There is no doubt this year will be a battle of dual cameras mounted on a smartphone. But vivo’s strategy isn’t on the rear camera, but rather on the front shooter, focusing on the “selfie” practitioners. And to make it a perfect selfie, they added a “bokeh” [Wikipedia] to your selfie shot. A round of applause as vivo V5 Plus arrives in PH; priced at P19,990. Stay tuned as we share vivo V5 Plus (Initial) Review.
Sample shot with bokeh above. Photo lifted from Wikipedia.
vivo V5 Plus specs:
5.5-inch full HD IPS LCD, 1920 x 1080 pixels
2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5
2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core CPU
Adreno 506
4GB + 64GB ROM & RAM
microSD support up to 256G
16-megapixel f/2.0 autofocus rear camera w/ LED flash
20MP f/2.0 + 8MP front-facing camera
Dual SIM, 4G LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0
GPS w/ A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Fingerprint scanner
AK4376 Hi-Fi chip
USB OTG
3,160mAh non-removable battery, fast charging
Android 6.0 Marshmallow w/ Funtouch OS 3.0
152.58 x 74.00 x 7.26 mm
158.6 g
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Build and design
If a premium design is a subject, there is no doubt that the V5 Plus belongs to the premium smartphone category. Beginning with the all-metal super polished body including the U-shaped antenna lines (which we already saw in the iPhone 7). There is an engineering explanation about it, according to vivo, it has better reception compared to the usual design.
Visually, it looks small because vivo was able to stuff that 5.5-inch display on a 5.2-inch body. Therefore when you hold it, you are like holding a smaller phone but has a huge display.
The rear camera’s mounting has a little bump and it is rough when you run your fingers above it. Exactly opposite to the front camera’s installation.
Flip it over and you will be greeted with that gorgeous-looking display with a thin bezel. On top, you will immediately recognize the dual front camera which is nicely tucked. Move your eyes to the bottom and you’ll see that physical home button that doubles as the fingerprint scanner. There are two capacitive buttons on the left and right side of the home button which are backlighted and can be turned off if you wish.
vivo V5 Plus Video Preview
Display
Like we mentioned, the v5 Plus has a 5.5-inch full HD display which is mounted on a 5.2-inch body. Physical dimensions are 152.58 x 74 x 7.26mm.
With a very thin bezel, it is a joy to look at the full HD, clear and crisp display of the vivo V5 Plus. There is viewing angle issue, therefore you can watch your favorite video clips in any angle possible without hurting your eyes.
That whopping display on a smaller body makes it nicer to hold in the hands especially that it only weighs 158.6 grams.
Camera
Now the game changes with the camera they installed on this device. The rear camera has already impressive specs having 16MP with f/2.0 aperture, has Autofocus, and LED flash. But the discussions is not on the rear camera but on its dual front camera with 20MP f/2.0 + 8MP combination. With an optimized camera app, you can simply tick that feature to implement bokeh effect on your selfie photo.
By the say the 16MP camera can record 4K video.
Browsing over the social media networks, here are the samples already posted right during the launch.
Photo by Ed Uy of WhereIsEdUy.com
Photo by Martin Andrade with Ms. Ruth Floresca
You can also enable the watermark with the branding which was originally started by Huawei in their P9 series.
Battery
There is a 3,160mAH non-removable battery that features fast charging. We can’t say anything in detail about this but we can only speculate. That big battery right there may not sustain you a whole day of usage because of the full HD display. But if you bring with you the owner-supplied fast charger, you are good to go.
Storage & RAM
This is supposed to be a standard on flagship devices. A 4G + 64G combination is what all we need. We should not worry about running all our favorite apps and put it in the background. And a huge storage for all our photos and video captures, plus perhaps, downloaded copies of 1080P videos for viewing during our always delayed flights.
And if ever you need more storage, you can disable the second SIM slot and use microSD card up to 256G.
H-Fi Chipset: AK4376
Now for the audio practitioners out there. vivo added a feature for all of you guys who enjoys listening to music with your favorite headphones.
Pricing & Availability
Now let’s talk about your budget. The V5 Plus is arriving in stores beginning on January 28, 2017. And it is priced at P19,900. A premium price tag for a premium phone with a higher midrange specs.
vivo V5 Plus Review
Now here’s our initial take on the vivo V5 Plus. Design-wise, we have no issues. They presented a well designed, neat, premium and high-quality smartphone right there. The 4G+64G configuration is also appreciated because there will be no more hiccups on your favorite apps. The rear camera with 16MP and can record 4K video is also impressive. You can now record super detailed video and downscale it on your editing.
The “Bokeh” . . . The bulk of the discussion should be here. Why would you put this feature on the front camera? If I were the design engineer of this device, I’d rather relocate this at the back. Photographers then can carry this device as a secondary camera and take beautifully blurred background of their subject. It will then create a 3D effect on their portraits.
But that is my opinion only.
Overall the vivo V5 Plus is something that will change the “selfie” smartphone category in the Philippines. OPPO started the revolution by introducing its “Selfie Expert” series in their F1 family, but vivo is quick to define what a “Perfect Selfie” is.
The only battleground now is the pricing. With OPPO’s F1s with only P12,990 as its price tag, people may opt for this than the P19,990 vivo V5 Plus. But we heard OPPO is also bringing the upgraded F1s with 4G+64G configuration by February. Then it will be a head-to-head competition.
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See also:
vivo V5 unboxing video:
It supports reverse charging. So in case we need to charge other devices we can do that using a USB OTG with V5 Plus.