Vivo recently launched its new smartphone that redefined the mid-range segment – the V15 Pro. Through the device, the brand has impressively delivered a handset that comes with flagship-grade features and premium design, but as a twist, it won’t require you to break the bank.
Vivo V15 Pro Review; Elevating Your Smartphone Experience |
Our team has already spent enough time to see the handset’s capabilities. And as promised in our hands-on article, we’re going to have a deeper take on the V15 Pro. Now, continue to read to see if the device was able to stick on our good impressions.
PHYSICAL:
As what we mentioned last time, our team considered the V15 Pro as a redeeming smartphone of Vivo to restore its glory. As a quick recap, the V11 wasn’t as appealing as the V15 Pro, and somehow, it disappointed us with its key selling feature – its in-display fingerprint scanner. So, it’s impressive how Vivo was able to pull off a great comeback.
Vivo V15 Pro Unboxing and Initial Impressions
Just like its predecessor, the V15 Pro is dressed with a trendy gradient design, too. However, the device is simpler, making it more striking and classy. Nevertheless, it can easily attract fingerprints and smudges. The good thing? Vivo packed the device with a sturdy protective case that manages to become stylish. Meanwhile, one-hand usage isn’t really advisable because of its heavy body that weigh 185 grams – or 29 grams heavier than the V11.
Ultra Full View Display |
Its front flashes a refreshing design compared with other V-series devices. It has more screen area, as it has thin bezels and no notch mounted on it. The device also sports an in-display fingerprint scanner to eliminate the space usually occupied by a traditional sensor. We’ll talk more about its display later.
Its left cheek accommodates its dedicated MicroSD card slot, and Smart Button that can be used to launch Google Assistant or other functions. On the other hand, its right side welcomes its volume rockers and power/lock button.
Topaz Blue Color Variant |
Moving on, its microphone, 3.5mm audio jack, and its elevating selfie snapper are located on its top. We didn’t like the placing of its audio jack because when you use wired earphones, its wire will surely bother you every now and then. We tried to shake its pop-up camera, and good thing, it feels solid.
At the bottom, you’d see its dual Nano-SIM card tray, microphone, MicroUSB port, and speaker grilles.
Flipping the device on its back, you’d easily notice its protruding rear cameras. Its triple rear shooters are aligned vertically. Below, Vivo marked its branding.
DISPLAY:
Last year, Vivo came up with a tiny notch dubbed as halo display. Now, the V15 Pro has ditched out the design and instead, it is equipped with a real all-screen display through its in-display fingerprint scanner and elevating selfie camera.
6.39-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display |
With this, users can enjoy an Ultra View Display on its huge 6.39-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED panel with 1080p resolution and 91.64% screen-to-body ratio.
Having an all-screen display, our team enjoyed watching videos and playing games with heavy graphics using the device. It has a vibrant and deep colors, but we didn’t like its brightness when used outdoors.
SOFTWARE:
The V15 Pro is loaded with FunTouch OS 9 skin based on Android 9.0 Pie. As expected, the device comes with colorful and lively icons. Also, similar to its predecessors, it has no app drawer as it features multiple home screens. So, if users want to organize their apps, they have to create an app folder.
Software |
Users can choose from two options to navigate the device: Navigation Keys, or Navigation Gestures. We chose the former because the latter is confusing and hard to get comfortable with.
Kids Mode |
The phone comes with pre-installed apps such as Google native apps, Vivo apps, WPS office, Lazada, WeSing, and TikTok. It also has Kids Mode that helps consumers limit usage time, prevent eyestrain, and just have practical features that are suitable for kids. With 128GB onboard storage, these apps would occupy 13GB of ROM. You can uninstall these apps if you want to, though.
See Also: Vivo V11 Gets a Price Drop
PERFORMANCE:
Inside, Vivo equipped it with Snapdragon 675 octa-core processor, paired with Adreno 612 graphics, 8GB RAM, and 128GB of expandable storage. With these specs, the V15 Pro can outperform other mid-range smartphones.
We ran it on our preferred benchmark apps to show us what to expect. Here are the results:
Benchmark Results |
- PCMark Work 2.0 – 7,819
- AnTuTu – 177,942
- Geekbench – 2,394 (single core)
- Geekbench – 6,656 (multi core)
- 3DMark – 24,832 (Ice Storm Unlimited)
- 3DMark – Max (Ice Storm Extreme)
- 3DMark – 1,770 (Sling Shot)
- 3DMark – 1,060 (OpenGL ES 3.1), 1,141 (Vulkan)
In case you missed it, the V15 Pro was initially launched with just 6GB RAM in India. Hence, what we have here in the Philippines is more powerful and capable.
