Vivo V27 Pro Review: Great Camera, Better Performance

It's not unusual to see such a large increase in performance between two generations of the same company's smartphone lineup. But unusually, this happened with the Vivo V27 Pro.

Let me break it down.

In my reviews of the Vivo V25 (Review) and V25 Pro (Review) over the past year, I found the phones to have great hardware for the price, but were let down by Vivo's Funtouch OS 12 - Android 12 version. Lazy, inconvenient and mockingly named user experience is top notch.

All that changed with the V27 Pro, and how! I had a few doubts before I started testing the review unit that Vivo sent me, but after I finished setting up the phone, those doubts disappeared. As I mentioned in my first impressions post, this is a great phone - 7.4mm thick, bright and powerful 6.78-inch Full HD+ "Curved 3D" display with 120Hz refresh rate and MediaTek Dimension 8200 chipset.

In terms of performance, I had no complaints in my two weeks of use - the smartphone ran smooth as butter, and thanks to the high refresh rate, I literally turned the elements on my screen when swiping up, down or sideways. The widgets are fun and intuitive, some have a dedicated Vivo Touch, and the battery — 4,600 milliampere hours (mAh) — can easily last a day and then some with heavy use.

Also Read: OnePlus 11 5G review: back on form

Even if you run out of power, you can easily find a power outlet, and the included 66W fast charger - featuring vivo's exclusive FlashCharge technology - will give you enough power for the rest of the day in minutes.

Biometric unlocking options are simple - you can choose between pattern, PIN, alphanumeric password, fingerprint or face unlock. However, be careful if you want to use face unlock as your primary screen lock. The screen glows on a white background to better recognize your face in the dark, and it didn't please my eyes.

camera

The V27 Pro comes with a 50MP primary shooter, an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro camera on the back and a hefty 50MP selfie camera on the front.

The cameras are the same as the classic Vivo V series - they take great photos in all lighting conditions. There are some fun features, including a "supermoon" option that lets you take close-up photos of the moon. While the results aren't as impressive as they should be, as you can see below, it's a better moon shot than my own iPhone 14 Pro Max.

[title id="attachment_16152561" align="alignnone" width="1280"] © Provided by CNBCTV18 (Photo: Vijay Anand)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_16152571" align="alignnone" width="1280"] (Photo: Vijay Anand)[/caption]

[title id="attachment_16152581" align="alignnone" width="1280"] © Provided by CNBCTV18 (Photo: Vijay Anand)[/caption]

[title id="attachment_16152611" align="alignnone" width="1280"] © Provided by CNBCTV18 (Photo: Vijay Anand)[/caption]

I really like this last photo - although it's not very bright, it was taken with a prime lens and it shows the natural waterfall in the background very well without applying any computer effects.

In short, the primary aim, which will be most people's shooter of choice, is pretty good.

aesthetics

I have the Magic Blue variant of the phone - it's a slightly lighter blue than last year's version, but it does the same "magic": it turns dark blue when exposed to UV light. Even if it doesn't have a practical application, it's still fun to use.

Finally

Priced at around Rs 35,999, the vivo V27 Pro is one of the best smartphones you can buy – stunning display, color changing back cover, fully functional camera and most importantly great user experience.

Vivo knocked it out of the park.

Verdict: Highly recommended.

Also Read: OnePlus Buds Pro 2 review: A solid pair of headphones with room for improvement

Vivo V27 Pro durability test - double insured!