Smart Android And Trik-Commenting on Andorid indeed never endless, because smart devices this one is often updated every certain amount of time. So that the market can always be garapnya menerinya with pleasure. And it is not denied if this device has become the lifestyle of each society. To not wonder if the 6th business information and many are turning to mobail smartphone. With Android which thoroughly dominated the mobile industry, choosing the best Android smartphone is almost identical to choose the best smartphone, period. But while Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is intense.
Introduction
Many are playing the notch game after Apple made it trendy and vivo was among the first to join. While it all started with Essential and its selfie camera hole, Apple made it much bigger to fit its Kinect-like FaceID tech and that's where the market went. Now, mere months later vivo is already challenging the notch concept with the new V11.
Meanwhile, the company that was the first to introduce the under-display fingerprint scanner is now also the first to try and trickle it down to the mid-range.
This puts the vivo V11 in a rather interesting place - it's not a flagship but more of a mid-range smartphone with not one but two standout features. The V11's glass design is certainly a looker, but the screen with that tiny curvy notch is the place where all eyes will go.
Despite not belonging to the X series, the V11 has very capable hardware - there is a Snapdragon 660 chip with AI processor inside, plenty of RAM and storage, a dual-camera camera setup for those blurry backgroud shots and a high-res selfie shooter at the front.
vivo V11 specs:
- Body: Glass body, plastic frame 157.9 x 75 x 7.9 mm, 156g
- Screen: 6.41" 2,340 x 1,080px (19.5:9) IPS LCD, 402ppi, notched
- Chipset: Snapdragon 660 chipset - octa-core processor (4x2.2 GHz Kryo 260 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260), Adreno 512 GPU
- Memory: 6GB RAM, 128GB of storage, (dedicated) microSD slot
- Camera: Dual: 12MP (f/1.8) + 5MP for depth sensing, phase detection autofocus; 1080p @ 30fps video
- Selfie cam: 25MP (f/2.0), 1080p video
- OS: Android 8.1 Oreo with FunTouch 4.5
- Battery: 3,400 mAh, 18W fast charging
- Connectivity: Dual Nano-SIM; microUSB (USB 2.0), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, FM radio
- Misc: Under-disply fingerprint sensor, bottom-firing loudspeaker, 3.5mm audio port
Unfortunately, vivo, just like Oppo, is still stuck in the microUSB era. Sure, the NEX S flagship went for USB-C, but here are we again back to the outdated port. On the upside it comes with fast charging support, so it's not like you will be missing on functionality - just compatibility.
Hopping on another trend from 2018, vivo has opted for gradient paintjobs for the V11 - Starry Night and Nebula. The one we are going to review today is the Starry Night option with Black/Blue color scheme.
And now it's time to unpack the vivo V11 and put it through its paces.
Unboxing the vivo V11
The vivo V11 retail box contains a lot - in addition to the vivo V11, we also found a microUSB cable, an 18W charger, and even a headset with design closely resembling Apple's EarPods.
vivo also provides a transparent silicone case for protection, while the V11 itself comes with a factory-applied screen protector. Nice!
Design
The V11's glass-sandwich body is arguably the most common among premium smartphones these days and even plenty of its mid-range peers employ it. But vivo did try to make it standout in more than one way.
For starters - we just can't take our eyes off the AMOLED screen. It's quite large at 6.41", but thanks to the thin, almost non-existing, bezels - the phone isn't a huge slab. The small cutout on top accommodates the 25MP selfie camera and nothing else. It's still an interruption of the screen, but as far as notches go this is certainly the most elegant solution we've seen so far. Some might even say that it adds some character to the phone, but to each their own.
If you look closely though you'll see the long earpiece grille on the bezel.
We've seen quite a few phones claiming to have bezel-less displays, but the Halo FullView screen on the V11 is indeed very close to this concept with 1.76mm side bezels, about 3mm top one, and minimal chin.
The fingerprint-scanner is under the display and that's the second impressive thing about the V11's design. vivo pioneered this feature and is now starting to use it even on its mid-rangers. The sensor has an always-on option so you always see a small fingerprint on the screen, but this turned out to be quite the battery drainer. We'll circle back to that later.
