We go hands-on with the Vivo Xplay 5!

If you didn’t know we’re currently in Mumbai, India for Vivo’s official launch of their mid-range V3 and V3 Max smartphones, two phones that are heading to the Philippines in the next few weeks. While Vivo didn’t officially show off their new Xplay 5 smartphone during the event so as not to take the spotlight off of their new devices, we spotted the flagship device in the hands of a Vivo exec. We managed to pry it out of his hands long enough to ogle and paw at it for a few minutes, and while Vivo is still on the fence about bringing it over, we think that it’s the right move as it’ll give them a strong, hi-end flagship to round out their offerings.

Before we start the hands-on, let’s take a look at the specs of the Xplay 5:

Vivo Xplay 5

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor
• 4GB of RAM
• 5.43-inch Super AMOLED QHD display, 2560 x 1440 resolution
• 128GB of non-expandable storage
• 16-megapixel rear camera, Sony IMX298 sensor, PDAF, dual LED flash
• 8-megapixel front camera
• Dual SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFI, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, Fingerprint scanner, Hi-Fi audio
• Android 5.1 Lollipop, Funtouch OS 2.5.1
• 3600mAh battery

Initial Impressions: Galaxy S7 Edge on the front, iPhone at the back

Once you hold the phone in your hands, you’ll notice just how remarkably similar it is to Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge. Vivo is one of the few companies in the market today that actively uses dual edge displays, so the comparison isn’t without merit. Despite that the phone looks great, with the 5.43-inch Super AMOLED QHD display delivering the goods as far as display quality, brightness and color is concerned.

While the phone looks like Samsung’s latest offering at the front, once you turn it over and take a gander at the back you’ll see that Vivo also took a lot of design inspiration from the Korean firm’s biggest rival. The rear of the Xplay 5 resembles the posterior of the iPhone 6S so much that you’d probably wouldn’t know that you were not looking at an Apple product if Vivo’s logo and fingerprint scanner weren’t there.

If you’re willing to overlook the liberal design inspirations that Vivo took with the Xplay 5, you’ll see that it certainly is a very premium smartphone. Made from a single block of metal, the unibody construction of the device feels very premium to the hand. We did notice though that the edge displays on the device didn’t have additional features ala the Edge notification screen on the Galaxy S7 Edge, which wastes the potential of the panel. As it is, it’s just a pretty face.

The Xplay 5 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM. It’s the same configuration that we’ve seen in Vivo’s recently launched V3 Max, and for the most part the hardware keeps the phone moving at a pretty snappy pace. There’s a 16-megapixel rear camera on the back that has a manual mode, and 128GB of storage.

That’s pretty much it for our hands-on for the Xplay 5. Like we said earlier Vivo is still on the fence on whether or not to bring the phone in the PH. As far as the Vivo XPlay 5 Elite, the Xplay 5’s monstrous 6GB RAM brother? Well, there’s no plans for that yet, as it seems it’s a China-only device for now.