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Vivo V11 Review
Design
From a distance, the Vivo V11 looks like a phone made with premium materials. Its construction is very stunning and could definitely catch a good amount of attention when seen on the wild. Holding the handset, though, will make you realize that it's entirely made of plastic. But that's not bad at all. It's definitely a well polished smartphone looking more expensive than it actually is. The back panel catches fingerprints but it's not as bad as the company's earlier releases.
If you're familiar with the previously released Vivo X21's design, you'll agree that the Vivo V11 gives you the same impression, except, of course, the front panel. The display is redesigned to minimize the notch's real estate and give more space for notifications. The receiver is squeezed right on the edge of the panel above the 25MP selfie camera which is the only thing that occupies the notch.
This pushes Vivo V11's screen-to-body ratio to 91.27 percent, that's even higher than OPPO F9's. As for the buttons, they're all placed in the same spot as the Vivo X21 - the left side is for the SIM tray with dedicated slots, the right side houses the power button and volume rocker, and the bottom side has the headphone jack, the speaker grill, and the microUSB port. Yes, at this point, mid-range smartphone makers still prefer micro USB port to trim down the handset prices, but it would have been a welcome feature if Vivo placed a USB Type C on the V11.
Display
The Vivo V11's front panel is defined by a 6.4-inch Halo FullView Super AMOLED display. So far, the display is one of the company's best. Colors are vibrant, whites are pure whites and blacks are deep. The screen has good contrast and definitely legible even under direct sunlight. Images are sharp and texts are very legible.
The new notch does not tamper the viewing experience, it easily hides itself once the handset is in portrait mode. This is due to the fact that the V11 touts a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Slim bezels are found in all sides of the display making the screen more immersive compared to the Vivo X21.
In oblique angles, the screen is still generous in displaying lossless images and texts. The Vivo V11 is a great device for content consumption. Watching videos and reading ebooks with this device will definitely be a worthwhile experience. There's a pre-installed screen protector as well as the Gorilla Glass 3 treatment.
Performance
Under the hood, the handset is powered by the most powerful mid-range chipset from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 660. There's a 6GB of RAM which definitely gives the Vivo V11 a kick everytime I pull up apps or even do multitasking activities. In our Antutu Benchmark, the handset scores 129,391 which is quite higher than what we had with the Vivo X21.
The Vivo V11 is loaded with a roomy 64GB of memory which is expandable up to 256GB. Running moderate games with the handset is a piece of cake. Graphic-intensive titles like PUBG also run smoothly with the V11. It manages to do most of the task thrown at it without choking. I did not encounter any heating issues while playing heavily graphic games or running many apps in the background.
I made the Vivo V11 my daily driver for a couple of weeks and it impressed me a lot. Most of my photo editing and typing jobs are done with ease in this handset. With that alone, it has passed my productivity test.
The display is very engaging when streaming titles over Netflix and other apps. The negligible notch disappears when watching videos. The loudspeaker is quite okay. Not as good as the X21's, but it's good enough.
Browsing the web is fast. There's a pre-installed browser app but I'm using Chrome as my main app. Taking calls using the Vivo V11 is quite fine. I had no issues in call quality even in closed spaces.
Camera
The Vivo V11's camera is a good improvement from its predecessor. In fact, it's now more integrated with AI. The rear camera is a dual-lens module with 12-megapixel sensor (f/1.8 aperture lens) and a secondary 5MP sensor with f/2.4 lens. Vivo V11's camera module supports dual pixel autofocus. This means that focusing on subjects is very fast. It also captures instantaneously.
The camera does not suffer from hunting issues even if I constantly shift subjects. I liked the implementation of the Backlight HDR, photos are still legit when taken against the light with good balance of exposure.
Under good lighting conditions, the camera takes very good photos with great detail and color accuracy. Macro shots are also great, and Bokeh shots come with smooth depth effect.
The rear camera software has a bucket-full of photography modes - Doc, Professional, Panorama, and AR Stickers on top of the usual photo and video mode. You can now record videos with AR Stickers by pressing and holding the shutter button. Likewise, the rear camera is even smarter with the AI Scene identification. The camera basically detects scenes and apply an optimized camera setting based on the scene.
Video Recording
You can also record 4K videos using the rear camera. Likewise, you can record SloMo and Timelapse in the video mode. You can even activate the Face Beauty filter in videos but it's only limited to 720p.