If you opt to turn the Offscreen Unlock off, then you'll need to use the power button to wake the phone up and then use the sensor. It's a bit sluggish, just like the other in-display sensors we've seen so far, so it's probably for the best that vivo provides face unlock as an alternative.
The V11 has a stunning back. Vivo opted for two gradient paintjobs - Starry Night and Nebula. The Starry Night is the one we have here, and it uses black and blue hues, with the latter having some light-blue stars sprinkled around.
The dual-camera is protruding at the back. It has a 12MP primary sensor with bright lens and another 5MP for depth sensing. The gold accent around the buldge wouldn't be our top pick, but it's not that bad either.
The back is all glass, though vivo hasn't mentioned the specific type it used. We have to warn you that it's hardly very durable because it started picking up scratches rather quickly. The piece is trendily curved towards the frame, which makes for a rather thin profile but hurts the overall grip.
The frame itself is made of plastic, it's curved, and has a slippery glossy finish. That's three out of three. We wouldn't have minded the plastic, but the thin yet curved shape a make the V11 a particularly slippery phone. We suggest you use the case provided in the retail package or get a third party one or this phone may be rendered incapable of serving you very quickly.
The vivo V11 has a 3.5mm audio port at the bottom, which is nice. There is also a triple card slot, which has gained some popularity recently. This is a tray that can accommodate two SIMs and a microSD card at the same time.
Vivo V11
The vivo V11 has a rather big 6.41" display, larger than the 6.3" unit on its Oppo F9 cousin. The V11 spreads at 157.9 x 75 x 7.9 mm - that's just 1mm wider and taller than the F9, and it weighs 13g less at 156g.
The vivo V11 is a looker, no two words about this. The glass design is as trendy as ever, but the reimagined notch on the AMOLED screen, the fingerprint-scanner under that screen, and the dazzling glass back are the things that made the V11 so pretty.
Display
The vivo V11 packs a 6.41" Super AMOLED screen of 1080p resolution with one of the smallest cutouts we've seen ever as it was meant for a camera and nothing else. The panel has a very decent pixel density at 402ppi.
The actual resolution is 1,080 x 2,340 - that's 19.5:9 aspect - one of the tallest around. While that's not the highest number of pixels we've enjoyed, the display looks great and its punchiness makes every picture spring to life.
vivo hasn't specified the glass it used to protect the screen. There's no way for us to know if it's Corning-made or comes from another manufacturer and how scratch resistant it is. In any case, vivo is selling the V11 with a factory-applied screen protector in most markets, so it's probably better to use it that way if you are willing to live on with some extra reflections.
vivo doesn't offer many display options - only a manual color temperature slider in Settings that you can move towards cooler or warmer. The coldest possible one is chosen by default.
The screen supports the DCI-P3 color space and is decently accurate with an average deltaE of 5 and maximum deviation of 11 at point white. If you set the color temperature to the halfway point between Cool and Warm, you'll get one very accurate color presentation with an average deltaE of 3.
