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Vivo V25 Pro review: when appearance is more important than filling

Vivo V25 Pro immediately stands out from its competitors, because it has a display curved on the sides – now there are few such smartphones, and they are found mainly in the high price segment. At the same time, this is not the only feature, the manufacturer himself clearly puts a lot of emphasis on cameras. Is this enough to squeeze into a competitive market and stay there? This is what we are trying to find out in the review.

Specifications

  • Display: 6.56 inches, AMOLED, 2376×1080 pixels, 120Hz.
  • Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 1300, 6 nm.
  • RAM: 8 or 12 GB.
  • User Memory: 128 or 256 GB.
  • Main camera: 64 MP + 12 MP (wide-angle) + 2 MP (macro).
  • Front camera: 32 MP.
  • Battery: 4,830 mAh, 66 W.
  • Preinstalled operating system: Android 12, Funtouch OS 12.

Design

The above-described curvature of the display on the sides definitely makes you perceive the smartphone as more expensive than its price. Holding it in your hand, only good impressions can be noted: it is light, thin, with an excellent aspect ratio. A few years ago, such a model would have been considered large, but in today’s world, it seems to be the perfect size.

The back panel is glass, and the Sailing Blue coloring has a twist: it changes its color depending on how the sun’s rays (and other ultraviolet radiation) fall on it – this is achieved thanks to the special Flourite AG glass.

This is how the lid changes color in the sun (photo taken after the smartphone lay outside under the net) | GSM Arena

Separately, it is worth noting the upper end, on which the inscription “PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY” is applied (translated as “professional photography”). Infrequently, manufacturers make any notes there.

However, this inscription is not the only one – in addition to the brand logo on the cover, there is also a mark under the camera block. He himself does not protrude too much outside the case and does not shift the weight of the smartphone upwards, which is nice.

Display

The smartphone has a 6.56-inch pOLED curved panel with Full HD + resolution. The refresh rate is 120Hz, HDR10+ certified, and the sampling rate is up to 300Hz. Using such a display is a pleasure, we did not notice any jamming and the appearance of artifacts.

Of course, the screen does not claim to be the best among all existing ones, including it does not have a Dolby Vision certificate, but at the same time the matrix is ​​clear, rich, bright and responsive – what else do you need? Viewing angles and readability under the sun are also in order. Separately, it is worth noting that the display is well calibrated to prevent accidental clicks, which are often found in curved models.

There is a fingerprint scanner located under the bottom of the screen, which does its job perfectly – during testing it worked in 9 out of 10 cases.

Performance

The heart of the smartphone is the Dimensity 1300 processor, which is complemented by 12 GB of RAM (you can expand the virtual memory by another 8 GB) and 256 GB of storage. The manufacturer does not mention the presence of a cooling system or any special gaming features, so this model is clearly not focused on constant gaming.

However, Vivo V25 Pro copes well with games. In Apex Legends, we didn’t notice any lag with HD graphics and high frame rates. The situation is similar with Call of Duty: Mobile at maximum settings. Of course, the smartphone does not have a large margin of performance, but now it is enough.

Interestingly, this model holds up quite well in games: after a half-hour session in Apex Legends, the lid warmed up, but not much, and a couple of minutes after the game was closed, it returned to normal temperature. Speaking of synthetic benchmarks, the Vivo V25 Pro is marginally better than the OnePlus Nord 2T and Reno 8 5G, with an AnTuTu score of 694,162 and a Geekbench 5 score of 939 and 2,521 in the single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

cameras

Judging by the advertising, one of the key advantages of the smartphone is its photo capabilities – more precisely, night shooting. The company has implemented hybrid image stabilization for smooth video shooting at night and added a night portrait feature. Of course, such a camera was eager to test.

In low light conditions, algorithms try to smooth photos to reduce noise. However, the grain is still visible, so the shots don’t feel too sharp. The main camera shoots much better than the rest, largely due to optical stabilization.

Wide and regular shots

But the wide-angle camera behaves strangely in low light, the image turns purple in the corners. This is especially noticeable on objects that in reality have a reddish tint. In addition, this camera has a lower resolution, which makes the pictures more soapy.

wide angle shot

The advertised night mode portrait shot is somewhat true to the claims, and the overall exposure of the photos is good. But this function requires a slower shutter speed, so the pictures come out slightly blurry (even with optical stabilization). On finished frames, you can change the intensity of background blur.

Please note that in this mode, the camera makes the skin a little lighter than it actually is – even with the beauty filters turned off. As a result, pictures are not always realistic.

Portrait photography

In daytime shooting, there are no nuances, the photos are detailed, HDR works well both in the main camera and in the front one. It’s nice that during the day the color reproduction on the main and wide-angle cameras is almost identical.

Wide and regular shots

The macro camera, as you might expect, is not very impressive. What’s more, the main camera is capable of taking better macro shots both during the day and at night.

Macro shots in low light on a macro camera and a regular one

Selfies on the front 32-megapixel matrix are clear. Unfortunately, the color balance sometimes goes astray, but in general the pictures look good.

Regular selfies
Portrait selfies

As for video, the phone can record videos with optical stabilization in up to 4K at 60 frames per second. However, “ultra stable video” with hybrid stabilization is limited to 1080p at 60fps, and stabilized video in Super Night mode can only be shot at 1080p at 30fps. Also, HDR and this mode cannot be used at the same time.

Video shot with the Super Night feature was bright, but the camera refused to focus properly when switching between subjects. In addition, the video shook slightly when the camera panned or tilted. Please note that using stabilization when shooting video reduces the angle of view.

autonomy

Vivo V25 Pro is equipped with a 4830 mAh battery that supports 66-watt FlashCharger fast charging in the box. The battery isn’t the biggest and the adapter isn’t the fastest, but you should consider the economy of the Dimensity 1300 processor. During the test, the smartphone showed about 7 hours and 30 minutes of active screen, in real conditions this is a solid day of use without recharging. While waiting, the novelty is discharged very weakly, about a percent per night.

In just 25 minutes, the power supply replenishes 60% of the energy, but after passing this threshold, the speed slows down – it takes about 70 minutes to fully charge. At this price point, I’d like to see 80W charging.

Review

The display and design make the Vivo V25 Pro stand out from the rest, and that’s a good thing. But if we judge solely on the technical characteristics, then they are very similar to the stuffing of the cheaper OPPO Reno 8 5G. In addition, statements about the quality of night shooting turned out to be too embellished.

However, the smartphone has excellent ergonomics and a pleasant user experience in general – it will appeal to most people who do not want to play games all day long.

pros

  • Curved display (a rarity in this price segment).
  • Unique design, especially in the sun-changing version.
  • Excellent autonomy.
  • Pleasant feeling in the hand.

Minuses

  • Performance is not the best in the segment.
  • Too bloated firmware.

This is a translation of the MySmartPrice review.

Source: Trash Box

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