Vivo V5 – Tech Raman

Top Features of Vivo V5s that might win over you

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 07:30:59 +0000

Continuing their focus on the selfie-centric Smartphones, Vivo has launched the Vivo V5s , essentially very similar to the Vivo V5 but for a minor design change in the antenna design at the back and doubling the internal storage to 64GB from 32GB. The Vivo V5s has a 5.5-inch display with HD resolution and 2.5D glass layered. The Smartphone runs on MediaTek MT 6750 chipset with 4GB of RAM under its hood. The highlight though is the 20-megapixel selfie camera with a LED soft light for better low light selfies. It also has a groupie feature that can accomodate more people in your selfie , it is basically a panaroma mode fitted for group selfies. Here are some of the best features of the Vivo V5s that can impress you.

Awesome screenshots in V5S

This is easily my favourite feature , the FunTouch UI of Vivo offers in this device. I keep gathering interesting cliparts making use of the interesting patterns the S-Capture offers. To access the screenshot options in Vivo V5s, go to the control panel by swiping up the home screen from bottom. There you find a quick access option for S-capture. Tapping upon that, it shows a round dial that gives four options – long screenshot, funny screenshots, rectangle and recording. Long screenshot allows you to take a scrolling screenshot not limited to the screen page of the webpage but also the portion that might be there above or below the screen page. Suppose you are at a recipe page of a cooking webiste, you can take a screenshot of the entire webpage even if it scrolls above or below. In usual devices, you might be ending up taking multiple screenshot to cover the full web page but here you can take on long screenshot. Makes sense right? Funny screenshot is what I enjoy more personally. Tapping on that gives three sub-options – pattern. lasso, doodle. Pattern has interesting cutouts for cliparts , lasso can give you ability to cut the portion of the screen image you want and doodle is more of a fun. Rectangle, as the name suggest helps you get angular screenshot in rectangle shape. Recording is the screen recorder, so when you are playing games, you can record the entire gameplay and watch it later as a video.

Vivo V5S Call recording

Settings > Phone settings > Record settings. Vivo V5S allows you to record the calls and you can choose to record all the calls automatically, or make a custom list with particular numbers.

Other phone settings

Go to contacts and you find an option personal. This gives you the following features.

My QR Code: You can make your personal information as a QR Code.
Private communication: You can encrypt certain numbers from your contacts and it won’t be visible on the contact page. The encrypted numbers will be moved to private communication which is secured via finger print or password.
Gesture dial: There is speed dial settings but what is more interesting for me is the gesture dial settings. You can assign a gesture to particular six contacts and in the dialer you can simply draw the gesture to call them.

App lock with fingerprint

Apart from unlocking the phone, Vivo V5S do have the app lock feature with fingerprint sensor. Make sure the option is enabled in the fingerprint management setting and then head over to the iManager app and to app manager option there. You find the app lock setting there and you can choose the apps you want to secure.

iManager

While we mentioned the app lock feature that is found in the iManager, there are whole lots of other settings nested here including the auto start manager and other app management settings like uninstall, floating app management etc. The privacy option allows you to stash your selected pictures, videos, audio and other files in a password protected different layer. Power manager option gives you different power saving mode also to identify apps that drain excess power in your phone and to kill them. There are few other phone cleaning tool too in this, if you want to explore.

Limit your hotspot sharing

Settings > Personal hotspot > One-time sharing limit Sharing is good but it also makes sense to be prudent. So next time if someone asks you to share your Wi-Fi and you want to make sure the sharing is within a limited data, there is a one-time sharing limit where you can choose the amount of data you want to share.

Visitor mode

V5S also has a guest mode with a visitor password on the lock-screen interface to enter the visitor mode. You can hide contact information including namecard, messages and call log of the selected contact , hide app icons which you don’t want your guest to see in your phone and also protect albums and videos.

SOS call

Settings > More settings > SOS call When there is an emergency, you can press the power button three times to call 100.

