vivo V27 Pro review

Introduction

The vivo V27 trio is finally official and it's quite fascinating - there is the regular V27 with a focus on rear camera quality, then the toned down V27e, and the amped-up V27 Pro with flagship-grade performance and premium camera quality across both sides. Today we are going to explore the most interesting member - the vivo V27 Pro.

The new vivo V27 Pro is a notable upgrade over the previous V23 Pro and V25 Pro. While they were both camera-centric midrangers, this one trumps them with supposedly better camera kits and a flagship-grade chipset. It also features a larger display, and yet it manages to keep the signature thin and lightweight design.

Let's start with the design - it is reminiscent of the V23 Pro and V25 Pro as it uses the same color-changing back panel and remains just 7.4mm thin. But the vivo V27 Pro comes with a larger 6.78-inch AMOLED display of 1080p resolution and 120Hz refresh rate.

One of the most important key features is the new chipset - the MediaTek Dimensity 8200 - a SoC fabbed on a more efficient 4nm process, compared to the 6nm Dimensity 1200 and 1300 inside the previous models. It offers big improvements in CPU and GPU performance, supports new RAM and storage, there is better ISP and expanded connectivity options.

The camera has also been upgraded - there is a trio of cams on the back with a 50MP OIS primary, an 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro shooters. The selfie camera is quite promising - a 50MP eye with a wide-angle lens and autofocus support - an improvement over the V25 Pro, but somewhat of a downgrade when compared to the 50MP+8MP+dual-LED flash front setup on the V23 Pro.

The vivo V27 Pro is powered by a 4,600mAh battery and there is support for 66W fast wired charging. The new smartphone boots the latest vivo software, which is Android 13 with Funtouch 13 right now.

vivo V27 Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 164.1x74.8x7.4mm, 182g; glass front, glass back, plastic frame.
• Display: 6.78" AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 388ppi.
• Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 8200 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.1 GHz Cortex-A78 & 3x3.0 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G610 MC6.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 13, Funtouch 13.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 120˚, 1/4", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 50 MP, f/2.5, (wide), AF.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@60fps, 1080p@60fps; Front camera: 4K@60fps, 1080p@60fps.
• Battery: 4600mAh; 66W wired, 50% in 19 min (advertised).
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC.

There are a few things we hoped to see, but didn't happen - some sort of officially rated splash protection and stereo speakers. We think it's time for the V series to finally get stereo speakers.

And now, let's unbox the vivo V27 Pro.

Unboxing the vivo V27 Pro

The vivo V27 Pro comes packed inside a long silver box. It contains the phone itself, an 8A-rated USB-A-to-C cable and an 80W FlashCharge power adapter. Note that the vivo V27 Pro is limited to 66W charging, but it seems the maker doesn't mind shipping the phone with an overqualified adapter.

That's not all, of course. The retail bundle also offers a soft transparent case and a thin protective film, which was already applied on the phone before it had left the factory.