Vivo’s V series has a reputation for producing some of the best camera-first smartphones in the midrange segment. With a superior sensor array to their peers, these smartphones made the tradeoff under the hood, limiting their power for a more versatile camera performance. This changes with the new ‘Elite’ model in the latest V70 series. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset at the core of this device may not be Qualcomm’s finest, but it certainly belongs in the upper echelon of mobile processors. Interested to see what the rejuvenated V series model has in store for power users, we used it as our daily driver for a week. Here is our in-depth review of the Vivo V70 Elite.
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In This Article
Vivo V70 Elite Review: Design and Display
Before we talk about its design, let’s take a look at what you get inside the V70 Elite’s retail box:
- Smartphone
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- 90W power adapter
- Clear plastic cover
- SIM ejector
- Quick start guide
- Warranty card
The design language of the V70 Elite is a complete departure from its predecessor (our review here). The smartphone ditches the curved back panel for a flat form factor. The camera island seems iPhone-inspired with its square shape and rounded corners. This module sports Zeiss branding. The glass back panel has a smooth matte finish, which keeps it from registering fingerprints and smudges easily.
The aluminium frame houses the volume rocker and the side button on its right edge. The SIM tray, primary microphone, USB-C port, and primary speaker grille are positioned at the bottom. Up top lie the IR blaster, noise-cancelling microphone, and secondary speaker. The V70 Elite is rated IP68/IP69 for protection against dust and water. It can survive being immersed up to 1.5m in water for up to 30 minutes. The smartphone has a relatively compact form factor, which will certainly win over some users.
The 6.59-inch AMOLED display has a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. It is able to maintain perfect legibility in bright outdoor conditions. Surrounding the display are slim, uniform bezels. The ultrasonic fingerprint reader is a welcome addition. It is snappier than its optical counterparts and can be triggered when the screen is asleep. The touch response offered by the display is very smooth. It is set to adaptive refresh rate out of the box, but you can fix it at 120Hz from settings.
The viewing experience on the V70 Elite is an absolute treat. During the review period, we used it to stream content across OTT apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar. The 1.5K AMOLED display relayed crisp HDR visuals with rich colours and excellent dynamic range. The contrast stood out with the deep blacks produced by the panel. The audio output produced by the dual speaker setup was on point. It was well-rounded overall, with a healthy low-end.
Vivo V70 Elite Review: Performance and Cameras
At the heart of the V70 Elite lies the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset. There are 3 RAM (LPDDR5X) and storage (UFS 4.1) variants on offer:
- 8GB + 256GB: Rs 51,999
- 12GB + 256GB: Rs 56,999
- 12GB + 512GB: Rs 61,999
We ran the Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu 3D benchmarks on the phone. Here is how it performed:
- Geekbench 6: 1,556 (single-core) | 4,259 (multi-core)
- AnTuTu 3D: 1,902,464
The Vivo V70 Elite crushes routine tasks with absolute ease. It doesn’t require getting out of first gear to take care of tasks like video calling, instant messaging, web browsing, navigation, and media streaming. The fast UFS 4.1 configuration for internal storage ensures that apps take virtually no time to load. The LPDDR5X RAM does a brilliant job of managing the apps in the background. While daily driving the device for a week, we did not come across any major lag or stutters.
For the first time ever, a V series smartphone can deliver a gaming performance that can challenge any of the spec-heavy devices in its segment. We ran BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile on the phone and were floored by the fluid and unfettered gameplay. You can push the frame rate to 90fps in some games by limiting the graphics to lower settings. The 4200mm² cooling chamber does a good job of managing the internal temperature and keeping thermal throttling at bay. We didn’t notice any sort of warmth around the back panel until we were 30 minutes into the gaming session.
Vivo V70 Elite runs Android 16-based OriginOS 6 out of the box. It has been promised 4 OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches. The software experience is almost identical to what we saw on the flagship Vivo X300 Pro (our review here). OriginOS retains the customisation options of its Funtouch OS predecessor. These include dynamic effects for the lock screen unlock animation, home screen transitions, fingerprint recognition, USB insertion, ambient lighting, and other elements. There are plenty of AOD face options as well.
Some of the cosmetic elements feel inspired by Apple’s iOS. The translucent appearance of the lock screen keypad and quick settings panel is a nod to Apple’s Liquid Glass design language. The Origin Island, inspired by Apple’s Dynamic Island, comes alive as a clever animation around the punch-hole cutout on the display whenever you plug in the charger, enable the hotspot, start an audio recording, play a song, or carry out any of the other supported actions.
AI doesn’t completely dominate the UI of the smartphone, which is something we appreciate a lot. You can access AI editing tools like object eraser, resolution boost, image expander, and more in the native gallery app. Google’s Circle to Search can be triggered by long-pressing the home icon or the navigation bar. AI captions can be summoned from the quick settings menu or the sidebar.
The V70 Elite retains the 6,500mAh Si/C battery pack from its predecessor. It can go through a day of heavy use with some charge left to spare at the end. On average usage days with 5-6 hours of screen time, we were left with ~30% charge at the end of the day. With more moderate usage, you can push the battery life to 2 days. The 90W power adapter provided in the box takes up to an hour to fully charge the device.
The V series smartphones have always been known for their splendid camera skills. The V70 Elite ensures that it does not concede any territory on this front after upgrading its processor. The rear camera panel of the device houses a 50MP primary shooter, a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultrawide lens.
The 50MP primary shooter is the bread and butter of this device. It gives you the ability to pull out your phone under any lighting conditions and still take tasteful shots. The images captured by this sensor showcase excellent details and vibrant colours. The contrast and dynamic range of the shots are on point. The smartphone doesn’t go overboard in the photoprocessing stage. It maintains the lifelike feel of the images instead of making them appear artificially enhanced. In limited lighting conditions, the Night Mode kicks in to illuminate the shot and resolve the grain.
The 50MP telephoto lens allows you to optically zoom up to 3x without losing any details. The images shot with this lens retain the colour profile of the primary shooter. You can further zoom up to 10x before hitting a point of diminishing returns. After this point, the smartphone starts relying on AI processing to resolve the details.
The 8MP ultrawide lens is the weakest of the three lenses, but it puts up a good display in a multitude of lighting conditions. It is also the only lens in the array that lacks autofocus. While the images shot with this camera are noticeably softer, they showcase tasteful colours. Pictures taken in limited lighting conditions well-lit, if a little grainy.
Portrait shots taken with the V70 Elite are vivid, vibrant, and well-focused. The smartphone does an excellent job of separating the subject from the background and applying a tasteful blur effect. There are 5 focal lengths to choose from – 23mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 100mm. The 50MP front-facing camera takes clear selfies while retaining the natural skin tone of the subject. The primary, telephoto, and selfie cameras can record 4K footage at 30 and 60fps. Meanwhile, the ultrawide lens is limited to 1,080p videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
With the V70 Elite, Vivo’s midrange series has finally made the one crucial upgrade that we were all asking for – a powerful processor. Not often do we come across camera-centric phones that also have something for gaming enthusiasts. This smartphone checks all of the essential boxes and then some more. It crushes routine tasks without breaking a sweat and lasts an entire day of heavy use without causing any battery anxiety. The splendid 1.5K AMOLED panel has an under-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor – something you only see in flagship devices. The elite camera system still remains the cornerstone of the device. When you consider the loaded spec sheet, the Rs 51,999 price tag doesn’t feel too steep. If there’s one improvement we’d want in the next iteration, it is a more competent ultrawide lens.
Pros
- Compact form factor
- Neat design
- Bright display
- Great processor
- Long battery life
Cons
- Could use a better ultrawide lens