Search bar customization

Settings > More settings > Search Swiping down from the home screen shows a search bar where you can search in-phone apps, contacts, messages, music, settings, notes and file manager plus google search engine. You can enable the disable the parameters in the search bar settings.

OTG

Settings > More Settings > OTG Vivo V5S supports OTG but it has to be enabled in the settings page. Don’t forget once enabled, the OTG auto turns off after 5 minutes of inactivity.

Smart motion

Settings > More settings > Smart motion Smart motion settings page offers lot many ‘smart’ or ‘gimmicky’ features that you may like or not like, use or not use , nevertheless those options are nested here. There are draw gestures options to open certain apps or perform action like unlock phone or take a photo by drawing certain gestures when the screen is off. There is even an air operation like ‘black screen glance’ which shows the phone status when the screen is turned off by simply waving your hand some few cms above the phone. Other features you could find here include double tap to turn off screen, smart call features like lift the phone to automatically answer calls or wave over the screen to mute an incoming call or to enable hands-free. There is even a turn on the flash light by shaking the phone and tilt to zoom picture while viewing in the gallery.

Multi screen

The multi screen functionality is limited to three apps – facebook, messages and Whatsapp. So when you are on full screen say like watching a movie and there is a notification from any of these three apps, you can tap the notification to split the screen and chat while watching the movie.

One-hand operation

I rarely use the one-hand operation as am perfectly fine with big screens even more than 6-inches but for those who want to minimize the screen there is a one-hand keyboard and mini screen options.

Smart Click

When the screen is turned off, you can the hold the Volume down key to turn on / off the flashlight, record video, open camera, facebook or any other selected app.

Also watch:

https://youtu.be/GnRFwnpieCk]]>

Vivo V5 Plus FAQs – Commonly Asked Questions Answered

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 17:42:34 +0000

Question: What are the different colors Vivo V5 Plus is available?

Answer: Right now the Vivo V5 Plus is available only in gold color.

Question: What is the display size and resolution?

Answer: The Vivo V5 Plus has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display offering a 1930 x 1080 fullHD pixels resolution with a 401 pixels per inch (PPI)

Question: What display settings available?

Answer: The display settings has brightness control, auto brightness and Global eye protection toggle, which is basically the blue filter to reduce eye strain.

Question: Does the Vivo V5 Plus display have a bluefilter setting?

Answer: Yes, there is bluefilter option. It can be set manually and a start and end time can also be set.

Question: What is the price of Vivo V5 Plus? Where can I buy?

Answer: Vivo V5 is priced at Rs 28,980 and is available pan-India in offline channels and e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.

Question: What size sim cards, Vivo V5 Plus accepts? Does it has dedicated microSD card support?

Answer: It supports dual-nano SIM with 64GB of internal storage. It does not have microSD card slot.

Question: Does it have Corning Gorilla Glass protection?

Answer: Yes, Vivo V5 Plus has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. It is the world’s first Smartphone to use Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

Question: What is the processor used in this smartphone?

Answer: Vivo V5 Plus is powered by Snapdragon 635 (MSM8953) clocked at 2.o GHz and has 4GB of RAM and Adreno 506 GPU. The internal storage is 64GB.

Question: Does Vivo V5 has Gyroscope sensor?

Answer: Yes, it has Gyro sensor.

Question: Is the buttons back lit?

Answer: No, the buttons are backlit.

Question: What USB type does it use?

Answer: It supports microUSB port not USB-Type C

Question: Does it have notification light?

Answer: Yes, it has notification light.

Question: What are the camera specifications of Vivo V5?

Answer: The highlight of the Vivo V5 Plus is the dual front camera consisting of a 20-megapixel and a 8MP set up, which the company claims as the world’s first Smartphone with dual camera and a LED flash in the front. A LED light gives a soft glow to the face. The rear camera has a 13MP camera with Phased Detection Auto Focus and LED flash and an aperture of f/2.0. Both the front and back camera can shoot 1080p videos.

Question: What is moonlight sensor / selfie?

Answer: The Vivo V5 Plus like the Vivo V5 has a LED soft light at the front, it can fire automatically at low lights. Unlike the regular LED flash that flashes and stops when taking picture, the moonlight flash in Vivo V5 Plus constantly glows like a torch and gives out soft light.

