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Introduction
FullScreen, FullView, FullVision - call it whatever, but the 18:9 display with trimmed bezels has turned out the next big thing this year and vivo's V7+ is riding this wave. The maker may be a bit late for the Full-something bandwagon, but it is among the first to offer the trending feature onto a mid-ranger smartphone.
With the V7+ the maker also keeps its traditional focus on the selfie photography and offers yet another impressive shooter capable of creating a simulated defocused background. But that won't be enough to beat the V5+ bokeh king. Not even the honor of being chosen as the official smartphone for World Cup 2018 in Russia. But a trending FullView screen might just do it.
The V7+ is also the premiere of Qualcomm's latest 14nm chip - the Snapdragon 450. It has an unimpressive octa-core A53 processor, but the Adreno 506 GPU and the new dual ISPs with native bokeh support are some welcome updates. There is also a new faster LTE modem and the V7+ comes with a tri-slot for two SIMs and a microSD cards, so you can fully utilize the phone's capabilities. And the base 64GB storage is much appreciated, too.
vivo V7+ key features:
- Body: Plastic unibody; 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 4 front
- Screen: 5.99-inch 18:9 IPS LCD of 720 x 1,4400 resolution; 269ppi;
- Chipset: Snapdragon 450 chipset; octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU; Adreno 506 GPU;
- Memory: 4GB RAM; 64GB of built-in memory; dedicated microSD card slot;
- Camera: 16MP rear camera; f/2.0 lens; phase-detect AF; single LED flash; 1080p video
- Selfie cam: 24MP front camera; f/2.0 lens; single LED flash; bokeh effects
- OS: Android 7.1.2 Nougat, Funtouch OS 3.2 on top
- Battery: 3,225mAh battery
- Connectivity: Dual nano SIM slot; Cat. 6/13 LTE support; Wi-Fi g/b/n; Bluetooth 4.2; GPS with GALILEO; FM radio
- Misc: Fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock
Main shortcomings
- 720p resolution is a bit of a stretch on a 6" screen
- No NFC and no fast charging
- Single-band Wi-Fi
- Older Micro USB port
While the Snapdragon 450 has a modern Wi-Fi chip, vivo chose to cover just the basics and didn't utilize the dual-band feature. No NFC and no fast charging are also somewhat of a turn-off. But while the resolution might be stretching at 6", the pixel density is still pretty tolerable, and we expect no pixelization whatsoever.
We are thrilled to check this new Qualcomm chip in action and see how things will work out with the new FullView screen in some gaming sessions. And knowing vivo, we already have some high hopes for that 24MP selfie eye. Shall we begin?
Vivo V7+ retail box
Vivo V7+ comes packed within a regular paper box. Inside you'll find a 10W charger plug, a microUSB cable, and a pair of cheap-looking earbuds. Vivo is also throwing a free transparent silicon case for extra protection, too.
Vivo V7+ retail package • the contents • the case • V7+ with that case
Vivo v7+ 360-degree spin
The vivo V7+ measures 155.9 x 75.8 x 7.7 mm - about the same as the Oppo F5 and R11s. The V7+ is lightweight at 160g probably because of its all-plastic build.
Design
The V7+ metallic looks are deceiving but let them not fool you - the phone is wrapped in an all-plastic unibody. As far as design go these days, there is little to experiment with, so we are already get used to the flat backs and curvy frames.
That's where the screen comes in - with some impressively tiny bezels an otherwise recycled design could look completely different. And that's the case with the V7+. The 5.99" FullView display might not be top specked, but it has that eye-catchy flagship look and is protected by a 2.5D-finished Gorilla Glass 4. It should be more than enough to carry the cosmetic upgrades all by itself.
Flipping the vivoV7+ backwards reveals a familiar shell with flat surface and mirrored antenna lines. But as it turned out these sharp lines serve no functional purpose, just decoration. They were carved out of the plastic case and colored with a glossy paint the same way as the frame's chamfer.
The 16MP main camera is bulging just a little bit and probably has the only real piece of metal - the decorative ring around its protective glass. The fingerprint scanner is also around, nicely fitted at the center, and is of our favorite always-one super-accurate variety.
