Vivo V15 Pro Review

Imagine Vivo’s NEX smartphone with its Super AMOLED Ultra FullView Display and pop-up selfie camera but instead of a flagship; it’s a mid-range device? Sounds cool? Well, that’s what Vivo did with their new smartphones, and finally brought their flagship technology to the V-series. Check out our review of the Vivo V15 Pro.

Design and Construction

The Vivo V15 Pro’s design is more of a combination of the NEX and V-series. While prior devices sport the notch design, this one doesn’t have it and instead sports an Ultra FullView Display. The result is a phone with thin bezels and a sleek design. The earpiece is also inconspicuously located at the top bezel and not that visible.

At the left, what plenty of consumers will like, is the dedicated microSD card. Just down the middle is a dedicated Smart Button that can be customized to launch Google Assistant and other functions.

On the right are the volume keys and power/lock button. The buttons are made of plastic but are firm, clicky, and easy to reach.

Up top are the microphone, 3.5mm audio jack, and the elevating selfie camera.

Down below are the slot for dual nano-SIM cards, the microphone, micro USB port, and the loudspeaker.

Flip it on its back, and you will see the AI Triple Camera housed in a protruding module. We’re not new to protruding cameras, but the Vivo’s design looks thick and weird, probably because it’s in the same location as the pop-up camera. It’s not that bad though, and you’ll get used to it eventually.

You might also notice that there’s no fingerprint scanner visible at the back, that’s because Vivo used the in-display type. It doesn’t have a notifications LED which can be a bummer for some.

In the hands, the V15 Pro is hefty at 185g, especially at the top part. It’s also a bit thick at 8.2mm but feels thin thanks to the tapered sides. When it comes to its width and height, it’s almost the same as the V11.

When it comes to materials, the V15 Pro has a glossy metallic finish. The backside is also glossy but made of plastic. It’s attractive though as it has this feather-like design that shimmers depending on the angle. Overall, it’s a well-built device. It also has a screen protector pre-installed and a protective case included in the package.

Display and Multimedia

The Vivo V15 Pro sports a 6.39-inch Ultra FullView Display which is slightly smaller than on the V11. It has a Full HD resolution or 2316 x 1080 which is equal to 404ppi. It uses a Super AMOLED panel that produces vibrant colors, deep blacks, and good contrast. It can also provide enough brightness to make it usable outdoors.

The absence of the notch makes the V15 Pro a suitable device for watching videos or playing games as you can see the whole content without obstruction. When it comes to playback, the video is displayed in its original aspect ratio so you will see borders on the left right. You can fill those borders by zooming in, but you’ll end up with a cropped video.

When it comes to audio, the V15 Pro has a single down-firing speaker. It’s loud, clear, and crisp, but has no bass. So it’s good enough for casual listening to music, games, or hands-free voice calls. We still recommend using your favorite headphones through its 3.5mm audio jack, or via an external speaker using Bluetooth.

Camera

At the back, we get a 48MP main lens, 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 5MP depth sensor.  The pop-up selfie camera is a 32MP sensor. And fun fact — you can change the sound effect it makes when you open the front camera.

The camera UI has all your bases covered with the usual features you’d want like Pro mode, Panorama, AI Beauty, Portrait Mode. But it’s not perfect. You can’t just zoom out to switch to the ultrawide lens, you have to tap the button, and the AI Beauty Mode seems a little bit too aggressive.

Moving to the sample photos, in good lighting, they’re quite sharp, colors are accurate, with great detail. And when using the rear cameras to take pictures of people, skin tones are nicely preserved. The scene detection works very well, so shots end up looking nicely saturated. Portrait mode has improved a lot compared to Vivo’s 2018 phones, providing good subject-background separation even for a subject with tricky hairstyles.

 

It’s impressive in low-light. The images shot with the standard automatic mode are a bit noisy, but when we use the dedicated Night Mode, it does take 4 seconds for the shutter to actuate, but we get a much better result. It’s similar to Huawei and OPPO’s night mode actually, and it’s a good thing that we get it.

For selfies, we’re impressed as well. Without the AI Beauty mode, the skin tones are accurate. There’s plenty of details, and as long as you don’t put your face too close, there isn’t much distortion.

For videos, you can shoot up to 4K for the rear camera, and 1080p for the front camera. Quality is decent for both but it’s not going to win any awards for smartphone video, but with good consistent lighting, you will get by. The stabilization is surprisingly good, too.

