Vivo V23 review: iPhone-esque design for Android fans; there's more

Vivo has been making a lot of splash with its frequent smartphone launches, to keep its consumers excited with each one. The Vivo V23 surely came as a bundle of joy. Priced comfortably in the Rs 30,000 range, the V23 is placed in a highly-competitive category. Does it have what it takes to take on its rivals? Let's find out.

Vivo V23 is priced at Rs 29,990 (8GB+128GB) and Rs 34,990 (12GB+256GB). For the price, it offers a sleek-looking body with great design, capable cameras and features that will lock you in. But it's not completely devoid of flaws as the price point may demand more from the phone in certain areas.

Design and display

Vivo V23 is easily one of the best looking mid-range phones you can get. The iPhone-esque design elements are hard to miss, but Vivo has thrown in its signature look here and there. The phone is extremely sleek, measuring just 7.55mm, and it can be easily handled. Both the in-hand feel and the looks of the Vivo V23 are premium, giving the impression of a flagship phone.

The flat chassis has a matte finish, and has a continuation of the body's colour tone. Our review unit, the Stardust Black, is supremely elegant. The rear panel has a fluorite AG glass design, which shimmers with every ray of sunlight that befalls it. On top of the glass back panel, there's a metal module housing the triple camera setup, which doesn't bulge much to tip-toe on the desk when placed.

The rest of the phone is pretty standard, everything from USB Type-C port, speaker grille and SIM card slot at the bottom and the power and volume controls on the right side. Before you get your hopes high, it's worth noting that the phone lacks stereo speakers, so it's best to adjust your expectations.

Moving on to the next big element - the display. Vivo V23 has a 6.44-inch 10-bit AMOLED display with HDR10+ certification and 90Hz refresh rate. The display's edge-to-edge finish is disrupted by a rather big notch, which is understandable considering the camera setup it houses. If you're willing to forgo that, the display itself is quite great for consumption of multimedia content and gaming. The panel is bright enough to be used outdoors without any issues. The colour reproduction is accurate, and the 90Hz refresh rate was acceptable choice.

Camera

Vivo V23 is touted as a camera phone and the company has evidently focused a lot on it. More than the rear camera setup, the front camera setup is of particular interest. It's rare that we say so. The front cameras are equipped with 50MP primary sensor paired with an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens. On the rear, there's a 64MP primary camera paired with an 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro sensors.

If selfies are truly important aspect of your phone, the V23 won't disappoint you. The front camera lets you switch to an ultra-wide mode to capture a wider frame, useful in cases of group selfies. As for the primary sensor, the pictures taken are detailed and have natural tones. There's soft smoothening applied to photos, which are to make selfies look more appealing (at least to some people's liking). Even so, the selfie camera on the V23 is the arguably one of the best you'll find in the market. The front camera also has eye-tracking AF, which will be useful in case of vlogging.

The front camera setup appears to have taken up Vivo's interest, so much so that the rear camera setup comes off as slightly underwhelming. The primary sensor does a fairly good job as compared to the wide-angle sensor, where the colour shift is quite evident even while shooting the same scene. Keeping the focus to the 64MP sensor, the colours were saturated, dynamic range and exposure well balanced and the details rightly retained - all under well-lit scenes.

In the night mode, the V23 manages to get decent results, contrary to the "exceptional" claims. All in all, stick to the primary sensors and you'll be fine.

Check out the camera samples below:

Performance

Vivo V23 is poerend by Dimensity 920 chipset, which may come across as a poor choice for many performance-driven users. But if you're an average user, a bit of camera and games, the usual multimedia, social media and communications, the V23 should be capable enough. Again, people who demand more through high graphics gaming are right to feel there are better alternatives out there.

Vivo V23's fingerprint sensor under the display works accurately and efficiently. The speaker works better if you're indoors, rather than in a public or a crowded place. Finally, the FunTouchOS software V23 runs on is based on Android 12, which is a hit and miss affair, most a hit. The software has underwent some serious fine-tuning, making day to day use easy. The aesthetic appeal of the UI grows on you and everything is kept simple. There are ample animations and customisations to explore from and the nifty features like app locker, call recorder, Always-on display, dark mode and more are welcoming.

The annoying aspects remain. The FunTouchOS still lives with the burden of bloatware, but it's organised away from your sight. The notifications from unused, pre-installed, on the other hand, can be annoying, unless you turn them off.

We tested the Vivo V23 with Vodafone 4G in Bengaluru and did not notice any major issues with regards to connectivity or browsing on mobile data. Even the Wi-Fi on ACT network worked as expected.

Battery

Vivo V23 is powered by a 4,200mAh battery. Clearly the medium sized battery is a result of the sleek form-factor. On mobile data + GPS at 90Hz refresh rate, the V23 is not the best phone in battery life test. With OTT streaming, a bit a gaming besides the regular use of the phone, the V23 struggles to survive the day. But the only good thing is that the V23 is supported by 44W fast charging, which can juice up the phone in less than an hour.

Verdict

Vivo V23 is an average smartphone with some notable highlights. The overall design of the phone really stayed with us, while the front camera and the display are on the good side of things. The V23 could use improvements in areas of performance and battery. But if you're not a demanding user, who occasionally uses the phone for extensive gaming and regular multimedia streaming, the V23 is a good phone for day-to-day use.