Not many smartphones tick so many boxes in my book that you almost cannot find a bad thing to say, and the Vivo V23 5G is one of those devices. In this article, we will see everything there is to know about this device and why you might consider buying it.
In this Vivo V23 5G article, I look at the key elements of this device and what you should know about it before you buy it. The Vivo V23 is their newest addition to the V23 series inclusive of the V23 Pro and V23e. The Vivo V23 runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 920 coupled with an octa-core 2.5GHz GPU, and Mali G68 CPU. The unit that Vivo sent to me came in with Android 12 pre-installed and a configuration of 8 gigs of RAM plus an extra 4 gigs via memory fusion, and storage of 128 gigabytes.
Unboxing and Overview
Taking the plastic wrap off the Vivo V23 box, you get a shiny box and that 5G inscription at the bottom. That’s how you know you’re in business. The v23 inscription right at the centre follows as well. Opening the box, the first thing you get is the Vivo V23 5G, which we’ll get to later.
Underneath the plastic separator, you get the silicone case, Warranty card, quite a large charging brick, headphones, USB-C charging cable, the SIM ejector tool, and a USB-C to3.5mm headphone adapter since it comes with one and, of course, doesn’t have the 3.5mmheadphone jack. Taking that wrap off the Vivo V23 shows you that colour-changing back and the flat sides that stand on their own.
Design and Build Quality
Now, let’s talk about the fascinating design of the Vivo V23. If we were to give an award for smartphones with the best design this year, this device would definitely be in at least the top 5. At first sight, I absolutely love what Vivo did with the design of this device. The device I got came in the Sunshine Gold colour, as Vivo calls it. The exciting thing about this colour is that while you can see the matte finish gold colour of the device, moving it around creates this beautiful colour manipulation that almost looks like you have a rainbow splash on your device.
It comes in a box-like shape, very similar to the design of the latest Apple iPhones.However, where the V23 does better is caps all of its beauty with a relatively compact size.
The front and back of the device are made out of glass material, framed by a metallic material on all four sides. One thing that really impressed me with the design of this device was the camera bump. Most of the devices designed with a camera bump would usually have such a massive bump that it becomes distracting. However, the camera bump on the V23 is an almost flat bump housing a 64-megapixel triple-camera setup.
Away from the back to the sides, on the phone’s right side is where you have the volume rockers and the power button, while the left side is empty.
The top of the device has one hole for the microphone, and on the bottom, there’s the mono speaker, the type-c charging port, another microphone, and the sim tray. I don’t know, but something about having the sim tray at the bottom of the device just looks quite interesting too. Oh, and yes, this device is missing a 3.5mm headphone port.
However, the USB-C to 3.5mm converter that comes in the box becomes useful if you must use the wired headphone that comes with it. On the other hand, you can go wireless and get Bluetooth earbuds. Thankfully, there are now a lot of quality budget wireless earbuds in the market that you can cup for what we call shikini money.
Display
The front of the Vivo V23 is an almost bezel-less display with a 91.04% screen-to-body ratio. The 6.44 AMOLED screen has a resolution of 2400 by 1080, with an aspect ratio of 20:9and a 90-hertz refresh rate.
One of the first things you will notice on the front of this device is that it comes with a small notch, again bringing it closer to the design of the latest iPhones.However, this notch is not just a design imitation, keeping to the theme of interest with this device; this notch houses the two selfie cameras.
On paper, these are already impressive features for a smartphone screen, and it is very evident in how the display performs. Watching movies and streaming content on this device was an overall enjoyable experience.
It is definitely not the biggest screen on the market, but the huge screen-to-body ratio makes up for the size of the screen and allows you to enjoy the screen. It is also worth mentioning that the screen was as fun to use as it was fun to watch. Scrolling, tapping, and typing, were more interesting than you would expect since it is, not a 120 Hertz. The screen of this device has a refresh rate of just 90 hertz; however, it has been so well-optimised that you almost will not feel the absence of 120 hertz.
I also think that Vivo has added a bit of animation to the screen to help it feel that bit smoother. Even with playing games, if you have a stable internet connection, you may also not feel the effect of not having 120 hertz; however, this is also heavily dependent on the performance features of the phone.
