive 5500mAh battery and for almost the same thickness at 7.57 mm, the Reno12 packs a lower 5000mAh unit.
In both of our battery life tests, the V40 managed to outlast the Reno12. On PCMark Work 3.0, the former pumped out 19 hours and 58 minutes, that’s three hours longer than the latter’s 15 hours and 34 minutes of runtime.
That is also the same case in our video loop test at 24 hours and 54 minutes, and 20 hours and 14 minutes, respectively. As for charging, both phones likely use the same SuperVOOC tech with 80W of fast charging.
This round, it’s clear that the vivo V40 5G gets the point here.
On the software side, both the vivo V40 and Reno12 run Android 14 out of the box, skinned with Funtouch OS 14 and ColorOS 14, respectively.
I have no issues with both Android skins, except design-wise, ColorOS just looks better for me. Its UI looks more polished and cleaner as compared to Funtouch OS in my humble opinion.
Connectivity-wise, they have all the essentials here: including 5G, NFC, but only the Reno12 gets the newer Wi-Fi 6 standard and an IR blaster.
What’s interesting about the Reno12 is that it comes with a microSD slot for storage expansion. This feature is rare at this price point and considering the phone is available only in 256GB, this is surely a welcome addition.
With that, the Reno12 takes the round mainly because I have the option for expandable storage.
Finally, we answer the question, which one is the better pick?
It’s clear that the vivo V40 5G emerges as the victor in this matchup. Its greatest strengths lie in its improved camera capabilities, a superior processing power, and longer battery life — all come at a hefty price of PHP 26,999USD 460INR 39,003EUR 438CNY 3,351.
The OPPO Reno12 5G is outshined in almost all key areas, but a significantly lower price point might just be its biggest advantage. Priced at PHP 24.999USD 0.43INR 36EUR 0.41CNY 3, it offers an above-average camera performance along with all the bells and whistles of a decent mid-range smartphone. And the phone’s rare expandable storage also adds to its overall appeal.
Ultimately, the choice is yours. Are you Team vivo or Team OPPO in this comparison review? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
| vivo V40 5G | OPPO Reno12 5G |
|---|---|
| 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display | 6.7-inch FHD+ 3D Flexible AMOLED |
| 2800 x 1260 pixels, 120Hz refresh, 452 ppi | 2412 x 1080 pixels, 120Hz, 1200 nits (peak, in sunshine) |
| 4500 nits peak brightness (sunlight mode) | 1200 nits peak brightness |
| - | Corning Gorilla Glass 7i |
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 | MediaTek Dimensity 7300-Energy |
| 4nm, 8-cores, up to 2.63GHz | 4nm, octa-core, up to 2.5GHz |
| 12GB LPDDR4x RAM (+12GB extended memory) | 12GB LPDDR4x RAM (+12GB extended memory) |
| 256GB, 512GB UFS 2.2 storage | 256GB UFS 3.1 storage |
| - | Expandable via microSD |
| Dual rear cameras (tuned by ZEISS): | Triple rear cameras: |
| - 50MP f/1.88 main, OIS | - 50MP f/1.8 main, AF, OIS |
| - 50MP f/2,0 ultrawide, 119° FoV | - 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 112-degree FoV |
| - Flicker sensor, Aura Light | - 2MP f/2.4 macro |
| 50MP f/2.0 selfie camera, autofocus (hole punch notch) | 32MP f/2.0 selfie shooter (hole punch notch) |
| Dual nano SIM (supports eSIM) | Dual nano-SIM |
| 5G, 4G LTE | 5G, 4G LTE |
| Dual frequency Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax |
| Bluetooth 5.4 | Bluetooth 5.4 |
| GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | Beidou, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, A-GNSS |
| USB Type-C (USB 2.0) | USB Type-C |
| NFC | NFC |
| Under-display fingerprint sensor | Under-display fingerprint sensor (optical), face unlock |
| IP68 dust and water resistance | - |
| Dual stereo speakers | Dual stereo speakers, Infrared remote control |
| Funtouch OS 14 | Android 14 | ColorOS 14.1 | Android 14 |
| 5500mAh Si/C battery | 5000mAh battery |
| 80W charging (wired) | 80W charging (wired) |
| 164.16 × 74.93 × 7.58 mm | 161.4 x 74.1 x 7.57 mm |
| 190g | ~177g |
| Stellar Silver, Nebula Purple, Sunglow Peach | Matte Brown, Sunset Pink, Astro Silver |
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Jorie baron says:
Oppo is the best