Vivo V11 Pro review: Sets a new benchmark in the mid-range price-point

Extremely lightweight and looks appealing

Vivo V11 Pro is one of the lightest smartphones in its respective price-point. It weighs 156 g and feels extremely light in hands and in the pocket. One reason for the lightweight is the material used in constructing the handset. Vivo V11 Pro has an all plastic body which makes it lightweight but also gives the handset slightly less premium feel in hands. To compensate for the same, Vivo has introduced the V11 Pro in eye-catchy gradient colors. The smartphone is available in two color tones; Starry Night and dazzling Gold. We have got the Starry Night color variant that flaunts a Black and Blue gradient pattern at the rear panel with some sort of sparkle texture. The Blue shade also shifts to Purple when light falls on the rear panel at a particular angle giving V11 Pro a unique look.

 

Excellent screen-to-body ratio

While the overall look and feel resemble the previously launched Vivo devices, the new smartphone boasts a better screen-to-body ratio. Vivo V11 Pro sports a 6.41-inch Super AMOLED Halo Full View display that offers a screen-to-body ratio of 91.27%.The front is entirely occupied by the AMOLED display and you get a very good screen real estate for video playback, gaming, and reading.

Compact and easy-to-use with one hand

Moreover, despite the big screen, Vivo V11 Pro is very compact. The gentle curves at the rear panel help in ergonomics and make the handset easy to use even with one hand. The power button and volume rockers are placed on the right side and the SIM card tray is positioned on the left. The micro USB 2.0 charging port is placed at the bottom along with a mono speaker grille, microphone, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Vibrant edge-to-edge AMOLED screen is brilliant

The Vivo V11 Pro offers the best-in-class screen in its respective price-point. Vivo calls the 6.41-inch screen ‘Halo FullView' display as you get extremely thin bezels on all four sides which ensures immersive multimedia delivery. The AMOLED display is vibrant, has good viewing angles and also ensures deep blacks. The edge-to-edge form-factor works brilliantly for video playback and gameplay. Like the OPPO F9 Pro, Vivo has also used the waterdrop notch at the top that houses the massive 25MP front-facing shooter. Overall, if you love watching movies and playing games, Vivo V11 Pro will come as a delight.

25MP high-resolution AI enabled Selfie camera

One of a major highlight of the new Vivo handset is the 25MP selfie camera. The super high-resolution sensor features an all-new AI Face Shaping technology, which allows you to tweak your facial features such as the nose, jawline, face width, eyes span, etc. to create desired selfie output. It is very interesting to find out that the feature actually works and let you give your face the kind of shape you want. So if you are not happy with the god's creation, this handset gives you some level of superpowers to alter your appearance.

Best-in-class selfie output

And as I mentioned in my first impressions of the handset, people who don't like to capture selfies will start clicking hundreds of them if they buy the Vivo V11 Pro. The self-portraits come out really good. If you don't beleive me, simply check out the above image. Images are full of detailing and good contrast levels. The Backlight HDR feature is the star here. The camera sensor analyzes the lighting situation and enables the mode to control the harsh light in the background that can spoil your selfies. Besides, Vivo has also added iPhone X like studio light effects that further helps you to enhance the selfie outputt. The rainbow light effect is something to look upon. Overall, Vivo V11 Pro has all the ingredients to make you look prettier for today's digital world. It is indeed an ideal phone for selfie lovers.

12MP+5MP dual-lens camera setup

In addition to an impressive selfie camera, Vivo V11 Pro also flaunts a capable dual-lens rear camera setup. The handset sports a 12MP+5MP dual-lens rear camera setup, which like the company's previous camera setups is snappy and very good at autofocus. I must say that Vivo is gradually producing some of the best camera smartphones in their respective price-points. The primary camera works on a brighter f/1.8 aperture value and has 1.28μm pixels. Like the flagship Nex, the camera on V11 Pro also utilizes Dual-Pixel technology to improve performance in challenging light situations. The camera setup is said to have 24 million photosensitive units, which boosts photosensitivity for better low-light image output.

Better camera than other smartphones in sub Rs. 26k price-point

The camera is good at capturing accurate colors. The images show good contrast and impressive detailing. The pictures shot on Vivo V11 Pro show no or very little pixelation even when you zoom them to the maximum level. The smartphone is very good at daylight photography. The landscape shots captured with Vivo V11 Pro on a clear day look excellent on the AMOLED display.

Portrait photography

The 5MP secondary camera creates a decent level of bokeh; however, it could use some level of refinement. Thankfully, the camera app gives you the flexibility to tweak the depth of field effect in pictures. The camera interface is easy to use and also features some interesting filers to add some artistic effect to pictures. Vivo V11 Pro let you record in 4K at 30fps after a software update. The video quality is crisp in daylight but the fact that there's no OIS and even EIS, the handset is not a very reliable device for video recording.