Performance
The Vivo v23 runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 920 coupled with an octa-core 2.5GHz GPU, and Mali G68 CPU. The unit that Vivo sent to me came in with Android 12 pre-installed and a configuration of 8 gigs of RAM plus an extra 4 gigs via memory fusion, and storage of 128 gigabytes. All of these sound very impressive, but how do they perform in hand.
Well, to start with, I have not had very long to see how constant heavy usage affects the performance of this device; however, in the short time that I have had the v23, it met performance needs without any lag.
Playing multiple games and merely minimising them instead of closing them ultimately did not affect the device’s performance. Even when the device got to a critical battery level, the device was still performing optimally. Speaking of gaming, while this device is not a powerhouse or a workstation for gamers, it offers an extra feature for gaming that helps it perform at its best possible level when gaming. The Vivo V23 comes with a game booster feature that automatically starts running once you open a game to boost the device’s performance for that game.
However, you can also turn it off from the control centre by swiping it down on your screen or in the device’s settings. I definitely am not a gaming expert, but based on my personal experience, there was not that big a difference when I tried gaming with and without the game boost feature. I did notice a slight decline in the graphic quality of the games that I played without the booster; however, as for speed, there was pretty much no lag with the games, except one that closed without reason one time.
Another interesting game-related feature on the Vivo V23 is 4D game vibration. This feature is supposed to make gaming more immersive by giving you a feel of effects like the vibration of a gun and all of that; sadly, the device said that I did not have any games that supported the feature, and I couldn’t seem to find one that did support the feature. Now, as I said, I only had the device for a short period, so I cannot really tell, right now, how long it can maintain this level of performance. Still, if you are not a very heavy user running tasking apps and games all the time, I think the Vivo V23 5G is solid enough to hold its own.
Battery
One of the biggest power trends with the newest smartphones in the market is offering both a big battery and fast charging capacity, and the Vivo V23 is also a member of this club. The batter on the Vivo V23 is a 4200 milli-amp hour battery. Now, of course, this is not the most giant battery you’ll find on the market. However, for its level and the size of this phone, I think the device has been well-optimised to use this battery well.
In reality, after a full charge on the device at the start of my day. I used it as an everyday user. Scrolling through social media apps, a bit of texting, taking some photos and videos, watching a couple of videos, and of course, a lot of gaming. Within the timeframe of using this device, the phone’s battery lasted me the entire day, and the battery still did not die on me until I plugged it in. I have to say that I was pretty impressed by how the device performed battery-wise.
With these kinds of devices, the most significant factor is how much you use your phone and what you use it for. If you are someone with a lot of screen time, it might not last as long as it did.
Charging Speed
But the fun part about it is that, as I mentioned earlier, it also comes with fast charge capabilities. The Vivo V23 is designed with the capacity to handle 44-watt fast charging, and as I mentioned in the unboxing section, it comes with a compatible 44-watt fast charger in the box. I was particularly impressed by the charging speed that this device offered.
After using the phone until it shut down, the 44-watt fast charger took it from 0 to34% in the first ten minutes of charging. It was already more than half full by the next ten minutes at 55%. The device eventually got full after about 43 minutes of charging. With the charger that comes in the box of this device, you can easily plug in this device and be good to go within 30 minutes of charging, and the battery would still last you well. However, I still have to point out again that the battery performance is heavily dependent on how you use it.
Cameras – Photo & Video Quality Review
When it comes to the cameras, you’ve got an exciting array or collection of cameras on the Vivo V23. You’ve first of all got a good set of front-facing cameras on here, a 50MP Wide Camera and an an8MP Ultrawide camera. You also have a Dual LED Dual Tone Flash set up on here. What does this seemingly fancy term mean?
Well, the front flash can change colour between 3 modes. Cold White, Default and Warm Yellow. This front camera can also shoot 4K footage in 30 FPS or Frames Per Second and 1080p at the same frame rate.
