Vivo brings out their main selfie smartphone contender with the 18:9 display-toting Vivo V7+, a device equipped with a strong 24-megapixel front camera for perfect selfies. Today, let’s unbox the Vivo V7+ to see if it truly deserves to take its place as the Vivo brand’s current selfie-shooting flagship.
Every purchase of the V7+ contains these items in the box:
- Vivo V7+ (1 unit)
- Clear jelly case (1 pc.)
- SIM card tray opener (1 pc.)
- micro-USB cable (1 pc.)
- Travel charger (1 pc.)
- Earphones (1 pair)
The V7+ takes the same route as past Vivo design sctructures, in its curves and slim body. Honestly, it looks like one of their most elegant designs so far, topped off by its bezel-less display. It’s a strong look that I think Vivo would be wise to keep even in their future flagship devices.
For the front, you’ll find the 5.99-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1440 x 720, while above it lies the aforementioned 24-megapixel front shooter with f/2.0 aperture. This in turn, is flanked by the receiver, light sensor, and dedicated LED flash. Meanwhile, on the other side, the back touts the 16-megapixel OmniVision sensor with f/2.0 aperture. Accompanying it, we see the LED flash, fingerprint scanner, and the official Vivo logo.
Moving on, the very top features chrome accents, mirroring its bottom counterpart, besides the noise-cancelling microphone. Additionally, it appears that most of the outer buttons and features go to the sides of the phone. In particular, the right side contains the volume and power buttons, while the left takes the SIM and microSD card slot.
My first few moments of the phone left a good impression, especially with the build of the device itself. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn’t be able to get a good grip on this solid yet lightweight device. Visually speaking, this phone is the best looking product Vivo has there today, and I hope they continue this with future models. I’m not really the biggest fan of straying away from the proven formula, so overall I really think Vivo has found a formula that wil work for them.
The phone runs on the FunTouch OS skin, based on Android 7.1.2, care of Vivo branding. In terms of extra pre-installed apps, we can see software like Lazada, the UC Browser, and the usual Google additions. It’s a minimalist degree that looks great, and features some nifty functions that makes the entire experience more compact and hassle-free.
Besides the usual shortcut menu, it comes with features like split screen, one-handed mode, facial recogniztion, app clone, and a plethora of others. My personal favorite was Air Operation, where the phone allowed me to wave my hand over the phone to check my notifications or to unlock the device. It felt very futuristic and I rarely get to see this function in competitors. Conversely, the storage was wisely used, considering the amount of functions and apps they packed. Out of 64GB, users get about 50GB for their own ends.
The Vivo V7+ sports a 16MP OmniVision rear camera with a dedicated LED Flash. It has a variety of camera modes such as Professional, PPT (PowerPoint), Time-Lapse, Ultra HD, Slow, Panorama, Face Beauty, HDR, Live Photo, and 9 more filters. Honeslty, fromt hat list alone, I was excited about the PPT mode, which allows users to take photos of powerpoint presentations more accurately. If I were a student in a boring lecture class, this device would have been a godsend. And of course, the test photos I took came out beautifully, with little noise and little problems as long as the setting is brightly lit. However, once the sun sets, or the darkness comes in, the images begin to show noticeable noise. It’s still decent, though.
But the real focus here is the selfie shooter, which has a 24-megapixel lens and a f/2.0 aperture. We wanted to save this for the full review so we could go in-depth, but test pictures were taken so we could discuss our impressions. As a whole, I was highly satisfied with the resulting images from the front camera, but it also has the same minor issues as the rear camera when shooting in dimly lit environments. To be fair, though, low light situations have always been a problem for cameras, even with an LED flash. Overall, I can look past this, as I have very high expectations for the selfie camera, and they have so far been met.
That’s only a taste of what we have to offer in the full review, though, so please stick around and look forward to our full review for the Vivo V7+.