It’s always a fun experience to find out that a successor model in phone series is getting more than just an incremental upgrade. And while it’s not something that you’d be able to identify at a glance, that’s what the vivo V70 got. And it has certainly been a long time coming.
But, that aside, can the vivo V70 stand on its own legs? Is it a good phone on its own? Let’s find out.
What Am I Looking At?
Being a mid-range device, the vivo V70 doesn’t have much in the way of an eye-catching element, at least on the outside. Unless you specifically pick the aptly named Golden Hour colourway, depicted in this review. The company has gone out of its way to highlight this, and its collaboration with Tourism Malaysia for it. But we’ll get to why it’s aptly named in a bit. Beyond that, one can maybe argue that the camera island does look a tad different compared to everything else that’s out there.
Of course, the ZEISS branding sits there pretty prominently, emphasising the long-standing collaboration between the two brands. Beyond that, the vivo V70 has just about everything where you expect them – the power button and volume rocker are on the right, the USB-C port is at the bottom, and nothing but antenna lines on the top and left.
The brain of the device is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4, which allows for the general user experience to be buttery smooth. The 6.59-inch 1.5K 120Hz AMOLED display has a peak brightness of 5,000 nits, which is great for when you’re using it outdoors. But once you’re inside, you’ll definitely want to check if you have automatic brightness turned on, just so you don’t waste unnecessary battery, and hurt your eyes in the process. Probably worth mentioning before we move on that the earpiece also doubles as a secondary speaker for the stereo experience.
As is commonly the trend these days, the vivo V70 has a relatively large 6,500 mAh battery. This is paired with support for 90W charging, meaning that it not only lasts long, but is also quick to recover. Provided you use a plug and cable that also supports that, of course.
What’s Good About It?
In describing what the vivo V70 is, we’ve inadvertently also explained a bit of what makes the phone good. But that’s obviously not where it ends. For its operating system, it runs the company’s OriginOS 6, which is technically new to markets outside of China. We won’t go much into customisation, but instead, we’ll talk about the most highlight-worthy feature, called the Origin Island.
Yes, it’s pretty derivative, but hey, you know what they say about the sincerest form of flattery, right? While it’s not as all-encompassing – it doesn’t work with, say Google Maps – it’s got music playback covered. For avid music listeners, you’d appreciate that Spotify can be accessed immediately without a widget being assigned to the home page.
Finally, we get to arguably the highlight of the vivo V70, or its key selling point, if you prefer. And it’s its ability to take shots with the sun in it, during the golden hours of the day. A more all-encompassing version of this launched with the flagship X100 Pro all the way back in 2023. But even then, the algorithm works its magic the best during said golden hour, and the mid-range V70 has inherited a version of that, albeit two-and-a-half years later.
Another software benefit from the X series is the Stage Mode, which was inherited from then X200 FE. Arguably more impressive, it uses what the company calls the Advanced AI Image Enhancement Algorithm to make shots in the dark look sharp and detailed.
On the hardware side of things, it packs a 50MP main + 50MP 3x periscope + 8MP wide-angle combo at the back, and a 50MP secondary shooter in front. Or, as the brand loves to call the telephoto camera, the 50MP ZEISS Super Telephoto Camera, which uses a Sony IMX882 sensor. It’s another thing the V70 inherited from the Flagship X100 series and its successors, the primary beneficiary of the brand’s partnership with ZEISS.
Sample Images
Should I Buy It?
It’s not too common that we’d say this for the series, but the answer is probably a yes. The vivo V70 has a starting price of RM1,999. While the configurations with more memory and storage goes up to RM2,599, if you don’t need that a mid-ranger for two grand is not too bad a deal, especially considering what’s to come.
Of course, all this is actually contingent on its golden hour camera capabilities. Had the prior models had this following the launch of the X100 Pro, they would have probably have also gotten a recommendation. Conversely, had the V70 not have this feature, it would also not get a recommendation.
This article is brought to you by vivo.
