Click here for our full review of the Vivo V5 Plus
The V5 Plus improves upon the original V5 design and function, but by how much? In this unboxing, let’s dive into a brand new Vivo V5 Plus to find out if the upgrade is worth it.
Upon unboxing the Vivo V5 Plus, you’ll get:
- Vivo V5 Plus unit (1 pc)
- Warranty Card (1 pc)
- Quick Start Guide (1 pc)
- SIM card slot opener (1 pc)
- Clear Phone Protector (1 pc)
- USB Charging Cable (1 pc)
- Fast-charging Travel Charger (1 pc)
- Earphones (1 pair)
Quick note here: the box for the V5 Plus is effectively double the size of the V5 and V5s boxes. Now obviously, this makes the V5 Plus harder to carry around, but Vivo makes up for this by adding elegance to the box itself. The moment you pop open the box, you’re greeted by a minimalist-yet-stylized box design. Vivo achieves this by adding a metallic grill to the right side of the box. In fact, the V5 Plus box easily looks like a box for an expensive perfume or for an aged fine wine. Each individual component of the V5 Plus package has its own separate box.
Build and Construction
Firstly, the back design of this 5.5-incher stands out from the rest of the phone’s physical components. The metallic finish remains, but there’s a bit of texture that makes the grip on the device feel comfortable. Unlike other Vivo phone models, the V5 Plus opts for curved lines that outline its top end and bottom end, as opposed to the straight lines that ran across the body itself. As I’ve stated multiple times before, I’m not really a fan of the latter. However, the former works just fine for me.
Secondly, bonus points to Vivo for including a clear jelly-like body protector for the V5 Plus. Not only will the phone be immediately protected, but users will still get to see what the actual device looks like. The key aesthetic for the V5 Plus lies in its mute design. Nothing innovative or out-of-the-ordinary appears on the Vivo V5 Plus, yet at the same time, it’s the key strength of the outer build. Simply put, the V5 Plus avoids the pitfalls of both having the phone look bland and boring, and creating a smartphone that looks too gaudy. Truly, less is more.
And finally, Vivo also keeps the button placement of the V5. The lock and volume buttons remain on the right, for example. Meanwhile, the left side has the SIM card holder, and the bottom has the speaker grill, earphone jack port, and the micro-USB port. The upper left portion of the back contains the main camera, with its flash next to it. For the front, we’re looking at thinner side bezels, a physical home button on the bottom bezel, and at the top, the 20-megapixel front shooter with sensors on its sides. Speaking of which, we’ll get into the details of that powerful front cam in the full review.
OS, UI, and Apps
I’m a big fan of smartphones that keep the bloatware to a minimum, and the Vivo V5 Plus does not disappoint. From the get go, users receive only the essentials and a minimal amount of Vivo-endorsed apps like vivoCloud and EasyShare. Definitely a step up from other brands that, at worst, insert full advertisements into the phone.
Additionally, the Android 6.0 OS, skinned as Funtouch 3.0 works well and looks good. The design actually feels like it’s targeting the millenial market with a simplistic, almost ‘hipster’ design with two-color default icons and sans serif fonts. I haven’t mentioned this explicity before, but in general I’m a fan of simple, minimal designs that limit their use of colors. The icons of the Funtouch UI used here follow that minimalist approach. In fact, I might even say that it’s a little bit above similar competitors like the ZenUI or the MIUI.
Scrolling through the phone feels like a breeze, and the apps load fast. At 2.0 GHz and 4GB RAM, this should be expected of the phone, which should handle almost any workload. With regards as to how this translates in terms of gaming power and multi-tasking, remains to be seen in our full review coming soon.
Vivo V5 Plus Specs
OS | Funtouch OS 3.0 (based on Android 6.0) |
Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 2.0GHz Octa-coren |
Memory | 4GB |
Display | 5.5-inches, 1920 x 1080 FHD, LCD/IPS/In-cell, tCorning Gorilla Glass 5 / 2.5Dn |
Storage | 64GB |
Camera | Front 20MP f2.0 + 8MP f2.0 / Rear 16MP f2.0, tSupports Selfie Softlight and Rear Flash |
SIM | Dual-SIM, Dual Standby, 1 Nano SIM + 1 Nano SIM |
Battery | 3160mAh, |
Color | Gold |
Connectivity | Wifi 2.4GHz/5GHz, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, OTG |
Sensors | Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, E-compass, Gyroscope |
Others | AK4376 Hi-Fi Chipset, Fast Charging Battery, Fingerprint Sensor, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, |
More photos of the Vivo V5 Plus: