Vivo V19 First Impressions: Good Display, Impressive Selfie Camera But A Pricey Affair

The Vivo V19 boasts a 32MP+8MP dual-lens front-facing camera and also features a 48MP quad-lens rear camera. The six cameras come loaded with all the bells and whistles to please today's content creators, especially hardcore Tiktok users and Instagram users that regularly shoot videos for IGTV.

Other highlight features include a 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with HDR10 support and a respectable 4,500mAh battery cell with 33W fast-charging support. The company says that the V19 also focuses on gaming but sadly there's no higher refresh rate panel or Qualcomm's latest SoC. The V19 is backed by an older Snapdragon 712 chipset which is paired with 6GB and 8GB RAM. However, I am glad that Vivo has finally reworked the FunTouch UI to enhance the software experience.

Here's everything you need to know about the Vivo V19's performance as a mid-ranger smartphone.

Premium Aesthetics And Ergonomic Design

The Vivo V19 looks quite premium and feels pretty lightweight in hands. The smartphone measures 159.64×75.04×8.5mm and weighs 186.5 grams. The front of the handset flaunts a 6.44-inch FHD+ OLED display with dual punch hole to house two separate camera sensors. The screen is surrounded by black borders which look rather prominent.

The ergonomically designed 3D curved back panel makes the handset fairly comfortable to use with one hand. The rear panel with silver finish looks striking and is protected by the latest 6th Generation Corning Gorilla Glass.

The Vivo V19 features a SIM card tray on the left side and houses a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Type-C port and a speaker grille at the bottom. The smartphone will be available in Mystic Silver edition and Classic Piano Black color variants.

6.44-inch Vibrant OLED Panel But Dated 60Hz Refresh Rate

The 6.44-inch 1080p E3 OLED display offers a respectable pixel density of 409 ppi. The display produces vibrant colors and gets fairly bright to offer a comfortable viewing experience. The panel also supports HDR 10 making video playback and gameplay quite immersive. The only shortcoming is the dated 60Hz refresh rate; however, it did not bother me much as this 60Hz refresh rate panel is better than the poorly calibrated low-quality 120Hz refresh rate displays on the sub-20K Xiaomi and Realme handsets. It's better to have a good quality 60Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen than a low-quality 120Hz refresh rate LCD panel.

32MP + 8MP Dual Selfie Camera

The V19 flaunts a dual-lens selfie camera featuring 32MP + 8MP sensors. The camera app is loaded with software features to help you create some creative shots. There are filters, useful Portrait lighting effects, and a pretty immersive Beautify app that allows you to modify your facial features to achieve the desired look. If you are a hardcore Tiktok user or shoot videos for IGTV on Instagram, you would find these features quite useful in creating interesting content for social media platforms.

Selfie Camera Samples

As far as image quality is concerned, the pictures come out crisp and show good detailing and natural colors. The beautify mode can be pretty harsh on selfies and can produce unrealistic results; however, I am glad that the phone's software allows you to disable all features to capture natural shots in standard photo mode. The 8MP secondary sensor comes handy to capture group selfies and videos. The wide-angle camera captures 105-degree field-of-view.

The V19's selfie camera can also capture decent pictures in low-light, thanks to ‘Aura Screen Light' feature that senses low light scenario and lights up the phone's display. It's a somewhat better alternative than a full-fledged flashlight that can be pretty harsh on eyes in low-light.

48MP AI Quad-lens Rear Camera

The quad-lens rear camera features 48MP primary sensor, 8MP ultra wide-angle camera, 2MP macro lens and 2MP bokeh sensor. The camera captures crisp 12MP pixel-binned shots but it can also pull up 48MP high-resolution images. The images show good dynamic range and natural colors.

The portrait mode ensures pleasing bokeh and the ‘Shot Refocus' lets you adjust the blur effect even after taking a picture. The wide-angle lens captures dramatic 120-degree ultra-wide-angle landscape shots. The macro lens is rather underwhelming and offers low-resolution images that fail to impress.

4K Videos @ 30fps With EIS Support

The Vivo V19 can capture 4K videos at 30fps and the output is pretty good. There's no OIS but the EIS-backed ultra-stable video mode offers some level of stability while recording videos. Overall, the Vivo V19 excels in front camera performance but the market offers smartphones with the better rear camera performance.

Dated Chipset Paired With 8GB RAM/128GB, 256GB ROM

The Vivo V19 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 AIE SoC. The octa-core chipset is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB onboard storage. The underlying hardware is quite sufficient to ensure smooth day-to-day operations. The in-screen fingerprint scanner and the face unlock works really well.

You can click countless selfies, shoot videos, scroll your Facebook, TikTok and Instagram timelines and browse web pages without any performance issues. The V19 is not a pro gaming device but it ensures smooth gameplay while playing PUBG and games like Spiderman Unlimited. PUBG runs in high settings by default with HD graphics.

In a nutshell, the Vivo V19 will not disappoint you if the above-mentioned performance aspects match your requirement. But the handset fails to offer the best hardware in sub 32K price segment. There are several powerful smartphones in the market that give the Vivo V19 a run for its money.

For instance, the Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro and the Realme X2 Pro offers flagship chipsets and GPUs (Snapdragon 855 SoC) for better gaming and overall performance. Other handsets that you can consider in the similar price-point are- Asus 6Z, LG G40 ThinQ and OnePlus 7.

Battery Life, Audio Performance And Software

The Vivo V19 is backed by a 4,500mAh battery cell, which can survive a day with moderate to heavy usage. The smartphone ships with a 33W fast charger in the box which uses Vivo's FlashCharge 2.0 technology. It was able to refuel the battery cell from 0% to 100% in about 85 minutes.

The V19 lacks a stereo speaker setup and produces underwhelming audio. As far as software is concerned, I am glad that the company has finally reworked the FunTouch UI. It's more user friendly now and works better as a custom Android skin than its previous iterations.

Should You Buy Vivo V19?

The V19 comes across as an expensive handset when you consider the underlying chipset, mediocre audio performance and standard 60Hz refresh rate panel. This smartphone is not built for avid gamers and for consumers who are looking for a performance beast. It mostly suits users who are looking for a good selfie camera smartphone with decent overall performance.