Vivo V19 review: Strong camera game, impressive design but slightly expensive

Vivo V19 review: Smartphone deliveries have started in some parts of the country. And that’s all the good news mobile phone manufacturers needed to bring new products into the market. Vivo, which has delayed the launch of its new V series smartphone by about a month and a half, has finally launched it on Tuesday. The Vivo V19 remains a camera-heavy smartphone with several improvements for both normal images as well as selfies. Of course, the number of cameras remains six – four at the back and two on front. 

The company has also tried to make improvements on other fronts, including the processor, at least from its previous generation devices. The smartphone comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 processor, packs a big 4500 mAh battery and has support for fast charging technology. 

But, is all of this enough to spend Rs 27,990 – that too on the base model? Let’s find out in our Vivo V19 review. 

Vivo V19 review: Design

Vivo is known for making flashy and eye-catching smartphones and this one is no different. The colour choices and build quality make the Vivo V19 one of the most attractive smartphones to have launched in the recent times. It has a relatively compact form factor despite thick sides and flaunts a neat rear panel. 

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The smartphone comes in t Mystic Silver and Piano Black colour options. We had the first and it looks absolutely stunning. The Silver variant has a premium feel to it and reminds you of some of Samsung’s flagship-level smartphones including the recently launched Galaxy S20. 

As I said before, the rear panel is quite neat with Vivo branding the bottom and a gorgeous camera module. Thankfully, Vivo hasn’t experimented much with the camera setup, continuing with the usual triangular module housing the four lenses and a LED flash. The only problem here is that the phone catches a lot of fingerprint smudges and it could be annoying at times.

Vivo V19 weighs 186.5 grams which is highly impressive for a smartphone that boasts of a 6.44-inch screen and a 4500 mAh battery. The phone can largely be managed by single hand but there are times when you do need extra support. 

The other design elements include a 3.5mm jack, USB-C slot, microphone, and the speaker grille at the bottom; power button and a volume rocker on the right; and a secondary noise-cancelling microphone up top. On the left side, you get the SIM tray which includes two SIM slots and a dedicated microSD car slot. 

Vivo V19 review: Display 

The Vivo V19 features a 6.44-inch display which sounds unbelievably sane in a world where smartphone screens are getting taller with each day. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6. The display houses dual camera on the front in what company claims is the smallest punch hole in the world right now.

The smartphone uses a FHD+ AMOLED panel with support for HDR10. The display quality is quite impressive with crisp icons and text. The colour reproduction is decent and HDR10 support makes your streaming experience better. 

But, in what could be a missed opportunity, Vivo continues to depend on 60Hz refresh rate on this phone while most of its competitors have moved on to at least 90Hz displays. With V19 being company’s most important smartphone of the year so far, an extra effort could have been made in that regard. 

The most impressive part of the display would be the brightness on offer. Vivo claims that the screen could touch as high as 1200 nits under daylight. The display does light-up outdoor.

Vivo V19 review: Camera 

Vivo has spent big to achieve excellence with V19’s cameras. The smartphone comes with a powerful quad rear camera setup which comprises of a 48-megapixel primary lens, a 8MP Ultra-Wide-Angle Camera, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP bokeh camera. 

The images captured using the primary lens are vibrant, even though there was hardly anyone on the road to be captured over the last few weeks. The camera has a fine auto focus and captures good amount of details both during day and under lowlight conditions. 

The ultra-wide angle too manages to capture great detail but can’t look beyond 105 degrees FOV, which is less than what the competition is offering. I couldn’t take out the phone much due to the ongoing lockdown and had to do with limited subjects and conditions available. 

The images clicked even at night had decent detail. Yes, some of the images were 'noisy' but didn’t look bad. 

The real magic happens on the front though. The Vivo V19 features a dual punch hole camera with a 32-megapixel primary selfie shooter assisted by a 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle lens. The camera app is full of options for those obsessed with selfies. It suggests you to pose, add filters and do a lot more. 

The selfies impressed me the most. In fact, we have also shot our Vivo V19 review using the front camera of this phone so that you have a better idea about its camera output. You can watch the video review to have a better idea. 

WATCH | Vivo V19 review

The front camera also allows you to click portrait shots. The images are at times soft but that can be dealt with by adjusting the settings.

Vivo V19 Performance and Battery

While Vivo was happily spending on cameras, seems like not much was left to upgrade the performance. The Vivo V19 does boast a Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 processor, an upgrade on Snapdragon 675 chipset used on last year’s V19 Pro, it is still an year old chip. The processor had made its way to India last year with the Vivo Z1 Pro. 

There is not much to hate about the chipset and it does manage to deliver a good performance, the company could have opted for a more advanced processor. Vivo tells us that by doing so, it would have ended up making the phone more expensive, but the V19 doesn’t come cheap anyway.

The 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage variant of the phone has been priced at Rs 27,990 while the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant would cost you Rs 31,990. Of course, a few thousands would have been added to that figure because of the recent GST hike. 

The phone manages to sustain normal gaming but isn’t made for hardcore gamers or heavy multitasking. 

A major difference in the overall performance is made by the latest version of Funtouch OS. It brings many changes like smaller screening, better spacing and a cleaner UI. The quick settings panel has been moved to the top which is a huge relief too. The number of pre-installed apps remains to be a issue. 

Battery is a major relief on this phone. The Vivo V19 comes with a massive 4,500mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. The phone charges about 50 per cent in just half an hour. 

Vivo V19 review: Final verdict 

Now, this is the difficult. While there are a lot of things that go in favour of the Vivo V19, it isn’t a clear winner for sure. The smartphone is designed for those who are highly dependent on their camera. It delivers an amazing photography experience allowing you to capture moments and create content on the go.

WATCH | Vivo V19 smartphone review

However, there are a lot of users that would want a better performance and a more powerful processor at that price point.

So, if you are looking for a phone with stunning cameras, trendy design and a big battery, then feel free to spend on the Vivo V19. If not, you could look at Samsung Galaxy A71, Redmi K20 Pro and OnePlus 7T as other options.