Vivo V40 Review One Month In: Has Vivo Made the Right Call Trading-In Versatility for Quality?

The Vivo V40 and V40 Pro were unveiled in India back in August. While the Vivo V40 Pro debuted in India's sub-50K, 'flagship killer', segment, the vanilla V40 was aimed at the premium mid-range.

In our first impressions of the Vivo V40, we noticed that the handset didn't offer much in terms of upgrades over its predecessor but got a lot of things right without any price hike. Now, after a month of testing out the vanilla Vivo V40, here's what we think about the device.

Design and Build

Nothing much has changed on the design front as the Vivo V40 continues to impressive with its curved design and slim form factor. The vanilla V40 comes in three shades - Ganges Blue, Titanium Grey, and Lotus Purple. Our model came in Titanium Grey, which I feel is the best of the three colors. The matte back resists both smudges and fingerprints.

While the design of the Vivo V40 has remained largely the same, durability has improved. The Vivo V40 now has an IP68 rating for resistance to dust and water. It also features an aluminum alloy frame and metal bezels around the camera bump to ensure better protection. While the Vivo V40 does feature an elegant design with its beautiful, curved display, it isn't comfortable to use without the case. Thankfully, Vivo includes one in the box.

Display and Audio

The vanilla V40 opts for a 6.78-inch 1.5K (2800 × 1260 pixels) OLED 3D curved screen. The display boasts a 120Hz refresh rate that is excellent for gaming and enables smooth navigation. Moreover, the screen offers sharp and detailed images, while producing vibrant and accurate colours.

The big step up from the V30 is the display's peak brightness of 4,500 nits, although overall maximum brightness still sits at 1200 nits. It is safe to say that you aren't going to face any difficulty viewing content under direct afternoon sunlight. The panel comes with a layer of Schott Alpha glass and offers solid viewing angles.

The display on the Vivo V40 is quite immersive, making it excellent for gaming and consuming entertainment. The Vivo V40 does get an upgraded stereo speaker system, which is better than the mono speaker setup on the V30 (Review). The speakers on the V40 were quite loud with minimal distortion at high volumes. The audio output was clean and crisp, while Vivo's various sound optimization aid in improving overall sound quality.

Performance

Moving on to performance and it's much of the same with the incorporation of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset. The 4nm chip is quite versatile in most situations, capable of handling most multitasking and gaming tasks with ease. To further bolster performance, the chip is paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage.

We did run a few tests on the Vivo V40. In Geekbench 6, the Vivo V40 managed a single score of 1,144 points and a multi-core score of 3123 points. The phone also recorded an overall AnTuTu score of 811579 points. Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends ran on high settings on the V40 without any lag or frame rate drops after 30 minutes of gameplay.

The phone also had little problem handling multitasking, capable of running multiple demanding apps without any lag or slowdowns. Moreover, the VC cooling system also ensures good, sustained performance through optimal heat dissipation. Overall, the Vivo V40 offers solid performance but does fall short of the competition - iQOO Neo 9 Pro, Vivo T3 Ultra, and Realme GT 6T.

Cameras

The Vivo V40 opts for a dual-camera setup on the back, similar to that of the Vivo V30. The setup includes a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GNJ primary sensor with OIS and an f/1.88 aperture and a 50MP Samsung JN1 ultrawide lens with an f/2.0 aperture. Up front, the Vivo V40 features a 50MP selfie camera sensor with Autofocus and an f/2.0 aperture.

The main camera reproduced detailed shots during the day with accurate colors and good exposure. The camera also maintains decent dynamic range without any over sharpening. The ultrawide lens maintains the same color consistency as the main camera, while retaining plenty of detail with minimal edge distortion. However, images do appear softer with background images losing some detail.

Night mode on the Vivo V40's main camera eliminates most noise in the scene and brightens images to ensure good levels of detail are maintained. The shadows and highlights are well-balanced, showing excellent development. Light sources are skillfully managed with minimal overexposure, while the colors appear vibrant and bold.

