The last vivo phone I tried was the vivo x21, which I’m pretty sure was way before this whole mess of a pandemic started and I remember it for two things–the design and its selfie camera.
Fast forward to almost five years later, and we’ve finally got our hands on another VIVO phone. This time its the vivo V23e 5G, the latest midranger that continues its selfie-centric purpose.
The vivo 23 5G series has gotten so much hype for being the first color-changing smartphone, but even without that feature, the V23e shows a lot of promise and a more accessible price tag.
We’ve been using it for the the past week so here’s our Ups and Downs review of the vivo V23e 5G!
vivo v23e 5G specs:
DISPLAY: 6.44-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display
REAR CAMERA: 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with PDAF, +8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, +2-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera
FRONT CAMERA: 44-megapixel selfie camera with OIS, AF, dual-LED flash
CHIPSET: Dimensity 810 processor
CPU: Octa Core CPU 2x Cortex-A76 @ 2.4GHz & 6x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0GHz
GPU: Mali-G57 MC2
RAM: 8GB
STORAGE: 128GB UFS 2.1 storage (expandable via MicroSD)
OS: ANDROID 11 with Funtouch OS 12
DIMENSIONS: 160.87 x 74.28 x 7.32 mm
WEIGHT: 172g
CONNECTIVITY: LTE, 4G, 5G WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1, in-display fingerprint scanner
BATTERY: 4050mAh battery 44w fast charging
COLORS: Sunshine Coast
UNBOXING AND DESIGN
I’ve been used to plain mono-colored boxes so seeing the dark blue box of the vivo v23e was something new. The box comes in dark blue with a glittery finish that reminded me of space and and the stars. Its also quite sturdy and something you should keep to reuse or display in a cabinet. There’s the vivo branding on the top left and on the right you see the with the 8GB RAM +128GB ROM label. On the middle is a large V23e logo and on the bottom there’s a 5G mark. The vivo logo adorns both sides and on the bottom or back is the NTC label as well as the IMEI numbers.
I like how vivo managed to keep the box clean and neat though I could do without the extra large V23 shadow.
Lift up the box lid and inside, you’ll find the V23e unit, and underneath there’s a TPU phone case, a quick start guide, a 44W wall adaptor and USB-A to USB-C cable, a SIM tray ejector tool, a pair of 3.5mm earphones, and a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter so you could still use it on the phone.
So for the box content’s I give it an UP!
Taking the phone out of the plastic wrap, the color that I have is called Sunshine Coast– a combination of the color names of the V23 5G–Sunshine Gold that turns into Coast Green when hit by light.
The V23e has a matte and finish on the back, and this has got to be one of the nicest color finishes I’ve seen. Easy UP!
It turns blue, pink, white, gold, green depending on how the light hits it. The matte finish also does a good job of hiding the fingerprints so you don’t have to worry about having to wipe it off constantly.
Taking a tour of the ports and placements, up top you have the microphone, while on the right you’ll find the volume rocker and the power button and the left side is clean.
Meanwhile, you’ll find everything else–the SIM card slot, USB-C charging port, and a mono speaker all at the bottom.
Looking at the front display, there’s a drop notch on the top housing the selfie camera–yes a notch. Sorry vivo drop notches are so prepandemic. So it has to get a DOWN!
While the side bezels are fairly slim, the forehead and chin are a bit thick and don’t go well with the rest of the sleek design of the V23e. The phone has an ultra-slim body measuring only 7.32mm thick paired with an flat middle frame. According to vivo the back panel adopts Fluorite AG Coating for a fuller and finer texture than regular AG glass.
This creates a softer light diffusion, repels fingerprints and smudges and makes the phone look more elegant and more comfortable to touch. It is also more environmentally friendly than the usual nitric acid-based AG solutions.
While examining the phone, however, it almost slipped out of my hands because of the smoothness of the back panel. So its not a good idea to leave it on the edge of the table or if you have butter fingers like me I do suggest you slap on the free case. If you do plan on getting other cases make sure its also clear as you don’t want to cover up its amazing color.
Overall I do like the design and build of the V23e so it gets an UP!
DISPLAY AND SOUND
The V23e has a 6.44-inch AMOLED display with a FHD+ resolution of 2400×1080. The screen is what you’d expect from an AMOLED display meaning the colors are vibrant and great for watching YouTube or NetFlix. Unfortunately, I have to give it a down because it only has a 60hz refresh rate while most of its rivals at this price already have 90hz refresh rate.
