Vivo V30 Review: A Powerful and Pleasing Phone for Photography

Vivo released their new V30 smartphone earlier this year with an emphasis on advanced camera capabilities and attractive aesthetics. After putting the V30 through its paces, here are my thoughts on this device.

Design and Display

The V30 has a striking design with slim bezels and curved edges that make it comfortable to hold. It comes in several eye-catching color options like Waving Aqua. At just 7.5mm thick, it’s impressively thin yet maintains a large 6.78-inch AMOLED display.

This display has a high resolution of 2800 x 1260 and a superb 120Hz refresh rate. Text and images look sharp and colors really pop off the screen. It also gets very bright at up to 1200 nits, so it’s obvious outdoors. The Schott glass provides protection from scratches and drops.

Camera Performance

This is undoubtedly the V30’s strongest area. The triple rear camera system is headlined by a powerful 50MP main sensor with PDAF and OIS for smooth focusing and clarity. There’s also a 119-degree ultra-wide lens and depth sensor. Picture quality is stellar across various lighting conditions.

Vivo loaded the camera app with intuitive options like an easily accessible night mode. 4K video recording is silky smooth thanks to EIS stabilization. Selfies come out fantastic from the 50MP front camera too. Overall it’s one of the best camera phones available currently.

Hardware and Software

Performance is speedy thanks to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor and up to 12GB of RAM. I experienced no lag or stutters while multitasking. The spacious 256-512GB storage options easily hold everything. Battery life is superb – the 5000mAh cell lasted well over a full day of moderate use on a single charge.

Vivo’s Funtouch OS 14 overlay is smooth and customizable. It offers ample customization without being overly cluttered. The software experience is on par with other mid-range devices. It doesn’t yet support the latest Android 15 out of the box though