vivo V5 Plus review: iPhone impersonator, bokeh king

5.5 inch FullHD display is good, not great

The vivo V5 Plus is fitted with a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS display. Pixel density is 401ppi, so it's plenty sharp and our microscope shot revealed, quite expectedly, a standard RGB arrangement with equal number of subpixels for each primary color.

The V5 Plus posted good numbers for maximum brightness, allowing it to beat LCD-equipped competitors Redmi Note 4 and Huawei nova plus, but falling short of the Zenfone 3's scores. As for AMOLEDs both the Moto Z Play and Galaxy C7 can crank up the brightness even higher than the V5 Plus, when you put them in auto mode. The Oppo R9s is dimmer than its vivo cousin, and so is the OnePlus 3T, and neither gets a boost in auto.

The well contained blacks on the vivo V5 Plus result in a very good contrast ratio that the Zenfone 3 matches, but the Redmi Note 4 can't. AMOLEDs are all superior in this respect, by definition.

Color reproduction isn't particularly accurate - average DeltaE is 6.1 and it goes all the way up to 11.9 for some colors. Whites are also visibly bluish.

Sunlight legibility is not great either. It's on par with the nova plus, and better than the Redmi Note 4, but the Zenfone 3 is superior in this respect and so are all the AMOLEDs.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  4.615
• Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
  4.439
• OnePlus 3
  4.424
• Samsung Galaxy S7
  4.376
• HTC One A9
  4.274
• Samsung Galaxy Note7
  4.247
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• OnePlus 3T
  4.232
• Google Pixel XL
  4.164
• ZTE Axon 7
  4.154
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  4.09
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• OnePlus X
  3.983
• Vivo Xplay5 Elite
  3.983
• Oppo R7s
  3.964
• Apple iPhone 7
  3.964
• Huawei P9 Plus
  3.956
• Meizu Pro 6 Plus
  3.935
• Lenovo Moto Z
  3.931
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  3.918
• Samsung Galaxy C5
  3.911
• Samsung Galaxy C7
  3.896
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
  3.879
• Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
  3.873
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  3.859
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  3.804
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.802
• Xiaomi Redmi Pro
  3.798
• LG V20 Max auto
  3.798
• Sony Xperia XZ
  3.795
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  3.789
• Apple iPhone 6s
  3.783
• Meizu Pro 5
  3.781
• Microsoft Lumia 650
  3.772
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  3.756
• Oppo F1 Plus
  3.709
• Vivo X5Pro
  3.706
• Sony Xperia X Compact
  3.694
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3.688
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Huawei Mate 9
  3.68
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Meizu PRO 6
  3.659
• BlackBerry Priv
  3.645
• Apple iPhone 7 Plus
  3.588
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  3.53
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.526
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.523
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
  3.523
• Acer Jade Primo
  3.521
• Microsoft Lumia 950
  3.512
• Oppo R7 Plus
  3.499
• nubia Z11
  3.466
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  3.422
• Meizu MX5
  3.416
• LG V20
  3.402
• Oppo R9s
  3.352
• Oppo R7
  3.32
• Lenovo P2
  3.316
• Xiaomi Mi 5s
  3.276
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  3.235
• Sony Xperia X Performance
  3.234
• Xiaomi Mi Note 2
  3.228
• Motorola Moto X Play
  3.222
• Huawei Mate 9 Pro
  3.206
• 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
• Sony Xperia X
  2.989
• Huawei Mate 8
  2.949
• Xiaomi Redmi 3S
  2.913
• Sony Xperia XA Ultra
  2.906
• LG G5
  2.905
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  2.893
• Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
  2.884
• Sony Xperia Z5
  2.876
• Microsoft Lumia 550
  2.851
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.813
• Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
  2.803
• Sony Xperia Z5 compact
  2.784
• Meizu MX6
  2.751
• LG V10
  2.744
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  2.735
• Meizu M5
  2.71
• Sony Xperia M5
  2.69
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  2.679
• Huawei P9 Lite
  2.679
• Vivo V3Max
  2.659
• Xiaomi Mi Mix
  2.658
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2.641
• Sony Xperia XA
  2.609
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus
  2.582
• Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
  2.582
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  2.574
• LeEco Le Max 2
  2.567
• Microsoft Lumia 640
  2.563
• Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
  2.563
• Lenovo Moto G4
  2.544
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2.544
• Oppo F1
  2.528
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  2.525
• Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
  2.506
• Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
  2.503
• Oppo F1s
  2.481
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
  2.473
• Huawei G8
  2.471
• Huawei nova
  2.467
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Lenovo Vibe K5
  2.459
• Meizu m3 max
  2.447
• Huawei Honor 7
  2.406
• Sony Xperia E5
  2.386
• ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
  2.382
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  2.378
• HTC 10
  2.378
• vivo V5 Plus
  2.371
• Meizu m1 note
  2.362
• Huawei nova plus
  2.329
• 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
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  2.234
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• Huawei P8
  2.196
• Meizu M5 Note
  2.189
• Huawei Honor 6
  2.169
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
  2.166
• OnePlus Two
  2.165
• HTC One X
  2.158
• LG Aka
  2.145
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
  2.145
• Archos 50 Diamond
  2.134
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• Acer Liquid X2
  2.084
• Huawei P8lite
  2.078
• Moto G 3rd gen max manual
  2.026
• Xiaomi Mi Max
  1.996
• Sony Xperia E4g
  1.972
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• Meizu m3 note
  1.923
• Meizu m2 note
  1.892
• BlackBerry Leap
  1.892
• 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
• Jolla Jolla
  1.605
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• HTC Desire C
  1.3
• Sony Xperia C
  1.283
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E
  1.215