Question: What are the connectivity options? Does it support VoLTE?

Answer: Yes, Vivo V5 supports VoLTE. Other options include Bluetooth, WiFi, A-GPS.

Question: What does S-Capture does? What different Screenshots can be taken? How to take screnshots?

Answer: Vivo V5 offers extensive and interesting screenshot feature. You can take long screenshots, funny screenshots and also video record the screen. Check the video below for how to take various screenshots in V5 Plus.

Question: Does it support fast charging?

Answer: Yes, it supports fast charging.

Question: What is the storage? How much is user available?

Answer: It has 64GB of internal storage with 54GB user available.

Question: Does it support USB OTG?

Answer: Yes, it supports OTG and you can connect the USB drive to it. To enable, you need to turn on the OTG settings in Settings > More Settings. The OTG turns off automatically after 5 minutes of inactivity.

Question: Does it have power saver modes?

Answer: Yes, Vivo V5 Plus has power saver mode which can be accessed in the iManager app that comes bundled. There are normal, extreme, smart power saving and super saver modes.

Question: Does it have IR blaster?

Answer: No it does not have an IR blaster.

Question: How is the call quality?

Answer: Call quality of Vivo V5 is very good.

Question: Does it support one hand UI?

Answer: Yes it supports one hand UI.

Question: Does Vivo V5 Plus has fingerprint scanner?

Answer: Yes, it has fingerprint sensor.

Question: Does Vivo V5 Plus support App lock?

Answer: Yes, it supports.

Question: What are the fingerprint features in Vivo V5 Plus?

Answer: Locking- unlocking phone and app lock.]]>

Vivo V5 FAQ – Answers to the common doubts and questions

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 13:36:57 +0000

Vivo V5 is aimed at the selfie generation and those who love taking selfies. Equipped with a 20 megapixel front camera and a LED light which it calls as moonlight flash, the company claims the V5 as the world’s first smartphone with 20MP selfie camera and a LED flash. Here are the mega list of answers for all the commonly asked questions you might have.

Also read: Vivo V5 Review.

Question: What are the different colors Vivo V5 is available?

Answer: Crow Gold and Grey.

Question: What is the display size and resolution?

Answer: The Vivo V5 has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display offering a 1280 x 720 pixels resolution.

Question: What display settings available?

Answer: The display settings has brightness control, auto brightness and Global eye protection toggle, which is basically the blue filter to reduce eye strain. Screen color slider can shift from cool to warm.

Question: Does the display have a bluefilter setting?

Answer: Yes, there is bluefilter option. It can be set manually and a start and end time can also be set.

Question: What is the price of Vivo V5? Where can I buy?

Answer: Vivo V5 is priced at Rs 17,999 and is available pan-India in offline channels.

Question: What size sim cards, Vivo V5 accepts? Does it has dedicated microSD card support?

Answer: It supports hybrid Dual-SIM which houses a microSIM and a nanoSIM. One SIM can be interchanged with a microSD card.

Question: Does it have Corning Gorilla Glass protection?

Answer: Yes, Vivo V5 has an unspecified version of Corning gorilla Glass. The display also comes pre-laid with a tempered glass in addition.

Question: What is the processor used in this smartphone?

Answer: Vivo V5 is powered by a MediaTek MT6750 processor clocked at 1.5GHz and has 4GB of RAM and Mali T860GPU. The internal storage is 32GB which can be expanded.

Question: Does Vivo V5 has Gyroscope sensor?

Answer: Yes, it has Gyro sensor.

Question: Is the buttons back lit?

Answer: Yes, the buttons are backlit.

Question: What USB type does it use?

Answer: It supports microUSB port not USB-Type C

Question: Does it have notification light?

Answer: Yes, it has notification light.

Question: Does Vivo V5 have call recording option?

Answer: No, Vivo V5 does not have a call recording setting.

Question: What are the camera specifications of Vivo V5?

