After launching the V27 Pro in March, Vivo has swiftly refreshed its camera-centric midrange series with a new offering. Launched earlier this month, the Vivo V29 Pro gets a key upgrade to its camera module and some minor tweaks to the design. We reviewed the Vivo V27 Pro earlier this year and were quite happy with the camera performance that it delivered. What we like about the new V29 Pro is that it ditches the gimmicky 2MP macro sensor for a more useful 12MP telephoto lens. As of now, both smartphones are priced at Rs 39,999 (8GB RAM + 256GB storage). With the festive season right around the corner, expect some lucrative deals on these smartphones in the coming weeks. But for now, let’s take a good look at how the Vivo V29 Pro performed in our review.
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In This Article
Vivo V29 Pro review: Design and Display
The unboxing experience of the Vivo V29 Pro is similar to its predecessor. Inside the retail box, you get the smartphone, a clear plastic case, a power adapter, a USB Type-C charging cable, a SIM ejector tool, a quick start guide, and a warranty booklet.
Vivo likes to experiment with the back panels on its midrange V Series. The V27 Pro featured a matte finish glass back that could change its colour when exposed to UV light. While some may dismiss colour-changing back panels as a gimmick, we quite like the splash of personality they bring to the devices. The new V29 Pro employs what Vivo calls ‘3D Particle Technology’ to produce an effect that resembles snowy mountain peaks on the back panel. While it may sound dramatic, it looks quite tasteful. It gives off the appearance of a sandstone texture, but it is entirely glossy. No matte finish for the V29 Pro.
The rectangular camera module gets a few key design tweaks as well. The Aura light is now wider and more refined. It is placed below the ultrawide lens. A new telephoto lens also finds its way into this camera module, making the smartphone’s camera setup very well-rounded. The LED flash sits above the telephoto lens.
The metal frame around the smartphone houses the volume rocker and power key on its left edge. The SIM tray, primary microphone, USB charging port, and speaker grille are positioned on the bottom edge. The left side of the frame is left buttonless and the top edge gets a secondary microphone and ‘Professional Portrait’ lettering.
The 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display on the V29 Pro is the same size as its predecessor but gets a small bump in resolution. The 2800 x 1260p FHD+ panel has a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. To conserve the battery life, the refresh rate can be dialled down to 60Hz. The smartphone also has a ‘Smart Switch’ feature for adaptive refresh rate. The selfie camera is housed in a punch-hole cutout at the top of the display.
The touch response offered by the curved AMOLED display on the V29 Pro is quite smooth, even though it is a step behind the flagship displays. Flicking through apps and navigating the phone using swipe gestures is a seamless experience. We streamed HD content on this smartphone across different OTT apps. The performance was very similar to the V27 Pro. The images produced on the screen were detailed, crispy, and packed with a lot of vibrant colours. The only letdown is the single speaker grille, which produces a tinny output that is devoid of any significant low end. A stereo speaker setup would have massively elevated the content-watching experience.
Vivo V29 Pro Review: Performance and Cameras
The V29 Pro retains the MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC and gets rid of the 128GB base variant. The smartphone is available with a fixed 256GB storage capacity with 2 RAM options – 8GB and 12GB. The higher RAM variant is priced at Rs 42,999 – the same as its V27 Pro counterpart. We used the 12GB RAM variant of the Vivo V29 Pro for this review.
Even though there are no changes to the chipset, the smartphone performs marginally better on the Geekbench 6 test. It scored 1,179 points on the single-core test and 3,394 points on the multi-core test. In comparison, Vivo V27 Pro scored 1,151 and 3,099 points respectively. The smartphone handles everyday tasks like web browsing, instant messaging, video calling, and media playback with the utmost ease. While using the V29 Pro for a week, we never felt that the phone was struggling to keep up with the tasks we threw at it.
