Review: vivo V20 Pro

vivo Philippines introduced their latest addition to their V Series: V20 Se, V20 and V20 Pro. It was just a few months ago in June when vivo launched the V20’s predecessor the V19 Neo. It caught the eyes and hearts of many but also surprised because vivo used the same processor as the V17 Pro. As we take a look at the V20 Pro, find out the changes vivo has made to this one.

Design and display

The vivo V20 Pro is the latest top-of-the-line smartphone from the vivo V20 series. The V20 Pro comes in three different colors – Midnight Jazz (Black), Moonlight Sonata (White), and Sunset Melody which we have on hand. The first thing that strikes the eye upon viewing the smartphone is its colorful gradient matte coating on the back, which gives it a variety of hues from orange to pink and blue depending on the lighting. These colors reveal warm tropical hues reminiscent of sunset beaches. The second highlight is how light and slim it is, weighing 170g and measuring 7.39mm. Despite its size, it manages to feel very luxurious and smooth to the touch. Functional features include a 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port and loudspeaker situated on the bottom of the phone, while a stereo speaker is found on top of the screen.

The vivo V20 Pro has a large 6.44-inch AMOLED screen with full HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. It features an in-display fingerprint scanner for security which worked perfectly when I used it although it was rarely used because of how quick the facial recognition unlocks the phone.

Camera

The V20 Pro features a dual selfie camera with a 44MP AF and 8MP super wide angle lens with up to 105° field of view. The Eye Autofocus feature for example is something typically found in higher-end DSLRs. The main front camera with AF can focus sharply from 15cm – whether I’m shooting up close, with the help of a selfie stick, or from greater distances. It also features an AI low-light portrait algorithm which improves my overall face brightness when taking photos in unfavorable lighting. It also offers 4k video selfie for unparalleled details taken with your front camera, complimented with a Steadiface Selfie Video to avoid any motion blur. For those aspiring creators, the V20 Pro also features a Dual-View Video, recording both front and back cameras at the same time. Now I can take pictures and videos of my dog and I at the same time. On top of all of these capabilities, its slow-mo feature can also record up to 240FPS. I was also able to do a creative shot with its Double Exposure by blending foregrounds and backgrounds, with previews in real time.

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For its rear camera, it boasts an enormous 64MP main camera, 8MP wide-angle with a 120° FOV, and 2MP mono lens. It also has a super macro lens that lets me shoot objects up to 2.5cm close.

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Under the hood

The V20 Pro runs on FunTouch 11 which is based on the new Android 11. It offers minimal bloatware and noticeable usability improvements from the previous version of the operating system. Internally, the phone contains a 7nm octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor that supports 5G connectivity. Just like most vivo smartphones, it has an Ultra Game Mode I can activate to silence any or selected notifications to help me stay focused on my game.

The phone offers 8GB RAM+128GB storage.

It got these scores from Geekbench 5 and 3D Mark

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Battery

Because of its slim build, a decrease in battery capacity was a necessary sacrifice when building the phone. The V20 Pro sports a 4,000mAh battery that is capable of quick-charging with the 33W FlashCharge charger included in the box. The phone can charge from zero to 100% in less than an hour. You can use the phone regularly throughout the day before it actually starts to run out giving me a little more than a day with moderate to normal usage including gaming and social media activities.

Verdict

While these technical components aren’t the latest and most impressive in terms of performance specifically for intensive gaming, the phone can nonetheless run everyday tasks well like most midrange smartphones in its price bracket. Priced at P24,990 it’s only a thousand pesos cheaper than the X50 released last September. The V20 Pro’s main points are its 5G capability, beautiful finish and slim build, and the front and back camera with all its included features that can be really useful for content creators or those aspiring to be. I’d say that at its price point it ticks all the boxes of what you need from a phone and at the same time it’s where aesthetics and functionality meet.