Answer: The highlight of the Vivo V5 is the 20-megapixel front camera, which the company claims as the world’s first Smartphone with 20MP front camera.The front camera uses a Sony IMX 376 camera with a f/2.0 aperture. It has a 5P lens setup and can take 1080 pixels video. A LED light gives a soft glow to the face. The rear camera has a 13MP camera with Phased Detection Auto Focus and LED flash.

Question: What is moonlight sensor / selfie?

Answer: The Vivo V5 has a LED soft light at the front, it can fire automatically at low lights. Unlike the regular LED flash that flashes and stops when taking picture, the moonlight flash in Vivo V5 constantly glows like a torch and gives out soft light.

Question: What are the connectivity options? Does it support VoLTE?

Answer: Yes, Vivo V5 supports VoLTE. Other options include Bluetooth, WiFi, A-GPS.

Question: What does S-Capture does? What different Screenshots can be taken? How to take screnshots?

Question: Does it support fast charging?

Answer: No, it doesn’t.

Question: What is the storage? How much is user available?

Answer: It has 32GB of internal storage with 23.7GB user available.

Question: Does it support USB OTG?

Question: Does it have power saver modes?

Answer: Yes, Vivo V5 has power saver mode which can be accessed in the iManager app that comes bundled. There are normal, extreme, smart power saving and super saver modes.

Question: Does it have IR blaster?

Answer: NO, it does not have an IR blaster.

Question: How is the call quality?

Answer: Call quality of Vivo V5 is very good.

Question: Does it support One hand operation UI?

Answer: Yes it supports one hand UI. ]]>

Vivo V5 Review – Can the 20 megapixel selfie camera steal the moonlight?

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 17:58:29 +0000

Before I start the review, few things have to be mentioned upfront. There is a tendency to compare phones like Vivo V5 with online exclusive models which have considerably better specs. Yes, they do but then it’s an unfair comparison and biased against phone pitched primarily targeted at offline channels. The brick and motors channels incur more marketing and distribution costs and so its a different ball game to be balanced out there. The primary buyers in the stores are not going to compare it with specs to specs with online exclusive models and so even am not going to let that cloud my review either. Now let’s say Hi5 with V5. Vivo has always taken pride of its HiFi audio fidelity in their devices but with V5 they have added camera to their core list. So there new tagline is ‘Camera & Music”. And the Vivo V5 gets a special focus on the selfie craze and delivers the world’s first Smartphone with 20-megapixel front camera with a moonlight flash. Does big megapixel necessarily deliver better selfies? we will talk about that in a while but let’s take one thing at a time and begin with the design first.

Design, Build and Design

Poly carbonate body
5.5-inch IPS LCD display
720 x 1280 pixel resolution
Corning Gorilla Glass (version unspecified)
2.5D Curved glass
153.8 x 75.5 x 7.6 mm
154 grams
Colors: Crown gold, grey.

Its surprising that Vivo had opted for a polycarbonate body instead of metal or glass that is in vogue now but on the positive side, few times the phone fell from my hand there was no bump or cracks that a metal or glass body would have taken. Aesthetically looking at, irrespective of the casing, it looks good. The V5 has the design flow and smoothness that is very familiar of its own other models and from the staples of the competition like the Oppo F1s. Its a clean design with good ergonomics. The sides are smooth and the edges gently curved, it gives a good feel when you hold it. There are two antenna strips on the top and bottom and the rear camera, LED flash and Vivo branding adoring it. The bottom is bustling with speaker grille, microUSB port, microphone and a 3.5mm audio jack. The top is devoid of any ports. The right side has the volume and power button, while the left side houses the ejectable pin tray. Vivo V5 is a dual-SIM 4G VoLTE phone that can also accommodate a microSD card. Overall, I have no complaints on Vivo V5 design but yes, a metal casing would have been a more contemporary clothing. Amongst the rivals it is pitted against in the price segment in the offline models, only Gionee S6s has a fullHD display and like Oppo F1s , the Vivo V5 also contents with HD resolution. In practical scenario, Vivo has done a rather fine job with its display. The display has a punch and the colors are well saturated with black rich. The touch sensitivity and responsiveness is very good, the viewing angles are great too! The display setting has minimal controls and there is a blue filter like in most phone these days and Vivo calls it global eye protection ( a rather elaborate term!)

