Introduction
Last month, vivo launched the V17 Pro in Malaysia, a smartphone with a total of six cameras. Yup, it has six cameras, on the front and back altogether. I’ve been using the phone for around a month or more, without further ado, this is the vivo V17 Pro review!
Unboxing
The V17 Pro comes in a pretty nice and unique design box, which shows the same color-shifting effect as the back of the phone. The box contains the phone itself, casing, some documentation, SIM ejector tool, USB-A to USB-C cable, charging brick, and earphones.
I’m actually impressed by how well the build quality of the casing that came in the box, it feels great and premium. Even though its casing is a lot better than what most phones offer, it is extremely hard to put on and take off, and chances of you leaving scars on the phone while putting on or taking off the case are quite high.
Design
In terms of design, the V17 Pro shares the same design language as its predecessor. It comes with a 6.44-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Ultra FullView display without the notch. Once again, vivo has opted for the pop-up selfie camera solution to provide a better viewing experience. The bottom chin of the phone is relatively small as well, which achieves 91.65% of the screen-to-body ratio.
This time around, the phone has two cameras on the front, which will pop-up when you switch to selfie mode. In between both cameras, there’s a Selfie Softlight too for a better low-light selfie photo. Like the V15 Pro, it comes with an improved in-display fingerprint sensor, which is slightly faster and more accurate than before.
Like its predecessor, the back of the phone isn’t made of glass, but acrylic, instead. The company even has a protective film pre-applied on the back too, since it gets scratched quite easily. The back has the color-shifting effect depending on which angle you are looking for, not something new but still cool to see it.
The right side of the phone houses the volume rocker and power button, while the right side has the Jovi button (for China), which has been remapped as the Google Assistant button for the international model. Thankfully, the phone still has the 3.5mm audio jack on the top and the USB-C port below is located in between the SIM slot and mono down-firing speaker.
Display
The V17 Pro sports a 6.44-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Ultra FullView display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. Since it’s an AMOLED display, it’s no surprise that the colors are vivid and eye-pleasing, as well as the deep blacks, which works well if you enable Dark Mode.
Performance
The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 AIE processor with 8GB RAM and 128GB expandable storage. Playing games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 isn’t a big problem, but you’ll have to lower down the graphics settings a bit for a smoother gaming experience. In terms of multitasking, it shouldn’t be a big problem for a phone like this with 8GB RAM, but I was facing issues like not getting notifications for certain apps such as Telegram and Outlook, it’s a software-related issue, by the way. Overall, day-to-day usage isn’t a big problem for this phone, just remember to check back some apps in case you didn’t get the notifications.
Software
The V17 Pro runs on Funtouch OS 9.1 based on Android 9.0, which is a custom-made software by the Chinese company. Checking back to my vivo V3Max review in 2016, I once mentioned that Funtouch OS looks a lot like iOS. This statement is still relevant for the current version of Funtouch OS — no app drawer, swipe down from the top to show notification panel, swipe up from the bottom to show something like Control Center, vivo called it Shortcut Center.
Yes, the phone comes with a lot of pre-installed apps (a.k.a bloatware) when you first power on. The phone actually comes with two recent apps interfaces, one can be activated by pressing the recent apps key, another one is in the Shortcut Center. At this point, I don’t really understand what’s the purpose behind it. vivo could have just removed the task switcher feature from the Shortcut Center.
To be honest, I’m not really a fan of Funtouch OS, using Nova Launcher definitely will improve the overall experience. However, even changing the default home screen is quite troublesome, you’ll have to go to Settings → More settings → Permission management → Default app settings → Home screen. Why can’t it just be like other phones — Settings → App Management → Default App → Homescreen?
The software isn’t all bad, though, Dark Mode is my favorite feature. We all already know that Instagram now supports Dark Mode, but vivo’s Dark Mode even supports apps like Facebook and LinkedIn.
Camera
The main selling point of the V17 Pro is its total of six cameras — four on the back and two on the front. For the rear camera setup, it has an 8MP 120° super wide-angle camera + 48MP f/1.8 main camera + 2MP bokeh camera + 2MP super macro camera. The front consists of 32MP f/2.0 main camera + 8MP f/2.2 super wide-angle lens with Selfie Softlight.
The camera interface is something the company needs to improve. For starter, the ultra-wide camera mode is separated from the zoom button. The phone shoots 12MP photos by default, just like most phones nowadays. In order to shoot 48MP photos, you’ll have to navigate to the “More” tab, then choose 48MP mode. You can also move it to the main interface for a faster switch.
Image quality generally is quite good as most images have a great dynamic range, thanks to the Auto HDR feature too. It has a pretty good amount of saturation and vibrant, but sometimes I felt that the AI algorithm has overdone it. Low-light photos are impressive too, especially when you use the Night Mode. Overall, the V17 Pro takes great photos that should be enough for your social media usage, but the camera interface needs to improve.
Battery
The V17 Pro packs a 4,100mAh battery, which also supports dual-engine fast charging (9V/2A). Even though it supports “fast charging”, getting the phone fully charged will take you around 2 hours. In terms of battery life, the phone can last through a day easily.
Final Words
Retailing at RM1,699, the vivo V17 Pro costs more than its competitors. You can get a phone with a better performance at an even lower price, but that’s not what vivo is focusing on. As I mentioned earlier, the main selling point of the phone is its six cameras. This is a phone that lets you capture photos in different focal lengths, different modes. From group selfies to astrophotography, the V17 Pro can get the job done. If only vivo fixes the software issue, this could be a really great deal.
Yay
- AMOLED FullView display
- Impressive camera
- Great battery life
Nay
- Poor software experience
- Less powerful processor compared to its rivals
- Priced slightly higher than its competitors