Can Vivo v3 Max take on mighty Xiaomi's Mi 5? (Tech Review)

In an era of flagship smartphones, Vivo v3 Max -- the Chinese smartphone maker Vivo's flagship device -- can be your choice if you do not want to splurge and yet obtain something that offers you a decent look and feel with a powerful battery.

At Rs.23,980, Vivo v3 Max has tried to give some competition to Xiaomi's flagship device Mi 5, currently selling at Rs.24,999 in India but let us dig a little further.

What works for the smartphone?

While smartphones the world over are playing on fingerprint sensor technology, the Vivo device has a rear fingerprint sensor which, claims the company, can unlock the device in just 0.5 seconds.

Sporting a sleek metal body, the Vivo v3 Max offers a good, compact grip. While the back cover is made of aluminium magnesium, the front display has a Corning Gorilla Glass coating.

With 5.5-inch FHD super Amoled touchscreen display, 13MP rear camera with LED flash and 8MP front-facing camera, the device is powered with 4GB RAM with 32GB of internal storage and a 3,000 MAh battery.

On the connectivity front, Vivo V3 max gives you a hybrid SIM slot that can hold either a SIM card and a micro SD card or two SIM cards at a time.

It runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop operating system but has a customised interface called "Funtouch 2.5."

As for multitasking, the phone shows no lags and runs a few heavy games easily, thanks to the 1.8 GHz Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor.

The picture quality offers great details even under low-light conditions. The phone offers brilliant sound quality in earphones with its hi-fi music technology and dedicated AK4375 music chipset. The full Quad HD display offers a good view even under sunlight.

The one thing that I loved about the phone was its capacity to charge quickly. It charged from 28 percent to 97 percent within a mere 30-35 minutes.

What does not work?

Many users may not like the white-coloured front bezels and the lone speaker can worry those who watch movies on phone as the sound is generated from one side only.

Also, the device heat up after a continuous use of over 20 minutes but this is now the common complaint regarding smartphones with metal bodies.

We recommend you use earphones or headphones for a better sound experience while watching your favourite movie. The device should also have a FM Radio and a much-better rear camera.

Verdict: When it comes to pricing, the handset will receive some great competition in the price segment where other devices are offering better Quad HD resolution, processor including Snapdragon 810 and fingerprint scanning.

When it comes to whether it can take on Xiaomi Mi 5, the road is a bit far for Vivo but if you still buy Vivo v3 Max, the device will not disappoint you.

(Prashant Kumar can be contacted at pkm0694@gmail.com)

--IANS

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