The vivo V7+ is far from unique, but trending it is. The design is lightweight and the phone fits quite well in hand. At 6" the screen is not the easiest to operate with just one hand, but we still find the V7+ sleek shape very reasonably sized and user-friendly. And while handling the V7+ you may never really know it's not made of metal unless someone tells you so. Sorry to ruin this.
Handling the V7+
Device overview
The vivo V7+ is one of these devices that keeps everything you may need around. Obviously, the front is mostly screen with the 24MP selfie camera and its LED flash flanking the earpiece. The triple slot (SIM, SIM, microSD) is on the left, while the power and volume keys are on the right.
The V7+ • the earpiece • the triple slot • the power and volume keys
The top of the V7+ has the lonely secondary mic. The mouthpiece, the loudspeaker, the microUSB port, and the audio jack are all at the bottom.
The 16MP camera lens is at the back, accompanied by a single LED flash. The fingerprint sensor is also around.
The top • the bottom • the back • the rear camera
A 6" FullView display on the budget
Vivo is among the first makers to offer the so-called FullView display on a budget mid-ranger. The almost bezel-less 18:9 display is 5.99" big, which is a bit of a stretch for its 720x1440 resolution. Still, at 269ppi density we saw no pixelization, and while the screen won't top any charts, it is quite enough for the class.
Beneath the surface of the IPS LCD panel lies a standard RGB pixel arrangement with equal number of subpixels for each primary color.
The vivo V7+ display has a maximum brightness of 515nits and impressively deep black levels, which led to an excellent contrast of 1:1782. The color rendering is average - the screen offers mostly accurate colors but it looks a bit bluish and the representation of the white color is way cooler than it should be (DeltaE of 11.5). The overall color rendering out of the box worked out to an average DeltaE of 5.6, which is fine if you are okay with the cooler looking screen.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.289 | 515 | 1782 | |
| 0.348 | 475 | 1365 | |
| 0.466 | 476 | 1021 | |
| 0.192 | 422 | 2198 | |
| 0.214 | 462 | 2159 | |
| 0.351 | 551 | 1570 | |
| 0.322 | 484 | 1503 | |
| 0.376 | 591 | 1572 | |
| 0.364 | 484 | 1330 | |
| 0 | 350 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 539 | ∞ | |
The sunlight legibility is okay but, the V7+ suffers from washed-out colors in the sun. Other than that, you will be able to comfortably see what's happening on the screen outdoors.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone X
5.013 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Sony Xperia X Compact
3.694 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Sony Xperia Z1
2.95 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Xiaomi Mi A1
2.689 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - vivo V7+
2.671 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - Razer Phone
2.328 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Apple iPhone 4S
2.269 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - LG Aka
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - HTC Butterfly
1.873 - Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Sony Xperia L
1.351 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Sony Xperia C
1.283 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
Battery life
There is a 3,225 mAh battery inside the vivo V7+. The phone ships with a rather standard 5V/2A plug and it fills up 23% of a depleted battery in 30 minutes, while it will take about 3 hours for a full recharge.
We experienced some cellular connectivity issues with our unit and we were unable to test its call and standby endurance, thus our battery test is incomplete. We still wanted to share with you the impressive battery performance in our video and web tests. Indeed, the Snapdragon 450 with the V7+ posted impressive scores and we can't wait to see its full performance. Once we are able to resolve the issue we will update the review.
Connectivity
The vivo V7+ is a dual SIM device - it accepts two nano-SIM cards and supports LTE 300Mbps download and 150Mbps uplink. The modem covers all necessary 2G and 3G bands, but the 4G support is rather limited and it omits the widespread band 20 in Europe.
There is single-band Wi-Fi b/g/n with Wi-Fi Direct and hotspot support, Bluetooth 4.1, and GPS, GLONASS, GALIOLEO and Beidou for positioning. While the Snapdragon 450 SoC offers high-end Wi-Fi chip, vivo chose not to fully utilize it. There is no NFC support either.
The vivo V7+ comes with FM radio on board.
