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vivo V27 5G Review - Ring light innovation?

OPPO
Infinix
After using the vivo V27 5G as our daily driver for two months, we share our thoughts and experiences with the new ring light innovator.
Rear design
The rear design of the phone

To recap, the vivo V27 5G carries a 120Hz 6.78-inch AMOLED FHD+ screen. Inside is the 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7200 octa-core processor, Mali-G610 MC4 GPU, LPDDR4X RAM, 256GB UFS storage, and a 4,600mAh battery with 66W fast wired charging.

At the back are the 50MP primary camera, 8MP ultra-wide, and 2MP macro with an LED ring flash while in front is a 50MP selfie shooter.

In the Philippines, the vivo V27 5G is priced at PHP 24,999 for the 12GB/256GB variant.

Let's dive into the review!


Multimedia Experience

Curved display
Curved display

In front is the aforementioned 6.78-inch 3D curved AMOLED screen with a 2400 x 1080 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

Great display!

The panel is bright and we find it readable under sunlight as long as the brightness level is at 100 percent. Around the panel are slim side bezels with slightly thicker top and bottom bezels.

The panel supports 10 points of multitouch simultaneously which makes it perfect for complicated taps and gestures simultaneously like in mobile games.

On the upper part of the panel is the punch hole that houses the front-facing camera. Above it and hidden within the top bezel is the super slim earpiece.
Top and bottom
Top and bottom

For audio, the phone is equipped with a bottom-firing speaker with a decent maximum volume strong enough to fill a small room. The sound stage is not that large and it will struggle in noisy or open environments.

The microphones do a great job of picking up sounds from a meter away while the noise-cancellation for calls is great too.

Cameras

Rear cameras with Aura Light Ring LED flash
Rear cameras with Aura Light Ring LED flash

As mentioned earlier, the rear camera set-up is composed of 50MP f/1.88 primary camera with Sony IMX776V and OIS, an 8MP f/2.2 119-degree ultra-wide camera, a 2MP f/2.4 3x 4cm macro with an LED ring flash.

Capable cameras!

The stock camera app comes with the following modes: Photo, Video, Night, Portrait, Pro, Micro Movie, Documents, Supermoon, Double Exposure, Pano, Time-lapse, Sports, Live Photo, High resolution, Slo-Mo, and Dual View.

The Pro mode comes with controls for ISO (50-3200), Shutter Speed (1/12,000-32 seconds), EV (+-3), Focus, White Balance, and Zoom (Ultra-wide, 1x).

Rear Camera Samples

vivo V27 5G daylight 1x
vivo V27 5G daylight 1x
vivo V27 5G daylight ultra-wide
vivo V27 5G daylight ultra-wide

The two cameras at the back do not disappoint when taking daylight shots. Images are crisp with plenty of detail while delivering vibrant color, deep contrast, and decent sharpness.

It is worth noting that the main camera is noticeably sharper and more detailed than the ultra-wide camera.
Normal Photo, Portrait, and Portrait w/ aura light
Normal Photo, Portrait, and Portrait w/ aura light featuring Bryan of Technobaboy

Indoors, the images retain the quality of daylight that are sharp, detailed, and contrasty. The colors are accurate too. The edge detection is spot on as well. 

The aura light in the third image highlights its usefulness when it gives a more flattering light to the subject.
vivo V27 5G lowlight 1x
vivo V27 5G lowlight 1x
vivo V27 5G lowlight ultra-wide
vivo V27 5G lowlight ultra-wide

For low light, the primary camera and ultra-wide camera produce images with vibrant color and deep contrast. Although the ultra-wide is decently sharp, the primary camera is noticeably sharper and more detailed. There is also noticeable noise in the shadow areas of the ultra-wide camera.
vivo V27 5G night mode 1x
vivo V27 5G night mode 1x
vivo V27 5G night mode ultra-wide
vivo V27 5G night mode ultra-wide

The Night mode significantly improves the sharpness, detail, and contrast across both the 1x and ultra-wide cameras. We recommend using it when the subject is not moving.

Overall, the rear cameras produced mostly great results. Our only concerns were the low-light performance of the ultra-wide camera.

The aura light feature takes a while to get used to but it does have its usefulness especially when using the 2x crop. It illuminates the subject to make it flattering.
Xiaomi 13 Pro front facing camera on punch holeSelfie camera

On the punch hole is the aforementioned 50MP f/2.45 front-facing camera with AF and Eye AF.

Camera mode includes Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, and Micro Movie.

Selfie Camera Samples

vivo V27 5G indoor selfie

Indoors, the image remains sharp, and detailed with good color and deep contrast.
vivo V27 lowlight selfie
vivo V27 lowlight selfie

In low light, the selfie camera's images have minimal noise however are noticeably softer and with less detail. The image is prone to overexposure from light sources.
vivo V27 5G selfie night mode
vivo V27 5G selfie night mode

The Night mode noticeably improves by reducing the noise and improving sharpness and contrast. Although it was able to lessen the overexposure from light sources, it could be improved.

Overall, the front cameras produce sharp, detailed images with vibrant color and contrast indoors and in daylight but will struggle in low light.

The vivo V27 5G's primary rear camera and selfie camera can capture up to 4K at 30 fps or up to 1080p at 60fps which is a welcome improvement as most Chinese manufacturers limited selfie video resolution to just 1080.

