vivo is pushing ahead in its objective to rule the mid-range market in South Africa. The Chinese manufacturer is trying to replace the gap left by Huawei’s demise, but many others are vying for that same title. When we reviewed the vivo Y76 we were impressed with the design, but felt it had some quite a bit lacking to really stand out in a crowded market. In our vivo V25 5G review, we explore how much progress the company has made to embed itself as a dominant force in the mid-range market.
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Much like the previous vivo Y76 we reviewed, the vivo V25 is a stylish mid-range device. It has an eye-catching design, which has colour-changing properties when viewed in the light at different angles.
Design and Build
The colour-changing coat on the vivo V25 is the first thing you’ll notice when you set your eyes on the device. It uses the Colour Changing Fluorite AG Glass rear panel to achieve this sorcery. Of course, there are more muted colours available, but that seems like it would do the device a disservice. The Surfing Blue colour we have here (the same is the case for the Sunrise Gold colour) can look quite different with the sun’s rays hitting it at different angles because of the changing amount of UV rays that hit it.
This Surfing Blue colour will switch from light sky blue to a deep ocean blue. It is difficult to capture to photos, but videos might make the effect clearer. Sure, this is a bit of a gimmick, but it does look good and lends the design to feel more premium than the price of the device would suggest.
Other than its party trick, the design of the vivo V25 is still impressive. Some have compared it to the iPhone, but that is only due to the sharp and rounded edges of the device. Other than that the V25 feels like a device of its own. We prefer the flat edges to the rounded sides many phones still have – it just doesn’t make it easy to use with one hand if the device isn’t compact. Sure, some complain about the edges as being uncomfortable in the hand, but that is not the case here, due to the choice of material used.
On the front, there is still a small notch to house the selfie camera. We definitely prefer the hole punch solution, but at the price point the notch is smaller than most.
The single speaker on the vivo V25 is not where we would want it to sit. Other mid-range devices have moved to stereo solutions, using the earpiece as an additional speaker. There is also no 3.5mm headphone jack, so it’s not the best solution.
Display
The vivo V25 gets the same 6.4-inch display from its predecessor V23, very much in the middle of the pack in terms of display sizes, so it should suit most consumers.
It is great to see so many mid-range smartphones including higher refresh rate displays, which the V25 also has. It has a beautiful AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate, and again very much in the middle of the pack when it comes to display quality. It’s a great display for most circumstances, but where it falls short is on brightness (also, not uncommon for mid-range devices).
The display is very responsive, as you would expect for a 90Hz display. However, it suffers at times due to some other shortcomings, which we will get to later. The panel also misses the mark on colour accuracy at times, which we believe to be as a result of the brightness deficiencies. The display has a peak brightness of 481 nits, which is nearly a third of the best smartphone displays.
Software and Performance
The vivo V25 runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset. For some reason vivo decided to downgrade the internals from the predecessor V23 (which had a Dimensity 920), which we can’t recall seeing in any other smartphone in modern history. There are two RAM options available, but we only have the lower-specced 8GB RAM option available in South Africa.
Perhaps the performance of the V25 would not have been compromised if it had the higher RAM allotment, even with the downgraded CPU, but we don’t know. What do DO know is that the day-to-day performance of the vivo V25 is completely lacking.
It is actually such a disappointment, seeing that the opportunity was there. In benchmarks, the vivo V25 falls around 30 percent behind the phones it is competing against, with devices significantly cheaper like the Samsung A73 performing at the same level.
Where the vivo V25 does perform well is in battery life. Due to the underpowered chipset and the large 4,500mAh battery we had absolutely no trouble getting through an entire day on a charge. In fact, we were able to push to two full days with lighter use, which is rare these days.
vivo has stuck with its 44W charger, which is bundled into the box. In our experience, it’s able to get the V25 from empty to 68 percent in 30 minutes, and up to 100 percent in just over an hour.
As mentioned already, you get a single downward-facing speaker with the vivo V25, which is a bit of a disappointment. It’s clear and loud enough, but it lacks low-end oomph and, obviously, proper stereo separation.
Camera
When it comes to camera performance, the vivo V25 gets back on track. It has a 64MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide, the same useless 2MP macro camera we’ve complained about on mid-range devices forever, and an impressive 50MP selfie camera.
The main camera is capable of shooting bright, crisp, well-exposed shots in good lighting. When it comes to low-light performance we run into the expected issues for such a mid-range device, but it delivers pretty decent results in these circumstances. One of the reasons for the increased low-light performance over its predecessor is due to the addition of OIS (optical image stabilisation). It makes the Night mode capable of capturing sufficiently clear shots, unlike its predecessor.
These low-light shots are still not great, but much better than before. It isn’t on the level of similar devices like the OnePlus Nord 2T or the Google Pixel 6a, but we don’t get these on our shores. Compared to similarly priced devices from Samsung, this camera setup cannot compete.
The wide-angle shots are also nothing to write home about. The dynamic range is completely muted and details get lost sooner rather than later. As already stated, the 2MP macro is completely useless and should be shunned from all smartphones.
Conclusion
The vivo V25 is a difficult device to place – when you first set your eyes on it you are absolutely wowed. It has a great design, beautiful colour options and a changing colour coat that most people wouldn’t have seen on a device in this price point before.
As I’m writing this, I’m thinking – perhaps that is the point. Perhaps this vivo V25 is about the shock and awe and not about the substance that should accompany such a prize-worthy design.
While the main camera takes good photos and the low-light performance has been improved, the rest of the camera system leaves a lot to be desired. The battery life is good and charging speeds are up there.
However, there is a major disqualifier here – the performance. It’s not due to vivo’s software, which is fine. It is due to the underpowered hardware that has to run a device that looks more expensive than it is, which means people will try to make it do more than it should. The chipset and RAM is so lacklustre that we could never recommend this device for the R13,000 it is selling for at retail.