Software – The FunTouch UI

That it runs on Android Marshmallow is just for the fact but the FunTouch UI mashes up the Android like anything. The biggest unlearn-learn is getting used to the quick access settings which needs a swipe up from bottom of the screen or long pressing the menu button. Again the recent apps are nested in the control panel below and can the icons can be scrolled horizontally and swiped up to close the running apps. The FunTouch OS has its own share of quirky features, my favourite being S-Capture which offers some awesome screenshot capabilities, gesture dial, some smart gesture options and a Smart click that allows you to turn the Volume down key to be assigned a task like opening an app or turning on flash light. I have done a separate post on interesting features Vivo V5 has to offer and you can take a look at it, if you are interested. The Vivo inspite of the heavy customization doesn’t slow down the phone and manages to be nimble.

Read: Top Features of Vivo V5

Hardware and Performance

MediaTek MT6750 processor
1.5GHz octa-core
4GB RAM
Mali T860 GPU
32GB storage / expandable
4G VoLTE
3000mAh battery
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation,gyroscope, proximity, magnetic

Now we head to the crucial part of the review most would be interested – the performance. Let’s be honest, the hardware the Vivo V5 doesn’t excite me. It’s pretty old for my personal liking. But that doesn’t mean it would be a sluggish performer. I been using the Vivo V5 as my primary device for more than 3 weeks now. For normal usage, the V5 works like charm. It can handle multi tasking and for most part due to the lack of one click to close all background apps, I end up using the phone with multiple apps running parallely and it managed to handle the load. The call quality is good and I really liked the keyboard spacing which was very convenient and smooth. When it comes to gaming, it was not bad at all. I could run Asphalt 8 at the highest graphic settings, though for a keen gamer there will be slight frame rate drops but the bottom line, it was playable. So did NOVA 3. The hardware struggled though when I hit the dirt at Asphalt Xtreme game, the frame drop fared poorly and it was almost unplayable. So it was a mixed bag, barring few games, the Vivo V5 was able to play almost all games, heavy ones included but it also struggled with few selected games. When it comes to audio, the V5 lives up to its reputation. Speaker position in many phones come in way of game play , but not in the case of V5. Plus, thanks to the AK4376 dedicated Hi-Fi audio chip the the audio output is brilliant. The Hi-Fi audio setting when you listed with earphones on makes for a great listen. The fingerprint sensor of the Vivo V5 is one of the most reliable sensors I have come across and is also fastest. Apart from unlocking the phone, you can also secure apps with fingerprint sensor. Battery is yet another star performer of V5, I was able to get 5 hours of screen on time and is commendable. On a medium usage with WiFi and dual SIM with a Jio 4G VoLTE on constantly, I could get a full day easily. A let down though is the lack of USB Type-C.

Vivo V5 camera

Front camera:

20-megapixel
Sony IMX 376 sensor
F/2.0 aperture
5P lens
1080p videosta capability
Soft LED light
Face beauty mode 6.0

The star selling point of the Vivo V5 is its 20 megapixel front facing camera that comes equipped with a soft LED light. Unlike the standard flash that fires while shooting a pic, the moonlight flash (that’s what Vivo calls it) in auto mode turns on under low-light conditions as a soft light even before you click and stays on till you close the camera app. The light is not harsh and gives a natural glow to your face without straining eyes and gives a good highlight. Since I started using the phone, I have got 3-4 updates and few have optimized the camera app settings. The selfies come out with great detailing , even when you zoom in you can get good details. For the selfie lovers who love ‘beautification’ , the face beauty mode 6.0 offers up to 100 levels and works neatly. While Vivo has been pushing aggressively updates to the camera, the exposure level seems a bit off the mark. A manual t0uch on the right exposure area while clicking delivers a better exposure control than in auto. Vivo could fix it with a software udpate. Rear camera:

13-megapixel rear camera
PDAF
LED flash

Only very few front camera steal the limelight in camera phones where the rear almost always bag bigger mega pixel count but not in Vivo V5’s case. While it is out shadowed by the front camera, it does deliver decent output even though it is hit or miss at times. [gallery link="file" columns="5" ids="11860,11861,11862,11863,11864,11865,11866,11867,11868"]

Vivo V5 to buy or not?

