Vivo V9 Quick Review: Giving out the best selfies in town!

Introduction

Vivo‘s last year – the V7 and V7+ shoot to the top spot on the market as it became one of the most successful smartphones in the market last year. Further, they’re actually the first devices also from the company to pack 18:9 display with near bezel-less display.

Now, the newest Vivo V9 aim for users who like a more compact design and build that feels comfortable in the hands. Not just that, but the “notch” on the upper part of the screen is something that we really bother, as it reminisces in what became an inspired feature from the Apple iPhone X.

Nevertheless, the Vivo V9 still caters for selfie lovers, but with some cool features – AR stickers and artificial intelligence on the front cameras that identify the age, skin tone, and texture for the users. For more details, here’s our quick review and impressions.

Key specs:

• 6.28-inch FHD+ IPS LCD display, 2280 X 1020 resolution, 402 ppi
• Android 8.1 “Oreo”, FunTouch 4.0
• Dual-SIM, dual standby
• 2.0Ghz 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 octa-core processor
• Adreno 506 GPU
• 64GB internal storage
• Expandable microSD slot up to 256GB (dedicated)
• 4GB RAM
• Dual 16-megapixel + 5-megapixel, f/2.0 aperture with phase detection auto-focus and LED flash
• 24-megapixel rear camera, f/2.0 aperture with screen flash
• 2160p at 30fps of video recording
• Fingerprint scanner
• Face ID recognition
• 4G LTE (Category 6)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, with A-GPS, Beidou
• microUSB 2.0 connector
• 3,260 mAh non-removable battery

Unboxing

First Impressions

• Build quality

Vivo V9 offers a 6.28-inch 1080p display with 19:9 aspect ratio. Compared to the previous V7 models, this smartphone now reduced the bezels by 19% and increased the screen size by 5.2%, giving the compact feel. It may juxtapose to the traditional 5.5-inch with 16:9 screen to body ratio. Holding the device feels pleasant to our hands, thanks to the 3D curved screen that brings an easy grip.

• Camera and performance

Similar to the V7+, the main highlight point is its front camera, a 24-megapixel lens that has HDR and selfie portrait mode. It can also capture live photos. Face beauty mode is still present and offers six levels based on the artificial intelligence. Selfies are taken in pretty good details when taken under ample amount of lighting, and even in low light, the details are still there. Sadly, there’s no softlight LED flash but the screen flash may help though in dim light surroundings to get some brightness. AR stickers are new effects on the image that put some outcomes in decorating the selfie of the user.

On the other hand, the rear camera now has a 16-megapixel sensor and a secondary 5-megapixel lens with a f/2.0 aperture. The modes that are available – slow motion, time-lapse, professional, and Ultra HD. It also has the A.l bokeh or portrait mode algorithm that optimized the quality of the image based on machine learning.

Here are some samples that we’ve taken using the Vivo V9.

Video recording can shoot by up to 2160p and the quality is quite decent. However, the stabilization is absent on recording videos, so you’ll need steady hands or a tripod.

For a more immersive gaming performance, the Game Mode has been updated to bring a hyper-focused performance environment that has the ability to block all the calls, messages and other alerts while you’re playing. Further, the new picture-in-picture that allows the user to text or reply messages by swiping down the screen using three fingers, while you’re continuously playing.

• Others

The Vivo V9 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 mobile platform, a slightly upgraded version of the previous Snapdragon 625, that features eight ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores that clocks at 2.0Ghz and the Adreno 506 as the graphics processing unit. RAM remains at 4GB, while the storage is also at 64GB. The battery capacity is now 3,260 mAh non-removable, without mentioning any fast charging support. However, the 5V/2A stock charger in the retail unit is acceptable for the price, as it refills the empty battery to 100% in less than 2 hours.

For connectivity, there’s a dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, that supports 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks. Bluetooth 4.2 is onboard along with the FM radio, USB-OTG and other couples of sensors like ambient and proximity. For navigation, the phone packs GPS with A-GPS and Beidou location system.

The Vivo V9 runs on the newest FunTouch OS 4.0, a heavily-customized user interface based on Android 8.1.0 Oreo. Stay tuned to our full review.