Vivo was the one who brought under display fingerprint scanner to the market so as expected its fast and accurate, however, the placement is way below the display so you have to reach down a bit making your grip slightly awkward. The fingertprint sensor gets an UP!
As for the sound quality, Vivo says it supports High Resolution Audio, a high-quality audio format that has a higher sampling frequency or bitrate.
As a format, Hi-Res Audio’s information carrying capacity exceeds that of CD sound quality with a sampling rate greater than 44.1 kHz and a bit depth higher than 16 bit. When used with a compliant pair of earphones, it enables playback that is uncompressed and much closer to how it was produced by the artist.
The key word there is earphones, since the v23e only has a single loudspeaker, its very limited.
So that gets a DOWN. Volume is loud enough but the quality lacks fullness and that surround feeling. So if you are a bit particular about sound quality you better use earphones instead.
CAMERA
The v23 is a photo You have a triple rear camera setup with a 50MP F1.8 AF main camera + 8MP F2.2 wide-angle camera + 2MP F2.4 macro camera
On the front you have a 44MP F2.0 selfie camera with autofocus.
I was satisfied with most of the photos I took but we’ll be doing a separate camera review so be sure to watch out for it next week.
In the meantime check out some photo samples: (resized for website.)
PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY
This vivo V23e 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 810 processor that supports 5G connectivity. The Dimensity 810 builds in a great performance, premium displays, and supreme cameras for any situation, all in a leading 6nm process design that raises the bar of 5G smartphone battery life.
The MediaTek Dimensity 810 5G supports 2CC CA covering up to 120MHz of the spectrum, including mixed duplex FDD+TDD connections for seamless network experience. It also comes with the support of VoNR. As for the specifications, the Dimensity 810 5G comes with a 4X ARM Cortex A76 chipset clocked at 2.4Ghz and a 4X ARM Cortex A55 chipset clocked at 2.0Ghz. For gaming, it comes with Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. Furthermore, it supports up to LPDDR4x RAM and UFS 2.2 (2-lane) based storage.
In normal day-to day real-life situations, the V23e handled all my usual multitasking tasks (emails, web browsing, social media, messaging apps, calls, light gaming) and I was able to run multiple apps at the same time with no noticeable hiccups thanks to its 8GB RAM.
Even though this isn’t really a gaming phone, it was able to run most games like Asphalt, Call of Duty, PUBG, Genshin Impact quite smoothly on the default settings. There’s also a feature called Extended RAM which is a new memory management technology, where a part of the ROM storage can be used as RAM.
When enabled, vivo V23e 5G can get up to 4GB of additional RAM, bringing the total to 12GB of RAM offering an even better multi-tasking experience.
The V23e 5G ships with Android 11 with the latest Funtouch OS 12 on top. The latest OS comes with a brand-new Widgets interface, allowing you to get all kinds of key information quickly with just a glance and keeping the same type of information in one place.
Thankfully, there are only a few preinstalled apps like LinkedIn, Lazada, iQIYI, Agoda, (which you can uninstall) and a few other vivo apps like vivoCloud, V-Appstre, and iManager. The rest are suggested apps and games you can find on their respective “Hot” Folders.
There’s also what they call Jovi Home which feature shortcuts to Digital Wellbeing, Health tracker, Themes, as well as a YouTube and Twitter feed shortcut. Its clear that this smartphone is targeting younger users as most of the themes are quite colorful, there are lots of other theme choices but many of them are not free.
Keeping everything running is a 4050mAh battery that supports 44W FlashCharge. Vivo said you can charge up from 1% – 40% in just 15 minutes. In our initial test, fully charging the phone takes about an hour.
SUMMARY
UPS
Stunning color gradient
Premium design
Fun camera
Fast Charging
Complete accessories out of the box
DOWNS
Dated notch
Only 60hz refresh rate
Single speaker
FINAL WORD
Priced at P19,999 the vivo V23e 5G is going up against a very competitive midrange market. But if you are already a vivo user and want to upgrade your current device to a 5G phone that looks amazing, its definitely worth considering.
Its got premium looks, an okay display, fun camera features and can certainly manage your daily tasks from messaging and calling to social media and mid-performance gaming.
The V23 Series 5G is available in vivo concept stores, kiosks, and official Lazada and Shopee stores.
Get the best installment deals and a free pair of TWS Wireless Earbuds with the vivo V23e when paying with Home Credit (as low as P801.79/month) and Credit Card (as low as P1,665.58/month).
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