A microUSB 2.0 port is used for charging and attaching peripherals (OTG needs to be enabled in settings), and there's a good old 3.5mm headphone jack.
Software overview
The vivo V7+ runs on Android 7.1.2 Nougat OS with vivo's custom Funtouch v3.2 overlay on top. As with other Chinese manufacturers, that means a single-tiered interface with no app drawer. We hoped for vivo to jettison those iOS looks, but the maker insists on keeping everything as close to iOS as possible.
So, Funtouch has a slick user interface with a slew of features, making for an interesting Android skin. There is App Clone, Smart Split and even Face Unlock.
The lockscreen is pretty basic - there is a clock and two shortcuts. It is a part of the theme support, though, so you can freshen it up from the Themes app.
The fingerprint sensor is always-on, very fast and accurate. You can also setup face unlock in addition to fingerprint security, but you will need to wake up the screen in order for it to work.
The face recognition can be fast or regular. The fast option indeed recognizes your face quicker, but it can be fooled with a picture. The other one relies on a more in-depth facial recognition algorithm and vivo says it's more secure. It can't be as safe as Apple's Face ID, but apparently this kind of authentication is now a thing and the Chinese makers are offering it, pretty well at that.
Default lockscreen • Fingerprint security • Setting up • Setting up Face Unlock • Face Unlock
Past the lockscreen you get a single-tier interface with no app drawer. Meanwhile, swiping up from the bottom edge brings out a combined toggles/brightness/tasks drawer, reminiscent of the old iOS Control center. Closing apps works with a cheerful "Speed up" button.
The homescreen • It doubles as an app drawer • Notifications • Toggles • Toggles
The V7+ has its own Themes app and you can choose from a very rich theme store. The theme-able elements are the wallpapers (lock and homescreen, dialer, messenger), and the system font.
Theme app • elements • a theme • a theme • a theme
The vivo V7+ comes with extensive gesture and motion functionality, found in settings under Smart motion. Smart wake works with the display off and lets you draw letters to launch specific apps, unlock with an upward swipe without lighting the screen beforehand, or launch the camera with a downward swipe. There are multiple settings for flashlight or camera launch with the volume keys, too.
"Smart motion" gestures
There's Smart Split, which allows you to split the display and launch two apps side-by-side. This is only limited to just a few supported messaging apps - Messages, Facebook, Whatsapp. It works only when you are within one of these messengers, say Facebook, and receive a notification from some of the others, say Whatsapp. Then you can expand the Whatsapp floating icon into the full-blown app, which will share the screen with Facebook.
App
Smart Split • Manual Split • App clode
Vivo has kept things pretty clean regarding preloaded applications and, besides the nowadays obligatory Google suite, there are few pre-installed apps. Also, the things that are included in the mix are well executed, nicely styled and even, quite convenient. We won't explore the mandatory calendar, calculator, clock, and voice recording apps, but they are onboard.
Funtouch OS has an amazing central management hub, called iManager. It is designed to keep your phone in top shape and does a pretty good job of it. It can clean your RAM and storage on request and naturally manage applications.
The phone also comes with a very intuitive file manager. It automatically groups things according to type but also allows traditional folder browsing, as well as searching. Multiple file operations are now possible too.
iManager • iManager • iManager • Intuitive file manager
Performance
The vivo V7+ is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chip. Despite its 4-series branding, this one is more of a reworked Snapdragon 625 and comes to replace the Snapdragon 435.
The 450's processor has eight 1.8GHz Cortex-A53 cores and promises a 25% boost in processing speed over the incumbent S435 chip. It also moves to the Adreno 506 GPU, which will offer a 25% boost in gaming performance.
Of course, the highlight of this new chip is that it's built on a 14nm process - the first among the 4-series. Power draw when gaming will be reduced by up to 30% and Qualcomm expects batteries will offer up to 4 hours more of active use compared to the old chip.
Finally, vivo has granted the V7+ with 4 gigs of RAM - great for games and multi-tasking.
