vivo is set to introduce a new lineup of smartphones with the upcoming V40 series, with a camera setup that was co-engineered with Zeiss and has the logos to prove it. There are going to be a couple of devices in this lineup, but I wanna give a little preview on the stronger option of the two, which is the Pro model.
The V40 Pro gets a big AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and, annoyingly, curved edges — not my favourite kind of display, personally. It has metal sides, an under-display fingerprint scanner that seems to be placed a bit too low for comfort, and glass back.
The white colourway I’ve been using is actually my favourite as it features subtle blue accents that make it look almost like marble (it feels marble-ish as well). While glass back panels are usually a fingerprint magnet that makes your phone a smudgy mess the moment you hold it, that is not the case with this phone as it surprisingly hides smudges quite well.
As for the V40 Pro’s camera module, it is definitely the phone’s main focus as you can see from the design. The island is separated into two parts; one containing the 50MP main camera with OIS and the 50MP ultra-wide lens, and another that houses the 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom. Up front, the punch-hole cutout in the display houses 50MP selfie shooter with autofocus.
The second camera pill also includes an LED ring light called the Aura light. The colour temperature of the light can be adjusted manually or it can be set to automatic where the temperature will change depending on the environment. The Aura light even acts as a notification light for calls and notifications from a list of apps that you can select, but unfortunately, you cannot customise a flash pattern or a specific colour for each app.
Powering both devices are large 5,500mAh cells with support for 80W charging. On the durability side, the V40 Pro gets an IP69 rating for dust and water resistance, an advantage over the vanilla model’s IP68 rating.
vivo will be officially launching the V40 series in Malaysia on 22 August. You can look forward to an in-depth review of the V40 Pro from me soon after its release.
