The Breakdown
Just in time for their rendezvous with an imminent refresh cycle for the V Series models, the Chinese company recently unveiled an impressive selfie-smartphone. The Vivo V27 Pro was initially made available in the Indian market, but its impact was made evident all over the world. It comes with a refreshed design, improved performance, and an exquisite selfie camera. Are these however enough to catch your eye? Have a look at our review.
I’ve been using the phone over the last 2 weeks, and here’s how my thoughts on it.
vivo V27 Pro specifications
- 6.78-inch (2400 × 1080 pixels) Full HD AMOLED 20:9 aspect ratio screen with HDR10+, 120Hz refresh rate
- Up to 3.1GHz Octa Core MediaTek Dimensity 8200 4nm processor with Mali-G610 MC6 GPU
- 8GB LPDDR5 RAM with 128GB / 256GB (UFS 3.1) storage, 12GB LPDDR5 RAM with 256GB (UFS 3.1) storage
- Android 13 with Funtouch OS 13
- Dual SIM (nano + nano)
- 50MP camera with IMX766V sensor, f/1.88 aperture, OIS 8MP ultra-wide sensor with f/2.2 aperture, 2MP macro camera with f/2.4 aperture, Aura light
- 50MP autofocus front camera with f/2.45 aperture
- In-display fingerprint sensor
- USB Type-C audio, Stereo Speakers, Hi-Res audio
- Dimensions:164.1×74.8×7.36mm (Noble Black) / 7.4mm (Magic Blue); Weight:182g
- 5G SA/NSA (n1/n3/n5/n8/n28A/n77/n78 bands), Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.3,GPS (L1 + L5), USB Type-C
- 4600mAh (typ) / 4500mAh (min) battery with 66W fast charging
Pros
- Beautiful design
- Crisp AMOLED display
- Impressive battery life
- Excellent selfie camera
Cons
- Average Performance
- (removable) Bloatware
- No stereo speakers
Design and display
- 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED display
- 2400 x 1080 pixels resolution
- Curved edges
- Mono speaker
It’s a beautiful phone, I must admit. The Vivo V27 Pro packs a 6.78-inch curved display, that folds nicely by the edge of our hands. Easy to hold, easy to use in everyday life.
The AMOLED panel supports up to 120Hz of refresh rate, filled with impressive colors and great sunlight legibility. I loved the textured, fingerprint-resistant back that provides for an impressive grip. The phone is also quite light at 182g, meaning no wrist pains with extended usage. Its dimensions of 164.1 x 74.8 x 7.36 mm also make it a relatively slim device compared to its competitors. It packs the typical USB-C port, volume rocker, and power button on its right edge, but lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack, which may disappoint fans of wired headphones.
The Vivo V27 Pro is available in two colors: Noble Black, a light pearlescent shade, and Magic Blue – the color shown in this review – which appears to be a navy-blue hue.
The Chinese company heavily promotes the special AG glass at the back of the phone for its color changing features. It’s quite simple idea: the glass reflects different colors depending on the lighting conditions. But still, it’s far from great, as it needs direct 100% of sunlight conditions to work. It’s a nice capability, but not that significant to me.
The Vivo V27 Pro may be an impressive smartphone, packed with curved edges, a crisp AMOLED display and color changing features, but it still lacks some things. i.e., a decent IP rating or some protection at the back of the device.
Performance – Benchmark results
- MediaTek Dimensity 8200
- Up to 12GB RAM (extendable) and 256GB storage
- 4600 mAh battery, 66W wired FlashCharge
- Funtouch OS 13, based on Android 13
The phone packs some serious “punch“ in terms of processing power with MediaTek’s Dimensity 8200 SoC. I played games like PUBG: New State and Call of Duty Mobile at maximum settings and I encountered no frame drops or heating issues. Upon launching a game, the device automatically triggers its Ultra Gaming mode, providing the user with various performance options. Additionally, this mode includes various features such as screen recording, a voice changer, call blocking, and more. However, it is not a gaming smartphone, but you will entertain yourself easily for hours.