And now - it's benchmark time. GeekBench is what we ran first, and the V7+ did great. As expected, its 1.8GHz processor is faster than the 1.6GHz but can't match the 2.0 and 2.2GHz ones. Whether it's single or multi-core tasks though, the V7+ will easily get the job done.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi A1
877 - HTC U11 Life
873 - Moto G5S Plus
843 - vivo V7+
767 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
735 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
734 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
665 - LG Q6
584
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi A1
4292 - Moto G5S Plus
4193 - HTC U11 Life
4140 - vivo V7+
3912 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3779 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3768 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
2841 - LG Q6
2011
We've already seen the Adreno 506GPU perform on the Snapdragon 625 (Mi A1, V5+, Moto G5S+), so this is a welcome upgrade for the 4xx generation. Just as expected, as far as raw power is concerned, the 450's Adreno 506 is on par with the one inside the 620. It is better than the old Adreno 505, of course, but not as fast as the Adreno 508 in Snapdragon 630 (HTC U11 Life).
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- HTC U11 Life
9.6 - Oppo F5
7.1 - Xiaomi Mi A1
6.4 - Moto G5S Plus
6.4 - vivo V5 Plus
6.2 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
6.2 - vivo V7+
6.1 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
4.6 - LG Q6
3.8 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.3 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.3
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- HTC U11 Life
5.4 - Oppo F5
4.2 - Xiaomi Mi A1
3.5 - Moto G5S Plus
3.4 - vivo V5 Plus
3.4 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
3.4 - vivo V7+
3.3 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
2.5 - LG Q6
2.1 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
1.9 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
1.9
But the V7+ isn't utilizing a 1080p screen, but a 720p one, which means less pixels and more processing power. And it blew the competition away at the actual onscreen tests.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- vivo V7+
13 - HTC U11 Life
9.6 - Moto G5S Plus
6.8 - Oppo F5
6.8 - Xiaomi Mi A1
6.3 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
6.2 - vivo V5 Plus
6.1 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
4.5 - LG Q6
3.5 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.3 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.3
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- vivo V7+
6.6 - HTC U11 Life
5.3 - Oppo F5
4 - Moto G5S Plus
3.8 - Xiaomi Mi A1
3.5 - vivo V5 Plus
3.4 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
3.4 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
2.5 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
1.9 - LG Q6
1.9 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
1.9
The BaseMark X test puts the vivo V7+ on par with quite a few mid-rangers, but behind the more powerful U11 Life.
Basemark X
Higher is better
- HTC U11 Life
14286 - vivo V5 Plus
10542 - Moto G5S Plus
10488 - Xiaomi Mi A1
10472 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
10446 - vivo V7+
9955 - Oppo F5
9205 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
7516 - LG Q6
6179 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
5497 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
5489
Finally, we ran some all-round benchmarks. BaseMark OS 2.0 puts the vivo v7+ on top of every other device but the HTC U11 Life. AnTuTu's score on the other hand turned out rather average.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- HTC U11 Life
1342 - vivo V7+
1290 - Xiaomi Mi A1
1262 - Moto G5S Plus
1176 - vivo V5 Plus
1107 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
1050 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
1038 - Oppo F5
424 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
349 - LG Q6
275
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- HTC U11 Life
72854 - Moto G5S Plus
64554 - Oppo F5
63889 - vivo V5 Plus
63812 - Xiaomi Mi A1
61762 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
61616 - vivo V7+
57791 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
47920 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
47495 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
46822 - LG Q6
37276
Qualcomm's latest addition to the basic 4xx series has turned out to be a capable sillicone and you can tell by the scores. We ran quite a few 3D games, both arcades and shooters, and they were smooth and enjoyable. The wide-screen helps for an immersive experience, while the more than adequate chips boosts the enjoyment.
The Snapdragon 450 chip is built on a 14nm process, which meant low heat output and we can confirm the V7+ doesn't get hot at all. We expect the adoption rate of the S450 to go sky-hike in the next couple of months.
Telephony and phonebook
The phonebook app on the vivo V7+ follows the general styling of the rest of the interface, meaning it's entirely custom. There are tabs, but unless you are big on groups, or want to jump to the dialer or to your personal info page all the time, chances are you won't be using them too often.
