Pros
- Stylish design
- Fast charging
- Good performance
- Aura light
Cons
- Bloatware
- No stereo speakers
Vivo has upgraded its popular V series with the new Vivo V29 Pro, as the successor to V27 Pro. The V27 Pro was known for its unique wedding-style portrait mode. Now, with the V29 Pro, Vivo has added a feature called Aura Light to boost camera performance in tricky lighting conditions. But, is this enough to impress potential buyers? We got a Vivo V29 Pro for review earlier this month, used it for more than a week, and here’s what we think about the phone. Also Read | Vivo V29e Review: The Smartphone’s Camera Steals The Show
What’s Inside The Box?
- Vivo V29 Pro handset (Himalayan Blue color)
- Silicon case
- USB Type-C Cable
- 80W FlashCharge wall adapter
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick start guide
- Warranty information
Design
Vivo is popular for making smartphones with beautiful designs, and V29 Pro is no exception. The smartphone offers a sleek and stylish design that truly stands out in the crowd. Vivo has introduced an innovative 3D magnetic particle design on the back panel, using 15 million micron-sized magnetic particles to create a specific pattern, resulting in a unique light and shadow effect.
The Himalayan Blue color variant that we have displays a multi-layered pattern that evokes the beauty of the Himalayan range. While you may not notice it immediately, the floating mountain pattern becomes more appealing over time. It features a prominent camera island with a triple camera set-up, a ring light, and an LED flash.
The phone also features a 3D borderless curved screen, providing a premium look. The curved edges and slim side profile ensure a comfortable feel when holding it for long periods. It comes with a silicon case in the box for added protection.
The side frames are made of plastic, with the right edge housing the volume rocker and power button, both offering good tactile feedback. At the bottom edge, you find a Type-C charging port, SIM tray, and a set of speakers.
Display
The Vivo V29 Pro comes with a 6.78-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display, offering a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The screen is vibrant and remains visible even in direct sunlight. However, the adaptive brightness feature, which adjusts the display based on ambient lighting, operates a bit slowly. Nevertheless, the display showcases vivid colors and strong contrast. The two-sided curved display enables gesture navigation, yet it’s important to note that not all apps are optimized for curved displays, leading to issues like the timeline bar overlapping with the curved edges.
Featuring an in-display fingerprint scanner, the V29 Pro provides fast and accurate biometric authentication. While Vivo offers various animation options for fingerprint scanning, the scanner works most efficiently without them.
Performance
Vivo continues to use the MediaTek Dimensity 8200 chipset, a processor with a solid performance history. Paired with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM and offering 256GB of storage, the smartphone offers good performance.
In day-to-day use, the device displays smooth performance across various tasks such as calling, social media usage, video streaming, gaming, and emails. Notably, it maintains a cool temperature during operation. The smartphone handles graphically intense games like Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI at Very High graphics settings and Ultra frame rates. It also handles Genshin Impact decently, meeting the demanding performance requirements of the game, making the V29 series a suitable choice for gaming enthusiasts.
Running on Android 13 with Funtouch OS 13, the Vivo V27 Pro, like its predecessors, is expected to receive two years of Android updates and three years of monthly security updates. Funtouch OS brings software enhancements, personalization options, privacy features, and controls. However, it comes with pre-installed apps, including game folders, which may contribute to phone clutter. This is a common issue with Chinese phone brands, not exclusive to Vivo.
Also Read | Vivo V27 Smartphone Review: A Shutterbug’s Delight
Camera
The Vivo V29 Pro maintains the rectangular camera module on its back housing three sensors, namely a 50MP OIS-enabled primary camera, a 12MP portrait camera with 2x zoom, and an 8MP angle ultra-wide camera.
The Smart Aura Light setup has seen improvements, featuring brighter LEDs and a broader range of tones. The V29 Pro allows users to adjust the Smart Aura light’s intensity from warm red to cool white with simple gestures in the camera app, accessible under the flash adjustment settings. However, it’s worth noting that the Camera app’s user interface could benefit from improvement as navigating certain options can be overwhelming.
Once accustomed to it, the Vivo V29 Pro provides numerous options for customization. Daylight photos with HDR exhibit natural enhancement and sharpness, thanks to the 50MP primary camera that delivers a balanced mix of contrast, shadows, and saturation. For those preferring more natural colors, options to disable HDR and AI-powered color detection are available. Portrait shots with the primary camera (1x zoom) and the 12MP portrait camera both showcase improved edge detection and sharpness.
In portrait mode, the V29 Pro offers various “styles,” including a Wedding mode that enhances facial details while keeping the background bright and blurry. When paired with the Smart Aura Light, especially for close-ups, the results can be impressive.
The Smart Aura Light proves useful in low-light environments, although it may soften facial details. Nonetheless, it still achieves a pleasing blurry background effect, particularly appreciated by users. The primary camera can record 4K30fps videos with stabilization, but there’s no video recording option in portrait mode.
Battery
The battery performance of the Vivo V29 Pro is impressive, despite its 4,600mAh rating. During our usage, the device consistently lasted a full day with some battery percentage remaining at the end.
Our daily activities involved scrolling through Instagram reels, listening to music on Spotify, watching videos on YouTube, and more. Additionally, the phone supports 80W fast charging, an improvement from the V27 series’ 66W. This capability allows the V29 Pro to charge from 0 to 100 percent in just 48 minutes.
Final Verdict
The Vivo V29 Pro makes for a good recommendation overall, although opinions on the software experience are varied. It particularly appeals to individuals seeking a camera-centric smartphone within the Rs. 40K price range. The V29 Pro impressively enhances colors and certain scenes, allowing users to effortlessly share photos on their preferred social media platforms without the need for extensive editing. Beyond its camera capabilities, the phone delivers lag-free performance and great battery life, coupled with fast charging speeds.
Also Read | Vivo T2 Pro Review: A Feature-Rich Smartphone On A Budget