Low-light camera performance

The dual-lens camera setup is a decent performer in low-light, and probably the best in its respective price bracket. There's a lot of information to see in the frame and camera software also manages to handle noise very well. In extreme low-light, the noise is quite evident also detailing also takes a hit. However, that's pretty understandable as even the most premium handsets haven't able to crack the low-light camera performance yet, except the Google Pixel devices which are absolute gems for low-light photography. Overall, Vivo V11 Pro is the smartphone I would recommend to consumers in sub Rs. 28k price bracket who keep photography in their highest regards.

Gaming and battery performance

The mid-range price-point has certainly become the most exciting smartphone category when it comes down to hardware. You can now easily get a handset working on the flagship Snapdragon 845 CPU priced under Rs. 25,000. For instance, Xiaomi offers Poco F1's 6GB RAM variant at Rs. 20,999 that makes for an excellent gaming phone and a device that can also handle resource-intensive tasks with an ease. On the other hand, Vivo V11 Pro is backed by the tried and tested Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, which is not as powerful as the flagship SD845 but is very tuned and offers smooth and efficient performance. The chipset has also been combined with a decent GPU unit and an AI engine to enhance battery, computing and graphics performance in everyday smartphone use. Vivo V11 Pro gets 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space.

The Snapdragon 660 runs popular game titles like PUBG and Asphalt 9: Legends at medium to low settings by default. If you push the graphics to max, you will experience some level of performance drop in the form of stutters during the gameplay. The other day-to-day routine tasks such as calling, camera, video recording, Chrome, etc. are handled very well as the phone feels snappy and responsive. Call quality is also good and the mono speaker at the bottom delivers loud and clear audio. The smartphone can easily last a day with moderate usage. Gaming and camera usage does take a toll n battery life; however, the 3,400 mAh battery is good at lasting for a day on a single charge. Vivo V11 Pro ships with an18W 5V/2A-9V/2A quick charging adaptor that comes equipped with Vivo's Dual Engine Fast Charging technology. The charger can refuel the sealed battery in V11 Pro in approx 85 minutes.

Software performance: Feature rich but a little less user-friendly

Vivo V11 Pro runs on the latest Funtouch OS 4.5 based on Android 8.1 Oreo, which is an iOS rip-off but at the same time offers various useful features tucked inside the settings menu. For instance, you can customize the order and style of navigation keys under system navigation, change the lock screen poster, enable Always-on-mode, change Lock screen style, enable Global search, Easy touch for quick actions and a lot more. Vivo has also added a ‘Motorbike mode' that when enabled display the most important phone actions on the screen while you are riding a bike. You can also clone apps, enable one-handed mode and check where the smartphone uses AI to enhance the user experience under the Jovi assistant section in the menu list. Vivo V11 Pro also comes equipped with a snappy Face unlock mode that works really well.

Big expectations from the upcoming FunTouch UI

While these features make FunTouch a great custom skin over Android Oreo, there are some pain points as well. For example, the long tap on home screens offers very limited customization options and you also cannot search any particular feature in the settings menu as there's no search box coded. Moreover, the small notch at the top does not come along with any software customizations that can affect your gaming and video streaming experience. I want Vivo to address such issues in the coming iteration of FunTouch OS to make the UI more user-friendly rather than just a pool of features.

How’s the new in-display fingerprint scanner?

Vivo V11 Pro features the 4th Generation In-display Fingerprint scanner. As I have tested Vivo's previous in-display biometric scanners, I can say that the latest fingerprint scanner has improved to a good extent. It is snappier, takes less time and is more accurate than the previous generation in-display fingerprint scanners I have tested on Vivo Nex and Vivo X21. But when you compare it with the standard fingerprint scanners, even the improved in-display biometrics technology feels sluggish. There are a noticeable lag and number of failed attempts to unlock the display as compared to traditional fingerprint scanners. Let's wait and watch what OnePlus has to offer in the same technology department in the coming weeks with the launch of OnePlus 6T.

Verdict

Vivo has come a long way in the last few years and is now producing some of the best mobile devices for the Indian market. The new Vivo V11 Pro is a great buy at Rs. 25,990 as it offers best-in-class selfie camera, a big immersive display with a touch of future and a solid overall performance. However, if are an avid mobile gamer and less of a selfie fan, then Poco F1 is the phone you should go for. At a price-point of Rs. 26k, you also have the option to decide among Nokia 7 Plus, Honor 10, Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) and OPPO F9 Pro.