The screen has a very decent brightness for an OLED panel of 418 nits. But unlike the AMOLEDs on various Galaxy smartphones, the one on the V11 has no outdoor boost and 418 nits is the best it can do.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0 | 418 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 458 | ∞ | |
| 0.29 | 526 | 1814 | |
| 0 | 410 | ∞ | |
| 0.314 | 461 | 1468 | |
| 0.228 | 446 | 1956 | |
| 0 | 390 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 456 | ∞ | |
| 0.32 | 449 | 1403 | |
| 0.414 | 470 | 1135 | |
| 0.277 | 420 | 1516 | |
Sunlight legibility is in line with other OLEDs and our sunlight score means excellent contrast and visibility. Some Galaxy devices do score higher, but at this point the differences are marginal.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone X
5.013 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S9
4.63 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
4.537 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
4.531 - 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 - OnePlus 6
4.321 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Oppo R15 Pro
4.251 - 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 S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - vivo V11
4.113 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei P20 Pro
4.087 - Xiaomi Mi 8
4.086 - Meizu 15
4.082 - Nokia 6 (2018)
4.052 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - vivo NEX S
4.012 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - OnePlus X
3.983 - LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)
3.978 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Oppo Find X
3.954 - 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 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
3.901 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Motorola Moto G6 Plus
3.865 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
3.842 - Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
3.834 - 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 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
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 - Nokia 8 Sirocco
3.745 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Huawei P20
3.683 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
3.675 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - Sony Xperia XZ2
3.58 - 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 - Nokia 7 plus
3.479 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Motorola Moto G6
3.448 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
3.445 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Motorola Moto G6 Play
3.419 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
3.397 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
3.393 - LG G7 ThinQ
3.39 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor Play
3.349 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo F7
3.333 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Archos Diamond Omega
3.305 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Xiaomi Mi 5
3.24 - 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 - BlackBerry KEY2
3.212 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Oppo R11s
3.153 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - HTC U11 Life
3.108 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
3.087 - HTC U12+
3.085 - Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
3.077 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Oppo F9
3.069 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Xiaomi Mi Max 3
3.061 - Xiaomi Pocophone F1
3.059 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023 - Asus Zenfone 4 ZE554KL
3.019 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Motorola Moto X4
3.012 - Oppo Realme 2
3.006 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - LG Q6
2.987 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Huawei P20 Lite
2.952 - Xiaomi Redmi 5
2.951 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Sony Xperia XA2
2.938 - Oppo Realme 1
2.932 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - Huawei Honor View 10
2.896 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
2.867 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Nokia 3.1
2.837 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Honor 10 (Vivid)
2.757 - Nokia 2
2.752 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
2.737 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.734 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Xiaomi Mi A2
2.696 - 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 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
2.654 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Sony Xperia Z3
2.618 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Huawei P Smart
2.563 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
2.556 - HTC U11+
2.556 - 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 - BlackBerry Motion
2.494 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - 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 - Vivo V7
2.404 - 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 - Sony Xperia L2
2.266 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - HTC U11+ (EU)
2.253 - 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 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
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 - Sony Xperia Z2
1.944 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892
Battery life
The vivo V11 is powered by a large 3,400 mAh battery. It offers vivo's custom solution called Dual-Engine Fast Charging. As it turned out this is just another word for the 18W QuickCharge 3.0 as it works with any QC3-compatible charger so no need to worry about proprietary chargers. The phone does come bundled with an 18W charger, which is much appreciated too.
The 9V/2A adapter can bring the V11 from 0% to about 45% in around 30 minutes, which is rapid enough.
Better yet, you won't need to do it too often as the the vivo V11 scored an excellent result in our battery test with a 98-hour Endurance rating. It did a great job in all tested scenarios - video playback, calls, web browsing and demonstrated outstanding stand-by performance.
If you decide to enable the offscreen unlock option, which keeps the UD fingerprint scanner active and displays a small fingerprint icon on the screen to mark that sensor, well, the V11 standby endurance gets halved and the final score suffers.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the vivo V11 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern, so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Loudspeaker
The vivo V11 has a single bottom-firing speaker. It scored a Very Good mark in our loudness test. The sound output is rich with deep bass and we had no complaints even when playing music at maximum volume.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 70.2 | 74.7 | 70.0 | Good | |
| 68.3 | 73.8 | 75.8 | Good | |
| 69.7 | 73.5 | 76.6 | Very Good | |
| 69.2 | 70.6 | 81.6 | Very Good | |
| 70.7 | 73.8 | 80.7 | Very Good | |
| 68.0 | 73.8 | 84.8 | Very Good | |
| 71.7 | 74.4 | 81.6 | Very Good | |
| 69.3 | 72.6 | 87.3 | Excellent | |
| 70.5 | 74.1 | 85.2 | Excellent | |
Audio quality
The vivo V11 had faultless output with an active external amplifier - great clarity and nicely high loudness.
