Vivo v27 pro review

The vivo V27 Pro trio, which includes the normal V27 with a focus on rear camera quality, the toned-down V27e, and the amplified V27 Pro with flagship-grade performance and premium camera quality across both sides, is now officially available. The vivo V27 Pro, the group’s most intriguing member, will be our focus today.

Over the previous V23 Pro and V25 Pro, the new vivo V27 Pro represents a significant improvement. Even though they were both camera-focused mid-rangers, this one beats them out thanks to its allegedly superior camera kits and flagship-caliber chipset. Moreover, it has a bigger display while still maintaining the familiar thin and light design.

Starting with the appearance, it is similar to the V23 Pro and V25 Pro because it has a color-changing back panel and is still only 7.4mm thin. Nevertheless, the vivo V27 Pro has a larger 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 1080p resolution.

The new chipset, the MediaTek Dimensity 8200, a SoC manufactured on a more productive 4nm technology as opposed to the 6nm Dimensity 1200 and 1300 found inside the previous generations, is one of the most significant main features. The performance of the CPU and GPU is much enhanced, new Memory and storage are supported, the ISP is improved, and the connectivity possibilities are increased.

Another improvement is the camera, which now has three cameras on the back: a 50MP OIS primary, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro. A 50MP front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens and autofocus capabilities, which is an upgrade over the V25 Pro but a slight downgrade from the 50MP+8MP+dual-LED flash front combination on the V23 Pro, is extremely promising.

A 4,600mAh battery powers the vivo V27 Pro, which also supports 66W fast wired charging. The newest vivo software, currently Android 13 with Funtouch 13, boots the new smartphone.

We were hoping for some form of legally rated splash protection as well as stereo speakers, but neither of those things materialised. We believe that the V series should get stereo speakers at last.

Unboxing of Vivo V27 pro

A lengthy silver box contains the vivo V27 Pro. The phone itself, an 8A USB-A to C cable, and an 80W FlashCharge power supply are all included. Although the vivo V27 Pro can only handle 66W charging, it appears the manufacturer doesn’t mind providing the phone with an adapter that is overpowered.

Of course, that is not all. A soft clear case and a thin protective film, which were already on the phone before it left the manufacturer, are also included in the retail bundle.

Design

A cleverly concealed feature of the attractive smartphone vivo V27 Pro is a color-shifting rear panel. Like to the V25 and V23 versions, it is a dual-glass handset with a plastic frame and has a noticeably thin and light chassis.

The V27 Pro’s two sides are curled inward towards its longer edges, giving it a premium-looking curved appearance, but it also makes the phone difficult to hold. The frame is flat along the top and bottom edges, incredibly thin across the left and right, and constructed of plastic with a shiny finish.

Compared to the V25 Pro, the rear glass seems to employ a less vivid light blue (named Magic Blue), but it is still color-shifting, and the entire device is fingerprint-resistant because to the unique matt texture. Noble Black, another colour option for the V27 Pro, has no such impact.

Let us briefly explain if you are unfamiliar with the series and the concept of the colours changing. As a result of the paint’s reaction to UV light, the colour darkens. Using some items, you can create shadows that act as temporary “paint” on their backs.

If you want to see the deep blue colour, you should use a UV flashlight, thus the best place to play with this fascinating panel is in the sun. It’s a great trick, and this reviewer has experimented with the panel and its effects for a few days, but we must agree, it wears off quite quickly.

The protective glass covering the top of the screen is unknown to us; however, as vivo frequently utilises Schott Xensation in its devices, it may once again be that particular brand.

Although we have already discussed the back, we wish to commend the improved camera housing. Although it is once again excessively larger, it is constructed of brushed metal, has three cameras, and a ring dual-LED flash.

The vivo V27 Pro doesn’t have a certified ingress protection rating, which is unfortunate. Although the phone appears to have seals in the places where it is most vulnerable, we would still keep it out of the water just in case.

Let’s now examine the vivo V27 Pro more closely.

The entire front of the device is covered by the new 6.78-inch AMOLED panel, which features uniformly small bezels. Extended 1080p resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+ content are all supported on the screen.