Connectivity

The V5 Plus is a dual SIM device and it accepts nano SIMs only. Only one card at a time can tap into a 4G network, but the other one can meanwhile be on 3G too - it's not limited to just 2G connectivity. Alternatively, you can have both cards connected to a 3G network.

Vivo itself doesn't detail what category LTE the phone supports, but Qualcomm's specs page for the Snapdragon 625 says Cat.7 downlink (300Mbps theoretical maximum) and Cat.13 uplink (150Mbps).

There is dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac with Wi-Fi direct and hotspot support, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS, GLONAS and BDS for positioning. An FM radio is missing, sadly, and so is NFC.

A microUSB 2.0 port is used for charging and attaching peripherals (OTG needs to be enabled in settings), and there's a good old 3.5mm headphone jack.

vivo V5 Plus battery life

The battery inside the vivo V5 Plus packs 3,160mAh worth of juice. The Redmi Note 4 has almost 1,000mAh more, while the Zenfone 3 we mentioned only makes do with 3,000mAh. The OnePlus 3T's cell is rated at 3,400mAh, but there's a more power-hungry chipset to feed there. The Moto Z Play, on the other hand, has the same Snapdragon 625 as the V5 Plus and 350mAh higher battery capacity.

A whole day plus a couple of hours of voice calls on a 3G network should be more than enough for even the heaviest of talkers. The Zenfone 3 only does 16h, the Redmi Note 4 (the Mediatek version) manages a few minutes more than 21 hours, but then the OnePlus 3T outlasts the V5 Plus by over 5 hours in our testing.

In the Wi-Fi web browsing test the vivo handset conked out after eleven and a half hours - not bad at all, yet 2 hours short of the Redmi and 4 hours before the Moto Z Play. The Zenfone 3 calls it quits an hour and a half earlier than the V5 Plus, while the OnePlus 3T can't even make it to the 9-hour mark.

Video playback longevity isn't as great, though the 9+ hours aren't strictly a disappointment - more like an average number among very good ones. The Redmi Note 4 can do half an hour more, the Zenfone 3 will play for a full hour after the V5 Plus has died, and the AMOLED screen of the OnePlus 3T allows it to loop videos for thirteen and a half hours. AMOLED plus an even bigger battery equals eighteen and a half hours of video playback on the Moto Z Play - exactly twice as long as on the V5 Plus.

The individual tests add up to an overall endurance rating of 76 hours - 2 more than the Zenfone 3, 7 short of the Redmi Note 4 (Mediatek) and 24 less than the Moto Z Play.

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.