Vivo V20 Pro
Vivo announced the Vivo V20 Pro 5G as its contender in the race for the budget 5G smartphones late last year. And while the mid-range segment of smartphones had become big on performance even if it meant that the visuals and camera specs getting less importance.
But that changed last year with the push coming in to even out the importance of all these segments. And the Vivo V20 Pro is testimony to this statement. Vivo looked into the market as well as the competition when designing this smartphone. This is the third smartphone from Vivo in its this season’s V series.
With this smartphone, Vivo has shifted its focus back to the design elements of the smartphone along with a better camera experience. These have been made possible because Vivo is offering a significantly powerful chipset than its previous generations.
We have been using the device for a while and here's our Vivo V20 Pro 5G review.
Price and availability
The Vivo V20 Pro is available in India only in one configuration with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It has been priced in India at Rs 29,990. Colour options include Sunset Melody and Midnight Jazz.
The Vivo V20 Pro is currently available for purchase on Flipkart, Amazon.in and Vivo’s retail network across the country. ICICI Bank cardholders will be eligible for an instant cashback of Rs 2,000.
Design
The Vivo V20 Pro is an elegant looking smartphone if we may say so. We received the Midnight Jazz variant for review which had the back panel in a fade effect between ash and silver colours. The top of the rear panel near the camera module is lighter in colour and it goes towards ash as we travel down the panel.
The rear panel of the Vivo V20 Pro is Corning Gorilla Glass 5 with a matte finish which gives the inner chrome finish an interesting look and don't tend to catch fingerprints. And the frame despite being made from plastic the smartphone feels rather sturdy in the hands. The smartphone weighs 170grams and with a thickness of 7.39mm, it is the slimmest smartphone in this category.
But we have to mention that the camera module on the rear panel causes quite a large bump. In fact this bump has two steps to it with the out silver bit being lower than the inner black one. Hence without a case for the phone it will wobble a lot when placed on a hard surface.
There is a negligible bezel under the 6.44-inch display which most smartphones in this category seem to feature. Besides this, there is a notch cutout on top of the display to fit in the two front-facing cameras.
Moving on to the buttons and ports, the Vivo V20 Pro comes with a microphone inlet on the top. The right-hand panel of the smartphone features the volume rockers as well as the power button that is textured differently. The bottom panel features the SIM tray, USB-C port and the speaker grille.
Once again, I am miffed at the lack of a 3.5mm audio port, but it seems like I have to give up on hopes of seeing it on smartphones soon.
As is the case with most smartphones these days the Vivo V20 Pro is difficult to use with just one hand and you may have to reach for the back button on some apps on the top left of the screen with your other hand.
Display
The Vivo V20 Pro features a 6.44-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2400 x 1080 with a 20:9 ratio and 409 pixels per inch density and a refresh rate of 60Hz. The smartphone has a 85% screen-to-body ratio, which is pretty standard when it comes to this segement.
Here we believe that the Vivo V20 Pro could have done better than the 60Hz refresh rate for the display because the competition has already done better and some even offer 90Hz which means better performance in terms of gaming.
But in terms of the sheer quality of the images produced the Vivo V20 Pro's display excels. And the HDR10 technology definitely helps this along and watching media content on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video definitely maximizes it.
The display does not tend to oversaturate colours and displays correct temperature in visuals. At this point, most of us have become used to using smartphones with a notch on the top and the case is similar with the Vivo V20 Pro. The notch does not stand out and does not hinder the viewing experience much.
Performance
On to one of the most important aspects of a smartphone -- we have to admit that there isn't much to nitpick about the performance of the Vivo V20 Pro. Vivo has improved the choice of processors for it's newer generation of V series smartphones and the 20 Pro features a 7nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chipset.
The Vivo V20 Pro is available only in one configuration with 8GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage and no expandable option. This combination alongside the Adreno 620 GPU seems to work well in terms of handling any type of tasks you throw at it. But the unavailability of the expandable storage option might be a red flag for some people who require larger storage spaces.
The other positive that the Snapdragon 765G chipset offer are the 5G band which even if not in use currently, will be in the future. Multiple network providers in India are working to bring 5G network available in India soon and this future proofs the smartphone.
