Vivo V50 and V50e Review: A Zeiss-Tuned and a Value-For-Money Smartphones Go Head-to-Head

Vivo is not a brand that has traditionally offered value-for-money smartphones. Over the past couple of years, the company has focused on its partnership with Zeiss to enhance its camera capabilities. Just look at the Vivo X200. It’s priced on the higher side, at Rs 101,999, but has the absolute best camera chops of any smartphone in the market.

Vivo has taken that philosophy, dialled it down a notch, and presented two smartphones. One is a camera-centric smartphone, and the other is a value-for-money offering. Yes, I’m talking about the newly launched Vivo V50 (there is no ‘Pro’ model at the moment), which comes with three 50MP cameras tuned by Zeiss, and the V50e, which comes without the Zeiss tuning.

Vivo has not just packed the V50 with excellent camera hardware, but has also doubled down on battery life. The V50 has a 6,000mAh battery inside, which is bigger than previous Pro models. If that wasn’t enough for you, then the display should do the trick. It has a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel (with a 120Hz refresh rate). If you are still not convinced, then look at the smartphone's durability. The Vivo V50 comes with both IP68 and IP69 ratings.

V50 runs on FunTouch OS 15 (based on Android 15). The company has promised 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security updates for this variant. 

There’s much to like about Vivo V50, from the quad-curved display to the wedding photography. Let’s dig in with what I liked about the Vivo V50 first. 

Quad-curved display and design: The Vivo V50 has a classy in-hand feel. It is premium, solid, and comfortable to hold. Vivo has nailed the looks and ergonomics, thanks to the micro quad-curved display. The curved mid-frame ensures minimal accidental touches. The V50 sports a 6.77-inch FHD+ (2,392x1080 resolution) display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and Schott protection.

Colour options: For V50, Vivo has introduced two new colour options—Starry Blue and Rose Red—alongside the regular Titanium Grey. The Starry Blue variant features stereoscopic holographic display technology that shifts colours when light hits the surface.

Battery life: The Vivo V50's USP is the 6,000mAh battery (with 90w Flashcharge). It’s one of the biggest batteries in this segment, and the smartphone just doesn’t run out of juice. With moderate use, the phone easily lasts up to two on a single charge. Thanks to the 90W FlashCharge, it powers up quickly, taking just an hour to go from 0 to 100 percent.

Performance: Thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, Vivo V50 runs smoothly in day-to-day tasks. It is a tried and tested processor that was used in the past two generations of the V series. One hoped that Vivo would finally move on, but alas! Still, saying that, it’s a reliable chipset. The downside is that this isn’t at all a gaming smartphone. It does fall behind the competition as well. The likes of Poco F6 and Realme GT 6 use a new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3.

Cameras: This is where the Vivo V50 shines. The primary camera, with a 50MP sensor (and OIS), offers impressive skills. The resulting photos from the primary camera come with vivid and punchy colours and are true to life. At times, the images might seem over-saturated, but that is largely due to Vivo’s tuning, which many users seem to like. The photos look good, and the Aura Light is a neat addition that brightens the photos, though the people who were being captured didn’t seem to like the use of it.

Portraits: The Vivo V50 goes the extra mile with its portrait mode. There’s a great bokeh effect that feels natural and has good edge separation. The Zeiss lenses help take this to the next level. Even in low-light photography, the V50 shines. It’s no X200 Pro, but the V50 can stand tall on its own. There’s even a brand-new wedding mode—Prosecco, Pestle, and Neo-Retro—and each option has its own colour tuning.

Videos and selfies: Videos and selfies are just about fine. They're nothing to write home about. They are good enough for sharing on social media, but would not impress or stand out.

Why buy V50 when an almost identical V50e is available for a few thousand rupees less?

But that brings me to my main point. Vivo has hampered the sales of V50 by introducing V50e. The V50 retails for Rs 34,999, while the V50e is available for Rs 28,999. That’s not a lot of difference; spending an additional Rs 6,000 does not offer much additional value.

The V50e comes with a capable Mediatek Dimensity 7300 processor. It might have a slightly smaller 5600mAh battery, but it can easily last one and a half days with moderate usage. The V50e comes with 90W FlashCharge support, which can juice up the smartphone in under an hour. The dimensions and weight are almost identical. The display on the V50e is also a 6.77-inch AMOLED display, identical to the V50. Both smartphones come with IP68 and IP69 water and dust resistance ratings. There are minor differences in the camera hardware, and the V50e misses out on the Zeiss tuning. Both smartphones run Funtouch OS 15 (based on Android 15).

The V50e's in-hand feel is much better than the V50's. I used it for over a week and came away fairly impressed. It has a solid built-quality, marble-like texture on the back (and a two-tone finish), and has a sleek camera finish. It's a phone you can hold comfortably for hours.

Vivo V50e doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it sure looks good doing the basics right. It features a sleek camera module (albeit without Zeiss branding), a polished two-tone finish, and a marble-like texture on a matte-finished back. All this makes it feel more premium than its price suggests. It is also surprisingly slim and light — just 7.4mm thick and 186 grams — even with a massive 5600 mAh battery inside. The phone sits comfortably in the hand, and all the buttons and ports are exactly where you’d expect them to be. Add stereo speakers and an IP69 rating to the mix, and you’ve got a device that looks good and is built to last.

If you’re on a tight budget and want an all-rounder that gets the job done, the V50e is the one to get, especially over the V50. The former is suited to everyone except power users and gamers. The only reason to get the V50 over the V50e is the Zeiss tuning, which, let me tell you, is very, very good. The V50e is good for day-to-day tasks and casual photography. The photos are very good in all scenarios, but video-quality falls a bit short.

The only real downside to V50e is its software, which has lots of bloatware that needs cleaning. But, then again, V50 also suffers from this. When the two phones are really similar, and the upgrades aren’t worth the extra cash, why go for V50 when V50e exists for just a few thousand rupees less? Therein lies your answer.