Dialer • phonebook • a single contact
Loudspeaker
The vivo V7+ posted a Very Good score in our loudspeaker loudness test. The sound is rather shallow and there is some distortion at maximum level depending on what you're playing. It's loud when it matters, and some high-pitch tones can even reach up to 92dB.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 61.7 | 69.7 | 71.8 | Average | |
| 63.5 | 70.8 | 71.5 | Average | |
| 63.1 | 70.9 | 82.5 | Good | |
| 67.3 | 70.3 | 81.5 | Very Good | |
| 66.5 | 73.1 | 79.6 | Very Good | |
| 65.8 | 73.5 | 80.8 | Very Good | |
| 68.0 | 69.9 | 82.3 | Very Good | |
| 78.4 | 71.7 | 79.2 | Excellent | |
| 74.0 | 73.9 | 90.4 | Excellent | |
| 88.9 | 77.8 | 84.6 | Excellent |
Multimedia
The vivo V7+ comes with a simple gallery. It consists of two tabs, one for your camera roll, the other for your various albums. Viewing a single image offers the usual basic options like cropping and rotation as well as a quick shortcut for sharing.
The Albums app is decent
The vivo V7+ comes with a dedicated video application. It offers a basic interface and few advanced features but gets the job done. The player itself does offer Hi-Fi support as well as DLNA and subtitles.
An interesting feature is the pop-out mode. It spawns a small draggable video window on top of the UI, but you can't resize it.
Very capable video player
Audio player
The music player, bundled with Funtouch OS and curiously named iMusic, doesn't look overly impressive but is quite pleasant to use and has a few tricks hidden away.
The iMusic player is simplistic, but gets the job done
Launching the app brings you to a selection of quite a few browsing options. The V7+ comes with preinstalled sound profiles for a few headsets in the iMusic settings. There is also a Hi-Fi mode, but it only works with headphones attached.
FM radio
The FM radio is a nice touch. Sure, you can stream with Play Music, but FM broadcasting is free and available at places where there might not be data connection. The Radio app is capable of broadcast recording, but it lacks RDS (the feature that displays the station name and other info).
FM radio app
Audio output doesn't disappoint
The vivo V7+ did well in the first part of our audio quality test. The clarity with an active external amplifier is as good as we've come to expect, while the loudness is above average.
Adding a pair of headphones to the mix introduces a little extra intermodulation distortion and a moderate hike in stereo crosstalk. Volume drops to average levels, but considering the price of the V7+ it's hard to be unhappy with its performance here.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.03, -0.22 | -93.6 | 93.7 | 0.0009 | 0.0067 | -86.9 | |
| +0.40, -0.07 | -92.4 | 92.5 | 0.0060 | 0.244 | -54.2 | |
| +0.06, -0.08 | -93.5 | 93.3 | 0.0020 | 0.0071 | -93.2 | |
| +0.64, -0.07 | -89.3 | 91.3 | 0.0093 | 0.361 | -52.0 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.7 | 92.7 | 0.0029 | 0.021 | -92.4 | |
| +0.31, -0.08 | -90.1 | 90.7 | 0.0076 | 0.219 | -71.9 | |
| +0.05, -0.28 | -91.9 | 92.2 | 0.0037 | 0.051 | -90.3 | |
| +0.18, -0.05 | -91.0 | 91.6 | 0.019 | 0.230 | -57.9 | |
| +0.04, -0.02 | -88.2 | 88.6 | 0.011 | 0.021 | -84.3 | |
| +0.13, -0.05 | -87.4 | 87.7 | 0.014 | 0.084 | -75.9 |
vivo V7+ frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Camera and image quality
The vivo V7+ comes with a 16MP camera on its back with a f/2.0 aperture lens and a LED flash. On the front, however, is a 24MP sensor with f/2.0 lens, also with a LED flash, and capable of simulated bokeh effect.
The camera app interface is simple, yet functional and will be familiar to anyone who's picked up an iPhone. Swiping left and right (or up and down in landscape orientation) switches between basic stills, beautification mode, and video. The flash toggle, front camera switch, and a mode selector are up top in portrait, so they pretty much require you to use both hands.