As you can see in the results below, the device managed to get 1136 points (single core) and 3436 points (multi-score) in Geekbench. Typical results for a Dimensity 8200 chipset. It also had excellent GPS location capabilities, with no issues at all.
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Camera features
- 50MP OIS main (Sony IMX766V Sensor)
- 8MP ultra-wide
- 2MP super macro
- 50MP selfie camera with autofocus
As the title of this review suggests, this section is the one where the Vivo V27 Pro shines. It comes with four cameras, three at the back and one at the front. The main camera packs a 50MP Sony IMX766V sensor, that delivers impressive photos. They’re crisp under bright lighting conditions, with the Auto mode doing its job quite efficiently.
Nighttime photos are also great. The Sony IMX766V unit consistently nailed the detail, colors, and dynamic range in every scenario. The Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) integrated into the lens was highly effective at minimizing the impact of shaky hands on the image. Then there is an 8MP ultra-wide sensor and a 2MP macro sensor.
I loved the 10x zoom of the main sensor, but – to be honest – only 4x-5x zoom is worth the try. After that the image is grainy and not social media friendly. The natural light portraits captured by the Vivo V27 Pro are truly stunning. The edge detection is excellent. When using HDR mode, I did observe warmer tones in the images, particularly with red hues in the frame.
For those selfie lovers out there, the front facing camera is a wonder. It activates instantly Portrait mode when changing from main camera to the selfie one, providing enhanced skin tones and a smoother appearance. All of the cameras benefit from Vivo’s excellent imaging tools. Portrait mode cutouts are easily on par with the big-name brands, there’s a multitude of beautification options and boatloads of filters and effects that you can apply after taking each shot.
Software
The Vivo V27 Pro runs FunTouch OS 13, based on Android 13. Vivo is a BBK Electronics subsidiary, and BBK phones have grown to embrace the stock Android look of late. We’ve spent a lot of time with this operating system lately, so there weren’t any surprises in store.
It comes with a lot of usability features and gestures support, while relying on a set of round icons by default. However, I must admit that I didn’t really like the bloatware that comes with the phone. Thankfully it can be uninstalled, and it still feels clean and smooth to navigate, especially with the high display refresh rate.
I was quite pleased with the onboard RAM management of the Vivo V27 Pro. It packs 8GB of RAM that can get increase up to 16GB of RAM with the onboard RAM expansion (system storage). This means that we can easily keep up with most demanding apps like web browsers and social media apps such as Instagram or Facebook for a long time.
The FunTouch OS offers high levels of customization, with options to change themes, app icon sizes, text sizes, and animations. The widgets available are well-executed with Android 13. I really enjoyed the game space – it comes with fun capabilities such as a voice changer, screenshot shortcut, and performance modes to enhance the overall gaming experience.
Battery life
I must admit that having a really sleek (and slim) smartphone like the Vivo V27 Pro, means that we have to make some second thoughts on its battery life. It features a small battery – especially when compared to other competitors like the OPPO Reno8 T 5G, or IQOO Neo 7. With a capacity of 4600mAh it managed to live up to my everyday expectations. I used it throughout the day for tasks like texting, and music streaming, it made it through until bedtime with some juice left.
However, if you push it more – for gaming, or other demanding stuff like photo shooting and social media, the device won’t make it through the day. Thankfully it comes with 66W fast charging capability that charges the device in 45 minutes from 0 to 100% with an active internet connection.
Conclusion
I must be honest. There’s so little to dislike about this phone. It packs some impressive cameras, excellent performance, and decent build quality. It’s an easy phone to work and live with, especially for its price. The V27 Pro is priced at Rs. 37,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model, Rs. 39,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model and the 12GB + 256GB model costs Rs. 42,999.
I didn’t quite like the mono speaker and the pre-installed bloatware. Although the latter can be found also on the pricey Vivo X90 Pro, too. Given its current price tag, the Vivo V27 Pro remains a compelling option for this specific market segment. I really liked it.
