vivo V25/X80 Lite review

Design

The vivo V25 has what we would describe as a classic look to it, particularly if you get it in the "Elegant Black" color. Our unit in "Surfing/Aquamarine Blue" is a lot more eye-catching thanks to the colorway inspired by the "majestic ocean waves and the deep blue ocean".

Other than that, the overall silhouette of the V25 is very familiar with its flattened sides and rounded corners. It's Apple-inspired, no doubt about that, but also already well-established in earlier vivo models, so the continuity is there.

When discussing the phone's back side, we should address the proverbial elephant in the room - the color-changing finish. vivo calls the material Fluorite AG Glass. It is UV-reactive, and in the case of our blue review unit, UV-exposure changes it to a darker hue with the effect kick in within seconds and then intensifying over the next few minutes.

The change is far from permanent and sticks around for a few minutes at a time in the absence of UV rays. Still, it's a neat trick that brings a bit of extra flair to the design of the V25. Just like the shape of the phone, Fluorite AG Glass isn't new and is instead carried forward from previous phone models. We still appreciate the neat trick it offers.

The vivo V25 has a similar yet not identical camera island design compared to its V25 Pro sibling. Where the V25 Pro has a glossy black bit around the cameras, the vanilla replaces said piece with the same Fluorite AG Glass, matching the rest of the phone's body.

This proved to be a rather polarizing change when asking around the office. Some preferred the V25 and its more "consistent" look, while others liked the accent color on the V25 Pro more. In any case, we have to admit that the slightly larger bottom "lip" of the camera island, for lack of a better term, is a bit odd and breaks the feeling of symmetry quite a bit.

On a more positive note, the 7.79 mm side profile of the vivo V25 was universally appreciated. The phone is quite thin but still offers a nice grip and has its 186 grams of weight well distributed vertically.

Materials and build quality

The vivo v25 feels solid and very well made, but it isn't exactly what we would call premium. It's a great conversation starter, thanks to the fancy Fluorite AG Glass and the middle frame, which manages to pull-off a convincing polished metal look. In reality, it is plastic and a real fingerprint magnet.

The Fluorite AG Glass is also prone to smudging, but it is a lot harder to notice due to its color. The front of the vivo V25 smudges a lot, too, since there is a factory-pre-applied plastic screen protector. We aren't sure why vivo didn't go for a glass one, instead seeing how the display's surface is flat. We would probably change it at the first opportunity upon acquiring the phone.

Below the protector the V25 has some sort of glass. However, vivo isn't sharing any particular details regarding its type. The official specs page does mention that the V25 has allegedly been tested to withstand 42,000 drops and 6,000 plugs and unplugs of the Type-C connector, though.

The V25 lacks any formal ingress protection rating. There is, however, a rubber gasket on the SIM and SD card tray, which means that it can probably withstand at least some moisture unofficially. We wouldn't exactly put it to the test deliberately, though.

Controls and connectivity

The vivo V25 has a standard control set and layout. The power button and volume rocker are on the right side. These are well-positioned and big enough to be comfortable to press. Travel and tactile feedback could be a bit better, though.

The opposite side of the frame is completely bare. Since the middle part of the "glass sandwich" design of the V25 is made of plastic, there are no antenna lines= just an uninterrupted piece of plastic.

The top of the V25 is almost as empty except for a single hole for the secondary noise-canceling microphone.

The bottom of the V25 houses its main speaker as well as the SIM tray. The latter is a dual nano SIM hybrid affair, with one of the slots doubling as a microSD slot. That means you have to choose between a second SIM card or expandable storage.

The Type-C port on the vivo V25 is only wired for USB 2.0 data transfer speeds, which means a maximum theoretical speed of 480 Mbps. It can do audio out and support USB host mode or OTG, but it doesn't support video out.

The vivo V25 has an under-display fingerprint reader. It is your typical optical unit and is both speedy and very reliable. We have no complaints there.

In terms of sensors, the V25 has a lsm6dso accelerometer and gyroscope combo, an mmc5603 magnetometer and compass and a tcs3701 light sensor. The latter is hidden away under the display in the top right corner near the selfie camera. The proximity sensor is a bit of a tougher case to unravel. The phone reports having a vivo-branded proximity sensor, but we never actually managed to trigger it in any way. Hence, we are almost certain that the V25 has a virtual proximity sensor instead of a hardware one.

In case anyone is wondering, there is no notification LED on the vivo V25. Also absent - an FM radio receiver. There is NFC on board in some markets, so you have to check your local retailer. The V25 also gets dual-band Wi-Fi AC and Bluetooth 5.2 with LE support for local connectivity.

Network connectivity includes 5G SA/NSA support on both SIM slots.