The vivo V series always takes it up a notch, especially when it comes to camera features. vivo keeps making meaningful upgrades with every new model that clicks with its fans. From the eye-tracking selfie camera on the vivo V20 series to the introduction of Zeiss optics in the V30 series, the V series keeps winning over offline buyers— a big chunk of the smartphone market.
Last year, the vivo V30 Pro caught our attention with its fantastic portrait features, thanks to its collaboration with Zeiss. So, when the vivo V40 Pro was announced, we were excited to see how vivo would step up its game, especially with the price now starting at ₹49,999.
After spending the past three weeks with the vivo V40 Pro, we’ve got the answers to all your pressing questions. Let’s dig into the review and find out if vivo’s latest offering lives up to the V-series legacy.
vivo V40 Pro - Pros and Cons
Pros
- Stylish design
- Sharp and colorful display
- Smooth everyday performance
- Long battery life
- Solid overall camera performance
- AI features
Cons
- Several pre-installed app
- No Dolby Vision
- Average Speaker
- No eSIM support
- Limited AI features
vivo V40 Pro Review: Design and Build
The vivo V Series is known for its appealing aesthetics, which remains true with the vivo V40 Pro. The design language is close to its predecessor’s, but there are enough changes to give it a distinctive identity. The V40 Pro has the same curved sides as last year’s phone, with similar buttons, ports, SIM tray, and microphone placements. The button placement is on point and offers good tactile feedback when pressed.
vivo has made some significant changes to the rear panel, especially the camera housing and placement of the Aura Ring Light. The redesigned camera island has two halves: the top half has a circular design that houses two lenses and Zeiss badging, and the bottom half houses a telephoto lens with a smart Aura Light.
vivo claims that the V40 Pro’s paint job tries to replicate the colors of India. We received the Ganges Blue, which, as its name suggests, is inspired by the colors of the Ganga River. While we can not say whether it looks similar to the colors of the Ganga, the wavy pattern gives it a fresh, appealing, and distinctive look.
Its curved glass sandwich design keeps the side frames sleek at 7.58mm, making it one of the thinnest phones in the segment despite featuring a 5500mAh battery. The phone also has excellent weight distribution, which ensures it feels light in the hand.
Regarding build quality, vivo says they have used a comprehensive cushioning structure that keeps internal components safe from accidental external shocks.
The middle frame is made of plastic, and the phone’s screen has Schott α glass to protect it from accidental drops and scratches. vivo has also upped its water protection game with the V series phones shipping with an IP68 rating against water and dust.
vivo V40 Pro Review: Displays and Audio
The vivo V40 Pro has a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s a 10-bit panel that can deliver up to 1.07 billion colors. You can choose a screen refresh rate between 60 Hz, 90 Hz, and 120 Hz. The screen also has a 300Hz touch sampling rate and a boosted instant touch sampling rate of 1000Hz.
Those with sensitive eyes will be happy to note that their 2160Hz PWM dimming feature is also available. Regarding colors, vivo offers three color profiles — standard, professional, and bright color modes. You can also adjust the color temperature using the option given in the settings. There’s also an eye-protection mode that filters out Blue light to ensure your eyes are less strained during long hours of screen time.
The screen is bright, even outdoors, with a maximum brightness of 1800 nits. vivo claims a peak brightness of 4500 nits, which we can not attest to now. Having said that, the outdoor performance of the display has been trouble-free, as we could read texts and surf the internet even under direct sunlight on a bright August afternoon.
The colors are vibrant and accurate. Like most AMOLED screens, contrast levels are excellent; we loved consuming content on this screen. I watched The Boys Season 4, episodes 6 and 7, and my experience was as you expect from a premium phone. The colors were accurate, the visuals looked appealing, and there was nothing to complain about.
It comes with Widevine L1 certification for HD, HDR10, and HDR 10+ streaming for YouTube and Netflix, but Dolby Vision is not supported.
Regarding audio, the V40 Pro has a stereo setup that pairs a bottom-firing speaker with an earpiece as a secondary speaker. The speaker produces average sounds, as highs tend to get slightly distorted at high volumes, and lows lack punch. The in-display fingerprint sensor consistently works within seconds every time I unlock my phone.
vivo V14 Pro Review: Software
The vivo V14 Pro ships with Android 14, which is layered with vivo’s own Funtouch OS 14 Skin. vivo promises three major Android OS updates plus four years of security updates, so you’re covered for the foreseeable future. With Funtouch OS 14, personalization gets a major upgrade. Custom Kinetic wallpapers, a lock screen clock sporting three layout styles, and a selection of eight different font styles let you make the phone your own.
The V40 Pro comes loaded with a fair number of pre-installed apps and bloatware, in addition to the standard utility and Google apps. You can uninstall most of these apps if you don’t need them. vivo has also introduced several AI features, mainly focusing on images and photography. There are no generative AI features that are the talk of the town.
