Vivo V11 Pro first impression: Feature-rich camera phone with visually appealing design

After a week of teasing, Vivo launched the company's new phone V11 Pro series in Mumbai on September 6.

Vivo V11 Pro costs Rs 25,999, making it the most affordable smartphone with new water drop design and futuristic in-screen fingerprint sensor in the market. I have been using the Vivo phone for close to a week and here's my initial take on the new V11 Pro.

Build quality, design and display:

Vivo V11 Pro comes with a sturdy polycarbonate-based shell and a glossy glass cover on top, which exudes premium feel when held in hand. On the front, it boasts the latest water drop design, allowing the company to incorporate fully working-display across most part of the front-panel.

It has a camera on top and rest including the speaker, IR sensor for face unlock hidden on top. The phone looks refreshing and really pleasing to the eyes.

Vivo V11 Pro sports a full HD+ (2340x1080p) super AMOLED-based FullView Display 3.0 with 2.5D glass cover on top. The readability on the screen in the direct sunlight is also good. So far, I haven't faced any stress in my eyes while viewing or reading on the screen.

Processor and battery configuration:

Vivo V11 Pro houses Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor backed by Android 8.1 Oreo-based Funtouch 4.5 OS, 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. The phone works smoothly without any lag in terms of camera launch, auto-focus, image processing, video recording, app loading and switching between multiple apps.

It also comes with 3,400mAh battery with Dual-Engine Fast Charging technology. I haven't fully assessed the battery life, but in my experience, the cell capacity is enough to keep the phone running a full day under heavy usage.

I will be running V11 Pro through its paces this week and will be publishing a full review. Stay tuned.

Camera:

Vivo V11 Pro comes with a feature-rich 12MP+5MP dual camera on the back with LED flash, full HD video recording, ultra HD, PPT, Professional, Slow Motion，Time-Lapse Photography，Camera Filter，Live，Bokeh，HDR，AI Face Beauty，Panorama， Palm capture，Gender detection，Retina Flash，AR Stickers，AI Face Shaping，Time Watermark，AI Selfie Lighting，AI Scene Recognition，Google Lens and AI Portrait Framing.

On the front, it has an equally impressive 25MP snapper with group selfie feature, AI Face Beauty, Portrait Mode with natural light, studio light, stereo light, loop light, rainbow light and monochrome background.

The primary camera takes some amazing pictures under daylight. The details and colour of the subject accurate and the Bokeh effect are also exceptional. As far as the front is concerned, it takes really good selfies and though it offers iPhone X-like Portrait mode options such as Studio Light, Natural Light and others, it truly lives upto the expectation.

Check out the Vivo V11 Pro camera samples:

Biometric security:

As said before, Vivo V11 Pro has the best biometric system for a phone in the market right now. It comes with face unlock backed by IR blaster that enables the phone to identify owner's face even in the dark, making it the only two (other is Poco F1) to boast this feature.

It also boasts in-screen fingerprint sensor and the V11 Pro is the lone phone in the sub-Rs 30,000 range to have this and yes, it works like a charm. I love the animation of the finger impression on the screen, which lights up when I pick the phone and when I touch it, the glowing green light spread in the circuit board structure. It's so visually pleasing I simply lock and unlock repeatedly to see how it works.

Initial thoughts:

For its price and features, Vivo V11 Pro looks to be a good value proposition. But, the Poco F1 (starting price: Rs 20,999) with Snapdragon 845 octa-core will give a tough fight and might take away the consumers who want powerful phones.

However, the Vivo phone has three key features—visually appealing water drop design, futuristic in-screen fingerprint sensor and exceptionally good camera -- which the former doesn't.

This is an exciting time to be in the Indian smartphone market as phone makers are doling out feature-rich phones at throwaway prices, and consumers are spoilt for choices. Vivo V11 Pro will definitely find traction among social media savvy youth.

The company is offering Vivo V11 Pro in Dazzling Gold and Starry Night Black colour variants and will be available both online as Vivo e-Store, Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, and Snapdeal and brick-and-mortar store. Interested consumers can pre-book starting September 6.

As part of the promotional launch programme, Vivo, in collaboration with banking partners, will offer Rs. 2,000 cash back via HDFC cards. Consumers are entitled to get data packs worth Rs. 4,050 via Reliance Jio.

To further sweeten the deal, Vivo is also offering one-time screen replacement option but is valid for the first six months.

There is also an option for liquid and damage protection insurance and additional data benefits, but only Vodafone and Idea consumers can avail this. If you plan to buy via Paytm Mall, you can claim Rs. 2,000 cashback and with Capital First transactions, you are eligible to get 5 percent off.

E-commerce companies will also be giving buyback guarantee, extra Rs. 2,000 exchange discount, along with no-cost EMIs up to 12 months options.

Key specifications of Vivo V11 Pro:

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