Vivo V20 Pro Review - Android

This device is complete with everything you might be looking for on a modern smartphone. It has an AMOLED screen, fast charging, best-in-class processor, and of course, 5G connectivity.

But is this the one you should get? We find out in our Vivo V20 Pro review.

Vivo V20 Pro Specs

• Android 10, Funtouch OS 11
• Dual SIM, Dual standby
• 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution, ~408ppi
• 2.4Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G 5G octa-core processor
• Liquid Cooling
• Adreno 620 GPU
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB internal storage
• 44-megapixel (AF, f/2.0) + 8-megapixel (ultra-wide) front cameras
• 64-megapixel (f/1.9) + 8-megapixel (ultra-wide, macro, depth sensor) + 2-megapixel (mono) rear cameras, PDAF, LED flash
• 240fps slow-mo selfie
• In-display fingerprint, Face unlock
• No headphone jack (adapter included), Hi-Res audio
• 4G LTE, 5G
• WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
• Bluetooth 5.0
• GPS, Galileo, BDS, GLONASS
• NFC
• USB Type-C
• Dimensions: 158.82 X 74.20 X 7.39mm
• Weight: 170g
• Colors: Sunset Melody, Midnight Jazz, Moonlight Sonata
• AG Matte Glass back panel
• 4,000mAh non-removable battery, 33W fast charging

Design and Build Quality

The Vivo V20 Pro is very identical to the vanilla V20, which we’ve already reviewed earlier. It has an identical set of cameras, charging, and a striking, sleek, and really comfortable design.

What we have here is the Sunset Melody color. Midnight Jazz (black) and Moonlight Sonata (white) options are also available. They come with this AG matte glass back panel that compliments the shiny paint job beneath it. Although, they are still fingerprint magnet.

You can also see the camera layout that’s unique to Vivo devices. Initially seen on the Vivo X50 series, the main 64-megapixel sensors dominates the glass, with the two other sensors below it and a chin that houses the dual-tone flash and the hybrid zoom logo.

As stated earlier, both the Vivo V20 and V20 Pro models look exactly the same. You have to look closely to see which one is which. But there are some clues.

The Vivo V20 Pro brags its 5G connectivity by having it stamped next to the Vivo logo on the back. Something that the vanilla model lacks.

Going with the V20 Pro instead of the latter also entitles you to a dual selfie camera. Hence the wider notch on the top of its almost bezel-less 6.44-inch AMOLED screen.

Looking at the bottom, you’d notice that the Vivo V20 Pro lacks a headphone jack. Oddly enough, it’s the expensive phones that lack 3.5mm ports instead of the cheaper models.

The left side is clean, while on the right, you can spot the lock/power button and volume controls. The physical buttons are made of metal, don’t wobble, and give a tactile feel when pressed.

We really like the sleek and attractive designs that Vivo keeps coming up with, and the Vivo V20 Pro is no exception.

Display and Audio

The Vivo V20 Pro sports a 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen, with a 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution, and ~408ppi. Disappointingly, it’s stuck at 60Hz refresh rate, no 90Hz or 120Hz. We’ll give them a pass because one: only a few games support high refresh rate screens, and the display quality itself is already great.

Being an AMOLED panel, it offers vibrant colors, deep contrast, and enables its always-on display feature and UD fingerprint scanner.

The max screen brightness is sufficient for outdoor visibility. Meanwhile, the FHD+ resolution makes everything sharp and detailed.

As for audio, the Vivo V20 Pro lacks a headphone jack. On the upside, there’s a 3.5mm to USB Type-C adapter in the box, as well as a pair of earphones — which is oddly not Type-C. There’s the Hi-Res audio certification for better audio output.

The lack of stereo speakers is also quite disappointing. Instead, we’re getting a single bottom-firing speaker that offers decent volume and sound quality for private listening. It could be louder, though.

Hardware and Performance

Powering the Vivo V20 Pro is the 2.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G octa-core processor. Besides providing 5G connectivity, it’s one of the most powerful midrange processors in the market today. It’s coupled with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage that’s sadly non-expandable.

Vivo V20 Pro Benchmark scores

The performance on this thing is really flagship-like. There are no noticeable hiccups when taking pictures, playing music, photo editing, and browsing through social media. Apps also load fast.

Attached to the CPU is the Vapor Chamber Liquid Cooling, which does a great job of preventing overheating when gaming.

Call of Duty Mobile on Vivo V20 Pro

In Call of Duty Mobile, we can’t completely max-out the graphics quality and frame rate. So we prioritized the frame rate and let the graphics set to High instead of the max Very High setting.

The Vivo V20 Pro has the right balance between speed and quality. The gameplay has smooth frame rates, but definitely not the smoothest. On the upside, the visuals do look stunning.

Software and User Interface

Vivo’s latest Funtouch OS 11 offers a much cleaner and straightforward interface than its predecessor. Although, at its core, it still runs on Android 10 instead of 11.

The bottom control center, which used to have an overwhelming layout with tons of buttons and toggles, is now gone. Instead, we’re getting a more stock-Android-like drop-down menu and a cleaner notifications tab.

Swiping up now reveals the app drawer, which houses all your installed apps.

On the farthest left of the home screen, you can spot the Google news page, complete with Google search and weather. There’s a button on the top that lets you switch the page to Jovi Home, Vivo’s own assistant that provides app shortcuts, sports events, Digital Wellbeing, activities, and more.

In typical Android fashion, the Vivo V20 Pro offers tons of customization features. You can pick themes, set different wallpapers, dynamic effects, and different always-on display wallpapers.

Ultra Game Mode feature lets you configure the system for a more optimized experience when you’re playing.

Standard Android features like Digital Wellbeing is present, which shows your smartphone habits. Parental Controls are also here if you want to limit your kid/s’ phone usage.

There are a couple of suggested apps in the app drawer. You can click install if you want to download them, or delete their icons completely.

All in all, we’re really like the evolution on FuntouchOS 11. Probably my only problem with it is the system navigation settings. I’m used in having the back button on the right instead of the left. There’s no way to change that on the settings as we’re only given an option to switch to iOS-like gestures navigation.

Camera Quality

The Vivo V20 Pro features a secondary 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera. But other than that, the rest of the camera system are identical to the vanilla model.

This means we’re getting the same 64-megapixel f/1.9 main camera and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens that can be used for macro and portrait shots. Lastly, there’s a 2-megapixel monochrome lens.

The overall image quality from all its cameras are great, especially those which are taken outdoors and in good lighting scenarios.

But just like most smartphones, the quality do degrade in low-light scenarios. Still, it’s very passable and worth sharing online. You can use the Night mode for a brighter, long-exposure shot.

64-megapixel

29/10/2020 03:52 PM

noypigeeks.com