Headphones caused a hike in stereo crosstalk that was about average and introduced some intermodulation distortion, but the overall output is still of decent accuracy. Volume dropped a bit, but remained well above average, which is another win for a handset in this price range.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.02, -0.06 | -92.7 | 92.7 | 0.0014 | 0.0071 | -92.1 | |
| +0.29, -0.18 | -93.6 | 93.5 | 0.011 | 0.295 | -54.9 | |
| +0.02, -0.06 | -91.6 | 91.6 | 0.0018 | 0.014 | -95.3 | |
| +0.08, -0.12 | -92.6 | 92.6 | 0.0028 | 0.120 | -69.0 | |
| +0.07, -0.03 | -89.7 | 89.9 | 0.0060 | 0.201 | -91.7 | |
| +0.22, -0.21 | -91.6 | 91.0 | 0.016 | 0.305 | -56.2 | |
| +0.05, -0.07 | -92.8 | 92.8 | 0.0016 | 0.0073 | -92.1 | |
| +0.19, -0.50 | -92.0 | 91.8 | 0.0090 | 0.380 | -51.9 |
vivo V11 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Software
The vivo V11 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with vivo's custom Funtouch v4.5 overlay on top. As with most other Chinese manufacturers that means a single-tiered interface with no app drawer. Funtouch is heavily influenced by Apple's iOS, but over time vivo has managed to add many interesting features to it.
As for the iOS "borrowing" part of the mix, Funtouch OS is still in a weird place. With things like a Command Centre, instead of a quick toggles above the notifications and app settings scattered through the main settings menu, it is definitely as close to iOS as you can get. But Funtouch is highly customizable - one of the reasons we'd refrain from calling it an outright ripoff.
For starters vivo offers the "Lockscreen Poster" option. It cycles through a set of nice images, so every time you wake up the device, you get to see something different.
There is also an Always on Display, which pairs nicely with the Super AMOLED panel. It is quite convenient as well since it lends itself to some customization and can be put on an auto timer. If you opt to use the cool-but-slow under-display fingerprint reader, you will be spending quite a bit of time on the lock screen, so you might as well set it up to have something entertaining to look at as the fingerprint recognition experience is a hit and miss.
The reader itself is unreliable and inconsistent. Even registering a new print takes an annoyingly long time and feels sketchy. Trying to hold the phone naturally and mimicking various potential scan angles for your thumb during setup seemingly helps consistency later on (at least to some extent).
Luckily, you can enable Face Unlock in addition to the fingerprint security. While not as secure, the Face recognition is way faster and it can nicely complement the V11 fingerprint scanner - the phone unlocks the device upon successful authentication with one of the two options.
The face recognition can be fast or regular. The fast option indeed recognizes your face quicker, but it can be fooled by a picture. The other one relies on a more in-depth facial recognition algorithm and vivo says it's more secure.
Fingerprint settings • Animations • Add a print • Face unlock • Face settings
Some of the other advanced Funtouch features include App Clone, Smart Split, Smart Motion, there is even Motorbike mode. For navigation you get virtual keys, but you can enable navigation gestures and get rid of those.
The lockscreen is pretty basic outside of the changeable wallpapers - 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.
Default lockscreen • Navigation options • Gesture navigation
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
The V11 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 • a theme • a theme • a theme • a theme
The vivo V11 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 Split allows you to split the display and launch two apps side-by-side. This is only limited to the few supported messaging apps - Messages, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Viber. 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.
There is also Manual Split - if an app is compatible, you can swipe down with three fingers and it will go into split screen mode. Supported apps include all popular social apps and Google's native apps.
App Clone is available, too, for when you need two active social accounts on a single network.
Smart Motion • Smart wake • Smart Split • Manual Split • App clone
vivo has kept things under control 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 convenient. We won't explore the mandatory calendar, calculator, clock, and voice recording apps, but they are all here.
Funtouch OS has a 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 files according to type but also allows traditional folder browsing, as well as searching. Multiple file operations are now possible too.
iManager • iManager • • Intuitive file manager
Naturally, multimedia is handled by vivo's default apps. There are feature-rich Gallery, Music player, Videos, and even FM radio.
