The Vivo V3 is a premium handset loaded with 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM. V3 is powered by Snapdragon octa core processor and packed with finger print sensor on the back. It indeed comes with fastest finger print  unlock, read the review to know more.

Vivo V3 unboxing

Inside the box you will get the handset, travel charger 5V / 1A, data cable, good quality earphone, SIM tray ejector pin, user manual, warranty card, a free Airtel SIM card and silicon case for added protection. SAR value as mentioned on the box : 0.761 W/kg Head and 0.472 W/kg body.

V3 Design, Display and OS

The Vivo V3 has got a really good premium look and finishing. The body is made of metal and the handset is very comfortable to hold and operate. The one I got for the review was golden colour with matte finishing with shinny golden parallel borders on the sides.

Vivo V3 review and unboxing

Handset is light weight at 138 grams and dimensions are 71.01  x 143.50 x 7.48 (mm). Power and volume button are placed on the right side. Audio jack, secondary mic and micro SD card slot is on the top. Dual SIM tray is on the left side and at the bottom there is primary mic, micro USB port and speaker out vent.

Vivo V3 unboxing

This is a dual SIM handset you need a nano SIM and a Micro SIM, there is a separate slot for micro SD card (128GB Max). There is LED notification and following sensors – accelerometer, magnetic, light, gyro and proximity.

Vivo V3 dual SIM

V3 sports a 5 inch IPS display supporting 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. The screen came with factory fitted screen guard. I guess the screen comes with a little bit of protection, so better use a screen guard.  Viewing angles, colour reproduction and touch response are very good.

Vivo V3 5 inch HD screen

This smartphone is running Funtouch OS 2.5 based on Android Lollipop version 5.1.

Memory and Storage

V3 is packed with 3GB RAM and 32G ROM. On the first boot you will get around 2.1GB free RAM and around 22 GB free space. Users can use micro SD card of up to 128GB. Apps are getting installed on internal storage and there is an option to move apps to external SD.

OTG is supported but you need to enable OTG before that. By default OTG is switched off but you can easily enable that from settings -> more settings – OTG – enable it.  Do note if you are not using OTG the feature will automatically disable after 5 minutes.

V3 Performance

Inside the hood Vivo V3 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 octa core processor (64 bit) clocked at 1.5GHz coupled with Adreno 405 GPU. Performance is smooth and heat up is well under control – max battery temperature I encountered was 38 degrees.

Benchmark

  • Quadrant – 22466
  • Antutu (64 bit) – 39671 | 3D score – 4741
  • Nenamark 2 – 59.9fps
  • Internal storage Speed – Read (142MB/s), Write (76MB/s)
  • Multi Touch – 10 Point

Gaming Performance

I played the MC5 (Modern Combat 5) and Asphalt 8 in high visual quality mode. Both these games played really well, smooth and lag free. Check the gaming action in video review.

V3 Camera quality

The V3 comes with a 13MP camera with PDAF packed on the back with flash support and there is an 8MP camera on the front. Rear camera can shoot FHD videos. Check the sample images and videos at the end of this review.

Camera quality is above average. The interface is a different. It also gives you watermark options, gender detection, professional mode, filters to name a few.

Vivo V3 13MP camera with LED

Others

The finger print sensor is amazingly fast. On most smartphones with finger print sensor you need to tap and hold to directly unlock, without pressing any other buttons. But on the Vivo V3 the finger print sensor is so fast that you can simple tap and it will unlock – almost instantly. This is the fastest finger print sensor that I have experienced so far.

Vivo V3 with finger print sensor

Sound output is loud and clear. In-call sound is also very good. I did not find any issues with the network signal / quality. 4G, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth worked well without any issues.

Vivo Battery Life

V3 comes with 2550 mAh non-removable battery that does a decent job. You can expect 3 to 6 hours of non-stop moderate to heavy usage on a full charge. I got one day of battery life with mixed (moderate) usage.

Vivo V3 Battery Performance (time / battery % drop / battery temperature).

  • Running Benchmark app – 12 minutes / 3% / 35 degrees
  • Played MC5 + Asphalt 8 – 21 minutes / 10% / 37 degrees
  • FHD video playback with full brightness (WiFi /4G on) – 82 minutes / 23% / 38 degrees

It took me less than (almost) 3 hours to charge the handset using wall charger from 6% to 100%.

Verdict

The Vivo V3 is a very good looking, premium handset that will fit well in your palm, performance is up to the mark. The key highlight is the finger print sensor unlocked that am sure will impress you. It is a very good buy though it does come for a premium price.

Rating : 4 out of 5.

Vivo V3 is available for Rs. 16,990.

Image Gallery

Vivo V3 full video review in 5 minutes

V3 rear camera sample

Front camera sample

Vivo V3 FHD video sample

By Rajeev Rana

Founder and Chief Editor - gogi.in