Vivo recently unveiled the V7+‘s smaller sibling with a 5.7-inch display, Snapdragon 450 chipset, 32GB of storage, and 24MP front camera, the Vivo V7. As the name suggests, it’s a toned-down model with a lower asking price. Is this worth getting over its big brother? Let’s find out in our review.
Table of Contents
Design and Construction
As mentioned earlier, the V7 is just a toned-down version of the V7+ which means the two devices are almost identical in terms of looks and specs.
It has a 5.7-inch display on the front with slim bezels and mounted with a curved glass. Placed above it is the 24MP selfie camera, earpiece, LED flash, and sensors. The device uses on-screen navigation buttons so the bottom is devoid of any capacitive keys.
The left side houses the triple card slot which can accommodate two nano-sized SIM cards and a microSD card. On the right are the volume and power/lock buttons.
Found at the top is a secondary microphone while down below are the 3.5mm audio port, primary mic, the micro USB charging port, and the loudspeaker.
Flip it on its back and you will see the protruding 16MP camera with the LED flash just beside it. In the middle are the squircle fingerprint scanner and the glossy Vivo badge.
The V7 feels really nice on the hands, thanks to its slim unibody that curves to the edges. Although light and made of plastic, it feels solid with no creaky parts. It also features a nice matte paint that repels fingerprint and smudges and a chrome accent for the bezels and the antenna bands for a premium effect.
If you’re worried about scratches and accidental drops, we’re glad to report that it already has a screen protector pre-installed and comes with a jelly case found inside the package.
Display and Multimedia
The V7 sports a 5.7-inch 18:9 IPS FullView display which is slightly smaller than the 5.99-inch V7+. It has an 83.6% screen-to-body ratio with the resolution retained at 1440 x 720 which gives it a denser display at 282ppi compared to the V7+’s 269ppi. Unfortunately, there’s no Gorilla Glass protection so it’s a good thing that it already has a screen protector.
Display quality is decent, it’s vibrant with wide-viewing angles and accurate colors. The resolution is lower than its direct competitors but it will suffice for most users who love to watch videos on their devices.
As for its audio, it’s lacking in bass but crisp and loud. It’s not going to give bassy tracks some justice but it’s good enough for watching movies, gaming, and hands-free voice calls. It’s also worth noting that unlike the V7+, the V7 doesn’t support Hi-Fi audio.
OS, UI, and Apps
Running the software department is FunTouch OS 3.2 that is based on Android 7.1.2 Nougat with October 1, 2017, security patch level. The UI uses multiple home screens to house its apps and features its own colorful yet clean-looking icons. Swiping down from the top will reveal the notifications while swiping up from the bottom will reveal the Control Center.
The on-screen navigation buttons consist of the Recent Apps, Home, and Back. It’s customizable so you can change the order of the keys, the icons, and the color of the navigation bar.
As for other features, it has Smart Split for split screen mode, Game picture-in-picture for select apps, Smart motion for motion-based commands, App Clone, and Smart click which gives you quick access to a certain command when holding the Volume – button.
When it comes to pre-installed apps, the V7 has a few on board like Facebook, WPS Office, UC Browser, Lazada, which you can uninstall. Others are Google’s own apps and Vivo’s native apps.
Storage-wise, the V7 comes with 32GB of internal storage which is a downgrade compared to the 64GB of the V7+. The user is left with 23GB of usable space which can be expanded via the dedicated microSD card slot.
Camera
Vivo equipped the V7 with the same camera specs as the V7+ which is a 16MP rear shooter and a 24MP front. Expect the same features like HDR and Portrait Bokeh to be present. Other modes include Live Photo, HDR, 64MP Ultra HD, PPT, Professional, Slow, Time-Lapse, Filters, Panorama, and Face Beauty 7.0.
Like with most smartphones, quality is good when shooting outdoors with plenty of light. It’s sharp with nice colors and decent dynamic range. The Portrait Bokeh is one of the coolest features of the device and works best when shooting subjects with distant backgrounds. It even works with Face Beauty activated.
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- Standard Selfie
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- Portrait Bokeh
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- Portrait Bokeh + Face Beauty
Those who are fond of selfies will like the effect as images produced are clean with nicely implemented beauty features. You can even use Face Beauty during a video call with supported apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Line, and Viber, to name a few.
As for video recording, the V7 maxes out at 1080p resolution at 30fps. Quality is good with nice dynamic range, colors, and smooth focus. There’s no image stabilization so it can get shaky if you’re not still.
Performance and Benchmarks
Powering the V7 is the same hardware that is running the V7+ which is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core CPU clocked at 1.8GHz, Adreno 506 GPU, and 4GB RAM. Performance is good as it was able to handle everything we throw at it without crashing or choking. It can handle gaming with ease as it was able to run Mobile Legends and Honkai Impact 3 in their highest settings. It warms up, but not too much.
- AnTuTu – 54,912
- Geekbench – 775 (Single-Core), 3,966 (Multi-Core), 2,980 (RenderScript)
- Vellamo – 2,171 (Multicore), 1,415 (Metal), 1,969 (Chrome)
- 3D Mark – 439 (Sling Shot Extreme)
- PC Mark – 5,616 (Work Performance 1.0)
- AndroBench – 280.5 MB/s (Read), 147.94 MB/s (Write)
Connectivity and Call Quality
The V7 is equipped with your basic connectivity features such as 4G LTE, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. No problems with mobile data and call quality as long as you’re in an area where the signal is good. The triple card slot is one of its best features as you can use two SIM cards without having to sacrifice the microSD card.
Other sensors include the fingerprint scanner and gyroscope. Face ID, on the other hand, is fast and responsive and can detect our face even in dim conditions, but fail to work in extreme low-light.
Battery Life
Battery capacity was shaved off on the V7 as it only has 3,000mAh (compared to 3,225mAh of the Vivo V7+). Nevertheless, the battery life is not so bad after-all since it was able to last us a whole day with light to moderate usage.
In our video loop test, the V7 got 13 hours and 9 minutes of playback (at 50% brightness and in airplane mode) which is almost the same result we got from the V7+.
Charging, on the other hand, takes a little over 2 hours as it doesn’t support fast charging.
Note: PC Mark crashes during our test. We’ll update once we get it to work.
Conclusion
The V7 is a pretty good mid-range smartphone that packs competitive specs like the 5.7-inch FullView display, Snapdragon 450 chipset, 4GB RAM, and 24MP camera. It’s in a tight spot though, considering the competition. At Php14,990, it’s aimed at customers who wanted the V7+ but are short on cash and willing to compromise. But for those who don’t, there are better offerings to consider.
Vivo V7 specs:
5.7-inch 18:9 FullView IPS display @ 1440 × 720 pixels, 282ppi
83.6% screen-to-body ratio
Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 1.8GHz octa-core CPU
Adreno 506 GPU
4GB RAM
32GB internal storage
up to 256GB via dedicated microSD card slot
16MP OV16880 f2.0 rear camera w/ LED flash
24MP f/2.0 front camera w/ Moonlight Glow
Dual-SIM (nano)
4G LTE
Dual-band WiFi b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
USB OTG
FM Radio
Fingerprint scanner
Face ID
Funtouch OS 3.2 (Android 7.1.2 Nougat)
3,000mAh battery
149.3 x 72.8 x 7.9 mm
139 g
What we liked:
* Good build and design
* Good performance
* 24MP front camera w/ Portrait Bokeh, Face Beauty
* Face ID
* Decent battery life
What we didn’t:
* Low-resolution display
* No Gorilla Glass
* Pricing needs to be better
