Vivo V40 Pro review: Top-notch mobile photography arrives in a sleek form factor

Cameras have become one of the most important aspects of a smartphone these days, if not the most important. Sure, the display is functionally the most critical component, but aside from being big and sharp, people tend to gravitate towards the best smartphone camera their money can buy. Unfortunately, the best ones are often reserved for the most expensive phones, leaving the majority of consumers, especially the younger generation, longing for better days. Vivo’s V-series of smartphones have always been about making smartphone photography more accessible, and last year’s Vivo V30 Pro definitely put more expensive devices on notice. Can the Vivo V40 Pro top that, or has the brand already reached its peak? We test out Vivo’s latest and greatest V-series phone to find out.

Designer: Vivo

Aesthetic

Right off the bat, you can already tell that Vivo has outdone itself with the design of the Vivo V40 Pro. Last year’s flagship was already beautiful, but it suddenly seems a bit behind its little brother. You still get a sleek appearance, soft curves and a slim profile, but the real winner here is the camera design. The fact that Vivo was able to fit three 50MP cameras into such a compact space is already a marvel, but the way it managed to make the design appealing is a rare feat these days.

Vivo calls it the “Gemini Ring Design,” a fancy term for what looks like a curved keyhole. Two of the three cameras are encased in a circle that sits atop a pill-shaped rise. Inside is another oblong housing the third camera and the Aura Ring flash. The play of balance and asymmetry in this design is a subtle beauty, and it definitely gives the Vivo V40 Pro a unique visual character.

The company didn’t skimp on the colors and materials available for the Vivo V40 and V40 Pro, and they’re all beautiful in their own way. The Sunglow Peach colorway with its warm hues and vibrant magnetic ink is eye-catching, and our review unit’s Moonlight White with its pale blue streaks has a calming, soothing effect. Aside from the camera bump and the small vivo logo at the bottom, there are no distractions on the back of the phone, allowing you to appreciate the beauty of these designs.

At just 7.58mm thick, the Vivo V40 Pro is already thin, and the curved edges of the display and back panel make it even thinner. This decision could be divisive in 2024, however, as many consider curved edges to be a thing of the past. It still has charm and fits perfectly with the smoothness of the rest of the phone.

Ergonomics

The Vivo V40 Pro is by no means a small phone, which is why its slim profile helps to compensate for the device’s size. It’s also incredibly light at just 192g, especially considering what’s inside, like a very generous battery. Overall, it’s easy to hold in your hand for long periods of time, although the glass material on its back may prove slippery for some hands.

The debate over flat or curved edges continues here too. With some of the screen curved around the sides, there’s always the risk of accidental contact in those areas. There’s also not much surface area or sharp corners for your hand to grip the phone, and you might find yourself straining a bit just to hold it steady. This is partly personal preference and partly the shape of your hand, but thankfully Vivo does ship a protective case with the phone just in case.

Performance

It may not be part of Vivo’s premium X series, but the Vivo V40 Pro definitely packs a punch, starting with the MediaTek Dimensity 9200+, the chipmaker’s flagship silicon. It’s paired with up to 12GB of RAM, as was the case in our review unit, which can be boosted with an additional 12GB. That said, it takes some of that from the 512GB internal storage, which isn’t expandable like many phones these days. Overall, the Vivo V40 Pro performs like a champ for any use case, be it social media, watching videos, or playing games. The latter is aided by an ultra-large VC cooling system that keeps the phone running at a steady pace without throttling.

But what’s even more impressive is the 5,500mAh battery that the phone packs into its thin and light body. It’s certainly one of the largest capacities available on a phone that’s just 7.6mm thick, making it easy to handle all your photography adventures. With a charging speed of 80W, you can quickly top off the battery in about 30 minutes, at least with the right charging pad. Unfortunately, Vivo hasn’t decided to integrate wireless charging on its V series phones yet, but that might change next year.

The real stars of the show though are the cameras, all of which feature 50MP sensors. Yes, that includes the selfie camera with a Samsung ISOCELL JN1 sensor and a wide 92-degree field of view for the “wefies” or “groufies”. If that sounds familiar, then you may have heard of the Vivo V30 Pro last year. In fact, in almost all but one case, it’s almost the exact same 50MP camera set, like the 50MP Sony IMX816 telephoto camera and the 119-degree Samsung JN1 50MP ultra-wide camera.

This year, the new 50MP Sony IMX921 features a larger 1/1.56-inch sensor. This means it’s able to capture more light information even in the darkest environments, improving its overall quality. In fact, the whole thing is commendable in its rendering, delivering stunning images enhanced by AI and computational photography. Of course, these cameras have optics tuned by ZEISS, so there’s nothing surprising about that. And we can’t forget Vivo’s signature Aura Light that takes the regular flash and turns it into a mini ring light for softer, more natural lighting. Its latest incarnation includes electronic control technology that lets you adjust the brightness of the light based on the distance from the subject.

In essence, the Vivo V40 Pro builds on the success of its predecessor and adds extra value with improved specs and improved software. Unfortunately, it also retains its flaws, including the short optical zoom range of the telephoto lens. It only goes up to 2x zoom, but Vivo is heavily advertising what it calls the “ZEISS Ultra HD 50x Zoom,” which is a phrase that actually means software-assisted digital zoom.

Sustainability

Much like the Vivo V30 Pro last year, the brand has been infamously silent on its efforts to use even a fraction of sustainable materials for this year’s V-series flagship. It also hasn’t stopped shipping chargers in its boxes, which isn’t surprising since it wants to make sure its phones use the right 80W charger for the fastest speed they can support. We’re still hoping that Vivo will take the lead in this area soon.

That said, there is some good news to keep the Vivo V40 Pro away from the trash for as long as possible. It’s the first in the V series to achieve an IP68 rating, which ensures it’s protected from dust and water, which can spell the end for many smartphones. It also advertises a “50-month smooth experience” warranty, which essentially says the phone can run for over four years without losing its smoothness and performance. Unfortunately, that doesn’t translate into four years of updates, and Vivo hasn’t made any promises about that.

Value

It’s abundantly clear after testing the Vivo V40 Pro that it delivers on all of its promises on paper. The 50MP quad camera system it carries over from last year continues the tradition of excellent mobile photography, but this time with a larger 5,500mAh battery that better supports all of that photo and video content creation. Better still, the phone has a sleek, thin and light design that makes you feel like you’re holding an object of art rather than a cold piece of technology.

In other words, the Vivo V40 Pro would have been perfect if some people couldn’t get their hands on it. Its price tag of $560 (converted from Indian figures) isn’t that high, but its global availability is yet to be revealed at the moment. Hopefully, it will fare better than the Vivo V30 Pro which didn’t get a wider distribution that would have made its incredible camera capabilities known.

Verdict

Smartphones are getting more powerful, and so are their cameras. But with this increase in technical performance, designers are often forced to make a lot of compromises to fit them all into a product that should still fit in our pockets. In this regard, the Vivo V40 Pro is a real feat, fitting not only four 50MP cameras but also a large 5,500mAh battery into a body that is as thin and light as possible. It’s a beautiful phone with impressive performance and an accessible price, and it deserves to be made available to more markets this time around.