Albums • Albums • iMusic • Video • FM radio
Performance and benchmarks
The vivo V11 is employing the Snapdragon 660 with AI chip by Qualcomm - it packs an octa-core Kryo 260 CPU in a 4x2.0GHz + 4x1.8GHz configuration. The Adreno 512 GPU should be a fine performer for 1080p screens, while the V11 also packs 6 gigs of RAM.
As usual we'll start our benchmark tests with Geekbench. We noticed the high-speed Kryo quartet is clocked at 1.96 GHz, while most of the S660 bunch on the market have it set at the maximum 2.2 GHz. That's the reason the V11's processor scores a little bit lower than the same one on the Oppo R15 Pro.
A single of those Kryo 260 cores is only bested by the 2.4GHz A73 one inside the Honor Play's Kirin 970, and the most current Kryo 385 inside the Pocophone's Snapdragon 845. The Kryo 260 is still one of the better CPUs to have in charge of your daily Android operations.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Pocophone F1
2438 - Honor Play
1899 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
1890 - Meizu 15
1620 - Xiaomi Mi A2
1617 - Oppo R15 Pro
1612 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
1532 - Oppo Realme 1
1511 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
1497 - vivo V11
1457 - Huawei P20 Lite
938 - Xiaomi Mi A1
877 - vivo V7+
767
Multi-core operations are hassle-free on the vivo V11. The only phone that's noticeably faster than the vivo is the Pocophone, which is expected as it packs the latest Snapdragon 845.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Pocophone F1
9003 - Honor Play
6696 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
5908 - Meizu 15
5877 - Oppo R15 Pro
5809 - Oppo Realme 1
5741 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
5673 - vivo V11
5535 - Xiaomi Mi A2
4625 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
4418 - Xiaomi Mi A1
4292 - vivo V7+
3912 - Huawei P20 Lite
3756
The Adreno 512 GPU is a solid mid-range performer - its performance falls somewhere between the flagship graphics of the S845 (Pocophone) and the mediocre punch of the S625 (Mi A1).
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Pocophone F1
53 - Honor Play
36 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
22 - Meizu 15
15 - Xiaomi Mi A2
14 - vivo V7+
13 - vivo V11
12 - Oppo R15 Pro
12 - Oppo Realme 1
12 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
11 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
8.7 - Xiaomi Mi A1
6.3 - Huawei P20 Lite
4.9
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Pocophone F1
31 - Honor Play
21 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
12 - Meizu 15
9.2 - Xiaomi Mi A2
8.6 - Oppo R15 Pro
7.6 - Oppo Realme 1
7.5 - vivo V11
7.4 - vivo V7+
6.6 - Oppo F9 (F9 Pro)
6.5 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
5.2 - Xiaomi Mi A1
3.5 - Huawei P20 Lite
2.8
It's probably the lower multi-core performance that sets the V11 back in BaseMark OS, where the other S660 devices are able to outrank it.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Pocophone F1
3713 - Honor Play
3294 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
2658 - Meizu 15
2485 - Oppo R15 Pro
2438 - Xiaomi Mi A2
2240 - vivo V11
2218 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
2007 - Oppo Realme 1
1940 - Huawei P20 Lite
1455 - vivo V7+
1290 - Xiaomi Mi A1
1262
The vivo V11 is a very dependable performer thanks to its Snapdragon 660 chip. It's as great for gaming as it is for daily operations and browsing the social media. The Android OS and is Funtouch launched are fast and fluid and we saw no lag even when using Split Screen or App Clone.
Some heat builds up after running multiple benchmarks and some modest amount of throttling occurs, but it's nowhere near the worst offenders in this respect.
Overall, the vivo V11 offers great performance for the class and nobody should be experiencing hiccups of any kind whatever the tasks at hand.
AI powered dual-camera
The vivo V11 has a dual camera on its back with a 12MP primary sensor behind bright f/1.8 lens and a 5MP depth sensor. Phase-detection autofocus is available, and there is a single LED flash next to those cameras.
