What’s In The Box
The Vivo V20 comes in a single silver box with the phone neatly packed in. It’s safe to assume that this is an environmentally friendly company, and every Vivo phone comes with a genuine DuPont Kevlar case and a silicon slip cover to protect your phone. The V20 doesn’t come with any other accessories. Inside, the V20 has been kept safe by the Gorilla Glass 5 screen. The V20 features a USB Type-C charging port, a microphone, and a 3.5mm headset jack. Vivo V20 On the back of the phone, Vivo has opted to opt for a dual-camera setup. The setup consists of a 16MP primary camera with PDAF and an f/1.8 aperture and a secondary 2MP secondary camera with a 120-degree wide-angle lens. This camera setup takes advantage of the device’s f/1.8 aperture to take in more light.
Design and Build Quality
In addition to the redesign, the Vivo V20 looks very different from its predecessor, the Vivo V7+. The Vivo V20 boasts a full-metal unibody design and has a two-tone effect with the shiny and matte black finishes on top. The shiny black finish includes a glossy, slightly curved plastic panel on the back. The glass panel can be covered by a red rubber bumper (which is no longer provided), just like with previous models. The matte black version of the Vivo V20 is also slightly smaller (and lighter) than the white variant, but that is compensated by a wider rubberised area on the bottom which facilitates better grip. The Vivo V20 uses the same specifications as the V7+ and not much has changed here either. The 6.
Display Quality
One of the areas where Vivo has made a big impact is in the display department. The V20 comes with a 5.99-inch IPS LCD screen. The screen has a resolution of 2160×1080 and is protected by a sheet of Gorilla Glass 5. The screen is bright and text is crisp and sharp. The only criticism that I have is that colours looked a little washed out at first but after about 15 minutes of use, the screen tone was easily adjustable. In terms of viewing angles, the V20 should prove to be one of the best displays among smartphones. The AMOLED screen can be easily viewed from different angles in all possible light conditions. The V20 can be opened slightly to the right and the icons are easily readable even from that angle.
Brightness Levels And Viewing Angles
Brightness levels and viewing angles are often overlooked when talking about smartphones. Brightness levels are the easiest to test since it takes about a minute to visually compare a device that is set at 100% brightness with one that has been set to 50% brightness. On a bright day, the brightness level at which a smartphone will deliver a good-looking image to the human eye, is considered bright enough. Viewing angles, on the other hand, are tougher to quantify. This means it takes time for you to notice that the images you view at an angle have been blurred. The V20, unfortunately, does not have good viewing angles. Both sides of the V20 are too reflective and cannot be viewed at the same time, making the display less usable.
Color Accuracy And Gamut Coverage
A color is the “color” or appearance of the paint or paintjob. Different materials have different shades of color. The back of the iPhone 7 is white, the Google Pixel is white and the Samsung Galaxy S7 is almost black. However, different parts of the screen and software can also affect the appearance of the color of the screen. For example, the software can change the color temperature of the screen which results in the screen being blue or red. Generally speaking, colors look more accurate when they’re from the same palette. When you change the color temperature, the colors get muted and over-saturated. Here, the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 7 remain on the white side but they’re not oversaturated. The other option is a warmer look for colors.
Performance
One of the prime reasons people want a smaller smartphone is to get more display for their buck. A smaller smartphone may end up having more display real estate, but it is also likely to be much slower. Vivo has ensured that the V20 is one of the most powerful phones it has ever launched with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC, a HiSilicon Kirin 960 CPU, and a large battery to boot. With 6GB of RAM, this is not a phone you can take for granted. As for the performance, the V20 handled almost everything I threw at it. The camera was quick to take a photo and even the video recording looked good, especially with a new camera mode which pops up when you pull down the notification shade and shoots up to four shots in rapid succession, combining the best of each.
Camera Quality
I still have to be honest and say that the camera in the Vivo V20 is not as good as it could have been. Even the Vivo V7 and Vivo V7+. I would probably go as far as saying that the camera quality in the Vivo V7+ is better than in the V20. This is due to the camera system of the Vivo V20. While the company has done well to have the camera within the slim body, the focus has been placed on increasing the megapixel count. This results in a narrow field of view and a lack of enough detail in my photos. Battery Life The Vivo V20 packs a 3050 mAh battery, which is almost 10% more than the 2550 mAh battery in the Vivo V7+. The actual battery life is not as good as this, especially with a 3250 mAh battery in the Vivo V7+.
Battery Life
The Vivo V20 comes with a 3050 mAh battery, with a much higher capacity than that of the Vivo V9 (2450 mAh) and the Vivo V7+ (3300 mAh). This ensures that the V20 can go over a day with moderate usage and gives ample time to charge in the morning. Vivo V20 review My day-to-day usage saw me easily getting to the end of the day without any issues with the battery. With heavy usage I could have probably charged it over the course of a day, but that would be pushing the limits of battery life. I also tested the V20’s performance during videos and gameplay. The phone ran smoothly with no major lag. With light usage, the phone managed around 4 hours of screen-on time.
Conclusion
The Vivo V20 doesn’t wow you with its looks. This is a phone designed for those who are looking for a premium smartphone with a metal finish. Vivo is also looking to attract young buyers who don’t care about fancy features and like handling something simple. The camera is the standout feature of the Vivo V20. It features a series of features to improve the phone’s photography capabilities. A lot of these features do a great job in this phone and it does make the V20 easy to use even for someone who is not the biggest of fans of photography. However, the build quality of the V20 is questionable at times. The phone feels a bit cheap in some parts, especially at the edges. I also feel that the phone is prone to finger prints, which means that you should be extra careful with it.