OS, UI, and Apps

Running the software department is Funtouch 9 based on Android 9.0 Pie. Like with most Vivo devices, Funtouch uses a clean and simple to navigate interface with a youthful color scheme. By default, navigation is via the standard navigation keys, but you can opt to use full-screen gestures.

Swiping down from the top will reveal the notifications while swiping up from the bottom will show the shortcut keys. Swipe from the left, and it will bring up Jovi Smart Scene which is like a set of widgets that can display relevant information like the weather, physical activity, and scores from your favorite basketball team.

Other features include iManager which is like a one-stop-shop for optimizing your phone, Kids Mode, and Easy Touch which works similar to Assistive Touch. Look inside Settings, and you will have more access to features like Jovi, Game Cube (which we will discuss later on), Motorbike Mode, and Security & Privacy.

Pre-installed apps are available like Facebook, Lazada, WeSing, WPS Office, and TikTok, on top of the usual Google apps. Good thing these can be uninstalled and doesn’t take a lot from the 128GB of storage. If that is not enough, you can install a microSD card in its dedicated slot, which is nice.

Performance and Benchmarks

Powering the V15 Pro is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 octa-core chipset, Adreno 612 GPU, and 8GB of RAM. That’s an impressive configuration for a mid-range device, and it is evident in its performance as well. Navigation and multi-tasking are smooth, while the 5th-gen in-display fingerprint scanner is quick and can unlock the device in under a second.

Gaming is not an issue as we were able to play our favorite titles like Mobile Legends and PUBG Mobile in their highest possible graphics settings. You can even enhance your gaming experience with the help of Game Cube that lets you block notifications, as well as optimize the network and performance. As for benchmarks, take a look at the results below:

• AnTuTu – 177,936
• Geekbench – 2,385 (Single-Core), 6,673 (Multi-Core), 6,009 (RenderScript)
• 3D Mark – 1,086 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 1,167 (SSE – Vulkan)
• PC Mark – 7,612 (Work 2.0)
• AndroBench – 524.19 MB/s (Read), 200.54 MB/s (Write)

Connectivity and Battery Life

The V15 Pro has the usual connectivity features like Dual-SIM with dedicated slots, 4G LTE, WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS. Everything is working well as calls are loud and clear, mobile data connects right away, while navigation apps can lock on our location right away.

When it comes to the battery, the V15 Pro sports a 3,700mAh battery which is an above-average capacity. It can easily last us a whole day, juggling between WiFi and mobile data, with some light gaming and moderate photography. Our video loop test got us an impressive 22 hours and 12 minutes of playback.

Conclusion

Vivo is a company that is known for bringing flagship features to the less expensive mid-range segment, and the V15 Pro is another proof of that. Here’s a phone that is not only better than its predecessor, the V11, in looks and performance but also inherits some of the features of the more powerful NEX like the Ultra FullView Display and the motorized pop-up camera.

At PHP 23,999, the V15 Pro costs higher than the V11 when it launched in the Philippines, but that’s understandable given the configuration and features. Perhaps its biggest challengers are other mid-range devices from brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Realme. They may not be in the same caliber, but their lower prices are hard to ignore.

Don’t get us wrong; the V15 Pro is an excellent smartphone. If you’re really in need of the immersive screen, pop-up cameras, and 8GB of RAM without having to spend much for a flagship, then this one is the one to get.

Vivo V15 Pro specs:
6.39-inch 19.5:9 FHD+ (2340 x 1080) Super AMOLED Ultra FullView Display, 91.64% screen-to-body ratio, 404ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 2.0GHz octa-core
Adreno 612
6GB, 8GB RAM
128GB storage
48MP (main) f/1.8 + 8MP (wide-angle) f/2.2 + 5MP (depth) f/2.4 AI triple rear cameras w/ LED flash
32MP f/2.0 front camera
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
4G LTE
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
micro USB
In-Display fingerprint scanner
Jovi AI
3.5mm audio port
FunTouch OS 9 (Android 9 Pie)
3,700mAh battery w/ Dual-Engine fast charging
157.3 x 74.7 x 8.2 mm
185 g
Topaz Blue, Coral Red

What we liked:
• Attractive design
• Good display
• Good rear and front cameras
• Good battery life
• Great performance

What we didn’t:
• Still uses a microUSB port