vivo V7+ review

Performance

The vivo V7+ is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chip. Despite its 4-series branding, this one is more of a reworked Snapdragon 625 and comes to replace the Snapdragon 435.

The 450's processor has eight 1.8GHz Cortex-A53 cores and promises a 25% boost in processing speed over the incumbent S435 chip. It also moves to the Adreno 506 GPU, which will offer a 25% boost in gaming performance.

Of course, the highlight of this new chip is that it's built on a 14nm process - the first among the 4-series. Power draw when gaming will be reduced by up to 30% and Qualcomm expects batteries will offer up to 4 hours more of active use compared to the old chip.

Finally, vivo has granted the V7+ with 4 gigs of RAM - great for games and multi-tasking.

And now - it's benchmark time. GeekBench is what we ran first, and the V7+ did great. As expected, its 1.8GHz processor is faster than the 1.6GHz but can't match the 2.0 and 2.2GHz ones. Whether it's single or multi-core tasks though, the V7+ will easily get the job done.

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi A1
  877
• HTC U11 Life
  873
• Moto G5S Plus
  843
• vivo V7+
  767
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  735
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  734
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  665
• LG Q6
  584

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi A1
  4292
• Moto G5S Plus
  4193
• HTC U11 Life
  4140
• vivo V7+
  3912
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  3779
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  3768
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2841
• LG Q6
  2011

We've already seen the Adreno 506GPU perform on the Snapdragon 625 (Mi A1, V5+, Moto G5S+), so this is a welcome upgrade for the 4xx generation. Just as expected, as far as raw power is concerned, the 450's Adreno 506 is on par with the one inside the 620. It is better than the old Adreno 505, of course, but not as fast as the Adreno 508 in Snapdragon 630 (HTC U11 Life).

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC U11 Life
  9.6
• Oppo F5
  7.1
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  6.4
• Moto G5S Plus
  6.4
• vivo V5 Plus
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  6.2
• vivo V7+
  6.1
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  4.6
• LG Q6
  3.8
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  3.3
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  3.3

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• HTC U11 Life
  5.4
• Oppo F5
  4.2
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  3.5
• Moto G5S Plus
  3.4
• vivo V5 Plus
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3.4
• vivo V7+
  3.3
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2.5
• LG Q6
  2.1
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  1.9
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  1.9

But the V7+ isn't utilizing a 1080p screen, but a 720p one, which means less pixels and more processing power. And it blew the competition away at the actual onscreen tests.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo V7+
  13
• HTC U11 Life
  9.6
• Moto G5S Plus
  6.8
• Oppo F5
  6.8
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  6.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  6.2
• vivo V5 Plus
  6.1
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  4.5
• LG Q6
  3.5
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  3.3
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  3.3

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo V7+
  6.6
• HTC U11 Life
  5.3
• Oppo F5
  4
• Moto G5S Plus
  3.8
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  3.5
• vivo V5 Plus
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3.4
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2.5
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  1.9
• LG Q6
  1.9
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  1.9

The BaseMark X test puts the vivo V7+ on par with quite a few mid-rangers, but behind the more powerful U11 Life.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• HTC U11 Life
  14286
• vivo V5 Plus
  10542
• Moto G5S Plus
  10488
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  10472
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  10446
• vivo V7+
  9955
• Oppo F5
  9205
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  7516
• LG Q6
  6179
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  5497
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  5489

Finally, we ran some all-round benchmarks. BaseMark OS 2.0 puts the vivo v7+ on top of every other device but the HTC U11 Life. AnTuTu's score on the other hand turned out rather average.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• HTC U11 Life
  1342
• vivo V7+
  1290
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  1262
• Moto G5S Plus
  1176
• vivo V5 Plus
  1107
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  1050
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  1038
• Oppo F5
  424
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  349
• LG Q6
  275

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• HTC U11 Life
  72854
• Moto G5S Plus
  64554
• Oppo F5
  63889
• vivo V5 Plus
  63812
• Xiaomi Mi A1
  61762
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  61616
• vivo V7+
  57791
• Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
  47920
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  47495
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
  46822
• LG Q6
  37276

Qualcomm's latest addition to the basic 4xx series has turned out to be a capable sillicone and you can tell by the scores. We ran quite a few 3D games, both arcades and shooters, and they were smooth and enjoyable. The wide-screen helps for an immersive experience, while the more than adequate chips boosts the enjoyment.

The Snapdragon 450 chip is built on a 14nm process, which meant low heat output and we can confirm the V7+ doesn't get hot at all. We expect the adoption rate of the S450 to go sky-hike in the next couple of months.