Vivo Philippines kick-started the year 2018 by launching its newest flagship smartphone, the Vivo V9. Carrying the company’s Full View Display and Face Beauty features, the V9 offers more functionality to selfie addicts, gamers, and mid-range smartphone
Design
At first glance, it is obvious that the Vivo V9 smartphone resembles the compact screen of the iPhone X — a new trend in smartphone design boasting bezel-less display. The screen size increased by 5.2 percent compared to the V7+, the previous flagship of Vivo, while the side bezels have been reduced by 19 percent making it 1.75 mm in width.
The V9 sports a sleek and stylish 6.3-inch 1080 x 2280 IPS technology screen display in a new 19:9 aspect ratio. The screen is protected by a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3, with a free pre-installed screen protector. The top part of the screen houses the front camera, notifications light, earpiece, and the proximity sensor. Navigation buttons are on screen.
Three card slots (one for a microSD and two for nano-SIM cards) are found at the upper left part of the smartphone. The volume rocker and the lock/power button is at the right side. Found at the bottom are earphone/headphone port, microphone, USB 2.0 port, and loudspeakers.
Found at the back are the dual rear cameras and the fingerprint scanner just below it. A minor kink in the phone’s design is its back cover attracting fingerprint tracings and smudges. However, this can be avoided by installing the free clear case included inside the box.
Performance
The Vivo V9 scored 90315 in the AnTuTu benchmarking app, nearly in the top 50 of AnTuTu’s best performing smartphones for the month of February.
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 octa-core processor, no lagging or frame-dropping were experienced when playing graphics and performance-demanding games, particularly Tekken, in the smartphone. The updated Game Mode gives users a more focused environment when playing games as this mode has the ability to block all notifications, messages and call alerts while playing. Moreover, the user can also select the person whose calls he or she wants to answer.
Camera
V9 is equipped with a 24-megapixel f/2.0 front camera and a dual 16-megapixel and 5-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera with a rear flash — a bigger front camera pixelation than the rear, as a selfie smartphone.
The front camera also hosts the Face ID recognition feature. Users can unlock the V9 just by looking on the screen, with the blink of an eye.
Camera features such as Ultra HD, professional settings, slow motion, time-lapse, panorama, 4K video, and retina flash are included in the V9 lineup. The following photos are captured using the V9:
The smartphone also has AI-enhanced features when taking photos (Face Beauty, HDR, bokeh, and scene recognition).
Watch the sample video taken from the Vivo V9 below:
Conclusion
From photography to AI-enhanced mobile experience, users can surely enjoy the features of a high-end smartphone in the Vivo V9. The V9 stepped up the game in mobile photography with its newest camera features. The device’s “more bezel-less” feature formally introduces the newest screen display trend — the 19:9 aspect ratio — to Filipino smartphone fans.
Priced at P17,990, the V9 is a high-end smartphone that comes in a mid-range tag.
The Good
- Good front camera capturing
- Responsive Face ID access
- Loud and crisp audio
- AI-enhanced functions
The Bad
- Fingerprint tracing and smudge attracting back cover
- USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0
- “Large” in-screen navigation keys
Specification:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 octa-core processor
- 4 GB RAM
- 64 GB internal memory (supports microSD card up to 256 GB)
- 3,260 mAh battery
- 4G/LTE
- Bluetooth 4.2
- USB 2.0, OTG
- Funtouch OS 4.0, based on Android 8.1 Oreo OS
- Available in pearl black and gold colors
- Comes with a detachable USB 2.0 cable and converter, pre-installed screen protector, and earphones
