vivo V30e Full Review
The vivo V30 Series is creating a lot of buzz for its groundbreaking advancements in mobile photography. The vivo V30 Pro boasts a ZEISS triple main camera on the rear, allowing for professional-quality portrait photography. However, these impressive upgrades come at a higher price, which may be a barrier for budget-conscious consumers.
Fortunately, vivo has introduced the vivo V30e, the latest addition to its popular mid-range V30 Series, which is priced more affordably compared to its V30 counterparts.
Last week, we unboxed and shared our initial thoughts on the vivo V30e. In this review, we will take a closer look at the smartphone's features to help you determine if it meets your needs.
Design and Walk Around
As we previously discussed during the unboxing and first impression of the device, here is a summary of the design and features of the vivo V30e. The vivo V30e has a design that sets it apart from its V30 siblings. The Coco Brown variant of the device I have features a matte finish with a small glossy side panel. This design is also less prone to fingerprint smudges and scratches. There is also another color option available: Cloud White.
The vivo V30e weighs 188g and has a thickness of 7.75 mm. It features a sleek 3D curved display, making it both stylish and handy.
The phone's front side includes a large 6.78-inch FHD+ (1980 x 2400) AMOLED display, protected by curved "Schott Xensation" glass and a pre-installed screen protector. The centered hole-punch camera is located at the top of the screen, with the earpiece discreetly positioned above the display. The fingerprint reader is placed below the screen.
On the back, there is a prominent circular-shaped camera module that houses a dual-camera setup and a ring-LED flash called Aura Light 3.0.
The phone's volume rocker and power buttons are on the right side, while the top is uncluttered, with only the secondary noise-canceling microphone present.
At the bottom of the vivo V30e, you'll find a USB Type-C charging port, downward-firing speaker, microphone, and hybrid SIM tray. The hybrid SIM tray can accommodate a second SIM card or a microSD card for additional storage. Unfortunately, the phone does not include a 3.5mm audio jack and features only one speaker.
Display and Multimedia
The vivo V30e is a smartphone with a large 6.78-inch AMOLED screen featuring a 1080 x 2400 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. This makes it ideal for multitasking.
The AMOLED display produces vibrant colors and has excellent viewing angles. Its peak brightness of 1,300 nits can automatically adjust to provide clear outdoor visibility.
While the device does not have dual speakers like its competitors, the loudspeaker's audio quality is good. Although the volume can get loud, it lacks bass. For a better audio experience, it is recommended to use headphones or an external speaker.
Camera
Rear Cameras
Like its V-Series siblings, the vivo V30e features a remarkable camera system. The main camera is a 50MP F1.8 with Phase Detection autofocus (PDAF) and a Sony IMX882 sensor, known for precise color reproduction. It is also equipped with an 8MP F2.2 ultrawide camera supporting a 120-degree field of view.
Additionally, the vivo V30e comes with vivo’s Aura Light 3.0 feature, providing soft and even lighting for better photos.
The rear camera captures vibrant and accurate colors with sharp details under bright lighting conditions; however, the dynamic range needs improvement in some scenarios.
Night Mode works well in both indoor and low-light conditions, producing exceptional photos compared to other phones at this price point.
Front Selfie Camera
The front-facing camera is a 32MP F2.0 aperture camera that produces decent-quality photos, especially in well-lit conditions. The portrait mode background blurring is not perfect, but still does a good job.
Video
The vivo V30 supports up to 4K at 30fps for the rear main camera and 1080p at 30fps for the front camera. Stabilization mode works only at 1080p at 30fps. Videos shot with the main camera have low noise and great detail.
Funtouch OS, Apps, and Security
The vivo V30e smartphone runs on a customized user interface called Funtouch OS 14, which is based on the Android 14 operating system.
Funtouch OS 14 has numerous features and vivo promises that its intelligent control over background tasks will ensure smooth operation for up to 50 months without any major slowdowns. The phone comes pre-installed with the standard vivo and Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.
