Vivo V70

At Rs. 169,999, the Vivo V70 is a polished all-rounder rather than a performance bargain. Its strengths are a bright, flat 1.5K AMOLED screen, an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that works with wet fingers, an excellent 50MP 3x telephoto for portraits, 4K 60fps video on the front and rear cameras, strong battery life with 90W charging, IP68/IP69 protection and a long update promise. A case and a 90W charger come in the box.

The compromises: the 8MP ultrawide is weak, gaming frame rates are capped in some titles, haptics are only decent, and the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 is not the fastest chip at this price.

• Buy it if you want a well-built, camera-focused phone for portraits, selfies and video, with good battery life.
• Consider the Oppo Reno 16 (Rs. 159,999) if you want the same chip, a sharper 50MP ultrawide and a bigger battery for less.
• Consider the Samsung Galaxy A56 (Rs. 129,999) if you mainly want a lower price and six major OS updates, accepting a slower chip, a smaller battery and no telephoto.

Verdict: good value for portrait and video lovers; buyers focused on raw performance or gaming can do better for the money.

The V70 has a 6.59-inch flat AMOLED screen with 1260 x 2750 (1.5K) resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+. Colours look good, and films and streaming are a pleasure, with HDR playback on supported streaming apps.

Brightness reaches 1800 nits in high-brightness mode and up to 5000 nits peak, so it stays readable outdoors. GSMArena found it gets far brighter with auto brightness than with the manual slider, so leave auto brightness on in sunlight.

The switch from a curved to a flat screen is a practical upgrade: screen protectors are cheaper and easier to fit, and the risk of edge damage is lower. The bezels are very thin, and the front uses Schott Xensation Core glass.

One limit: the default smart mode does not always run at the full 120Hz, and some games stay at 60fps even in the high refresh mode. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner under the screen unlocks quickly with wet fingers and does not flash a bright light in the dark.

The Vivo V70 uses the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 (4 nm) with Adreno 722 graphics, paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and fast UFS 4.1 storage. Apps open quickly, animations are smooth and multitasking is comfortable. AnTuTu scores of about 1.4 to 1.48 million are reported, in line with GSMArena's AnTuTu 11 result.

Gaming reports differ. PUBG Mobile runs at 60fps, though some report Extreme frame rate on Smooth to HDR graphics; lighter games such as Genshin Impact can reach 90fps. A larger vapour chamber keeps the phone cool in daily use.

Under long loads, GSMArena found no CPU throttling but noted that the graphics performance drops noticeably as the phone warms up. Some rivals at this price, such as the Vivo X200 FE, are more powerful, so this suits steady everyday use better than long, heavy gaming sessions.

The rear has a 50MP main camera (f/1.9) with OIS, a 50MP periscope telephoto with OIS and 3x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultrawide, all with Zeiss branding. The front has a 50MP autofocus selfie camera with a wide, roughly 100-degree view.

Portraits are the highlight. Preset focal lengths from 23mm up to 100mm give natural background blur and a camera-like look, though edge detection sometimes leaves a slight glow around the subject. Daylight and low-light photos have good dynamic range and mood. Telephoto shots stay usable up to about 9x to 10x zoom.

Both the front and rear cameras record 4K at 60fps, and the selfie camera keeps your face in focus as you move. Limits:

• The 8MP ultrawide is fine in good light but weak in low light, and records only 1080p at 30fps.
• In 4K 60fps the camera does not switch to the telephoto lens while recording.
• There is no dedicated cinematic portrait video mode.

Extras include an AI Visual tool that changes the weather and season in photos, and Audio Eraser for removing background voices from videos.

Inside is a 6500mAh silicon-carbon cell, and Vivo includes its 90W charger in the box. With data and other features turned off, 0 to 100% takes about 50 minutes; in everyday conditions, allow 55 to 60 minutes. GSMArena measured 59% in 30 minutes and a full charge in 52 minutes.

Endurance is a highlight. A demanding day at full 1.5K sharpness typically yields 10 to 12 hours of display use, and dropping the resolution to 1080p adds about 90 minutes more. Left idle, it barely drains, even with the always-on clock showing. GSMArena's Active Use Score of 16:52h is ahead of both the Oppo Reno 15 and the Samsung Galaxy A56.

There is no wireless charging. Bypass charging, a charge limiter and the option to turn off fast charging help protect the battery over time.

The V70 runs Android 16 with OriginOS 6, replacing Vivo's older Funtouch OS. It feels modern, polished and fast, with smooth animations, a redesigned control centre, an Origin Island for live alerts and shortcuts, and deep lock screen customisation, including motion wallpapers that change their weather effects as you tilt the phone.

Useful extras:

• Vivo's own dialer with call recording that does not announce itself, plus a smart call assistant for call summaries and translation.
• AI tools such as AI Unblur, object removal, AI Writing, AI Captions, Google Gemini and Circle to Search.
• An Always On Display that can stay on permanently, NFC and an IR blaster.

Vivo promises four major Android upgrades and six years of security updates, a solid commitment, although the Samsung Galaxy A56 offers six major upgrades. No verified information is available on ads or pre-installed apps.