Game Assistant |
We enjoyed playing games using the handset. It also sports a special gaming feature dubbed as Game Assistant to enable users level up their gaming experience. With this, the device will be optimized for best gaming performance. It lets users block notifications, as well.
PUBG Mobile |
The phone can support multitasking, and can run smoothly even when multiple apps were opened in its background. Switching apps from one to another is easy without any sign of freezing, lag, and heating.
In-display Fingerprint Scanner |
Meanwhile, what makes the device more effective than the V11 is its in-display fingerprint scanner. Unlike the old model, the V15 Pro won’t disappoint you with this feature. It’s faster and more responsive, too. As a result, it can unlock your handset smoothly. Its facial recognition is fast, as well, and we never had a problem dealing with it.
CAMERA:
The V15 Pro is also banking on its photography department. It is armed with triple rear cameras composed of a 48-megapixel f/1.8 main shooter, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide lens, and a 5-megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor. It sports a jaw-dropping 32-megapixel pop-up selfie snapper that has AI capabilities to enhance your photos.
Triple Rear Cameras |
The device comes with various camera modes, too, including Doc, Professional, Panorama, Night, AI Beauty, Live Photo, HDR Wide, and AR stickers. Users can also enhance their body shape and facial features by manually adjusting it through AI Beauty.
Sample Photos:
Outdoor |
Regular |
Wide |
Food |
Night |
Selfie (Outdoor) |
Selfie (Indoor) |
Selfie with Filter |
Portrait |
AR Stickers |
Regular |
With Slim Body (You'd notice that body parts were warped) |
The V15 Pro can capture great images with sharp colors and outstanding details. It can produce impressive low light photos, too. However, we noticed that noises became visible when taking selfie in places with dim lighting.
Speaking of selfie, we rather adjust our facial features manually because its AI beautification sometimes overdo the enhancing. Nevertheless, its portrait mode manages to bring natural-looking images.
On the other hand, when we tried its body enhancing feature that allows users to look slim at the photos, it’s cool at first. Later on, you’d see how it appeared edited as images were warped.
CONNECTIVITY:
The V15 Pro is a dual-SIM device that supports LTE connectivity, and when running out of data, it enables users to connect to WiFi, as well. It has basic connectivity features including Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS. All of these worked well and we never had a problem with all of it during our tests.
Meanwhile, it only settles for just MicroUSB 2.0 port.
3,750mAh Battery with Dual-Engine Fast Charging |
BATTERY:
Personally, I thought that its stamina would disappoint me as one of my needs right now is a device with at least 4,000mAh battery capacity. Nevertheless, the V15 Pro’s 3,700mAh juice proved to us that numbers might be deceiving as it exceeded our expectations.
As our main driver, the phone can accompany us for more than a day when we used it for basic communications, social media browsing, watching videos, and listening to music. We also like to note that we always leave our WiFi and LTE connection open.
When we heavily used it for playing games, the device lasted for more than five hours.
We ran it on PCMark Battery Life Test but it crashes every time we try to get the result.
Vivo geared it with dual-engine fast charging. With this, it took us almost two hours to fully charge the device.
FINAL WORDS:
Yup, Vivo maintained its impressive performance all throughout the test! Just like what we’ve said before, the V15 Pro has successfully set the bar for the mid-range market through its aggressive offerings.
Vivo V15 Pro |
So, if you’re looking for a smartphone that can give you an outstanding overall performance, then, you might consider buying the V15 Pro.
You can get yours for Php23,999!
What can you say? Is it a yay or nay?
Vivo V15 Pro Specs (Philippines):
- Dual SIM, supports LTE connectivity
- 6.39-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED Ultra FullView (2340 x 1080) display, 91.64% screen-to-body ratio
- Dimensions: 157.3mm x 74.7mm x 8.2mm
- Weight: 185 grams
- Android 9.0 Pie with FunTouch OS 9
- 2.0GHz octa-core CPU, Snapdragon 675 chipset, Adreno 512 GPU
- 8GB RAM
- 128GB storage
- 48MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.2 ultra wide-angle lens + 5MP f/2.4 depth sensor AI triple rear cameras
- 32MP f/2.0 pop-up front camera
- 3.5mm audio port
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth 5.0
- MicroUSB 2.0
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
- In-display fingerprint scanner
- Jovi AI
- Battery: 3700mAh, non-removable, dual-engine fast charging
- Colors: Topaz Blue, Ruby Red
- Price: Php23,999