Security-wise, the vivo V30e features an in-display fingerprint scanner and facial recognition to unlock the device. Both methods work well, with the fingerprint scanner being notably fast and accurate. However, the face unlock feature can be slower in low-light situations.
Hardware and Performance
The vivo V30e is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 mobile platform, built using a 4nm process. It features four Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at up to 1.8GHz. Additionally, it is equipped with an Adreno GPU for graphics processing.
In terms of performance, the vivo V30e effectively handles everyday tasks and offers a good gaming experience with support for a wide variety of games. However, the phone may warm up when running demanding applications such as games.
The vivo V30e supports Extended RAM 4.0 technology, allowing users to virtually expand the phone's RAM using its internal storage, providing up to 16GB of total RAM when utilizing the 8GB internal storage expansion.
In the Philippines, the vivo V30e is available with 256GB of storage. Out of the box, my 256GB unit used 24.96GB of storage. For those needing more storage, it can be expanded up to 1TB via the hybrid SIM tray.
Benchmark scores for the device are as follows:
- AnTuTu v10.2.9 – 558,652
- AnTuTu Storage Test v10.2.9 – 50,311 (981.0 MB/s Seq. Read, 825.3 MB/s Seq. Write)
- Geekbench 6.3.0 – 934 (Single-core), 2,806 (Multi-core)
- PCMark – 9,777 (Work 3.0)
- 3DMark – 4,528 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 3,626 (SSE – Vulkan)
Battery Life, Charging, and Connectivity
The vivo V30e comes with a massive 5,500mAh battery, the largest in the Ve Series so far. As per vivo, you can enjoy up to 22 hours of video streaming, 15 hours of social media usage, 9 hours of gaming, or 53 hours of music playback on a single charge.
In my experience, the phone can last an entire day with moderate usage without needing an additional charge. According to the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life Test, this device scored approximately 20 hours and 23 minutes.
Furthermore, the vivo V30e's 44W FlashCharge allows the 5,500mAh battery to be charged from 0 to 100 percent in just 48 minutes. In addition, vivo has included smart battery charging as part of the battery optimizations.
In terms of connectivity, the vivo V30e offers features such as dual-SIM (nano-SIM), 5G Connectivity, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, and USB Type-C.
vivo V30e Specifications
6.78-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2400) AMOLED display, 388ppi
120Hz Refresh Rate, Schott Xensation Glass Protection
Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, 4nm
Adreno 710 GPU
8GB RAM
256GB of internal storage (UFS 2.2)
Up to 1TB Expandability via microSD Card
Dual-rear cameras (50MP F1.8 main + 8MP F2.2 ultrawide)
32MP F2.0 front camera
Dual-SIM (nano) / 5G Connectivity
WiFi 5 / Bluetooth 5.1
GPS, A-GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS
USB Type-C / Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
IP64 Dust and Water Resistant
Funtouch OS 14 (Android 14)
5,500mAh Battery with 44W Fast Charge
164.4 x 74.8 x 7.7 mm (dimension)
188g (weight)
Colors: Cloud White and Coco Brown
What’s inside the box
If you haven't seen the unboxing of the vivo V30e yet, the box contained the smartphone itself, SIM card ejector tool, quick start guide, important information (including the Warranty Card), USB power adapter, USB type-C to USB-A charging cable, and silicone case.
Price and Availability
The vivo V30e is available in a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of ROM, priced at Php17,999. You can purchase the vivo V30e at any vivo physical store nationwide or online on Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok.
Verdict
Is this the smartphone you are looking for? The answer is "YES”
The vivo V30e is a very capable smartphone in its price range, offering decent performance, a large AMOLED display, a pretty good camera, long-lasting battery life, and a stylish design that sets it apart.
However, if you have the budget, it's worth considering investing in its V30 siblings, especially the vivo V30 Pro.
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