In tune with the rest of the Funtouch launcher, the camera interface is a bit overcrowded. On the top side, a settings wheel hides away most of the important stuff. HDR and Portrait toggles are also here.
vivo still refuses to include proper photo resolution controls. Instead, you get an aspect ratio selector, and you have to know that the sensor has a native one of 4:3 to get the maximum available resolution. Technically, you could get higher-res photos using the 24MP toggle, but this one uses simple interpolation from the native 12MP.
The available shooting mores are at the bottom - Manual (Pro), Panorama, AI Face Beauty, Photo, Videos, and AR Stickers. The AI Face Beauty allows you tune various aspects of your face such as chin, nose and eye size.
Photo • AI Face Beauty • Manual • Portraits • Settings • Videos
Image Quality
The 12MP picture we took with the vivo V11 have plenty of detail, accurate colors, high contrast and low noise levels. The dynamic range is average though, but there is always an HDR option for the more demanding scenes.
The AI scene recognition successfully recognizes most of the popular scenes - such as buildings, food, pets - but we found little differences between the regular and AI pictures.
Vivo V11 12MP camera samples
The Auto HDR mode is smart enough to know when HDR is needed, so we suggest leaving it set to Auto. The HDR shots do have a higher dynamic range and expose more detail in the shadows without going overboard in the highlights.
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
The low-light images are nothing special. They are soft and the noise reduction takes away most of the detail. The colors are okay, though the contrast is somewhat low.
Vivo V11 12MP low-light samples
When using the manual mode, you can select a shutter speed up to 32s with ISO up to 3200. You just need a tripod and you can snap some great low-light photos.
Vivo V11 12MP low-light shots at 4s shutter
Portraits and Variable Aperture
The vivo V11 offers native Portrait shot with a variable aperture option inside - you just need to tap somewhere, and the aperture slider will reveal itself.
The portrait shots turned out rather good and unless you have really curly or messy hair, the camera would do perfectly fine with the edge detection.
Vivo V11 Portrait samples
You can also use Portraits within the AI Face Beauty mode - there in addition to the bokeh effect, you will be able to do virtual plastic surgery on the subject. We just used the default beauty for the shots below, without changing any of Angie's face features.
Portrait shots with face beauty
You can do Portraits on subjects other than humans and you'll still get nice bokkehs. We played with the variable aperture for the shots below.
F/1.0 • F/1.4 • F/4 • F/16
Selfies
The notch on the vivo V11's display may be small, but it houses a 25MP selfie camera - some of the highest resolution available. It's a fixed-focused unit with f/2.0 lens, though, which is hardly ideal.
The highlights of this selfie camera are the AI Selfie Beauty and the Portrait mode (even though there isn't a second camera at the front). The AI Selfie Beauty lets you change the shape and size of your eyes, nose, mouth and chin, your lips and ears, you get the idea - vivo has put so many options.
And the 25MP selfie shots snapped with the vivo V11 are excellent. The resolved detail 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 V11 easily has one of the best selfie snappers around in terms of image quality.
Vivo V11 25MP selfies
As we mentioned portraits are available on the selfie camera, too, and those turned out pretty nice.
Vivo V11 25MP selfie portraits
And here are a couple of samples shot with the AI Selfie Beauty - we changed some of Will's face features for those.
Vivo V11 25MP AI selfies
Portrait Lightning is available when shooting selfies, too. Those effects are not our cup of tea, but we are sure they have their supporters out there.
Vivo V11 25MP selfies with portrait lightning
Video recording
The vivo V11 may be packing a very decent chipset and camera, but its video recording maxes out at 1080p@30fps mode. Those are captured at a bitrate of 16Mbps, which is already an indication that you shouldn't have high expectations. The audio is stereo captured at 125KBps bitrate.
The videos come with decent colors and contrast, but they are simply lacking when it comes to detail and dynamic range. On the positive sound, they come with decent audio.
You can download the 1080p@30fps (9s, 21MB) video sample taken straight off the vivo V11.