The tiny perforation that’s located in the top centre is caused by the 50MP selfie camera. We are optimistic about the selfie quality on the V27 Pro because Vivo frequently provides good selfie quality.

The earpiece is located above the front camera and is hardly visible. We had to check for it with a flashlight since it is so thin. Sadly, it cannot also serve as a speaker.

A rapid and accurate optical fingerprint reader is included into the vivo V27 Pro’s under-display. You can even use it for quick access thanks to some ingenious software user interfaces.

The rear has a really tidy appearance. There is only one vivo logo on the color-changing component. The 50MP OIS primary, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro cameras are enclosed in a metal casing. A dual-LED flash with a ring shape is also present.

When placed on a flat desk, the vivo V27 Pro trembles slightly because of the camera housing that protrudes from the back. Yet if you choose to use the included case, it can be prevented and is not as bothersome as on certain flagships.

The left side of the phone has no controls or functions and an exceptionally small frame.

The volume and power/lock keys are located on the right side of the Vivo V27 Pro.

At the top, there is a lone microphone.

The sole speaker, hidden behind a dot-grille, the dual SIM slot, the main microphone, and the USB-C connector are all located on the bottom of the vivo V27 Pro.

The vivo V27 Pro is 8g lighter and 5mm taller and 1mm thinner than the vivo V25 Pro, measuring 164.1 x 74.8 x 7.4 mm and weighing 182g.

The vivo V27 Pro is a stunning smartphone with an appealing form factor. We like the Magic Blue choice and believe it is appropriate for any situation, whether or not it has the color-shifting effect.

Although the phone is well-built, the grip is nonexistent, making a case all but necessary. Even without any additional ingress protection and even with a little thicker frame, we enjoyed our experience with the vivo V27 Pro. If you want to use the phone with only one hand, there may occasionally be some finger gymnastics necessary due to how tall it is.

Display

The 6.78-inch AMOLED screen used by the vivo V27 Pro has an enhanced 1080p resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+ support. The panel is shielded by a glass that is slightly curved and has a small perforation.

The panel has a precise resolution of 1,080 x 2,400 pixels, or 388ppi, an 8-bit colour depth that supports more than 16 million colours, and wide-color support.

There is no official brightness data from the manufacturer. After finishing our display test, we discovered that the maximum brightness we could achieve with manual changes was around 480 nits. According to the V25 Pro and V23 Pro displays, that is accurate.

Naturally, the screen can appear brighter when Auto Brightness is enabled and exposed to strong light. With this method, we measured 680 nits, which is an improvement but lower than the 800 nits we obtained with the older models.

Point white had a minimum brightness of 2 nits.

Color accuracy

Standard (the default), Pro, and Bright are the three colour settings available in Display Settings. Each of these options allows you to further adjust the colour temperature.

While Pro should be sRGB correct, Standard and Bright match the DCI-P3 colour gamut.

Apart for the slightly bluish white and grey tones, the standard mode’s colour fidelity is pretty good. The Bright mode operates similarly, but some of the base colours additionally show a modest bump in saturation. Choose a location on the colour temperature slider that is around 50% warmer if you want better accuracy.

And lastly, the Pro mode delivers exceptional accuracy to sRGB targets.

Refresh rate

Standard (the default), Pro, and Bright are the three colour settings available in Display Settings. Each of these options allows you to further adjust the colour temperature.

While Pro should be sRGB correct, Standard and Bright match the DCI-P3 colour gamut.

Apart for the slightly bluish white and grey tones, the standard mode’s colour fidelity is pretty good. The Bright mode operates similarly, but some of the base colours additionally show a modest bump in saturation. Choose a location on the colour temperature slider that is around 50% warmer if you want better accuracy.

And lastly, the Pro mode delivers exceptional accuracy to sRGB targets.

Similar to how the Smart Switch mode operates, the 120Hz mode switches to 60Hz for static images, video playing (but not video UI), and incompatible programmes like Google Maps and the Camera app. Both modes employ the maximum 120Hz across the user interface and some supported apps. If supported, HFR gaming is also possible in both modes.

