Vivo V7 Plus Quick Review: Trendy display, big on Selfies

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Vivo has unleashed its next generation flagship, the Vivo V7 Plus, that aims to improve upon the essence of its last generation flagship phone and adopting a few new trends, while simultaneously cutting costs (It’s priced way below what Vivo V5 Plus was at launch).

The primary highlights include a ‘full view’ display or an 18:9 aspect ratio display with narrow bezels (84.5 percent screen to body ratio) and a 24MP front camera equipped with the prerequisite software and hardware selfie features. We took the phone for a spin to understand the evolution of Vivo’s selfie and music game. Let’s summarise our findings in a quick Vivo V7+ review.

Vivo V7+ Specifications

Model Vivo V7+
Display 6-Inch HD+IPS Display, Gorilla Glass 3, 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass
Processor Qualcomm’s 14nm based 1.8GHz octa-core Snapdragon 450
RAM 4GB
Internal Storage 64GB, expandable up to 256GB(dedicated slot)
Software Android 7.1 Nougat based Funtouch OS 3.2
Primary Camera 16MP, f/2.0, PDAF, LED Flash
Secondary Camera 24MP, f/2.0 aperture, Sony IMX376 sensor, 5P lens and Moonlight Flash
Dimensions and Weight 155.8 x 75.5 x 7.7mm, 160Grams
Battery 3,225mAh
Others 4G VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, 3.5mm Audio Jack, micro USB 2.0, Fingerprint Sensor, Hi-Fi AK436A Audio
Price Rs. 21,990/-

Vivo V7 + Design and Display

The Vivo V7 Plus design is slightly different from what we have become accustomed to over the past year. Of course, the biggest differentiating factor is the charming 18:9 display that dominates the fascia and instantly draws your attention. The 2.5D glass on top further glorifies it.

Over the last year, we have thoroughly enjoyed the fast and accurate fingerprint sensors on Vivo phones integrated with the front home button. Alas, that’s something that had to be sacrificed at the full vision alter. Since there is no room for a physical home button on the front, Vivo was forced to use a rear mounted fingerprint sensor here. It must be noted that this is a subjective analysis as many of you might actually prefer the rear arrangement instead.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi A1 Vs Moto G5s Plus Specs Comparison – Stock Android Rivalry

The phone graces a unibody metal back which makes it aesthetically appealing to the eye. The rear camera has a circular protective ring around it that slightly protrudes out. The elegant looking U-shape antenna lines look pleasant as ever. The rounded edges make the phone easy to hold. Even with a seemingly gigantic 5.99-inch display, the phone is quite compact and easily manageable. The 160 grams of weight also tilts the scale in its favour.

The V7 Plus comes with 6-inch IPS HD+ screen which has a 1440X720 pixels resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. The display is bright, viewing angles and colour calibration seems quite pleasing. However, lower pixel count means that the display is not as sharp as the competition. Having said that, gawking at the screen we do feel that an average consumer won’t be bothered by (or maybe even recognize) lack of pixels. The display is a tad reflective which negatively impact sunlight legibility.

Vivo V7+ Performance & Hardware

The Vivo V7 Plus rocks a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core chipset clocked at 1.8GHz. It is the successor of Snapdragon 435 SoC and offers better battery life, imaging, and gaming performance. It comes with 64GB onboard storage alongside a dedicated microSD card slot which can handle up to 256GB memory card.

The 14nm finFET process based chipset is paired with Adreno 506 GPU and 4GB RAM, which makes it a decent combination. The SoC has a lot in common with the Snapdragon 625 and there shouldn’t be a noticeable performance difference between the two chips. Even though the chipset might seem a let down on paper it certainly didn’t disappoint us on the performance front. The V7 Plus manages to run all the routine tasks seamlessly.

It’s GPU managed to hold well while we played Asphalt 8. The RAM management is fairly balanced as V7+ manages to hold quite a few apps cached in the background.

Apart from this, the Vivo V7 Plus packs a 3225mAh battery which is certainly not the best in it class. Lack of fast charging further dents its case.

Vivo’s proprietary audio chip- AK4376A also finds a place in the V7 Plus. Audiophiles will be able to enjoy Hi-Fi music over headphones.

Also Read: Nokia 6 FAQ – All Questions Answered

Vivo V7+ Camera

The camera has been one of the key proposition of Vivo phones. The V7+ flaunts a 16-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF and LED flash (same as V5 Plus). It manages to record 4K and slo-mo videos as well.

Vivo has upgraded its face beauty Software and now it works on both image and videos. The software is also intelligent enough to differentiate between blemishes and bindi, Vivo points out.

Surprisingly, the Vivo V7 Plus only has a single selfie camera. It comes with a 24-megapixel front shooter which has IMX376 sensor with f/2.0 aperture and moonlight flash. The default camera app has a number of modes including portrait bokeh mode (which is what dual camera was used for on V5 Plus), professional, Live photo, group selfie, HDR and few more. Based on our initial testing, the quality of selfies clicked using V7+ turned out pretty good. The dynamic range, colors, and details are better than we’d expected.

The rear camera also managed to capture some decent clicks. However, the images captured from the rear camera are not as sharp as we would have liked. Colors in the images appear slightly washed out.

Vivo V7+ Software

The phone boots in Android Nougat 7.1 based Funtouch 3.2 OS out of the box. Like most Chinese UI’s, this one too lacks an app drawer and all apps are stacked on the home screen. Vivo hasn’t made a lot of changes to its UI and still, the best way of describing it is still as ‘inspired from Apple iOS’. From icons to notification center all aspects are staggering similar to iOS. We do feel that it’s about time Vivo overhauls the aesthetics of its custom interface in a big, refreshing and meaningful way.

Vivo V7+ Quick Review

The Vivo V5 series worked well for the company. Especially the V5 Plus which was an all-round phone. Keeping that in mind, the Vivo V7+ has big expectations to live up to.

All metal chassis, full vision display, smooth performance and an interesting selfie camera are noteworthy features of the phone. While, mediocre battery, no fast charging, uninspiring Software skin, and low display resolution are undeniable drawbacks. Based on our initial experience we the phone, we believe it will be a recommendable option after the first few price cuts. For now, the Vivo V7 Plus will be retailing for ₹21,990 in all leading retail stores in India starting from September 15.

Also Read: Vivo V7 Plus vs Vivo V5 Plus – What has changed? 

Vivo V7+ Advantages and Disadvantage

Vivo 7 Plus Pros

  • 18:9 full view display
  • Elegant design
  • Dedicated Hi-Fi Audio chip
  • Good set of cameras

Vivo V7 Plus Cons

  • Vivo needs a software refresh
Deepak RajawatDeepak Rajawat
Experienced technology journalist with over 7-years of experience. Before embracing online journalism, he has worked with several legacy publications including print editions at Hindustan Times and The Statesman. He also has a keen interest in Sports, which he used to cover with equal enthusiasm in his early career.

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