The Snapdragon 660's DSP does support 4K video recording, which however is not available on the vivo V11. We've encountered similar oddities with some cheap Redmi and Mi phones, so we suspected we could get 4K clips with a third-party app. So, we just downloaded the OpenCamera app from the PlayStore and bingo! 4K@30fps. You can even opt for EIS.
The MP4 video has no issues, and runs very smooth, with a rock-solid frame rate of 30 and over 40 Mb/s bit rate on the AVC video stream. Resolved detail is clearly better here, although colors tend to be slightly worse.
You can also download the 2160p@30fps (10s, 52MB) video sample taken straight off the vivo V11.
The Competition
The vivo V11 is certainly one of the most interesting smartphones we've reviewed lately. In the fiercely competitive mid-range market the V11 manages to have a bunch of stand-out features, which is an achievement on its own.
There's not another phone out there for that price to offer under-display fingerprint scanner and a characteristic waterdrop notch. Add those gradient paintjobs in the mix and this is an instantly recognizable phone and mostly for the right reasons too.
Oppo R17 • Oppo F9 (F9 Pro) • Huawei Honor Play • Xiaomi Pocophone F1 • Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
In fact the closest you can get is the inhouse competition in BBK and chances are these phones won't cross paths. Oppo, for example is selling the R17, which has the same OLED screen with the cool notch and UD fingerprint reader, an even better Snapdragon 670 chip, identical camera and battery life. The R17 is a little bit more expensive, but it makes up for that with a faster chipset, native 4K video capturing and Gorilla Glass 6 body.
The diamond-patterned Oppo's F9 is a cheaper version of the R17 but also more affordable than the V11 - it swaps the OLED for an LCD panel but keeps the waterdrop notch. The chipset in the F9 is Helio P60, which is pretty much identical in performance to the Snapdragon 660. The dual-camera setup is present, as well as the 25MP selfie shooter. The Oppo F9 doesn't have a fingerprint under its screen - it's a regular sensor on the back, but the F9 is cheaper than the V11 and that's alright.
The Honor Play is a very cheap all-metal smartphone. It has a large screen with a large notch, but it's superior to the V11 when it comes to performance. It's a gaming-oriented smartphone so it's probably angled at a different crowd, though.
There is no way we miss to mention the Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi. It's way more powerful with its Snapdragon 845 and packs a bigger battery. It settles for an LCD screen, a conventional rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and a far less exciting design. The Pocophone also shines with stereo speakers and advanced internal cooling, and even FM radio, and while not advertised - the Poco F1 is also splash-protected. Sure, the Poco is not as pretty as the vivo, but is still as impressive, if not more.
Finally, the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE comes close to the vivo's price. It has a glass body with metal frame, a smaller but still AMOLED screen, and similar camera experience. The Mi 8 SE has a slightly superior Snapdragon 710 chipset and infrared face unlock and it's a worthy consideration if you are a MIUI fan.
The Verdict
The vivo V11 is a pioneer of sorts with all the advantages and drawbacks that entails. vivo is keen on using the fingerprint scanners under those OLED screens and we are more than happy with this combo in spite of the sensor's sketchy experience.
The V11 is a looker, that's for sure, as those gradient paintjobs turned out to be the next big thing in designs, as big as them notches. And about that notch - other makers may as well copy vivo on the notch design. It's not exactly vivo's idea, but still extra points for bringing it back and on an affordable smartphone at that.
The only issue you may encounter with the vivo V11 is the pricing and availability - chances are it will only hit a few markets and command a huge premium everywhere else. vivo is yet to unveil the complete details, but fingers crossed we get a wider rollout as we really need more stand-out phones and the V11 is one such.
Pros
- Superb Super AMOLED screen with a very tiny notch
- Powerful and efficient Snapdragon 660 chip with 6GB of RAM
- Excellent battery life, fast charging
- The fingerprint sensor is under the display
- Very good daylight photos, class-leading selfies
Cons
- The fingerprint reader experience is a mixed bag
- Fountouch isn't as fun - heavy on the looks and some bloat might be present
- Plastic and slippery frame
- Micro USB port. C'mon, vivo!
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