vivo V17 Pro review

Introduction

The vivo V17 Pro is the epitome of the current trends ruling Chinese smartphone manufacturing. It has a large pop-up piece for the selfie camera, which allows it to provide a bezel-less experience. It's got an immersive OLED screen. It's got more cameras than you can shake a stick at, and their combined megapixel count is through the roof. The UI is colorful, and so is the back panel. The number 17 in the phone's name suggests its in its seventeenth generation already (not true), and it is a catchy number. So yes, the V17 Pro looks like a swiss toy knife, and some might argue it may be a bit too much. We say - why not?

The V17 Pro comes six months after the V15 Pro and brings few but intriguing upgrades. The V17 retains the cool design, the powerful Snapdragon 675 chip, and the cutout-free display, now with even taller 20:9 aspect.

New to the V17 are the second ultrawide camera on the pop-up selfie piece and the zoom snapper on the back. Other important updates are the switch to USB-C port (finally!), a bit larger battery, and 8GB of RAM - up from 6GB on the V15.

Last, but not least important, the dual Gorilla Glass 6 design surely adds value to the already jam-packed with features V17 Pro.

vivo V17 Pro specs

• Body: Gorilla Glass 6 front and back, plastic frame.
• Screen: 6.44" Super AMOLED, 1080 x 2400px resolution; ~409 ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 (11nm) chipset: octa-core CPU (2x2.0 GHz Kryo 460 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 460 Silver); Adreno 612 GPU.
• Memory: 8GB RAM, 128GB built-in storage.
• OS: Funtouch 9.1 based on Android 9.0 Pie.
• Rear camera: 48MP f/1.8, 0.8µm, 1/2", PDAF support, Quad-bayer pixel array + 8MP f/2.2 16mm ultrawide + 13MP f/2.4 52mm telephoto + 2MP depth sensor; LED flash; 1080p@30/60fps and 4K@30fps.
• Front camera: 32MP f/2.0, Quad-bayer pixel array + 8MP f/2.2 16mm ultrawide
• Battery: 4,100mAh, Dual-Engine fast charging 18W (9V/2A).
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM; LTE Cat.12 download/ Cat.13 upload, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Dual-band MIMO, 2x2 antennas, GPS; Bluetooth 5.0 A2DP, LE, EDR, aptX; FM radio; USB Type-C
• Misc: Under-display fingerprint reader, motorized pop-up selfie camera.

The quad-camera at the back of the vivo V17 Pro is probably its key-feature, but the cutout-free OLED should be considered as a major selling point, too. We would have liked a chip upgrade, say Snapdragon 730, but the 675 is still quite powerful, so we won't hold it against the V17. But this will surely affect the decision-making of those thinking of upgrading from V15 to V17 and not in a good way.

Unboxing the vivo V17 Pro

The V17 Pro comes packed in a stylish black paper box, and it contains the V17 Pro itself, a USB-C cable, and an 18W charger.

Inside, you'll also find a rather premium looking in-ear headset with mic and volume controls. There is also a thick white plastic case for protection. Unfortunately, this case is a nightmare to snap and an even bigger horror to remove.

Finally, the V17 Pro comes with factory-applied protectors on both screen and back, which is a nice touch.