Photo enthusiasts will be pleased to find a Professional mode, and it's one of the better-made ones we've seen. It gives you access to a lot of manual controls, including exposure compensation (-2EV/+2EV in 1/3EV increments), ISO sensitivity (all the way up to ISO 3200), shutter speed (as long as 16s), white balance by presets and manual focus.
You can enable Live Photos if you like.
Camera UI
The V7+ captures overall likable photos with sufficient detail, though it is missing some definition in intricate high-frequency detail like foliage. Colors are pleasantly saturated, a little warm too, but in a good way, if you will. There are noticeable traces of noise, especially in the skies, but nothing that much to get in the way of fine detail. Dynamic range is decent, and we rarely had to resort to the dedicated HDR mode.
vivo V7+ 16MP camera samples
And here are some low-light photos. The V7+ produced grainy shots that wasn't something to write home about. There is lots of noise, average detail, and the autofocus sometimes misses the target. Still, those should do for the social networks.
vivo V7+ low-light 16MP samples
Our Photo compare tool is a good place to check out how the V7+ fares against any competitors in the controlled environment of our test lab.
vivo V7+ vs. Oppo F5 vs. vivo V5+ in our photo compare tool
HDR
There is Auto HDR on the V7+ and we suggest leaving it on. We found it very smart as it fires an HDR shot whenever necessary. Vivo's approach to HDR processing is mature, preserving instead of blowing the highlights, and bringing more detail in the shadows. It also lowers the noise in those dark corners, which is another reason to rely on the Auto HDR mode.
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
Panorama
Panoramas are tall around the flagship-grade 3,200px, and there's a good amount of resolved detail. There are no visible stitching issues (with stationary subjects), and exposure is even across the frame. The colors are very pleasant, too.
vivo V7+ panorama
Selfie camera
Once again, we would like to call the 24MP front facing shooter of the vivo V7+ its primary camera. It has an f/2.0 lens and a soft LED flash. Of course, the highlight of the selfies is the bokeh effect in spite of the omission of a secondary selfie sensor.
Buffing • Skin Tone • Whitening • Effects work in Portrait mode, too
If you'd expected stunning selfie shots, well, you'd get them with the V7+. The resolved detail in the 24MP selfies is way above average, the contrast is great, the dynamic range is good, and the colors are lively. You can choose from a variety of beautification tweaks, but if you want the most detail, you should stick to the normal shots. The V7+ has one of the best selfie snappers around in terms of image quality.
Vivo v7+ 24MP selfies
The V7+ may lack a secondary sensor for the bokeh shots, but it still does way better in detecting and separating the person from the background than, say, Huawei's latest flagships, which is an impressive achievement right there. Sure, you can notice the processing tries to mask the borders with some forced blur, but this actually improves the effect instead of hurting it. Overall, the V7+ does not only has a great selfie camera, it does one of the best selfie portraits we've seen, too.
Vivo V7+ 24MP portrait selfies with bokeh effect
Video camera
The vivo V7+ shoots videos in up to 1080p resolution at 30fps. There's no 60fps smooth motion mode. All videos from the V7+'s camera are captured in an MP4 container. The video bitrate is about 17Mpbs, and the framerate is stable. The audio recorded in the video is stereo - it uses an AAC codec with 128 Kbps bitrate and 48 KHz sampling.
The resolved detail is enough, though we've seen better. The contrast and colors are fine, and the dynamic range is above average. Here is a sample we've uploaded on YouTube.
You can also download this 1080p@30fps (9s, 20MB) video sample taken straight off the vivo V7+.
If you'd like to compare the V7+'s video camera to some other phones, head over to our Video Compare Tool below.
vivo V7+ vs. Oppo F5 vs. Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro in our 1080p video compare tool
Wrapping it up
Vivo surely knows how to build phones for the selfie-addicted fashion-conscious consumers. Sleek design, trendy looks, cutting-edge screen, snappy performance, professional-level selfies. That's the V7+ and you get all packed into a lightweight phablet body. Did we mention these come at a bargain?