The Smart Switch setting is a little more limited; it evaluates the app before determining whether or not to use 120Hz. We discovered that 60Hz is the maximum frequency supported by web browsers, office programmes, and video streaming services like Netflix. In fact, only 60Hz was supported by half of the apps we tested.

HDR Support

Widevine L1 DRM support and an HDR10+ certified display are included with the vivo V27 Pro. YouTube recognises it as HDR10 capable, but Netflix only offers 1080p SD material and does not identify HDR support.

Visual enhancement

The vivo V27 Pro screen has one display improvement option, called Visual Enhancement. For a “more vivid picture,” it enhances the colours and contrast in compatible video streaming apps. You can choose the apps where you want this to work, such as YouTube and Netflix, once it has been enabled in settings.

Battery life

Although having a larger body, the vivo V27 Pro’s 4,600 mAh battery has a somewhat lesser capacity than the 4,800 cell in the V25 Pro. Support for 66W fast wired charging is available.

Our battery life test is now complete, and the results are extremely impressive. The vivo V27 Pro received an exceptional 121-hour endurance rating. All tests, including calls, web surfing, and video playing, were excellent.

Moreover, the V27 Pro displayed a significantly longer standby time than the V25 Pro and V23 Pro – about 360h, as opposed to the preceding models’ approximately 260h.

Charging speed

Although the vivo V27 Pro supports 66W FlashCharge, it also comes with an 80W FlashCharger and an 8A USB cable, just like a flagship like the vivo X90 Pro.

The vivo V27 Pro won’t use more than 66W, as expected, even with the more potent power adapter.

In approximately 15 minutes, the included adapter recharged 42% of the vivo V27 Pro battery. We increased our charge to 71% after another 15 minutes on that charger.

Speakers

There is only one speaker on the vivo V27 Pro, and it is located at the bottom of the device.

On our loudness test, the V27 Pro received an Average rating. Also, the vocals are good, but the bass and high frequencies are ordinary. We would also rate the sound quality as average.

Software

The vivo V27 Pro boots an exclusive Funtouch OS v13 layer on top of Android 13 out of the box.

The Funtouch v12 utilised by the vivo V25 Pro is very similar to this latest version in terms of appearance and feel. Also, the experience may be fairly personalised and modified.

The recent apps menu contains one of the helpful proprietary features. The regular carousel layout and a horizontal tile layout, which is similar to MIUI but only scrollable horizontally, are both options. You don’t need to search the menus for the setting; it is available right there.

The notification shade is fairly well-known, and Funtouch is avoiding Google’s huge bubble-style quick toggles in favour of these straightforward circular buttons. The Android 13 AOSP colour palette interface allows you to change the accent colour in this instance, which is set to blue by default. There is still a potent theming engine available.

The most frequently used apps are listed in an expanding recommended apps category at the top of the app drawer. By using the vertical scroller on the right, you may highlight the apps that start with the letter you’ve chosen.

There are many non-stock components across the remaining Interface. Vivo has gathered a number of customization choices for the home screen, lock screen, and animation effects in the Dynamic effects sub-menu. Even the charging and facial recognition animations are varied.

Although the settings for the always-on display are in a different sub-menu, the phone still offers a tonne of customization possibilities, including a large variety of animations, clock styles, colours, and backgrounds.

There are a few unexpected discoveries in the Sound menu. Like Samsung and its OneUI, Funtouch caters to those who have hearing issues, and you can adjust the volume so that it is audible to the elderly or those with hearing loss. Moreover, separate volume sliders are provided for notifications and calls. Both calls and notifications have separate controls for vibration intensity. Nevertheless, there isn’t a system-wide equalisation accessible for the loudspeaker, which might be viewed as either a drawback or a benefit depending on your perspective. The mixture also has a toggle for Audio Super Resolution.

Together with a few new improvements, the Smart motion menu includes a number of well-known screen-on and screen-off gestures.

The camera app, turning on/off the torch, starting an audio recording, opening Facebook, or opening any custom app are the only actions that may be performed by holding down the volume down key. While music is playing, the alleged Quick action feature does not function. Why, therefore, does Quick action not have a double-press option?