Even tried a fair bit of gaming on the smartphone. Its Ultra Large Vapor Chamber Bionic Cooling System facilitates fluid dissipation of heat and ensures that the internal temperature of the smartphone is kept in check during intense gaming sessions. We played Call of Duty Mobile and eFootball 2024 on this smartphone. During our review period, the Vivo V29 Pro did not present any major issues. There were no significant frame drops or stutters during gameplay.
OS duties on the Vivo V29 Pro are handled by Android 13 skinned with Funtouch 13. The significant bloatware on the device robs it of a clean look. The constant notifications from Vivo’s app market and browser are nothing but spam. We’d suggest getting rid of all the bloatware apps on the device before you begin using it. Bloatware issues aside, Funtouch OS offers all the essential features you expect on an Android phone. We like the personalisation options for the lock screen that the OS has to offer. The dynamic effects for the fingerprint scanner, charging animation, and other functions are also quite fun.
Moving on, Vivo has also updated the battery specs on the V29 Pro. While it carries forward the 4,600 mAh battery pack, it now supports 80W fast charging. The power brick supplied in the retail box can charge the smartphone to 50% in under 20 minutes. It took us only 40 minutes to charge the phone from 15% to 100%. The 4,600 mAh battery pack is good enough to last an entire day on moderate to heavy usage.
Vivo’s V Series is known for its exemplary camera performance, and the V29 Pro is no different. As we mentioned earlier, the smartphone’s camera module gets a key upgrade in the form of a 12MP telephoto lens. The 50MP primary camera and the 8MP ultrawide lens have been carried forward from the V27 Pro.
The 50MP primary shooter produces brilliant results in outdoor lighting. The images taken with this camera are very vibrant and have a good dynamic range without coming across as overprocessed. In limited lighting conditions, the sensor lets in ample light to capture all the essential details and the night mode efficiently creases all the grain from the images. The image processing, again, is on point when rendering pictures taken at night.
The V29 Pro also features a brighter, more refined ‘Aura light’. What felt like a gimmick on the V27 Pro now finds some purpose on the V29 Pro. For starters, you can control its warmth from the camera app (1,800K to 4,500K), depending on the kind of shot you want. The light can go from a warm red tone to a cool yellowish-white. In dimly lit conditions, the Aura light does make a difference while taking portrait shots. We’re excited to see how Vivo further develops it in future generations of the smartphone.
Pictures taken from the 8MP ultrawide lens are still a bit soft, but it is quite decent overall. The colours seem a little washed when compared to the primary lens, but it is something you expect from the ultrawide shooters in this price range. On the bright side, this lens takes well-lit shots in limited lighting, which is where other ultrawide sensors often seem to fail. Suffice it to say, you will keep returning to this lens for wide-angle shots. The new 12MP telephoto lens is a stark improvement over the 2MP macro lens. Its performance is still akin to a lot of entry-level telephoto shooters but it still finds a lot of use compared to the macro lens.
Vivo V29 Pro has an India-exclusive ‘Wedding’ portrait effect which brings out the vividness in colour and shoots up the contrast between the subject and the background. This effect is ideal when you’re in a colourful environment. The normal portrait mode takes good shots, effectively separating the subject from the background and applying an appropriate amount of blur. The 50MP selfie camera tends to struggle with capturing accurate skin tones but takes good-quality images. This selfie camera can record 4K videos at 30 and 60fps, much like the main sensor.
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Conclusion
The Vivo V29 Pro is one of the best camera-focused smartphones you can buy right now. The changes that Vivo has made to the camera module have paid off quite well. The refreshed Aura light serves its purpose by taking great portrait shots in limited lighting. We also like that you can control its colour temperature from the camera app. The new 12MP telephoto lens is a massive improvement over the 2MP macro sensor. The curved AMOLED display is a delight to use but the lack of a stereo speaker is a bit of a letdown.
Vivo V29 Pro: Pros
- Great camera performance
- Attractive design
- Aura light
Vivo V29 Pro: Cons
- Lacks a stereo speaker
- No IP rating
- Lots of bloatware
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