Last month, Vivo dropped the latest instalment in its camera-centric V series. The Vivo V50 is priced at Rs 36,999 and a Pro model is expected to join the lineup later. The V50 stands its ground when it comes to the camera performance. It also makes improvements on the battery front, adding a 6,000mAh Si/C unit to its arsenal. The V series models of yesteryears have shown that Vivo doesn’t hesitate to experiment with back panel designs. The ‘Starry Night’ variant of the V50 flaunts a one-of-a-kind 3D holographic back. We’ve been using this smartphone for a week, putting all facets of its performance under the scanner. Here is our review of the Vivo V50.
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In This Article
Vivo V50 Review: Design and Display
Before we talk about the V50’s design and form factor, let’s take a look at what you get inside its retail box.
- Smartphone
- Power adaptor
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector
- Clear plastic cover
- Quick start guide
- Warranty card
Vivo V50 has a curved form factor. Unlike its predecessor, the plastic frame does not have flattened top and bottom edges. The back panel and display curve ever so gently towards this frame. The camera arrangement at the back of the phone is inspired by the design of the V40 Pro. The circular unit houses the two sensors while the Aura light is placed on the pill-shaped extension. The Zeiss branding can be found on both parts of this camera panel.
We used the ‘Starry Night’ colour variant of the Vivo V50 for this review. When placed at a certain angle under the light, this glass back panel reveals the starry 3D effect. The holographic effect is quite subtle and well-executed. It doesn’t invite attention, which keeps it from being gaudy. The plastic frame houses the volume rocker keys and the side button on its right edge. The SIM tray, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and primary speaker grille are placed on the bottom edge. Up top lie the secondary microphone and speaker.
The 6.77-inch display has a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a peak brightness of 4,500 nits. In High Brightness Mode, it can hit 1,300 nits. The display doesn’t struggle under direct sunlight and reproduces the content with impressive clarity. The touch response is smooth as butter. The bezels around the screen are thin and uniform. Our only gripe with the display is the position of the optical fingerprint sensor. It should’ve been placed an inch higher to accommodate the natural motion of the thumb.
During the review period, we streamed content from OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and JioHotstar on the Vivo V50. The display reproduced rich colours and detailed images. The dual speaker setup produces a decent audio output. Its intensity is enough to overpower the ambient sounds from the ceiling fan and air conditioner.
One of the more underrated features of the V50 is its ingress protection. The smartphone is rated IP69 for dust and water resistance. It can survive being submerged up to 1.5m for 30 minutes.
Vivo V50 Review: Performance and Cameras
Powering the Vivo V50 is the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC. On the Geekbench 6 app, the smartphone scored 1,139 points in the single-core test and 3,087 points in the multi-core test. There are 2 RAM and storage variants on offer:
- 8GB + 256GB: Rs 36,999
- 12GB + 512GB: Rs 40,999
The Vivo V50 is reliable in everyday use. The apps load quickly and multitasking is a breeze. Routine tasks like texting, calling, media streaming, navigation, and social media browsing are handled well. The general usage experience is smooth and free of jitters. However, the haptic feedback feels blunt and needs to be tuned better.
The gaming performance offered here is decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. If high-end gaming is your biggest priority, there are better smartphones in this price category. Vivo doesn’t market its V series offerings as gaming devices to begin with. Having said that, there are no lags or frame drops to be seen when you limit the gameplay to 60fps and medium graphics. The 25,489mm² VC cooling system does a good job of keeping the internal temperature in check.
Vivo V50 runs the Android 15-based Funtouch 15 OS out of the box. The software is snappy and well-optimised. What we like about Vivo’s proprietary mobile OS is the range of customisation options for the fingerprint icon, home screen transitions, face recognition animation, charging animation, and more. There are dozens of AOD styles to choose from as well.
Vivo does not have a comprehensive AI suite for its midrange offerings yet, but the V50 gets important AI features like an image eraser, live call translation, transcript assist, and screen translation. On top of that, the smartphone is equipped with Google’s AI tools like Circle to Search and Gemini Assistant. Vivo has promised 3 major OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches for the V50.
Vivo V50’s battery life left a lasting impression on us during the review period. The smartphone uses a 6,000mAh Si/C battery pack. It easily lasts a day on heavy use. With more conservative usage, we were able to push the battery life to 2 days on a full charge. The smartphone supports 90W fast charging and takes a little over 50 minutes to reach a 100% charge. There is no wireless charging on offer.
On the camera front, the Vivo V50 retains the 50MP sensors for the primary shooter and ultrawide lens. There is no telephoto camera to be seen as it is a distinguishing feature of the Pro variant. Up front, the smartphone houses a 50MP selfie camera in a punch-hole cutout. All three lenses are tuned by Zeiss.
The 50MP primary shooter takes good images in outdoor daylight conditions. The images showcase rich, vibrant colours and carry a lot of detail. The dynamic range and contrast are ideal as well. In limited lighting conditions, the main sensor lets in a lot of light and does a splendid job of illuminating the subject. What’s more impressive is that the smartphone assigns accurate and vivid colours to the image in the processing stage. There aren’t many smartphones in this price range that can pull this off.
The 50MP ultrawide lens replicates the performance of the primary shooter. The images taken in outdoor daylight conditions showcase the same colours as the main sensor. There is no softness to them unless you pixel peep. In limited lighting conditions, the ultrawide images have some noise. However, the Night Mode does a good job of resolving the grain and producing rich colours.
The portrait shots taken with the V50 are detailed and well-focussed. The smartphone does a good job of separating the object from the background and applying the appropriate level of blur. The native camera app has a good range of filters for the portraits and customisation options for the bokeh effect. The selfies taken with the front-facing camera are clear and vivid.
Vivo has introduced a new ‘Film Camera’ mode on its native camera app. As the name suggests, this mode applies a film effect to the images and adds a polaroid frame to the final result. You can choose different frames and effects for your pictures. This mode is quite accessible to the average user and incredibly fun to use.
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Verdict
There are not many smartphones that can rival the Vivo V50’s camera performance in the sub-Rs 40,000 price bracket. Its camera system is a delight to use in every kind of lighting environment. We also like the new ‘Film Mode’ that Vivo has added to its camera app. To add further value to its price tag, the V50 puts forward a reliable performance that you can depend upon day in and day out. The versatile battery life, fast charging support, and IP69 are bonuses.
Vivo V50: Pros
- Great cameras
- Film Mode in the camera app
- Fast charging
- IP69 rating
Vivo V50: Cons
- No telephoto lens