We tested the AI Eraser and AI Photo Enhancer. The AI Eraser allows you to remove unwanted objects from images, while the AI Photo Enhancer can be used to enhance old film-based photos. In our testing, these features work as advertised.
vivo V40 Pro Review: Performance
The vivo V40 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ chipset. The octa-core processor consists of 1x Cortex-X3 core clocked at 3.05GHz, 3x Cortex-A715 cores at 2.85GHz, and 4x Cortex-A510 cores at 1.8GHz, promising robust performance across various tasks. It is available in 8GB and 12GB RAM variants, so users can pick one according to their needs and budget.
When it comes to real-world performance, the V40 Pro is a smooth operator. Whether you’re scrolling through Instagram, streaming your favorite shows on Netflix, or juggling multiple apps, the phone doesn’t break a sweat.
the V40 Pro is a reliable partner for some casual gaming. Lightweight games like Subway Surfer and Angry Birds run flawlessly. Games like Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, BGMI, and Genshin Impact play smoothly on high settings, delivering good frame rates and minimal loading times.
The Dimensity 9200+ ensures there’s no noticeable lag or stuttering, and the phone’s thermals remain in check, so it never gets too hot to handle.
In benchmark tests, It may not top the charts in single-core tests, but it excels in multi-core performance, suggesting it can handle complex tasks better than some of its rivals.
In our throttle test, the V40 Pro performed slightly better at performance throttling compared to competition phones, maintaining around 70% of its peak performance under stress.
vivo V40 Pro Review: Cameras
The vivo V40 Pro is a big step up from its previous version, especially its camera setup. The V40 Pro comes with a versatile camera array, including a 50MP main sensor with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a 50MP ultra-wide sensor, a 50MP portrait sensor, and a 50MP autofocus front camera, all fine-tuned by Zeiss.
vivo has also updated its Aura Light flash, which has now become smart and can automatically adjust the color temperature based on ambient lighting, ensuring natural tones in varying conditions. The camera app is easy to use and lets you quickly switch between modes and settings, even from the lock screen. You can choose from three different color options for your photos: Vivid, Textured, and Zeiss Natural.
This device’s Portrait mode is super versatile, offering different focal lengths like 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 100mm. You can also access the “Portrait lens kit” by tapping the lens icon, which gives you presets like 24mm Landscape portrait and 50mm natural portrait with different color tones.
You also have the option to change the shape and style of the bokeh or even turn it off. The bokeh options are designed to mimic Zeiss lenses, so you can go for an oval-shaped Planar bokeh, a triangular B-speed bokeh, or just a simple rounded bokeh. The vivo app also has a baked-in beauty mode, which is turned on by default. It can also suggest poses that will make you shine on social feeds.
In terms of camera performance, the V40 Pro excels in daylight photography, producing detailed and vibrant photos with a good dynamic range. The autofocus is fast and accurate, and the minimal shutter lag ensures quick captures.
Ultra-wide shots benefit from consistent color science with the primary camera, maintaining low distortion and vibrant colors. Thanks to the Zeiss integration and Smart Aura Light, portrait shots stand out with precise edge detection, smooth background blur, and added sharpness.
Low-light photography is another area where the V40 Pro shines. Images may appear soft without Night mode, but with Night mode, the camera recovers sharpness and detail to a level comparable to daylight shots.
The vivo V40 Pro can record 4K videos at 60fps and has OIS to keep the videos smooth and high-quality. It also has a Festival mode for capturing vibrant festival scenes. Overall, it’s a great choice for photography enthusiasts.
vivo V40 Pro Review: Battery and Charging
The vivo V40 Pro has a huge 5500mAh battery, which is even bigger than the batteries in the OnePlus 12 (5400mAh), Xiaomi 14 (4610mAh), Moto Edge 50 Ultra (4500mAh), and iQOO 12 (5000mAh), and just as big as the one in the Realme GT6 (5500mAh). It comes with an 80W charger in the box, so you can charge the battery from 0 to 100 percent in just 50 minutes. In the PCMark battery test, the phone lasted an impressive 14 hours and 2 minutes.
Should You Buy the vivo V40 Pro?
Smartprix Rating: 8.1/10
Design:
Display:
Cameras:
Performance:
Software
Battery and Charging:
8.2/10
8.2/10
8.2/10
8/10
7.8/10
8/10
The Vivo V40 Pro offers a balanced mix of style, performance, and features, making it a compelling choice for a mid-range phone. With its unique camera design and vibrant display, it stands out. The battery life is impressive, and the cameras are equipped with Zeiss lenses, shines in good most conditions, capturing fantastic photos that are sharp and detailed. However, it comes with pre-installed Vivo apps and some bloatware, as well as average sound quality. Despite these drawbacks, it competes well with other phones in its price range. If you’re looking for a stylish mid-range phone with top-notch features, the Vivo V40 Pro is worth considering.
First reviewed in August 2024.