Hi5 to V5 for:

Good display inspite of 720 pixels resolution
Finger print sensor is accurate and fast
Good battery life
Impressive audio output

The Vivo V5 is pitted against Oppo F1s and Gionee S6s, these trio of phones have selfie as the main selling point and almost look similar in design too. While each phone have their own strong points in the market position, the truth is none of them excel but are a step up from their respective previous offerings. While the 20-megpixel front camera is the campaign star but it’s performance is not anything ground breaking, what Vivo V5 excels though is as an all-rounder with strong points I have listed above. It doesn’t excel in any particular parameter but it is over all a good phone for normal consumer.]]>

Top Features of Vivo V5 that might interest you

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 06:44:59 +0000

Vivo V5 is touted as the world’s first Smartphone with a whooping 20 megapixel front camera with a flash light for better selfies. If that caught your attention, here are the top features of the Vivo V5 you should know apart from the ‘moonlight’ camera, the moniker Vivo uses for the flash light.

Want to read later? You can also watch our video listing the features of Vivo V5

https://youtu.be/KVQXvOYHF3M

Awesome screenshots

This is easily my favourite feature , the FunTouch UI of Vivo offers in this device. I keep gathering interesting cliparts making use of the interesting patterns the S-Capture offers. To access the screenshot options in Vivo V5, go to the control panel by swiping up the home screen from bottom. There you find a quick access option for S-capture. Tapping upon that, it shows a round dial that gives four options – long screenshot, funny screenshots, rectangle and recording. Long screenshot allows you to take a scrolling screenshot not limited to the screen page of the webpage but also the portion that might be there above or below the screen page. Suppose you are at a recipe page of a cooking webiste, you can take a screenshot of the entire webpage even if it scrolls above or below. In usual devices, you might be ending up taking multiple screenshot to cover the full web page but here you can take on long screenshot. Makes sense right? Funny screenshot is what I enjoy more personally. Tapping on that gives three sub-options – pattern. lasso, doodle. Pattern has interesting cutouts for cliparts , lasso can give you ability to cut the portion of the screen image you want and doodle is more of a fun. Rectangle, as the name suggest helps you get angular screenshot in rectangle shape. Recording is the screen recorder, so when you are playing games, you can record the entire gameplay and watch it later as a video.

Call recording

Settings > Phone settings > Record settings. Vivo V5 allows you to record the calls and you can choose to record all the calls automatically, or make a custom list with particular numbers.

Other phone settings

Go to contacts and you find an option personal. This gives you the following features.

My QR Code: You can make your personal information as a QR Code.
Private communication: You can encrypt certain numbers from your contacts and it won’t be visible on the contact page. The encrypted numbers will be moved to private communication which is secured via finger print or password.
Gesture dial: There is speed dial settings but what is more interesting for me is the gesture dial settings. You can assign a gesture to particular six contacts and in the dialer you can simply draw the gesture to call them.

App lock with fingerprint

Apart from unlocking the phone, Vivo V5 do have the app lock feature with fingerprint sensor. Make sure the option is enabled in the fingerprint management setting and then head over to the iManager app and to app manager option there. You find the app lock setting there and you can choose the apps you want to secure.

iManager

Limit your hotspot sharing

Visitor mode

V5 also has a guest mode with a visitor password on the lock-screen interface to enter the visitor mode. You can hide contact information including namecard, messages and call log of the selected contact , hide app icons which you don’t want your guest to see in your phone and also protect albums and videos.

SOS call

Settings > More settings > SOS call When there is an emergency, you can press the power button three times to call 100.