Vivo has shopped smart for the V7+ and we can't pick a favorite feature because there are so many. The 18:9 6" screen may be average in resolution, but it's still top of the shelf in immersive experience and contrast ratio. The new Snapdragon 450 is gaming-friendly, and a great multi-tasker, and it also provides great battery life. Vivo did a good job with the main camera, but it's the selfies where the V7+ really shines.
Vivo let some tiny omissions disturb the otherwise great package - the lack of dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, and fast charging. We no longer find the iOS-inspired UI design that cool. But we could easily forgive those for the otherwise impressive all-round experience.
vivo V7+ key test findings
- The all-plastic design is good looking, the FullView screen definitely helps the traditional shape to achieve a flagship aura.
- The display posts great numbers for brightness and contrast, but average for color accuracy and sunlight legibility.
- Battery life is looking promising - we couldn't test standby and call times, but the V7+ did north of 13 hours in both our video playback and web browsing tests.
- The phone runs on Nougat and Funtouch 3.2. The launcher is lightweight with rich customization options. Face Unlock works great. It's no iPhone, but Vivo has made sure the UI looks like one.
- Benchmarks reveal great performance across the board, while the phone stays cool under pressure.
- The loudspeaker pumped out enough decibels for a Very Good rating; drive it too hard, however, and its shallow sound may get distorted.
- Good clarity and average loudness are the highlights of the audio quality output through the jack.
- The 16MP rear camera produces detailed images with pleasing colors and decent dynamic range.
- The 24MP selfie shooter is one of the best around with very detailed images, great contrast and colors. It excels in the portrait shots with simulated bokeh effects, too.
- The 1080p videos are average in detail but come out with good contrast and colors.
Noteworthy alternatives
Another great thing about the V7+ is its competitive price, where available. But the competition is already going in vivo's niche, that's for sure.
Take the Oppo F5 for example - it has a similar body that wraps a similar 6" 18:9 screen, but it's of a higher 1080p resolution. The processor and the GPU are more powerful, the rear camera has wider aperture, while the selfie sharpshooter is equally capable. There is no FM radio and Hi-Fi audio on the Oppo, but the upgrades may be worth considering, especially that both cost the same.
Oppo F5
LG has the Q6 as a trump card in lots of markets, as LG's reach is wider and its marketing machine - better. The Q6 offers a higher-res widescreen, but runs on a slower chip, and its selfie camera is basic. Still, the wider market availability and stronger PR the Q6 may as well make it to more check lists than the V7+.
LG Q6
And if the V7+ is too big for you, you should check vivo's most recent V7 smartphone. It's basically the V7+ but with a smaller screen and halved storage.
vivo V7
If the 18:9 widescreen is not a must, then there is plenty to choose from. Xiaomi's most recent Mi A1 running on pure Android, its MIUI counterpart - the Mi 5X, the highly popular Redmi Note 4 or even the Mi Max 2. These four offer blazing fast performance, beefy batteries, great screens, metal bodies, and high-quality photos. Mi A1 and Mi 5X have dual-camera setups on the back, so you will be getting native bokeh shots, too.
Xiaomi Mi A1 • Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 • Xiaomi Mi Max 2
Europe and USA customers may have a hard time finding any of those but the LG, so the Nokia 6, Motorola Moto G5S, and the Samsung's Galaxy J7 Pro would do for them. The Nokia is the most uninspiring of the trio, while the Moto has a dual-cam on the back with 4K video recording. The Samsung has a cool Super AMOLED screen and it has put wide apertures and LED flashes on both the rear and selfie snappers, so it's a big threat to the V7+.
Nokia 6 • Motorola Moto G5S Plus • Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
The verdict
LG, Samsung, and even Motorola may be trumping the V7+ because of their wider availability and popularity. But that's the beauty in the market segmentation. While others build devices for the world, vivo tailors its phones to a specific target group and markets. And where the vivo V7+ is available - it will sell great.
The V7+ has been carefully put together with a specific audience in mind and it simply excels in all its highlight features - screen, performance, camera, even design. If you live in a market where vivo sells, there is not a single reason why you shouldn't give it a serious consideration.
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