Vivo launched the V60 just six months ago, but the brand isn’t slowing down with its mid-range onslaught — the V70 Elite is now available in select Asian countries. I’m still not onboard this strategy of half-yearly launches, and earlier V series devices barely came with any upgrades to justify a new model.
Thankfully, that isn’t the case with the V70 Elite. To put it mildly, this is the biggest upgrade in the V series in quite a while, and if anything, the phone is closer to the X300 than the V60. Recent V series devices have delivered great cameras, and the V70 Elite continues that heritage.
The V70 Elite is the most powerful Vivo mid-ranger yet
The V60 and V50 used the Snapdragon 7 platform, but with the V70 Elite, Vivo is switching things up and using the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. The move to the more powerful platform gives the V70 Elite a huge advantage when it comes to performance, and the difference is immediately noticeable. Using the V70 Elite next to the V60, it’s evident that the phone is able to handle demanding games much better, and it’s just smoother in daily usage as well.
This is a big deal, because it broadens the usability of the V70 Elite — it is no longer just a camera-focused device. On that note, Vivo finally switched away from UFS 2.2 storage modules, and is instead using UFS 4.1 storage on the V70 Elite. Best of all, the base model comes with 256GB of storage as standard, and there isn’t a 128GB model this time (thankfully).
Image 1 of 4
Elsewhere, the V70 Elite retains IP68 and IP69 ingress protection, so it is just as resilient as the X300 Pro in this regard. You get the same 6,500mAh silicon battery as the V60, and it managed to last a full day without any issues. Most of the time, I got a day and a half with medium use, and Vivo’s 90W fast charging tech is intact. I used the Indian model of the device, so there’s a charger in the box, but that may not be the case in other regions.
Oh, and I like that the phone has an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor; it is easier to authenticate, and does a better job overall.
The design is scorching hot
Vivo always did a good job with V series designs, but the V70 Elite takes things to a new level. Vivo’s traditional circular camera island is eschewed, and the V70 Elite instead gets a rectangular module that looks cleaner. The metal island resembles the Find X9 quite a bit, and it allows the device to look that much more elegant.
A lot of that is down to the Passion Red color. I still don’t get why Vivo reserves its best colors for its V series devices — I would’ve loved to see this color on the X300 Pro or the X Fold 5. The red hue isn’t that bold thanks to the matte texture, and it skews towards brown when viewing the device at an off-axis angle. That doesn’t take away from its elegance one bit, and this is the best-looking Vivo phone yet.
While earlier devices came with polycarbonate designs, the V70 Elite has an aluminum alloy mid-frame with a glass rear, and it looks striking. If anything, I like the design of the phone a little better than the X300.
Because of a smaller OLED panel, the V70 Elite is shorter and thinner than its predecessor, and it has a much better in-hand feel. While I wouldn’t call it a small phone, the device feels great to hold and use, and I prefer it to the V60.
Brighter OLED panel with better colors
The V70 Elite gets a smaller 6.59-inch OLED panel, but Vivo went with a higher-resolution panel (2750×1260), so you get better pixel density, and the colors are better overall. The panel is among the best you get in this category, and it excels at color vibrancy and brightness levels.
There’s the standard 120Hz refresh and all the other software extras you get with Vivo devices, and it features a layer of the brand’s custom glass protection, made with Schott. Against the V60, the V70 Elite gets brighter, has better color vibrancy, and the ultra-thin bezels make a noticeable difference.
The cameras continue to stand out
Vivo didn’t change the cameras from the V60, and I don’t mind that one bit. The V70 Elite gets the same 50MP main camera, 50MP tele lens with 3.7x optical zoom, an 8MP wide-angle lens, and a 50MP camera at the front. You get 4K60 video, HDR video, and a suite of filters and other camera extras that aren’t limited to the X300 and X300 Pro.
What I like the most about the camera on the V70 Elite is that it takes terrific portrait shots. This is an area where Vivo has a clear advantage over its rivals, and while the V70 Elite isn’t quite as good as the X300, it still does a better job than other mid-rangers I’ve tested recently.
Overall image quality is better than the V60 thanks to better tuning and the upgraded ISP, and the V70 Elite takes great photos in challenging scenarios.
The V70 Elite is the mid-ranger you need
With the V70 Elite, Vivo is showing that it knows how to deliver an all-rounder. The phone runs the latest OriginOS 6 based on Android 16, and the software is much better than Funtouch OS. It has better fluidity, greater customizability, and I like the interface.
The powerful internals make using the phone so much better than the V60 and older V series devices, and this is an area where you’ll see the biggest difference if you’re upgrading from an older phone. The cameras are excellent, the design is easily among the best of any mid-ranger, and you don’t miss out on any extras.
By