The same cannot be said about the performance of the ultrawide lens, which struggles to maintain the same level of detail as the main lens. And while dynamic range was good in shots, noise does tend to creep in, while images looked softer. The Vivo V40 manages to capture stunning portraits with accurate edge detection, natural skin tones, and good background blur.

The 50MP selfie camera on the Vivo V40 greatly benefits from the AF, quickly locking onto subjects. The sensor also reproduces shots with a good amount of detail and accurate skin tones. Shots taken in daylight on the selfie camera also produced vibrant colours, while edge detection for portrait shots were on point. The front camera on the Vivo V40 also supports a ZEISS Group Selfie mode.

Thanks to its collaboration with ZEISS, the Vivo V40 offers a ton of portrait modes. You can also take portraits at three different focal lengths, while Vivo offers a ton of different portrait filters and modes for a fun experience. When it comes to portrait photography, no one does it quite as good Vivo.

The V40's camera system also features a "Studio-Quality" Aura light, which is far more effective than the average flash module. The AI Eraser also works better than expected. Finally, 4K video recording at 30fps is supported on both the front and rear cameras. The standard 4K footage is well-stabilized, while the Ultra stabilization mode, capped at 1080p, offers action camera-like smoothness.

Despite slight focus hunting, the videos are solid. The 4K footage delivers impressive contrast, sharpness, and vibrant collars from both the main and ultrawide cameras, with similar quality. Selfie video also stands out with good detail, colours, and contrast.

Overall, the Vivo V40's camera setup isn't as versatile as some of its competitors with three rear shooters. But what the V40 lacks in versatility, it more than makes up for in quality, ensuring you get some of the best results in the segment.

Battery

The Vivo V40 does pack a 10% larger battery than its predecessor. The whopping 5,500 mAh cell is more than enough to get you through an entire day of work and a night of entertainment, while still leaving you with a fair chunk to take into day 2. And in case your battery does die out, the 80W adapter in the box can deliver a full charge in about 45 minutes, another impressive feat.

Software

For the software, the vanilla V40 runs the latest version of Android 14 with Funtouch OS 14 on top. Moreover, Vivo promises three years of Android OS updates and four years of regular security patches with the V40, which has become a norm for mid-range smartphones. The software on the V40 is relatively clean and light, Vivo has minimized the bloatware and you don't get bombarded with ads any more.

I did find a lot of unnecessary apps, although most of them could be uninstalled. Funtouch OS 14 also brings various privacy features like Voice Isolation, Smart Mirroring-Privacy Protection, Hidden Photos, a myriad of customization options and Jovi Home, an AI assistant that provides personalized recommendations based on your usage patterns. The overall experience was not too different from that on the Vivo V30.

Verdict

The Vivo V40 fetches a pretty penny at Rs 32,199 (Amazon) or Rs 34,999 in general. At its current price, the V40 5G faces stiff competition in India premium mid-range segment. And while it does offer the camera versatility of the Motorola Edge 50 Pro or the performance of the iQOO Neo 9 Pro, it does have its moments of brilliance.

For one, the partnership with ZEISS ensures stunning portrait shots, some of the best we've seen in the segment. Moreover, the Vivo V40's two 50MP sensors offer consistency across all lighting scenarios. Then there's the phone's sleek design and vibrant display that delivers a premium experience. Lastly, the V40 delivers reliable performance while gaming or multitasking and packs a powerful battery that easily surpasses the all-day test.

However, Vivo's software could still use improving, while the plastic frame was a bit of a letdown, despite the IP68 rating. If you are looking for a niche in the Vivo V40, then you only need to look at its portrait capabilities. In my view, the Vivo V40 5G trades versatility for quality and given its design, I think the trade off is worth it, which is why we'd recommend the Vivo V40 for anyone looking for a reliable smartphone with good cameras, excellent battery life, and a sleek design in India's sub-35K segment.