Bringing ZEISS to mass audiences is one of the most brilliant moves we’ve seen Vivo do.
Vivo has sent us the V30 Pro and, unlike the V27 and V29, this new phone comes with a new visual overhaul and significant changes. The aura light is no square instead of a literal ring and hello… is that ZEISS we see on the camera lens???
We also got a chance to see the phone live on stage during its launch event in the Manila Hotel. When we got to experience it for the first time, we realized how smooth it feels. We also like the texture here, it reminds us of our home flooring, like when we’re searching in our local Wilcon for floor tiles. It is not our first time with BBK and definitely won’t be the last we’ll be seeing them but this is our first time with a Vivo phone so how far does it differ from its Oppo and OnePlus siblings? We have pretty much tried at least one phone from every BBK brand from Oppo to realme. iQoo does not count because they are not official here in the Philippines.
SMOOTH FEELING, ANXIETY INDUCING
The Vivo V30 Pro has a unique feel we’ve never seen in any other smartphone. Some phones will have a plastic feel to it, some will look glossy, and some will feel metallic. The Vivo V30 Pro is neither of these things. Instead, its got this smooth finish that, for the broken record, reminds us a lot of smooth matte floor tiles, and the back feeling the same as well. The brand calls this color “Petals White” and is the only one available for this phone. It does look a little feminine in our tastes but so as long no one minds it, it’s fine. In fact, some of our colleagues got wowed by it, and a few people we have met said they are not in favor of this and would rather hide it with a case. Although its name is “Petals White”, it has a sky blue feel to it. It’s probably designed this way to match the “nature” aesthetic Vivo is going for.
Although the phone looks pretty and unique, including its texture. Holding this without a case gave us some anxiety. Any moment now will feel like the phone is about to drop off our hands. It doesn’t help that the back is ticklish and slippery. Installing a case onto this, even if it’s just the included free silicone case (thank God they have a free case) is almost required. Also, due to it being curved AMOLED, there are times we accidentally touch the screen because the edges are partly a display, adding to the cumbersome of holding it while also avoiding the display.
The side frames are made of aluminum. You can really feel it too. It’s not like budget phones where plastic is disguised as metal. No, this one’s the real deal. The left-hand side is empty so the phone can be laid on one side flat, which is always a good thing. The right-hand side features the power button and volume rockers, also constructed using aluminum. The top features nothing but a blue strip with the label “Professional Portrait” and a microphone. The bottom is very busy. Every port is underneath here. In order, from the left you get the SIM Card tray (with rubber to protect against dust and splash), a noise-cancelling mic, USB-C port, and the single speaker.
UNBOXING EXPERIENCE: Premium Out, Usual In
When we got our unit, Vivo’s PR representative told us it is an open-box unit. This means the phone has been inspected before and is possibly one of the demo phones presented during the V30 series’ live event, just converted for consumer use. Thankfully, this isn’t tampered, apart from a huge slit which got us slightly worried but thankfully everything, every part, is still inside the box.
For a phone with ZEISS lenses, marketed as something special and unique, and a box with a really cool and luxurious design, one would expect something special and grand inside, right? Spoiler alert for those who haven’t purchased it yet, there’s nothing special here, at least for the consumer version, which is the version almost everyone will get. Mind you, this is also Vivo’s currently best-sold offering.
What do you get inside? Well just the usual ordeal. The 80W charging brick and cable, the case, a SIM Card ejector tool (which frankly looks like a guitar pick), a manual and warranty card, and of course, the phone itself. The unboxing experience is somewhat the opposite with the Honor 90 in which the Honor 90’s box is plain with just the phone name and a basic white color but you get some extra goodies inside, including a headphone dongle which is a neat surprise. Our Nord box came with two chargers although that could be considered a special case because the phone originated from Europe and OnePlus Global most likely wanted to make sure that the charger the phone would use is compatible for Filipino users.
THE WRAP UP:
Since the first day we got the Vivo V30 Pro, we knew we are in for a treat! It caught us by surprise that Vivo actually got us to review the unit and let us experience the ZEISS for ourselves. Remember that we got to hold it for the first time in the Manila Hotel and the back feels so satisfying to touch because it is really smooth and also smudge-resistant—no, smudge-immune. Vivo is going with a nature aesthetic given its color name, Petals White but it reminds us less about flowers but more about floor tiles. That’s not a bad thing because it looks like a floor tile that luxury homes and mansions would use. It does look feminine but if others won’t mind, that’s alright.
We are very curious to test those sweet ZEISS cameras and algorithms, including cinematic mode and ZEISS Natural colour. The square camera island is nothing new, and a lot of phones have used it since the Huawei Mate 20 but it does stand out with every phone using a huge circular island in the center nowadays, to give a feeling of having huge cameras. We’re not the biggest fan of the squarish aura light either but over time we got used to it. The phone is slippery and a case is almost always a necessity, but if you’re careful, the chances of dropping it are slim.
Yes, that full review is going to be an exciting one. Stay tuned fellow techies! We haven’t even covered FunTouchOS yet.