vivo V25 Review: Beautiful Phone But...

The vivo V25 is the standard model on the V25 series lineup. It packs a well-rounder 5G chipset that's paired with an eye-pleasing design. On paper, the feature set of this handset seems to be very ideal for most users - 8GB RAM, 6.44-inch AMOLED display, triple rear camera system, and 50MP selfie camera. It is, however, priced at Php 23,999, which could be a tricky spot for a mid-range handset.

Having a very promising specs sheet, the vivo V25 is shaping up to be a well-rounded smartphone that could justify its asking price. However, we'll reserve our judgement after we gauge its performance in our actual day-to-day use; so join us in this review of the vivo V25.

vivo V25 Review

vivo V25 Review

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Design

  • Sunrise Gold with color changing design
  • 7.79-mm thin body and 186-gram weight

We still have the dew-drop notch which is not what I expected for a phone of this caliber especially in the latter part of 2022. Our review unit dons the Sunrise Gold colorway giving us a chic and captivating design; the inspiration of this color-changing effect is the colors of the sunrise.

All the elements on the rear panel - the camera module, big round sensors with gold railings, logo, etc. - seem to harmoniously vibe with the overall look of the rear panel. The body's angled edges add to the aesthetics which gives a contoured outline. Flat railings surround the body for support; however, if I am to nitpick, I think that the color would have been nicer if it matches the color of the camera module's frame, which is gold instead of beige.

vivo V25 Review

The ports and buttons are in their no nonsense placements. The right side houses the volume rocker and power button; the top part comes with a secondary mic; while the bottom part houses the SIM tray, primary microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille. We don't have a 3.5mm audio jack here which is now a common design trend especially with wireless earbuds becoming mainstream in the market.

The vivo V25 is easy on the hands with its 7.79mm thin body and 186-gram weight. Buttons are easy to access, grip is good, and it's comfortable to use with just one hand. Likewise, I could carry it around just anywhere and it also fits just right in my pocket. The overall ergonomics is quite great.

Display

  • AMOLED panel, 90Hz
  • 1300 nits max brightness

Just like its predecessor, the vivo V25 5G frames a 6.44-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution. It features a 90Hz refresh rate coupled with 180Hz touch sampling rate, which makes things smooth, fluid, and speedy. This combination is also good for mobile gaming.

vivo V25 Review

On top of that, you can enjoy the display quality with great contrast, color saturation, and details; it also offers wider viewing angles. Likewise, the 1300 nits of peak brightness makes the phone ideal in any settings. I have to say, streaming my favorite series and movies in Netflix and Disney+ is always a worthwhile experience. 

Lastly, the in-display fingerprint sensor is quite zippy in detecting my thumb. It instantaneously unlocks the phone alongside the cool animation on the screen. The only downside for me is the dewdrop notch which is quite uncommon to phones in this price point.

Camera

  • 64MP triple rear cameras with OIS
  • 50MP front camera
  • Up to 4K videos

On paper, the smartphone packs a triple-camera module which is highlighted by the 64MP, f/1.79 sensor with OIS. There's also an 8MP wide-angle camera with f/2.2 lens. Both the primary and wide-angle lens support Night Mode photography. Lastly, a 2MP sensor is in place for macros. For the front camera, the vivo V25 employs a whopping 50MP f/2.0 lens which is a great news for selfie fanatics.

vivo V25 Review

The native camera app now comes with a new mode in the main interface called the Vlog Movie; this makes it easier to shoot shorts films with many templates to choose from like Travel, Food, Night, Seaside, and more. Completing the list of the main camera modes are Night, Portrait, Photo, and Video modes. There's also the "More" section which houses the High Resolution, Pano, Live Photo, Slo-mo, Time-lapse, Pro, AR Stickers, Documents, Double Exposure, and Dual-View modes.

Overall, the vivo V25's rear camera captures great photos especially in well-lit environments. Color saturation and accuracy are quite consistent, with the former not being too punchy; though a bit of contrast may improve some photos. I could also tell that photos are on the warmer side. Furthermore, the dynamic range is on point when taking photos of the sky. On the other hand, the selfie camera is still one of the better ones in this category.

