It has been a while since Vivo released a V-series smartphone. The latest V-series phone, the V17 Pro, was one of the first phones to innovate in the mid-range segment sporting a pop-up dual front camera setup. The V19 Neo is the newest member of the V-series and hopes to live up to expectations set by its predecessor.
DESIGN: 4/5
Vivo has always created some of the best looking phones in the market. The V19 Neo follows the current trend of a gradient color scheme at the back. Vivo gave us the crystal white colors scheme which I believe is the better color scheme between the two color variants.
The Vivo V19 Neo has a 6.44-inch Super AMOLED display with a 2400 x 1080 resolution and 20:9 ratio. On the upper right corner of the screen is the single punch-hole front camera while at the rear is the rectangular quad-camera set-up. On top of the phone is a mic hole, on the left side of the phone, are the sim card and memory card slots. On the right is the volume rocker and power button, and on the bottom are the USB Type-C port, another mic hole, the 3.5 mm jack, and the downward-firing speakers.
HARDWARE: 4.5/5
The Vivo V19 Neo is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor with an Adreno 612 GPU. Our unit had 8GB of RAM and 128 of internal memory. Gaming was fun with the V19 Neo, heavy games such as PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile ran at high settings without any frame drops.
Most noteworthy in the Vivo V19 Neo are its cameras. The device has a 32-megapixel front camera and a quad-camera set-up at the back. It has a 48-megapixel main shooter, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide secondary camera, a 2-megapixel macro lens, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor.
As for the other features, the phone has a 4500mAh battery with Vivo’s Dual-Engine Fast Charging capabilities. It also has an in-display fingerprint reader which is pretty fast and reliable.
USER EXPERIENCE: 4/5
If you recognize the specs of the V19 Neo, you might realize that it has the same specs as the brand’s latest flagship, the V17 Pro. Like the V17 Pro, the phone provided great performance during my time with it.
The Vivo V19 Neo runs on Vivo’s Funtouch OS 10 on top of Android 10. The OS response was fast and smooth without any slowdown what so ever.
One of the things that I like about the phone is the display. The Super AMOLED screen is one of the best I’ve seen and makes media consumption a joy on the V19 Neo. In fact, I found myself reaching for the phone to watch streams and Netflix rather than the TV or my laptop.
Gaming was fun on the V19 Neo. Like I said before, the phone ran PUBG and CoD: Mobile on the high setting and at 60fps without dropping a frame. Thanks to the 8GB RAM, games still performed great despite the multiple background apps I had running. And if you want to use it, Vivo’s dedicated gaming mode removed any incoming disturbances and shut down background apps. One thing to note is that the phone does get warm when gaming too long but it’s nothing to worry about.
The Vivo V19 Neo’s camera is where it excels. The 48-megapixel main shooter provides sharp and vivid images. The AI in the camera is also great, it accurately determines subjects, and provides great edge detection when capturing portraits and bokeh shots. The night-mode is pretty good, producing bright images without the heavy noise in the background. The front camera is also decent.
Another thing to commend is the battery life. With standard use, the phone lasted me about one and a half days. And after my intense review, I found that the stand by time of the phone was superb and lasts for more than a week. As much as I loved the battery life, charging the phone is to simply put it, average. It took 15% to 50% in about 30 minutes and fully charge in about two hours which is normal in most cases.
VALUE: 3.5/5
Coming in at PHP 17,999 the Vivo V19 Neo has a very steep price for the specs and performance. While the Snapdragon 675 is a great mid-range processor, it’s a hard sell considering its competition either has a bigger megapixel camera and a telephoto lens, or a flagship-level processor for just a bit more.
Specifications:
- Display: 6.44-inch Super AMOLED
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 AIE
- GPU: Adreno 612
- RAM: 8 GB
- Storage: 128 GB (expandable via microSD slot) UFS 2.1
- OS: Funtouch OS 10 (based on Android 10)
- Cameras: Rear: 48-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultra-wide, 2-megapixel macro, 2-megapixel depth; Front 32-megapixel
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C 1.0, OTG, GPS, 3.5mm audio jack
- Battery: 4500 mAh capable of 18W fast charging.
- Dimensions: 159.01mm x 74.17mm x 8.54mm
- Weight: 176g
What’s Hot:
- Great display
- Good camera
What’s Not:
- Pricey
Bottomline:
The Vivo V19 Neo provides great performance and a great camera but is a bit steep in the budget department.
Reviewed by Gabriel Pe
Also published in Gadgets Magazine June 2020