In terms of day to day performance handling different and multiple apps at the same time the Snapdragon 765G chipset did a good job and managed to do most things without a hitch.
Moving on to some gaming performance, we tried some easy and low requirement game like Golf King, and some heavy-duty ones like Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact. While Golf King didn't even register in making a dent in the performance of the Vivo V20 Pro, Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact also ran without any issues in the highest quality settings. But the latter two did end up producing some heat during long sessions, but that was only when the case was removed.
Cameras
On to the cameras, the Vivo V20 Pro does a good job meeting the needs of an amateur smartphone photographer. It comes with a 64MP f/1.8 primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens with a 120-degree field-of-view which doubles as a macro shooter, and a 2MP mono camera on the rear panel.
The primary rear 64MP camera, along with the other two, takes true to life photographs and it's great to see that Vivo does not feel the need to enhance the image colour saturation beyond reality. The exposure in the photos is well taken care of in the daytime. The AMOLED display ensures that the images are accurately displayed.
Despite the images being either 64MP or lower, the details are not hard to catch on to. As for the night shots, I was surprised at the images which were shot quick and were yet well-exposed shot.
The macro shots do a good job in terms of creating a depth of the background even if there isn't much space. But what truly works wonders is the eye autofocus in the smartphone, which is quick to focus on the eyes of a subject in the camera. But a point of contention is the ultra-wide mode which may be able to capture multiple people, struggles to keep up the clarity.
The Dual View Video mode that includes both front and rear cameras in an active mode is interesting and but 4K 60fps video is what this front camera records well, though we haven't verified that on a larger screen. The 4K 30fps video with the rear camera also turns out well and somehow seems more stable than the one on the front camera.
The AI on the Vivo V20 Pro is quite intelligent in recognizing scenes and applying the appropriate effect. But I have to mention that there was this one time I tried taking a macro shot of a small yellow flower and the AI just kept popping different scenes which made things rather hard. But that was a one-off situation.
Software
The Vivo V20 Pro comes with Funtouch OS 11 based on Android 11. And there seems to be a little too much bloatware installed on the smartphone. But the good thing is that users can uninstall these if they feel like it.
As for Funtouch OS 11, it has a lot of shortcuts that users would need a little while to discover and get used to. There are quite a few included functions that are not native to Android 11 that have been included with Funtouch OS as well. Animations and gaming modes are some of the better things that are included with the V20 Pro as well.
Battery
Vivo V20 Pro falls slightly short when it comes to battery capacity, and only includes a 4,000mAh battery. The battery lasts slightly more than a day's usage and needs to be recharged after about 16 hours of screentime.
This isn't bad considering that is has a 6.44-inch AMOLED display, but the competition has larger batteries that do better. But the one saving grace for this battery is that it features 33W fast charging which means almost full charge from 15% in about 45 minutes time.
The V20 Pro lasted me about a day during my normal usage and somewhat less when I was out on a trip which would have me use the camera excessively over the day.
Verdict
Buy it if…
At a price of Rs 29,990, the biggest competitor to the Vivo V20 Pro is the new Realme X7 Pro, which has a larger battery, faster charging and a 120Hz AMOLED display. We implore you to check out our detailed Realme X7 Pro review before making a decision.
You want a good looking device with an excellent display
The Vivo V20 Pro is built robust and definitely survived a few tumbles, it has sleek and well designed and has an excellent display to boot.
Good cameras are a priority
The smartphone sure passes with flying colours when it comes to photography as well as videography which includes 4K videos. The front cameras are also excellent.
Gaming and stable performance is something you're looking for
Besides the excellent cameras, the V20 Pro comes packaged with good software to back it up and is future-safe with 5G technology, and performs quite well as a gaming smartphone.
Don’t buy it if…
You're looking for value for money
The Vivo V20 Pro falls short with its pricing which somehow pitches it higher than it's competition which seems to offer more features on paper. It even misses the high refresh rate display that the competition offers
You require a lot of storage
The smartphone does not support expandable storage which means if you shoot a lot of videos and photo, or require more storage in general, you would have to resort to non-hardware means with the Vivo V20 Pro beyond its 128GB.
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