vivo V25e Full Review
Officially launched in the Philippines last September, vivo asserts its position as a mobile photography master with the launch of vivo V25 series that showcased outstanding photography specs, stunning color-changing capability, and other noteworthy aspects that are essential to Gen Zs and Millenials.
Since we are already finished with the unboxing and first impression of the vivo V25e, this review will further explore the capabilities offered by this smartphone and in turn, shall help you to decide whether this smartphone is the one you are looking for.
Design and Walk Around
For the design, the back of the vivo V25e features a color-changing Fluorite Anti-Glare (AG) glass panel, which utilizes what is called Photochromic 2.0 technology. Because of the light molecular material (widely used in high-tech products like microscope optical storage devices and biological targeting agents), it changes color when sunlight or UV rays hit the back panel.
The vivo V25e is available in two colors: Diamond Black and Sunrise Gold. My unit comes in Sunrise Gold color and what’s unique about this color is when the back panel is exposed to direct sunlight for 5-6 minutes, the whole back panel changes its color from gold to orange (except for the camera module), showing the shades of sunrise and sunset.
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| vivo V25e back panel when exposed to sunlight |
On the front, the vivo V25e is equipped with a 6.44-inch FullHD+ (1080 x 2404) 90Hz AMOLED display. At the top, there’s a waterdrop design notch that houses the front-facing camera and the earpiece. Underneath the display is the fingerprint reader. A pre-installed screen protector is also found.
Found at the back is a rectangular-shaped contemporary design camera module that houses a triple-camera setup and a dual LED flash. The three cameras are the 64MP main, 2MP depth, and 2MP macro.
Found on the right side are your standard volume rocker button and power button.
The top is clean with only the secondary noise-canceling microphone present.
At the bottom, you can find the USB Type-C charging port, downward-firing speaker, microphone, and hybrid SIM tray. A hybrid SIM tray can hold either a second SIM card or a microSD card for expandable storage. Sadly, there is no 3.5mm audio jack on the vivo V25e.
In addition to its design, the vivo V25e weighs 183g and has a thickness of 7.79mm. With its flat frame, the vivo V25e is sleek to look at and comfortable to hold.
Display and Multimedia
The vivo V25e's 6.44-inch Super AMOLED screen comes with a Full HD+ (1080 x 2404) resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate. The AMOLED display panel produces vivid colors; viewing angles are good and the screen can get bright with up to 1,300 nits of peak brightness.
The audio quality of the loudspeaker is like your typical smartphone. It can get loud but no bass. There’s also some distortion when you maximize the volume. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker for better audio quality.
Camera
Rear Cameras
Showcasing photos and videos on social media are the new norm for most people these days. This is why many have become more mindful of their smartphones’ capability to capture images in various scenarios and lighting situations.
Taking this to heart, the vivo V25e was born with camera hardware and capacities designed for nighttime shooting. The phone boasts a triple-camera set-up—consisting of the 64MP F1.8 primary camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and Phase Detection autofocus (PDAF). There's also a 2MP F2.4 depth lens and a 2MP F2.4 macro lens with a 4cm shooting distance.
Quality from the rear cameras under bright lighting conditions is pretty great as you get vibrant colors and sharp detail, though dynamic range can be better.
The 64MP main camera with OIS brings the phone’s low light and night photography to the next level. The quality of the images taken is very impressive with plenty of detail, even with night mode turned off.
Front Selfie Camera
vivo V25e uses a 32MP front camera with an F2.0 aperture. The camera also supports different features such as 9 classic and 11 portrait filters, bokeh mode, and night mode.
The vivo V25e’s front camera produces good photos, especially in bright conditions. Background blurring for portrait selfies isn’t that perfect but good enough.
Video
For video, vivo V25e only supports up to 1080p at 60fps for the rear main camera and up to 1080p at 30fps for the front camera. The videos shot with the main camera are pretty good, with low noise and a lot of detail.