There is a separate Extreme Game Mode that offers everything. Most of the options are designed to minimise distractions when playing games or keep some apps from showing notifications. The option to switch off the screen and play a game in the background is one of the most exciting features that has been available on vivo phones for a while. especially beneficial for games that need “farming” or “grinding” or those that take turns.

Although having all of these programmable gestures, actions, and extra capabilities available is fantastic, we can’t help but wish that Funtouch had organised them better. This is a common issue. The current state of affairs makes it difficult to locate specific options, even when you are positive they exist; as a result, learning new things is made even more difficult.

Moreover, the Funtouch launcher includes a gallery, audio and video players, and a system manager. A specific Themes app and an iManager software with numerous system utilities are also available.

Performance

The MediaTek Dimensity 8200 chipset’s first smartphone to visit our headquarters is the vivo V27 Pro. It’s a high-end midrange chip designed to give less expensive smartphones performance comparable to flagship models.

The Dimensity 8200 is an overclocked version of the Dimensity 8000 chip. It is manufactured using a 4 nm process and has HyperEngine 6.0, which supports Vulkan SDK for raytracing in games, improving FPS, and intelligent resource optimization.

The powerful processor is what drives the significant advancements from predecessors, although Mediatek added better camera compatibility and the Imagiq 785 ISP. It will enable HyperEngine, a collection of tools designed to boost gaming performance on handsets that compete with flagship models.

The new chip has an upgraded octa-core processor that continues to use four Cortex-A78 and four Cortex-A55 cores, but in a noticeably different and more power-efficient configuration. Now, there is a large Cortex-A78 core with a 3.1GHz clock, followed by three Cortex-A78 performance processors running at 3.0GHz and four Cirtex-A55 processors operating at 2.0GHz.

The Mali-G610 MC6 GPU is the same, except it now runs at 950MHz instead of the prior models’ 860MHz.

The new chip’s downlink speed, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and dual-5G connection were all passed down from its predecessors in terms of connectivity.

The chipset uses UFS3.1 storage and LPDDR5X Memory. Vivo also sells 8+256 and 12+256 models, but our machine has 8GB Memory and 128GB of storage.

Let’s now perform some benchmarks.

The Dimensity 8200 processor, which outperforms both the Snapdragon 870 in the Poco F4 and the Dimensity 8100-Max in the Reno8 Pro, is undoubtedly the finest performing one in this upper mid-range class.

Last but not least, the vivo V27 Pro and its Dimensity 8200 chipset far outperform the competitors in the compound AnTuTu 9 846767.

Before we finish this chapter, we’d want to look into the vivo V27 Pro’s continuous performance. The CPU Throttle test was first run for an hour, and it produced a fantastic 81% stability.

The 3D Mark stress test produced a 99.5% stability result, indicating that the product provides exceptional sustained performance.

When conducting the CPU test, the vivo V27 Pro got just moderately warm; however, utilising the GPU at 100% got it pretty warm. There was a little, specific region on the rear that started to feel almost heated, but we could still hold the phone securely. This indicates that the cooling technology on the phone is very effective, especially inside a smartphone that is so thin.

The vivo V27 Pro has the best performance in its class, along with excellent thermal management and stability. In general, this phone is turning up to be the most powerful in its class and supports high frame rate gaming.

Camera

Three cameras are on the back and one is on the front of the vivo V27 Pro. A 50MP OIS primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP macro camera are part of the rear arrangement. A ring-LED flash is also included. A 50MP Autofocus selfie camera is also included, although unlike other vivo phones, this one lacks an LED flash.

The main camera uses a Sony IMX 766 1/1.56 50MP primary camera “With a 23mm f/1.88 optically stabilised lens, 1.0 m pixels, and PDAF, the quad-Bayer sensor has these features. Support for 2x lossless zoom is available.

The 8MP OV8D1 sensor and 16mm f/2.2 lens together make up the ultrawide camera. The focal point is set.

