Vivo V3Max review: Horizons expanding

A good 5.5" display, but not a chart-topper

The Vivo V3Max is equipped with a 5.5" FullHD IPS LCD screen with a pixel density of 401ppi. Sharpness is really good. Colors look good in terms of saturation as well.

The display is quite bright at 600nits and it's among the brightest LCD screens we've seen lately, matching more expensive phones such as the Moto X Play, the Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Apple iPhone 6s Plus.

Unfortunately, unlike those phones, the high brightness here is joined by lackluster black representation, resulting in a contrast ratio of 903:1.

Overall, in this respect the LCD unit is good, but we would have enjoyed deeper blacks and hence higher contrast.

In the same time, the minimum brightness of 7nits should allow for comfortable operation with the phone even in the darkest environments.

When it comes to color rendition, our colorimeter showed that the Vivo V3Max's screen has a notable purplish tint of the whites and grays. It may be really hard to see with your naked eyes without a reference color patch but it's there. The average DeltaE we measured was 6.6, while the maximum DeltaE was 14.0. This sort of a color deviation is around the average we usually measure on LCDs and while okay for everyday use, it means the screen is hardly color calibrated to show a true representation of all colors.

The standard DeltaE 2000 deviation is used to describe the accuracy of the screen's color rendition. We test the screen with a set of over 100 different color and grayscale patterns to determine the accuracy of the color reproduction.
Even when a phone's screen color reproduction is off, you would still have a hard time noticing a color cast without a reference as the human eye is quite quick to adjust and normalize colors.
Also, the display colors are a matter of personal taste and perception so consider this test data only if you are concerned about presenting color-critical content on the mobile screen.
Any deviation above DeltaE 2000 of 10 is considered a highly visible error in color reproduction on the display. A DeltaE 2000 deviation between 4 and 10 is considered okay or acceptable color performance. A DeltaE 2000 deviation below 4 is considered good, but professional color calibration requires a deviation between 1 and 2.

Sunlight legibility is okay, backed up by the V3Max's high birghtness. Mind you, a good amount of reflectivity is present, but it doesn't hurt legibility once you crank up the brightness.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  4.615
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
  4.439
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  4.376
• HTC One A9
  4.274
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  4.09
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• OnePlus X
  3.983
• Oppo R7s
  3.964
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  3.918
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
  3.879
• Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
  3.873
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3.859
• Apple iPhone 6
  3.838
• Microsoft Lumia 950XL
  3.837
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  3.789
• Apple iPhone 6s
  3.783
• Meizu Pro 5
  3.781
• Microsoft Lumia 650
  3.772
• Oppo F1 Plus
  3.709
• Vivo X5Pro
  3.706
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• BlackBerry Priv
  3.645
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  3.53
• Acer Jade Primo
  3.521
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  3.512
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3.499
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3.422
• Meizu MX5
  3.416
• Oppo R7
  3.32
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  3.235
• Motorola Moto X Play
  3.222
• Huawei P9
  3.195
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  3.113
• Motorola Moto X Force
  3.105
• LG Nexus 5X
  3.092
• Huawei Mate S
  3.073
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  3.065
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  3.023
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.97
• Huawei Mate 8
  2.949
• LG G5
  2.905
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Sony Xperia Z5
  2.876
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  2.851
• Sony Xperia Z5 compact
  2.784
• LG V10
  2.744
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2.735
• Sony Xperia M5
  2.69
• Vivo V3Max
  2.659
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2.641
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  2.574
• Microsoft Lumia 640
  2.563
• Oppo F1
  2.528
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  2.525
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  2.473
• Huawei G8
  2.471
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Huawei Honor 7
  2.406
• ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
  2.382
• HTC One E9+
  2.305
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  2.272
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2.254
• Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
  2.253
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
  2.249
• Sony Xperia C4 Dual
  2.235
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• Huawei P8
  2.196
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  2.166
• OnePlus Two
  2.165
• HTC One X
  2.158
• LG Aka
  2.145
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2.134
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• Huawei P8lite
  2.078
• Moto G 3rd gen max manual
  2.026
• Sony Xperia E4g
  1.972
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• BlackBerry Leap
  1.892
• Meizu m2 note
  1.892
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
  1.759
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Asus Zenfone Selfie
  1.68
• Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
  1.675
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  1.659
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1.311
• Sony Xperia C
  1.283
• Meizu MX
  1.221

Battery life test

The battery inside the Vivo V3Max is a 3,000mAh unit. While it's an adequate size, it's not that big, especially considering the dimensions of the phone. Perhaps it's the maximum Vivo could afford to place inside, given the phone's slim profile.

The V3Max managed nearly 29 hours of 3G talk time, which is fantastic. The web browsing score is 10 and a half hours, while video playback came in at 9 hours and 48 minutes. All that works out to an overall endurance rating of 70 hours. Standby battery efficiency turned out average.

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.

Connectivity

The Vivo V3Max features dual-SIM with dual-standby. One of the SIM cards gets the full 2G/3G/4G treatment across multiple bands each, while the other is limited to 2G. The slot inside the phone is hybrid, meaning you have to choose between a secondary SIM card and a microSD card.

The smartphone has dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n with DLNA, Wi-Fi direct and hotspot support. The hotspot doesn't get a quick toggle though, and you have to delve into the settings to turn it on. There's Bluetooth v4.1, but no NFC.

The phone has GPS, GLONASS and Beidou support for location services. There's also an FM radio receiver, but no RDS.

The microUSB 2.0 port supports USB On-The-Go and lets you attach peripherals and you can also daisy chain several devices. A standard 3.5mm jack completes the wired connectivity package.