Selfie Camera
The front-facing camera is a powerful module with 25MP sensor. Modes in the front camera are the same as the ones on the back camera with the addition of the Group Selfie feature. One noteworthy add-on is the Selfie Lighting which mimics several lighting conditions you can apply in your selfies. This includes Natural Lights, Studio Light, Stereo Light, Loop Light, Rainbow Light, and Monochrome Background. Selfies taken from Vivo V11's front camera have been improved compared to that of V9 and even X21.
It could easily be the best selfie camera in this department. Selfies have good color accuracy and contrast. You can also use the Smart Face Beauty toggle which overlays smart filter for better selfie. On top of that, you can manually adjust some facial points based on your liking.
Software
Vivo V11's software is a heavily customized version of Android 8.1. Dubbed as the FunTouch OS 4.5, Vivo's skin offers a lot of iOS-like functionalities which could be useful and confusing at the same time. However, after you get the hang of it and get past the learning curve, you'll be drawn using the phone even more.
Installed apps go straight to the Homescreen due to the absence of the app drawer. Likewise, the notification shade does not house the controls since the latter has its own Control Center. You can access them by swiping down and swiping up, respectively. Swiping from the left will give you access to the Smart Launcher which gives you pre-selected cards for calendar, steps counter, events, etc.
Vivo also intros Jovi AI Assistant. It comes with a Smart Scene feature which aggregates information from user's sleep pattern or activity information. In turn, Jovi processes these information and give you notifications. One good example, set Jovi Smart Scene to remind you to take some rest.
It can also process weather cards, news, etc. Most of its features sound like the stuff that you can do with Google Assistant which is also present in Vivo V11, and is a better alternative than Jovi. However, Vivo has tailored Jovi to its camera app as AI Scene detector and selfie beautification assistant.
The Game Mode is also a useful feature which allows you to block incoming calls and notifications right inside the gaming app.
Battery
The Vivo V11 battery is rated 3400mAh. For normal to moderate usage, the battery could last the whole day. This means that battery life wouldn't be an issue if you don't mind charging every night. A heavy user would still find the battery life convincing.
After a day of use, I always find myself at 10 to 15 percent before I hit the sack. My smartphone activities include emails from multiple accounts, three dozens of shots from the camera, occasional messaging, 30-minute calls, an hour of graphically light to intensive gaming, an hour of video streaming, and another hour of music streaming. I tried running a PC Mark benchmark but it didn't pushed through.
What impresses me is the fact that the Vivo V11 supports Dual Engine Charging at its price point. It's based on a the Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
The Wrap
After a day of use, I always find myself at 10 to 15 percent before I hit the sack. My smartphone activities include emails from multiple accounts, three dozens of shots from the camera, occasional messaging, 30-minute calls, an hour of graphically light to intensive gaming, an hour of video streaming, and another hour of music streaming. I tried running a PC Mark benchmark but it didn't pushed through.
What impresses me is the fact that the Vivo V11 supports Dual Engine Charging at its price point. It's based on a the Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
The Wrap
The Vivo V11 struck me as a well-balanced smartphone. It sure is a worker in different aspects. For one, the camera is a great improvement from the Vivo V9 or even the X21. Fast charging or Dual Engine Charge for Vivo, has always been a welcome feature, but Vivo V11 definitely ups the ante by offering it to this segment.
It may be priced a little higher compared to its closest competition, but I'm sure more users are willing to spend some extra cash for the Super AMOLED display, dependable hardware and the flashy in-display fingerprint sensor. Speaking of, Vivo V11's iteration of the sensor is somewhat fast and consistent, thanks to the series of software updates. Plus, I love the design and the feel of using this device. I could hardly put it down once I started using it.
All in all, I highly recommend this phone. It's right smacked in the boundary of mid-range and flagship segments.
Vivo V11 Specs
6.4-inch Halo FullView FHD+ Super AMOLED Display, at 402 ppi19.5:9 Aspecr Ratio, 91.27% screen-to-body ratio
3D Curved Design
Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE Chipset
4x 2.2GHz Kryo 260, 4x 1.8GHz Kryo Processor
Adreno 512 GPU
6GB RAM
12MP (f/1.8) + 5MP (f/2.4) rear camera, 1/2.8" sensor, Dual Pixel, PDAF,
25MP Selfie Camera
64GB memory
Expandable, up to 256GB
4G LTE
Dual SIM/Dual Standby
Bluetooth 5.0
Micro USB 2.0
In-Display Fingerprint Sensor
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
A-GPS, GLONASS
Android 8.1 with FunTouch OS
3400 mAh Li-Po battery
Dual Engine Fast Charging
Jovi Smart Assistant
Starry Night, Nebula
Php 19,999