When we move to the rear cameras, we can see that there are 3 cameras here, the first one is actually the 8MP Ultrawide camera that can shoot wide-angle shots, the primary 64MPwide camera, and finally, the 2MP Macro camera which, I have to say, these cameras did meet and somewhat exceed my expectations, and we’ll see shortly.
You’ve got Electronic Image Stabilization for video on here, a Dual LED Flash; the camera can also shoot HDR and 1080P and 4K in 30 Frames Per second. Now, specs aside, let’s actually see what this camera can capture both in video and photo quality.
For selfies, I did notice that pictures are really, really sharp in great lighting, not just that, though, you can even zoom in for your selfies up to 2X or 2 times. It’s not a big deal, but it exists here and not on many other cameras. When it comes to portrait selfies, you can expect some quality shots. You will also notice that the edge of the image is cut sharp, and the blur can get intense, making it look overly digital or processed.
You can adjust the point of focus for the camera even after the fact. Although I’ve seen this on other devices, it’s cool to have here. Shooting with the rear camera will result in quality footage, especially portrait shots. Although you experience the same level of software processing here, you end up with images that are at least usable. The level of HDR and saturation detail is also present when your subject wears colourful clothing.
The ultra-wide shots on the Vivo V23 will definitely capture a vast 120-degree Angle for your shot; just expect a little bit of distortion in your image, but that’s just likely with ultra-wide lenses. The wide pictures on here capture beautifully, definitely not as warm in colour as the ultrawide, it’s more balanced in colour, and when you zoom to 5X or 5 times, you get to still see details. With this camera, you can go up to a maximum of 10 times zoom, and you can still legibly read text.
You’ve also got the 64MP Ultra HD Mode, which you can activate by going to the High-Resolution section of the camera’s feature settings. Photos you take in this mode will definitely help you achieve high-quality captures.
The 2MP Macro camera on here is also something you can not ignore. At first, it’s like, okay, another extra camera Vivo added just to fill up the 3 camera setup, but I think there’s a use case for this one. It’s a good enough close-up camera, and I did a small test.
If you take a 50 Naira note, you’ll find some inscriptions on it. You usually would be able to see this if you only look really close or squint, but by taking a close-up photo of the note, you can get a sort of enlarged view of this note. I think it’s pretty cool, and you can have many other use cases for this or not.
When it comes to night shots on the Vivo V23, night mode adds some colour to your image, while the standard photo seems to be sharper in comparison, so it’s more of a trade-off at this point. When it comes to video quality, here’s what I got from the selfie recording:4K footage from the V23’s back camera didn’t seem to disappoint at all, the colours seem balanced for a smartphone, and you can zoom in and retain some sort of detail on here.
What I really really liked, though, was that compared to the shaky footage you’d typically get from a smartphone camera video can quickly disappear once you turn on Ultra Stabilization. Although you’ll get a crop, it does look steady and smooth. There are other modes like dual recording, where you can record both with your front and back camera at the same time.
Panorama, Live Photo, Slow Motion video up to 240 frames per second, Timelapse mode, Pro mode, AR stickers, documents, and even double exposure. All of these can be used creatively, and it’s just interesting to know you have so many options packed inside this smartphone’s camera.
Security – Face Unlock & Fingerprint
Now to the other impressive features of this device. For device security, you get three options. Face unlock, an in-display fingerprint scanner, and the good old pattern. The in-display fingerprint on the device worked pretty swiftly, and I was most impressed by the face unlock feature and how well it performed.
Sound Quality
As for the speakers, I was also impressed with the audio that came out of the device. For a smartphone speaker, it is pretty loud and clear. It has a decent level of bass and tones that keeps the audio straight out of the speakers relatively enjoyable.
Conclusion and Verdict
Overall, I am pretty satisfied with all the features of the Vivo V23 5G. I could see all the active efforts that the brand put in to make the device as unique and exciting to use as possible. For 239,900 naira, approximately $510, which is less than half the price of most flagship 5g devices on the market right now, I think that the Vivo V23 5G is worth its cost.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Will you join the train to order this device? Let’s chat in the comment section.
Read Also: The Samsung Galaxy A33 5G is a good mid-range phone with Samsung’s alluring appearance.