Check out our sample photos below.

vivo V25 Sample Photo
Main Camera Sample Photo

vivo V25 Review
Main Camera Sample Indoor Photo

vivo V25 Sample Photo
Main Camera Sample Indoor Photo

vivo V25 Review
Macro Camera Sample Photo

vivo V25 Sample Photo
Wide-angle Camera Sample Photo

vivo V25 Sample Selfie
Sample Selfie

In terms of videos, both the rear and front cameras are capable of recording 720p@30fps/60fps, 1080p@30fps/60fps, and 4K@30fps videos. It's worth mentioning that the V25 has an OIS feature which works well in preventing shaky and blurry videos. This is a great hardware add-on solution in this price point especially that vivo is also market-positioning this to be ideal for content creators and vloggers. You can activate the ultra stabilization feature in video mode settings. Check out our sample 1080p@ 30fps video footage below:

Hardware and Performance

  • MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC
  • 5G-integrated modem
  • 8GB RAM + 8GB Extended RAM

The vivo V25 uses the MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset that's fabricated using a 6nm process which means this a power-efficient SoC. It runs on an octa-core processor that includes two fast ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked on 2.4 GHz and six power efficient Cortex-A55 cores clocked on 2.0 GHz. The chip also integrates Mali-G68 MC4 which is a fast and power-efficient 4-core, 6-nm graphics processor clocked at 900MHz.

vivo V25 Review

In terms of day to day performance, the smartphone's interface is very fluid. With 8GB of RAM on board plus the fact that it can harness another 8GB of virtual RAM, the device could handle most of the demanding tasks. It's zippy in terms of multitasking and pulling up heavy apps. Likewise, there's no noticeable lag or stuttering on whatever task thrown at it. 

The handset also comes with 256GB ROM and I think that most people are already fine with this amount of storage space; but if this is not enough, you can take advantage of the storage expansion option of up to 1TB via microSD.

vivo V25 Review

The vivo V25 can handle games very well. Playing high-graphic games like Genshin Impact is definitely enjoyable with this smartphone. MOBA games like Mobile Legends and Wild Rift are some of the games I love to play in high settings. 

In terms of connectivity, the chipset boasts of a 5G-integrated modem which makes this a great device that provides for unprecedented levels of connectivity in today's time and requirements. Other connectivity features include 2.4GHz/5GHz WiFi, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, NFC, USB Type-C, and OTG. 

vivo V25 Review

There's nothing special about the loudspeaker. There's a single firing speaker on the bottom side of the phone which shoots decent audio that's good enough for streaming content. However, if you're an audiophile, you'll be needing wireless headphones to enjoy high quality audio.

vivo V25 Review

The V25's score of 433787 in AnTuTu as well as 706 single-core and 2090 multi-core scores in Geekbench translate to great overall performance for a midrange smartphone.

Software and Battery

  • Funtouch OS 12, based on Android 12
  • 4500 mAh battery w/ 44W fast charging

The vivo V25 boots with Funtouch OS 12 running on Android 12. The software comes with certain gems like Game Boost Mode and other customizations that enhance Android experience. App icons and toggles are simpler and registers well to minimalist users. However, there are still a number of bloatware that you'd want to uninstall right away.

vivo V25 Review

The device is powered by a 4500 mAh battery, which is expected to last longer with the power-efficient SoC and some features like background power consumption management which intelligently controls the background apps' power consumption, smart switch feature which auto selects appropriate refresh rate based on your current activity, dark theme mode, adaptive brightness, etc. The phone also features a liquid cooling system to prevent heat build up in the chassis while running gaming apps.

In our PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test, vivo V25 scored 16 hours and 38 minutes which is just the right battery mileage needed before you turn to bed for a restful night's sleep.

The vivo V25 has support for 44W fast charging which has Smart Charging Engine feature that reduces battery deterioration and extends the battery lifespan. We did a test using the unit's 44W charger; from 0%, the phone is able to recover 22% of power back in just a 10-minute charge. Total charging time from 0 to 100% is 1 hour and 3 minutes. See below for more details.

vivo V25 Battery Review

Verdict: Should You Buy vivo V25?

The vivo V25 is straight-out a very capable mid-range smartphone; a good looking one at that. It offers some unique features that you won't find in most of its peers like the stunning color changing design and 50MP front camera. However, it being priced at Php 23,999 would make you think twice on shelling out that cash. 

vivo V25 Review

The phone is definitely positioned on the premium mid-range level, and if you're someone who prefers aesthetics more than anything else, the vivo V25 could be your cup of tea. If not, there are plenty of great options in the market for that price.

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