The 24mm f/2.4 lens and fixed focus at 4 cm are used by the macro camera, which has a 2MP OmniVision OV02B1 sensor.

Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1 1/2.76, a 50MP camera, is used on the front “sensor with 0.64-m pixels and a Tetracell filter. A 24mm f/2.45 lens is attached to the sensor, which supports PDAF.

Camera App

The camera app is highly recognisable because it resembles the ones found on the V and X series of smartphones. A simple zoom selection with steps of 0.6x, 1x, and 2x is available. By selecting the flower icon adjacent to the hamburger menu, one can access the Macro mode.

By swiping or tapping on one of the displayed modes, you can switch between the primary modes, which are grouped in a carousel pattern. The remaining modes are listed under the More menu, where you can also adjust which ones are displayed in the viewfinder.

You have complete control over the autofocus, white balance, shutter speed, ISO, and exposure settings in the Pro mode. On both the primary and ultrawide cameras, you can accomplish this. For those of you who are just starting out in photography, there is literature available that explains all of the possibilities above. Another alternative is to shoot in RAW.

Even though it lacks the Zeiss name, one of the flagship vivo X90 Pro’s features is still intact. In contrast to the more saturated default look offered by vivo’s processing, the Natural colour setting should produce accurate colours.

Many effects and styling options are also available in the Portrait mode, which by default shoots at a 2x magnification but can be changed to a 1x zoom, of course.

The last feature is Night Mode, which includes Auto Tripod Night Mode and Panorama Night Mode. Also, there are various Long Exposure presets.

Daylight photos

The primary camera records 12.5MP images that are impressively good, if not class-leading. All of the images have excellent detail, are noise-free, have developed areas of sporadic detail, and have likeable processing. The contrast is decent, and the dynamic range is quite broad.

The images include vibrant, vivid colours that are crisp and subtle in their saturation enhancement.

These are generally good pictures, among the best in their class, with flagship-level quality.

You can switch to Natural Color mode if the saturation enhancement is not to your taste. All of the pictures we took in this mode have the same superb quality as the ones we took in standard mode, along with flawlessly correct colours and precise white balance.

Due to the high-resolution sensor and some scene-specific stacking and cropping trickery, the main camera enables a 2x lossless zoom.

The 2x zoomed photographs provide a respectable amount of detail, roughly twice as much as you’d typically get from a straightforward crop and upscale. The remainder are comparable to the regular zoom and include superb rendition, excellent contrast, dynamic, noise reduction, and vibrant colours.

Once more, the hues of The Natural Color are astonishingly lifelike.

The full-res photographs are fairly nice; they have a respectable amount of detail, roughly the same as the zoomed photos, and solid processing when it comes to dynamic range, contrast, low noise, and likeable colours. There is support for high-res 50MP mode.

Ultra-wide Camera

The 8MP ultrawide images have a sufficient dynamic range and great contrast. The colours are just as vibrant as on the main camera, but the noise is kept to a minimum.

Although the detail in the ultrawide images is decent, we are relieved that the sharpening wasn’t excessive as is frequently the case. The corners are skillfully rounded off.

These are a couple ultrawide examples that were captured using the Natural Color setting. They do provide true-to-life white balance and realistic colour saturation.

Macro Camera

If you learn to find the ideal spot at roughly 4-5 cm distant, the 2MP macro camera does a wonderful job getting close-up pictures. Although there is sufficient resolution, little noise, high dynamic range, and contrast, the colours are occasionally inaccurate and may even appear desaturated.

Portrait mode

There are two zoom choices available in Portrait mode: 2x and 1x, with 2x being the default. The photographs we shot at a magnification of two times were taken using lossless processing, and while they don’t exactly excel in detail, they are still quite good. The dynamic range is excellent, the subject is well-exposed, and the colours are vibrant. The simulated blur is pleasant, and the background separation is excellent.

Although the 1x photographs don’t have the greatest level of information, they are just as good as the 2x magnified ones in terms of attractive topics, background blur, and subject separation.