Search bar customization

OTG

Settings > More Settings > OTG Vivo V5 supports OTG but it has to be enabled in the settings page. Don’t forget once enabled, the OTG auto turns off after 5 minutes of inactivity.

Smart motion

Multi screen

One-hand operation

I rarely use the one-hand operation as am perfectly fine with big screens even more than 6-inches but for those who want to minimize the screen there is a one-hand keyboard and mini screen options.

Smart Click

When the screen is turned off, you can the hold the Volume down key to turn on / off the flashlight, record video, open camera, facebook or any other selected app.]]>

Vivo V5 : First Impression of the world's first Smartphone with 20MP selfie camera

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 06:07:06 +0000

selfie le re‘ and down south in Kollywood we hear ‘selfie puzha‘ (selfie girl) and a Malayalam movie even has a title ‘Oru vadakkan selfie‘, it signals selfie going mainstream and part of the culture. Almost everyone with a Smartphone likes to take selfie than a perfect picture with the rear camera, selfie has more drama around the picture and speaks a lot, so its natural the Smartphone makers wants to tap into the selfie craze and provide better hardware support to give a ‘perfect selfie’. Vivo V5 is essentially a selfie Smartphone with a massive 20MP front camera with a soft LED light for that perfect selfie. Vivo V5 is launched in India at Rs 17,980 and here is my first impression of the Smartphone that is up for pre-order now and will go on sale in retail stores across many cities and towns in India on November 26th. Vivo V5 comes in two color choices – space grey and crown gold. Personally I liked the Space grey with its black frontage. The gold model has a white face which is not of my taste but then each has their own design preferences. The 5.5-inch display with a 2.5D curved glass comes with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. While a fullHD would have made better sense, having used the phone for a while now, the display is punchy with deep black and good saturation. While there is a unbranded toughened glass over the display, the V5 also comes with a pre-laid tempered glass out of the box, which along with transparent silicone back case might be a attractive offering for consumers especially at the offline channels, where such extra offerings score more brownie points for the device. The finger print sensor is housed at the front with the home button combing as the sensor and the company says it can unlock in 0.2 seconds. I was quiet impressed with the sensor, it is very fast and accurate. The front of course is where the talking point of the phone is – the 20 megapixel front camera along with the moonlight LED which gives a moon glow around the face when taking selfies. It uses a very capable Sony IMX376, 1/2.78” – behind a bright f/2.0 aperture with a fixed focus. The front camera like the rear camera can take 1080p videos as well. The V5 Max has a metallic unibody with rounded corners and offers a very good ergonomics. The phone is not slippery and feels good on hand while holding. The rear has the 13MP camera and LED flash on the top corner, antenna cut outs on the top and rear and Vivo branding at the middle. That is looks like iPhone 6S will not have any buyers complaining for its aesthetics. The body is unibody metallic and measures 7.6mm in thickness and weighs 154 grams. The left side has the ejectable SIM tray and it supports a microSIM and a nano-SIM along with a provision for a microSD card that can accommodate up to 128GB. V5 is a 4G VoLTE phone, so yet is supports the Jio SIM. The bottom is crowded with 3.5mm audio jack, micro USB port, speaker grille and a microphone. Talking about other specifications, the V5 runs on Mediatek 6750 chipset with a 4GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage. While the Android 6.0 Marshmallow is the base, Vivo uses their FunTouch 2.6 UI overlaid upon it. The UI has the iOS feel to it and has no app drawer. There are preinstalled apps like Easyshare, Vivo cloud. Vivo says they have a dedicated audio chip for good fidelity and the audio comes out good too. A 3000mAh battery is housed inside and is early for me to comment on the battery life, so wait for my complete review soon. Here are some of the samples taken with Vivo V5 for your reference. It’s too early too comment on the photo abilities, will do that in the detailed review. [gallery link="file" columns="4" ids="11789,11790,11791,11792,11793,11794,11795"] That wraps up my first impression of the Vivo V5. What you think of the device? Look forward to more Vivo stories on our website and YouTube channel in the coming days.]]>