The battle of the mid-range phones heats up with a New Challenger!
Vivo has officially taken the wraps off their newest midrange offering, the Vivo V7, in China. It’s the smaller brother of the Vivo V7+ and it also comes at a budget friendly price tag (around Php15,000) which puts it squarely against the current mid-range titans, the OPPO F5 and the Huawei Nova 2i. Let’s take a quick look at the specifications of the three smartphones and see how the Vivo V7 fares against the two incumbents.
Vivo V7 Spec Sheet
- 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core processor
- Adreno 506 GPU
- 4GB of RAM
- 5.7-inch HD+ IPS LCD display; 1440×720 resolution, Corning Gorilla Glass 4
- 32GB of expandable storage (up to 256GB via MicroSD card)
- 4G, LTE
- Dual SIM
- Dedicated MicroSD Card
- 16-megapixel rear camera, f/2.0 aperture, LED Flash
- 24-megapixel front camera, f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, LED Flash
- WiFi, Bluetooth
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
- Fingerprint scanner
- Android 7.1 Nougat with FunTouch OS 3.2
- Look to Unlock Feature (Same as Vivo V7+)
- Hi-Fi Audio Chip
- 3000mAh battery
Key Features of the Vivo V7 Apart from Specs
Based on the spec sheet, the two main features that stand out are the front-facing camera with Face ID and the Hi-Fi Audio Chip. Both of these features are still subject to our review but on paper these are the two things that set apart the Vivo V7 against the competition. We’re excited to test the Hi-Fi Audio Chip since a lot of the people in our team are budding audiophiles. Hopefully it delivers and we’ll know that during the Vivo V7 full review.
Build: Nova 2i’s Aluminum Unibody vs Metallic Coated Plastic
The Huawei Nova 2i easily wins when it comes to build with their aluminum unibody design compared to the metal coated plastic bodies of Vivo and OPPO.
Internals: Almost Equal Across the Board
When it comes to internals, it really depends on what you are looking for. Ultimately all three devices deliver almost the same experience with slight bumps in certain areas. For example, if processor speed is your priority, the F5’s Helio P23 processor has a higher clock speed at 2.5GHz. If you want bigger internal storage, the Nova 2i leads with 64GB. As for RAM, all three phones sport 4GB of RAM, which is enough for most tasks and gaming.
Display: Full HD+ vs HD+
While all three offer an 18:9 display, the Nova 2i and F5 offer a better display compared to the V7 as they use a Full HD+ panel compared to the HD+ one used in the V7. However it’s good to note that the V7 sports a Gorilla Glass 4 screen, while the F5 has a Gorilla Glass 5 screen, so they are more durable and resistant to scratches.
Camera: The Selfie Battle Heats Up?
The Vivo V7 directly challenges the OPPO F5 for Selfie Camera supremacy. The OPPO F5 packs a 20-megapixel front camera, f/2.0 aperture, and AI Beauty Mode. The Vivo V7 brings a higher mega-pixel count and a front-facing LED flash with the following set-up: 24-megapixel front camera, f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, and LED Flash.
Which one is better? We’ll run it through some tests during our full review of the Vivo V7. We might even do a Selfie Blind Test so that we come up with an objective way to determine which phone delivers the best selfie in various lighting conditions.
On the other side of the spectrum we have the Nova 2i which packs four cameras which are optimized for taking those creamy and dramatic Bokeh shots.
Battery: Nova 2i has a Bigger Battery
Between the three, the Nova 2i offers the biggest battery pack at 3,340mAh.
Verdict: On Paper the Nova 2i is on Top But Don’t Count Out the Competition
If we’ll base everything on specs and pricing, the Huawei Nova 2i naturally comes out on top. However, specs isn’t everything when it comes to smartphones. There’s the user interface of the software, which rarely gets talked about in reviews for mid-range devices (we’ll try to tackle this during the full review, thanks to Philbert for the feedback).
We also need to take a long look at the key features that are supposed to differentiate the devices. The Vivo V7’s potentially strong front-facing camera and the Hi-Fi audio chip merit a closer look during our full review cycle. If these two features work well, they can pull ahead. The OPPO F5’s AI-powered Selfie Camera though will be tough to beat.
Watch out for the full review of the Vivo V7 in the next few days!
The OPPO F5 Celebrity-Powered Selfie Expert Launch at City of Dreams