Selfie Camera

The 50MP front camera has a high-resolution sensor and supports autofocus. Also, the 12.5MP selfies it records are stunning! The dynamic range is exceptional, the noise is essentially nonexistent, and the degree of clarity and sharpness are astounding. We consider the processing to be mature and natural-looking, the contrast to be perfect, the colours to be pretty pleasant.

You can also shoot in 50MP, but downscaling it to 12.5MP won’t produce any additional detail. Although the photographs are not simply upscaled from the usual output due to some intelligent processing, we are unable to discern any advantages of using the high-res option.

Low-light photos

The main camera’s low-light shots are excellent; there is plenty of resolved information, standing exposure, the noise is kept remarkably low, and the colours are striking.

There are very few noticeable blown highlights and the dynamic range is excellent—much more than on many other phones.

The motion on the virtual shutter and the requirement to hold still for around one second show that some form of clever stacking akin to Night Mode is still in use while Auto Night Mode is not active (just a pop-up suggestion).

Here are some examples of the Night Mode in action. Another indication that the standard mode uses similar processing is the fact that they took around a second to shoot. The skies will become much brighter when Night Mode is forced, and some scenes’ crispness may be slightly reduced.

When shooting in dim light, there is no lossless zoom. The photographs that have been zoomed in have been cropped, upscaled, and have relatively little detail. The Night Mode delivers brighter skies once more and may help reduce some less visible noise.

Oh, and we also made the decision to use the dual-LED ring flash to take a few pictures. They perform admirably.

Ultra-wide Camera low-light photos

The ultrawide camera produces good low-light images; while the detail isn’t fantastic, the exposure, dynamic range, colour rendering, and saturation, as well as noise reduction, are all excellent for this sort of camera. Although though these photographs are by no means spectacular, they are nevertheless superior to what most 8MP ultrawide cameras offer today.

The Night Mode is essentially the same as the default one; occasionally, it brightens the skies even further, but it may also add extra noise.

Tripod camera view

Moreover, the Night Mode features Automatic Tripod Detection. When enabled, the camera will use shutter speeds between 5 and 10 seconds when it determines that the phone is steady enough for a long exposure image.

The Tripod Long Exposure images are excellent, as was to be expected. They have no noise, amazing detail, a great dynamic range, and beautiful colours.

Night mode Selfie camera

If there are at least a few nearby light sources, even if they are far away, the selfie camera will save passable selfies. Without Night Mode, the images are soft and noisy but nevertheless useful due to their proper exposure, adequate dynamic range, and pleasing coloration.

The photographs appear a little bit more detailed and less noisy while using the Night Mode, which also offers brighter exposure and greater dynamic range. The colours are still well-saturated.

Video recording

The primary and selfie cameras of the vivo V27 Pro can capture videos in up to 4K60 resolution. The maximum video resolution for the ultrawide camera is [email protected], while the macro camera is not capable of recording videos.

Both the main and ultrawide cameras can be stabilised using OIS or EIS+OIS. Standard Stabilization is what vivo refers to as being optional. For action-oriented videos, there is also an Ultra Stabilization option. The only option to get stabilised video from the front camera is to use the Steady Face shortcut on the viewfinder, which delivers a stabilised [email protected] video.

Our Verdict

Regardless of whether or not it has a color-changing (blue) back, the vivo V27 Pro is a fantastic smartphone with a really appealing design (black model). The phone’s OLED display is good and smooth, and its performance and stability were outstanding.

It’s good that the vivo V27 Pro has a long battery life and charges quickly. Yet the main camera’s excellent photo and video quality (2x lossless zoom) and the striking selfies are what will stick in our memories. The vivo V27 Pro has the potential to become a fan favourite camera phone on a budget because few mid-rangers provide as high-quality pictures.

The vivo V27 pro is not perfect, and neither is any smartphone. The stereo speakers and video stabilisation for the 4K selfie videos are the most glaring omissions, which is such a waste! We would have also valued some kind of entry security.

We still consider the vivo V27 Pro to be one of the most capable mid-range smartphones available, excellent for both gaming and photography, despite these omissions. We strongly advise you to consider the phone as your daily driver if it is offered in your market because it is one of the greatest all-around offers in its price range.

Pros & Cons