This is Vivo’s new V27 Pro, and this time around, it not only focuses on design and cameras, but also adds a powerful chipset to the mix.
Does that make it a compelling option? Let’s find out!
Before I start with the review, can we just appreciate the fact that the Vivo V27 Pro comes with a fully loaded retail box. It offers a charging brick and a protective clear case - something that may seem like a small detail, but in today's market, it's definitely a valuable addition.
Design & Utility
Design has always been the forte of the V-series and the V25 Pro is no different. The front and rear glass panels of the phone are curved which makes it feel quite slick. At 182g, it is also quite lightweight and the weight is pretty evenly balanced as well.
The rear glass of this phone has a shimmery matt finish which is quite resistant to fingerprints. The camera island is huge, but well designed.
However, the back panel is just normal glass, not toughened glass like Gorilla Glass or something similar, so it's best to keep this phone in its bundled case all the time.
This colour is appropriately called Magic Blue, because the UV sensitive glass makes a return as well. So, it is light blue indoors, but after you expose it to sunlight, it turns into this nice dark blue.
Just keep in mind that this trick can be used with any type of UV light, not only outdoors.
Both the power button and volume rocker are situated on the right side of the phone and feel quite tactile to use.
The V27 Pro can take two 5G SIM cards, however, there is no slot for a microSD card, and you’d have to do with 128 or 256GB storage options that this phone comes with.
There is an under-display optical fingerprint scanner here which works really well.
The single bottom-firing speaker on the Vivo V27 Pro is quite loud, but the lack of a stereo speaker setup is a major omission on an upper midrange smartphone. There is also no form of water or splash resistance here.
Display
The 6.78-inch AMOLED display on the V27 Pro is undoubtedly one of its highlights. It is vivid and crisp with really good sunlight legibility. There is also Widevine L1 certification here. So, this display is great for viewing content.
The max refresh rate of 120Hz ensures that navigating through the UI is a smooth experience. In fact, the refresh rate is also adaptive which helps with battery saving.
Palm rejection is there because it is a curved edge display, and it typically works fine, although it is not fail proof as I experienced a few accidental touches.
Cameras
The triple rear camera setup of the V27 Pro includes a 50MP primary sensor with OIS, an 8MP secondary sensor and a 2MP macro sensor.
The primary sensor is an interesting one, since it is a customised version of the Sony IMX766, called the IMX766V.
Vivo’s post processing has changed quite a bit with this phone, as it actually produces very true to life colours. In fact, there is a dedicated natural colour mode in the camera app, which isn’t there just for the sake of it.
I'm not sure if this is experimental or not, but this has to be the most subtle post processing on any Vivo V series smartphone.
However, natural colours do not mean that the HDR is weak, it works pretty well too.
And if you like punchier colours, you can always choose the custom colour profile you like.
However, despite Vivo's bold claims about this phone's low-light portrait skills with the help of the aura light, the results are not as remarkable as expected.
There isn't much to brag about the 8MP ultrawide camera either. Its shots are always soft around the edges which results in loss of detail. On the flipside, both cameras are impressively colour consistent with each other.
Night mode photos with both cameras appear to have a much cooler tint for some reason, and this is something that many users will not like.
Coming to videos, the main camera can shoot at up to 4K 60 fps, but there is no stabilisation in this setting. However, videos at 4K 30 fps and 1080p at 60 fps come out to be decently stable.
The ultrawide can only shoot at up to 1080p at 30 fps, which is quite a bummer on a camera-focused phone.
Selfies from the 50MP front camera are quite impressive though. You can also shoot at 4K at 60fps from the selfie camera.
Performance & Software
Vivo’s V-series has always offered relatively weaker chipsets for the price. The Dimensity 1300 on the V25 Pro was good, but felt like a bit of a stretch on a ₹40,000 phone.
This changes with the V27 Pro, however. This device is powered by MediaTek’s new Dimensity 8200 chipset which goes a long way in justifying its upper midrange positioning.
Anyway, the chipset comes with 8 or 12GB of RAM. On the software front, this phone runs on Vivo’ FunTouch OS 13 that’s based on Android 13. FunTouch OS on this phone offers quite a refined and fast user experience. However, its overall look and feel remains quite polarising.
Bloatware is also kept under check. You know, this phone does not come with a 100 tiktok clone apps pre installed on it, which is great. However, the recommended apps and games folders cannot be disabled, which is quite annoying.
Battery Life
The battery capacity of the V27 Pro is 4,600mAh, which is 230mAh lesser than that of V25 Pro.
However, the more efficient Dimensity 8200 chipset more than makes up for it as this phone can still give between 6-7 hours of screen on time with mixed usage, which is good enough for a typical day of use.
Charging speeds, at 66W, are not particularly fast considering that other BBK brands are now offering 80W and 100W charging speeds. But, calling 66W slow would be quite silly, so there’s nothing much to complain about here as the phone takes under an hour to fully charge.
Verdict
The Vivo V27 Pro is the most impressive V-series smartphone from Vivo. It looks quite interesting and can also take great photos with its main camera. A majority of users will also never feel any lack of power thanks to its Dimensity 8200 chipset.
While it definitely deserves a better ultrawide camera and more goodies like stereo speakers and a toughened rear glass, the V27 Pro still makes for a pretty good buy for under ₹40,000.
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