4K footage from the phone has a slight crop compared to the 1080p footage. The resulting 4K footage is sharp with good contrast but it seems that the OIS is not enough at times as we stuttering artifacts.

Overall, the footage is good, but the user must be mindful and hold the phone more stabilized to reduce the impact of the stuttering.

For a more detailed look into the vivo V27 5G's camera, you can learn more about its features here.

Performance

vivo 27 5G AnTuTu and GeekBench results
vivo 27 5G AnTuTu and GeekBench results

To recap, the vivo V27 5G features a 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7200 octa-core processor clocked at 2.8GHz. Alongside it are the Mali-G610 MC4 GPU, 12GB LPDDR4X RAM, and 256GB UFS of internal storage.
vivo V27 5G 3DMark and CPDT results
vivo V27 5G 3DMark and CPDT results

vivo V27 5G benchmarks:

  1. AnTuTu - 610,299
  2. Geekbench 6 - 1,188 (single-core), 2,684 (multi-core)
  3. 3D Mark WildLife - 4,165 at 24.9 average fps 
  4. CPDT - 482.62 MB/s sequential read speeds and 469.11 MB/s sequential write speeds
The vivo V27 5G's scores in AnTuTu, Geekbench, and 3DMark are some of the strongest at this price point. Very few can match or beat it at the moment.

Our review unit is the 12GB LPDDR4X and 256GB UFS. The results from CPDT are symmetrical with just under 500MB/s for read and write speeds.
vivo V27 5G Genshin Impact graphics settings
vivo V27 5G Genshin Impact graphics settings

Like other phones equipped with the Dimensity 7200, the vivo V27 surprisingly unlocked the low graphic settings as the default in Genshin Impact.

The gameplay is smooth but struggles when the screen fills up with objects and animations. The phone stayed cool for the first 30 minutes of gameplay but slowly warmed up. It maintained a warm temperature and never got alarmingly hot.

For security, the vivo V27 5G has an optical under-display fingerprint sensor and face unlock. Initial set-up and subsequent uses are almost instantaneous. The face unlocks only struggles when the camera is dirty or when we are wearing a mask and sunglasses. The screen brightens up when used in the dark.

Regarding connectivity, we have the following: WiFi, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2, OTG, GPS, and GLONASS. It has two nano SIM card slots as well.
vivo V27 5G PCMark battery benchmark result
vivo V27 5G PCMark battery benchmark result

Inside the phone is a large 4,600mAh battery. In our usual PCMark Battery test, the vivo V27 5G managed to endure 18 hours and 43 minutes.

In our daily use, it managed to last for just under 7 hours of on-screen time. This was one of our daily drivers that were constantly connected to either WiFi or 5G. Its battery performance is impressive. 

The battery charges via USB-C with the 66W charger. It takes under 50 minutes to charge from 0 to 100 percent.
vivo V27 5G's FunTouchOS
vivo V27 5G's FunTouchOS

It is running on FunTouchOS based on Android 13. Visually, it is a slightly more polished version of the previous generation. It adds features that were added with Android 13 with the typical vivo spin.

If you didn't like the old Funtouch before, odds are you still won't like this one. But if you're a fan of FunTouchOS, you will more likely enjoy the smoother experience.

There is a number of pre-installed apps and services that can be uninstalled. It adds to the initial setup. 

Pros - Stunning design, decent build materials, lightweight, speedy performance for the price, smooth display, great cameras, the ring light feature is actually useful
Cons - No IP rating, no stereo speakers, a few pre-installed bloatware

vivo V27 5G Specs 

Display: 6.78-inch 3D curved AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution at 388 ppi
CPU: 2.8GHz 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7200 octa-core processor
GPU: Mali-G610 MC4
RAM: 12GB LPDDR4X
ROM: 256GB UFS expandable storage via microSD
Back Camera: 50MP f/1.88 Sony IMX766V w/ OIS, EIS + 8MP f/2.2 119-degree ultra-wide-angle + 2MP f/2.4 4cm macro + LED flash
Selfie Camera: 50MP f/2.45 w/ AF, Eye AF
Battery: 4,600mAh w/ 66W Fast Charge
OS: Android 13 w/ FuntouchOS 13
Connectivity: WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz), 5G SA/NSA, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.3, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, dual SIM (nano)
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, dual mic, large cooling system, USB-C, Colors: Flowing Gold, Magic Blue, Emerald Green
Dimensions: 164.1 x 74.8 x 7.36 mm
Weight: 180 g
Price: PHP 24,999

Verdict

vivo V27 web surfing experience
vivo V27 web surfing experience

vivo continues to bring unique and stunning designs with lightweight materials that offer great selfies in one package.

In the Philippines, the vivo is priced at PHP 24,999.

The 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7200 octa-core processor which surprisingly carries its weight enough to be decent at this price point. But what makes the processor even better is when paired with the FunTouch OS's battery optimization which yielded one of the best battery life in the price range for its relatively smaller capacity 4,600mAh battery.

What we loved most aside from its color-changing feature is the cameras, we found that the front and rear cameras are some of the best in their price segment. 

Our minor concerns include the lack of an IP rating, the single speaker only, and the usually pre-installed bloatware. 

But if the user can live with those minor inconveniences then the vivo is one of the best phones at its price point for its looks, specs, and performance.

What do you think guys?

Build/Design - 4.25
Multimedia Experience - 4.25
Cameras - 4.5
Performance - 4.5
Average - 4.375/5

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