vivo Xplay5 Elite review: Edging in

5.43-inch dual-edged AMOLED

The Vivo Xplay5 Elite's dual-curved display is an AMOLED unit of QHD resolution with a diagonal of 5.43 inches (quite the odd number, you would agree). This comes down to a 541ppi density. Our microscope shot revealed a Diamond Pentile subpixel arrangement - par for the course and identical to the ones on flagship Samsung phones.

While it is AMOLED and AMOLED's supposedly don't light up black pixels at all - there's the occasional panel where that isn't entirely true - and the one on the Elite is such. It's nothing to worry about though, blacks are only ever so slightly lit, so the contrast is dozen of times higher than any LCD's.

Not so with brightness, where the maximum is only about average even for an AMOLED, and nowhere near a good LCD. It's also worth noting that latest-gen Samsung AMOLEDs can match LCDs for maximum brightness in direct sunlight, but the Vivo is far from that.

That doesn't hurt it in the sun too much though. In our sunlight legibility test, the Xplay5 Elite posted solid numbers towards the top of the chart. Again, Samsung's own are superior, and so is the OnePlus 3.

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 A3
  4.241
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  4.09
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  4.019
• Vivo Xplay5 Elite
  3.983
• 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
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  3.817
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
  3.802
• 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
• Apple iPhone SE
  3.681
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Meizu PRO 6
  3.659
• 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
• Sony Xperia X Performance
  3.234
• 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
• Sony Xperia X
  2.989
• 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
• Sony Xperia XA
  2.609
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  2.574
• LeEco Le Max 2
  2.567
• 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
• Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
  2.378
• HTC 10
  2.378
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Jolla Jolla
  1.605
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1.311
• Sony Xperia C
  1.283
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E
  1.215

Color reproduction is another area where the Xplay5 Elite does a reasonably good job. Average DeltaE is 5.0, better than both the LG G5 and Xperia X Performance, plus the Galaxy S7 edge in default mode. It's not without its flaws with whites exhibiting a bluish tint and red being the furthest off from reality at 9.3 DeltaE.

Connectivity

The Vivo Xplay5 Elite is a dual-SIM device with both slots taking nanoSIMs only. Specs say that one card gets the full connectivity package over 4G/3G/2G, while the second is limited to 2G. In our experience we had both cards connected to 3G, then one was on 4G while the other was on 3G, so the limitations might be specific to the networks in China.

There's dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac with 2x2 MIMO antennas, Bluetooth is v4.2, and the phone supports NFC and GPS. You can also wirelessly mirror the display over Miracast. There's no FM radio, though.

Wired connectivity is over microUSB 2.0 - no Type-C just yet. USB On-The-Go is supported, but make sure you enable it in settings.

Vivo Xplay5 Elite battery life

There's a 3,600mAh battery inside the Vivo Xplay5 Elite - as much as Samsung fitted inside the Galaxy S7 edge and 20% more than what the S6 edge+ came with, coincidentally the same 3,000mAh capacity as the OnePlus 3.

The Elite did very well in our battery test with the notable exception of Wi-Fi web browsing. Whether it's the built-in browser or Chrome, the result is the same - short of 8 and a half hours. While it's not particularly bad, but it's disappointing compared to the other scores.

In the video playback test the smartphone was good for almost 13 hours, a solid figure. We're starting to notice a pronounced discrepancy between the results AMOLEDs post in the two screen-on tests we carry out, indicating that the tech may actually be better suited to one rather than the other. Perhaps we'll investigate further in that area.

With the display off, the Vivo Xplay5 Elite does a good job too. We reckon 33+ hours of 3G talk time on a single charge won't leave anyone wanting. Standby consumption is pretty low too, though a second SIM card does rob the phone of more than a dozen hours in the overall endurance rating.

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.