Funtouch OS, Apps, and Security
The vivo v25e runs on Funtouch OS 12, based on Android 12 out of the box. Funtouch OS 12 is a seamless, clean, and pretty UI that is easy to navigate. Pre-installed are the standard vivo and Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.
In terms of security, vivo V25e is equipped with an in-display fingerprint scanner and facial recognition for unlocking the device. Both work well---the fingerprint scanner is pretty fast, and the accuracy is close to excellent. However, the face unlock feature can slow down in situations where there isn’t much light.
Hardware and Performance
The vivo V25e comes with a MediaTek Helio G99 processor. This processor is made using a 6nm process and is equipped with two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores at 2.2GHz and six high-efficiency Cortex-A55 cores at up to 2.0GHz, along with Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.
The performance of the vivo V25e is buttery smooth, and resource-intensive apps have no problem at all. When it comes to gaming, it brings a smooth gaming experience and seamlessly supports a wide variety of games like Asphalt 9: Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and many more.
The vivo V25e also supports Extended RAM 3.0 technology that lets you expand your phone's RAM virtually by using the phone's internal storage. The device can make use of 8GB of its internal storage, giving it up to 16GB of total RAM.
The vivo V25e is available in the Philippines in one storage variant - 256GB (26.35GB used out of the box). If you need additional storage, you can further expand the storage up to 1TB (microSD) via its hybrid card slot.
Below are the benchmark scores from this device:
- AnTuTu v9.4.4 – 377,169
- AnTuTu Storage Test v9.4.4 – 41,712 (999.0 MB/s Seq. Read, 842.1 MB/s Seq. Write)
- Geekbench 5.4.4 – 539 (Single-core), 1,783 (Multi-core)
- PCMark – 8,047 (Work 3.0)
- 3DMark – 2,542 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 2,490 (SSE – Vulkan)
Battery Life, Charging, and Connectivity
The 4,500mAh battery of the vivo V25e can easily last you a whole day of moderate usage without an additional charge. In the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life Test, the unit yielded a score of around 16 hours and 24 minutes.
With vivo V25e’s 44W FlashCharge, the 4,500mAh battery can be charged up from 0 to around 60 percent in just 30 minutes.
Aside from the battery and charger, the vivo V25e has your usual connectivity features, including hybrid dual-SIM (nano-SIM, dual stand-by), 4G LTE, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, and USB Type-C.
vivo V25e Specifications
6.44inch FullHD+ (1080 x 2404) AMOLED display, 409ppi
90Hz Refresh Rate / 1300 nits (peak)
MediaTek Helio G99 processor, 6nm
Mali-G57 MC2 GPU
8GB RAM
256GB of internal storage
microSD up to 1TB (hybrid slot)
Triple-rear cameras (64MP F1.8 main + 2MP F2.4 depth + 2MP F2.4 macro)
32MP F2.0 front camera
Hybrid dual-SIM (nano) / 4G LTE
WiFi 5 / Bluetooth 5.2
GPS, A-GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS
USB Type-C / Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
IP54 Dust and Water Resistant
Funtouch OS 12 (Android 12)
4,500mAh Battery with 44W Fast Charge
159.2 x 74.2 x 7.8mm (dimension)
183g (weight)
Colors: Diamond Black and Sunrise Gold
What’s inside the box
If you haven't seen the unboxing of the vivo V25e yet, the box contains the vivo V25e, SIM card ejector tool, quick start guide, important information (including the Warranty Card), USB power adapter, USB type-C to USB-A charging cable, silicone case, headset, and 3.5mm headphone jack adapter.
Price and Availability
The vivo V25e retails for Php17,999 (8GB+256GB) and can be purchased via vivo’s official online stores (website, Lazada, and Shopee) nationwide starting September 24, 2022.
Verdict
Is this the smartphone you are looking for? The answer is “YES”, you should definitely shortlist this one! Even though it is a bit pricey compared to its competition, the vivo V25e is a very solid mid-range smartphone that offered very competitive features such as its outstanding photography specs, 90Hz Super AMOLED screen, and color-changing design.
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