Vivo V60 review

Smartphones priced at under Rs. 40,000 tend to be focused on delivering an above-average experience in one or two departments; some might pitch performance and battery life, while others could offer premium build quality and unique features such as glyph lights (Nothing Phone 3a Pro) or built-in cooling fans (Oppo K13 Turbo Pro). With Vivo, it’s been all about the camera setup for a while now.

The V series’ core offering is the Zeiss-powered camera setup at the back, which derives from Vivo’s flagship X series smartphones. It’s therefore made for those who prioritise camera performance at a mid-range price. In terms of design, this means more of a ‘lifestyle’ based look and feel which will be quite different from performance or feature-based designs.

 

 

 

 

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On the Vivo V60, you get curved edges on the screen, and slimmer curved sides of the phone. The colours and patterns are similarly out there, particularly the ‘Moonlit Blue’ colourway which will definitely catch attention. The ‘Auspicious Gold’ on the review unit sent to me was nice too, and I quite liked the smooth satin-like feel of the back glass.

The Vivo V60’s screen isn’t massive at 6.77 inches but it isn’t small either, although the curved edges give the impression of it being smaller than it really is. At the back, the design and styling is minimal in terms of text and elements - the two larger camera sensors sit on a module that juts out and also sports the Zeiss badge, while the third and smallest camera sits alongside with the ‘aura light’ flash component.

ALSO SEE: Nothing Phone 3 review

As such, the Vivo V60 is largely in theme with older Vivo V series smartphones, and sticks with the established positioning of the series. It feels good to hold, isn’t too heavy, and feels reasonably premium and in line with the pricing, although it doesn’t quite achieve the vibe and feel of devices from some competing brands in this price segment.

The phone gets an AMOLED 120Hz display with a resolution of 1080x2392 pixels, and support for HDR10+ high dynamic range content. Usefully, there is IP68 and IP69 certification for dust and water resistance, so it can handle a fair amount of water exposure including high-temperature liquids.

The Vivo V60 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset, which is a slight improvement in terms of performance when compared to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 on the Vivo V50. While it’s an acceptable chipset for mid-range devices, it doesn’t quite match up to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 that is seen on similarly-priced devices such as the Poco F7.

With the RAM and storage, there’s a fair amount of flexibility on the Vivo V60 thanks to multiple variants. There are four RAM and storage options - 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB, 12GB/256GB, and 16GB/512GB. While this sounds good, remember that this also means a big difference in price between the 8GB/128GB variant (Rs. 36,999) and the 16GB/512GB option (Rs. 45,999). Oh, the RAM is LPDDR4X and the storage is UFS 2.2 - both somewhat dated standards for a phone that costs this much.

ALSO SEE: Vivo X200 FE review

On the bright side, you get dual-SIM 5G connectivity and Bluetooth 5.4, although Wi-Fi is fairly basic at dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz). There is a USB Type-C port for connectivity, but it uses the USB 2.0 standard; good enough for fast charging but not exceptionally fast data transfers. If your use case involves a lot of gaming or anything that involves better processor performance and specs, this isn’t the ideal pick for the price - this is a camera-focused phone after all.

 

 

 

 

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On the software front, you get Android 15 with Vivo’s FunTouch OS 15 on top. Software on mid-range Vivo phones tends to be a bit of a talking point, with a lot of bloatware and apps generating unwanted notifications or attempting to replace established built-in options. Most things resemble stock Android, and the settings and quick settings menu are presentable enough, but it’s far from the same experience you get on a premium Vivo device.

The Vivo App Store continues to annoy me with its unnecessary and un-removable presence, and while it’s possible to uninstall most of the bloatware, some of Vivo’s own system apps don’t go anywhere and can’t even be disabled. It takes some getting used to.

The camera setup is the mainstay of Vivo’s V-series smartphones, and the company’s continued partnership with Zeiss delivers once again. The Vivo V60 relies on its two 50-megapixel cameras at the back (and another at the front) to do the heavy lifting, while the 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera can come in handy for the occasional shots where you need a wider view. 

Perhaps the only point of complaint is that video recording caps at 4K@30fps, and slow-motion video can only do 240fps at 720p - these are down to the chipset’s capabilities, and a better chipset might have helped here.

Zeiss has obviously aided Vivo with its tuning expertise, and it shows even with standard point-and-shoot photography using the primary 50-megapixel camera. It isn’t hard to get a good shot in varied conditions, and various modes such as the 50MP high resolution, snapshot, and underwater photography give you a bit of versatility and the ability to capture in different conditions. Even if you don’t do anything, the default and automatic settings are convenient enough.

ALSO SEE: Realme 15 Pro review

The periscope telephoto sensor enables the Vivo V60’s serious camera capabilities, though. You get 3X optical zoom and up to 10X digital lossless zoom which utilises more of the megapixels to avoid pixelation, both of which deliver great results with plenty of detail. It also enables the portrait modes that Vivo’s V series is popular for, including the Zeiss bokeh modes.

Portrait shots are admittedly dramatic, and the Vivo V60 delivers much of the performance that you can expect to see on even premium X-series devices. The subject stays in focus and with clean lines, while the background blurs rather nicely. During the day, you’ll tend to only notice the depth-of-field perception, while the bokeh settings are best used at night and with bright lights in the background. If this specific type of photography is what you like, this is a good phone for the task.

The front camera is pretty good for selfie lovers, and the ‘Aura Flash’ (ring flash) module is useful for when you need a bit of coloured light for close-up shots and portraits. It’s not as bright as on some of the earlier V-series phones and has a limited colour range, but it does offer some variety and adjustable brightness levels, and does the job it’s meant to do. Again, it has a niche use case but manages the task well.

If you’re shopping for a phone under Rs. 50,000, don’t expect to get a complete package - that’s reserved for the premium segment. Vivo has put the focus on camera capabilities with the V60, and so performance doesn’t quite match up to some competing devices in the segment. That said, it’s functional enough and won’t feel like a budget device to use, but you definitely want to keep in mind your typical use cases if you’re considering this device.

Everyday use is fine including a bit of multi-tasking, although it’s best that you get at least 12GB of RAM if you have a lot of apps and heavily use social media and web browsers. Basic gaming should be fine, but this isn’t the phone you want for more dedicated gaming needs. 

Battery life on the Vivo V60 is decent; there’s a 6500mAh battery in this despite the relatively slim dimensions, but it’s telling in the weight of the smartphone. You can expect over a day of running even with heavy use, and charging is fortunately quick as well with support for 90W wired charging. There’s no wireless charging but there is reverse charging, so you can use the capacity to top up smaller devices such as headphones.

If you thought that the Vivo V-series has too many launches, you’re not wrong; we’ve gone from the Vivo V30 and V30 Pro to the V60 is about a year and a half. These half-yearly updates do keep the series relevant and in the attention cycle for new buyers, but it’s the same core experience every iteration - Zeiss-powered cameras that deliver, acceptable mid-range performance, and decent battery life. It is middling out a bit though, and these half-yearly improvements aren't improving too much.

Get this one if you want a good camera setup and decent telephoto capabilities, especially if you shoot a lot of portrait shots. The V-series itself isn’t really going anywhere new, but consider this for the reliability, design, and sensible feature set.