Vivo V80 Review: A Battery Powerhouse With A Reliably Main Camera

I know it’d push the price up to unimaginable levels, but I really wish that Vivo had brought out an ‘Elite’ version of the V80, just like they had done with last years’ V70 smartphone.

The Vivo V80 is the latest upper mid-range offering from the brand with a few key upgrades. There’s a brand new design (it looks a little familiar though, doesn’t it), a larger battery (it truly is a battery champion), and the largest camera setup on any V-series smartphone to date. It’s got those Zeiss objects and, as always, is bringing the flagship experience to the mid-range segment. Oh, and did I mention one more upgrade?! The display now has a 144Hz refresh rate.

The V80 starts at Rs 62,999 (8GB + 128GB variant) and goes all the way up to Rs 79,999 (8GB + 512GB model).

Is it worth it at that price? Let’s dive in deeper.

A ‘Floating Camera’ Module

Hey, look. Vivo is trying something different. Well, only if you are living under a rock. Yes, the new ‘Floating Camera’ module does look good. It’s got a large camera plateau and a transparent finish that gives the phone and overall premium feeling. The smartphone comes in Sunrise Anthem, Horizon Blue and Stellar Black.

The smartphone comes in at 7.69mm thick and weighs 203g. It’s comfortable to hold. It’s got a glass back and aluminium (aerospace-grade) frame. The bezels are an absolute minimum. The kicker is the 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. It works like a charm.

Let me also mention that the V80 has IP68 and IP69 ratings, adding to the premiumness of the smartphone.

The V80 may not be compact, but it sure doesn’t weigh you down. I liked the Horizon Blue finish better than Stellar Black.

But, before anything else. Let’s get into that ‘Floating Camera’ module.

The V80 comes with a triple-camera setup. It features a 50MP main camera, a 50MP telephoto lens (3x optical zoom) and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. There’s also a 50MP front camera for all the various selfies you’d love to take. Vivo, for its part, has added a bunch of features to the camera system including cinematic styles for 4K video, multi-focal portrait modes and even a new Diwali Portrait 2.0 feature.

Right off the bat you can disregard the ultra-wide camera. The colours are dull and look completely washed out.

The main camera, in daily use, produces shots with lots of details retained, punchy colours and great dynamic range. Some of the shots are brilliant. Enable HDR option and you’ll get even better shots. The camera also focuses very quickly.

Low light shots are also good as noise is reduced and a lot of details are retained. This is in part thanks to OIS that helps stabilize the images. There is also an ultra dark mode but I wouldn’t recommend using it as it pales in comparison to other smartphone cameras.

The 3x telephoto camera may have been one of my favourites to use. Of course, please don’t go beyond 10x as those shots will lose a whole lot of detail. But at 3x, portraits come out with natural colours, great edge detection and sharp looking features.

My only minor complaint is that the bokeh is very aggressive.

Where The V80 Truly Shines

There are two areas in which the V80 truly shines. First is the 7,200mAh battery (the largest on any V-series smartphone). I was able to use the phone comfortably past lunch on Day 2 before I had to reach for the charger. This was with my typical usage of web browsing, YouTube videos, lots of emails, text messages, voice calls, some video calls and being connected to 5G all day.

The V80 supports 90W fast charging (with the charger including in the box).

Display is the other area where the V80 stands out. The V80 features a 6.59-inch (2750x1260) 1.5K flat AMOLED display. This time around, it has been upgraded to one with a 144Hz refresh rate. The display gets plenty bright outdoors (maximum brightness of up to 1800 nits) and the text is crisp while the colours remain punchy.

I’m going to club the software in this section as it is the first V-series device to get OriginOS 7 out of the box. It’s based on Android 16 and brings a ton of updates such as Origin Smooth Engine, Origin Island and Dynamic Notifications and much more.

One Minor Complaint

As I said in many reviews, 8GB just isn’t enough RAM to power the smartphones of today. Yes, Android is well-optimised and Vivo has done a good job with the limited RAM but I did notice a few stutters and lag. The smartphone comes with some pre-loaded apps, which is a pain.

How’s The Performance?

Why did I ask for an ‘Elite’ version at the start of this review? Well, it is because the V80 runs on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 platform. It’s the same as the V60 and V70. By now, this chip has been overused, and has slowed down over the years. Yes, it is showing its age.

Verdict

The price tag of Rs 62,999 for a V-series device is a hard pill to swallow. But, this is the world we’re living in, sadly. Yes, RAM prices have gone through the roof and everyone, especially the manufacturers, are feeling the pinch. The V80 is also an incremental update (apart from the ‘radical’ new design), but with a focus on refinement, endurance, and delivering an overall premium feel and finish.

For me, the biggest highlights were the battery (it is seriously good), the 144Hz 1.5K AMOLED display (it is gorgeous) and the focus on reliability. Yes, OriginOS 7 is working overtime to ensure the smartphone runs smoothly even on 8GB of RAM.

Last but not  least, you’ve got to tip your hat to Vivo’s ZEISS partnership. The daylight photos are outstanding and portraits are very good. Photography enthusiasts will not be let down.

But, then again, there is that dreaded decision to retain the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, for the third consecutive iteration. Yikes. With rising prices, it’s sad to see Vivo not taking the plunge and providing a more modern and faster processor.

There is also the Oppo Reno 17 series that is launching next month. That's something to look out for.