Vivo also joined the same race and launched Vivo V9 inspired by the design of iPhone X. Since Asus has not yet launched its phone in India, Vivo has become the first company to launch an Android smartphone with a notch in India.
In Vivo V9, the company has given a bezel-less screen and a notch at its top. The phone looks attractive but is it a complete value for money smartphone priced at Rs 22,900? We have investigated…
Vivo V9 design
The tall and large display has an 18:9 aspect ratio. As soon as I turned on the power, I noticed the notch at the top. The notch is smaller in width than the iPhone X. It has earpiece, selfie camera and two sensors. A small notification light is also provided, which is just above the earpiece.
The notch is covered by the display. It has been claimed that after this the screen remains at 6.3 inches. The screen to body ratio is 90 percent. Holding the phone in your hand, you will find it quite light. Total weight is 150 grams. The plastic used in it plays a significant role in weight.
However, Vivo V9 looks price wise Moto X4 Doesn’t seem as premium. But it doesn’t seem that cheap either. The glossy rear panel is made of high quality plastic. The phone does not slip from the hand. However, it captures fingerprints easily.
Vivo has provided a box with the phone, using which you can avoid the hassle of fingerprints. Vivo has given the power and volume buttons on the right side of the phone. The SIM tray is on the left. The micro-USB port in Vivo V9 is at the bottom. Loudspeaker, headphone jack and microphone are also provided there. Considering the price of Vivo V9, we expected it to come with a USB-Type C port. this port Xiaomi Mi A1 Like it is also given in smartphones.
Take the phone in your hand and you will find that its two cameras have been given vertical position. Single LED flash is also provided. There is a metal rim around the dual camera, which protects the lens from scratches. There is a rear fingerprint sensor in the middle of the phone and Vivo’s logo is given below it. We found the sensor to be slightly higher than expected. Apart from this the phone is easy to use. Its curved edges do not prick the phone when held in hand.
Specifications, software and features of Vivo V9
Vivo V9 looks high-end. The phone has also been made strong from inside. Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 processor is used in Vivo V9, whose highest clock speed is 2.2 GHz. The phone has 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage. The handset supports dual SIM, for which 2 Nano SIM slots are available. In the name of storage, it is possible to expand the phone’s memory up to 256 GB through a separate microSD card slot.
Vivo V9 has a 6.3 inch IPS screen, whose resolution is 1080×2280 pixels. The aspect ratio is 19:9. The viewing angles of the phone are better and we noticed that there was some red mark on the display. Unfortunately, this handset does not have the option to change the display output. Due to which you will have to work with what you see.
There is no mention of toughened glass but Vivo also offers a pre-applied screen protector. In terms of connectivity, the phone has 4G VoLTE but with this service, one SIM is supported at a time. The second SIM switches to 3G service while the first SIM is in use.
Vivo V9 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo. It has custom Funtouch OS 4.0 UI on top. The handset comes with the February Android security patch. FunTouch does not provide the facility of notification dot and smart text selection. But it is capable of providing the necessary features in picture mode. The company could have placed icons like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VoLTE on the right side of the display. The left side of the notch shows signals and outstanding notifications. The notch is not very wide, due to which the user gets more space in it than the iPhone X.
Like the older versions of Funtouch, it also feels like iOS. You can control notifications and other things by swiping from the bottom of the screen. The on-screen navigation buttons are at the bottom of the display.
Vivo has taken a step forward and provided gesture based navigation in the handset. Other features include the Face Unlock feature, which works in conjunction with the phone’s front camera. The handset also has a smart call feature which allows attending in hands-free mode and by holding the phone near the ear. The features of the phone do not end here, it comes pre-installed with Flipkart, Prime Video, UC Browser, Amazon, Newspoint, WhatsApp, Facebook and WPS Office.
Vivo V9 performance, camera and battery
The Vivo V9 ran smoothly throughout the day. The UI is simple. With 4 GB RAM it appeared capable of doing small and big tasks. The face unlock feature of Vivo V9 works better. However, in low light the phone faces difficulty in recognizing the user’s face, for which a PIN may have to be entered. The fingerprint sensor is also fast.
The phone has a 3260 mAh battery. With apps like YouTube, WhatsApp, it is capable of running the phone comfortably throughout the day. The Vivo V9 lasted 8 hours and 49 minutes in our HD video loop test. Vivo V9 has dual camera. One is a 16-megapixel primary sensor and the other is a 5-megapixel depth sensor. Vivo has not made any special changes in the camera. What is certain is that compared to the previous version, the feature of AR Steer has been added to it. Vivo V9 comes with AI-enabled beauty mode. It has been claimed that the handset can recognize the user’s age, gender, texture, skin tone etc.
Photos taken with Vivo V9 proved to be mixed in terms of quality. We found that the phone could do well in better lighting but it could not deliver better results in difficult conditions. In daylight, Vivo V9 focuses better and gets the exposure correct. However, the output was a bit grainy and landscape shots weren’t clear. Macro shots came out better, due to which the phone was easily able to differentiate between the subject and the background. Camera quality degrades in low light. There is a delay in taking focus and blurry pictures are obtained.
Vivo V9 has a 24-megapixel selfie camera, which is equipped with AI-beautify mode. It also enhances the shot automatically. Selfies come out clear and are worth posting on social media.
Decision
With Vivo V9, Vivo has managed to deliver the first notch-equipped Android smartphone in the country. The hardware is better and there are many changes in the software too. The display is better than the rest and for those who want to show off the phone with a notch, this is a good option. Also, those who do not want to spend huge amount on iPhone X can buy it.
Face recognition feature works better. Priced at Rs 22,900, Vivo V9 is missing USB Type-C port, which has become common in other phones these days. The battery is weak and if you use the phone all the time, you will be looking for a charger by evening. Camera performance is better but it responds in low light.
Vivo V9 currently competes with Oppo F7. However, more smartphones will be launched in this category in the future. In V9, the user will get a larger display, thin borders and a small notch, which is enough to attract attention. However, if you are not interested in buying it, then there is a 6 GB RAM variant of Moto X4 available in the market.