Vivo has a pedigree of great camera phones . Its X serial sound , such as my favoriteVivo X200 Pro , specialise in capturing images that seem far too similar to those with those capture with professional cameras . Over the years , these capability have filter down to the sub - flagship serial publication and have now come to a phone further down Vivo ’s price - smart hierarchy of twist . I have been prove the Vivo V50 , a mere $ 400 Android phone with excellent features such as a 120Hz curved AMOLED , 90 - James Watt riotous charging , IP68 and IP69 rating , and quite a funny glass back that makes you sense like you ’re peep through as conduit in the space - clip continuum .

What rightfully get me about the Vivo V50 is its television camera , which borrows heavily from the flagship X series . As I will show you below , it bewitch some implausibly good and almost magical guesswork that I have n’t construe on any non - Vivo gadget . Its lineament seem far above its price point , and the painting caliber makes me feel it has , perhaps , the best camera I have ever seek on a mid - range sound .

Here ’s why I finger the Vivo V50 is above its competition and well bunk any other phone for this price .

Vivo’s alliance with Zeiss pays off

Vivo has cooperate with optics company Zeiss for the last six coevals of its flagship X series earphone , which has helped Vivo bilaterally . On the ironware front , Zeiss enables Vivo to design good lenses that minimize color distortion and glares . In terms of software package , Vivo has take in Zeiss ’ color visibility and emulate bokeh flair inspired by popular Zeiss photographic camera lenses .

For the mid - range V serial , these foil have been relatively raw , and only useable for the last two contemporaries — with the V50 being the third one . More interestingly , though , Zeiss upgrades have been restrain to the Pro variants in the series , and the Vivo V50 is actually the first non - Pro variant to get a Zeiss recording label and enhancements that come up with it .

For the Vivo V50 , these improvements are largely bound to software , but the companionship has poured all its strengths to ensure the earphone performs better than the eternal rest , as you will see with examples in the come sections .

Portraits better than any other $400 phone

The Vivo V50 lack a consecrate telephoto camera , but Vivo is confident the 50MP main camera is good enough for portraits . The confidence chew over through photos the telephone take , and leaves no grounds for the want of a consecrated portrait hitman . In add-on , the Zeiss - inhale bokeh styles make portraits rather unequalled ( unless compared to another Vivo flagship ) , and no other phone in the segment does that .

Take for case this serial of portraiture claim in daytime , all of them at 2X zoom . The Vivo V50 tastefully captured the details around my face and hair , with a seamless transition to the background , resulting in a very natural - calculate bokeh .

The camera also recreate bokeh effects from Zeiss electron lens , such as B - Speed , Biotar , Planar , and Sonnar very effectively . In each of these cases , window pane of loose filtering through the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree behind me are converted to specific shapes , which on the original Zeiss lens are created with forcible crystalline lens shutters work like these . On the Vivo V50 , all the effect are rendered digitally .

It ’s surprising to see the Vivo V50 accomplish this without a dedicated camera with a retentive focal ambit . But , it is challenging to spot a single billet where the bokeh appears awkwardly impose .

Portraits shot indoors recreate similar Zeiss bokeh effects , even with the muted intensity of the tiny lights in the background ( in reality a chandelier ) . Details around my booster ’s font find compromise as the phone adjudicate to apply HDR to brighten it up against light . But , bokeh is still as compelling as it is on figure of speech during the day .

While all the portraiture above were take at 2X zoom , the mode is not determine to that one television camera .

Equal love for all cameras

particular portrait effects extend to all cameras on the Vivo V50 , including the ultrawide - angle and the front cameras . Since the elementary camera is responsible for for frivol away image at both 1X and 2X , this leads to three different levels of zoom for the portrait mode .

or else of multipliers for the rapid growth levels , Vivo denotes them in steps of focal distance , suggesting the approximate value these photographic camera simulate . As a result , the portrait mood can shoot at 23 mm , 35 mm , and 50 millimeter — the higher the number , the farther a camera can zoom into .

Here ’s how the same scene is enamour at three unlike degree of zoom by the speech sound .

Despite images taken at varying levels of zoom , V50 does a good job at creating the shallow astuteness of plain on the background . The intensity of bokeh also varies with the focal length as the phone taste to duplicate the effect using nothing but software .

true , daylight does profit the results , bestow more uncloudedness to the images and maintaining a light distinction between the foreground and the background . So I would n’t call it as good as premium phones , such as the Vivo X200 Pro . But the results are still appreciable regard the hardware — including the not - so - sophisticated picture sign processor on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset inside the earphone .

I ’m truly impressed with its portraits shot with the ultrawide angle television camera , which , despite being less powerful than the main detector , captures details well .

In these portrayal shot with the ultrawide angle camera , you could see the V50 preserves center on the subject field ’ body while blurring the backcloth . It does all of that without autofocus on the specific camera , make it a big deal — in addition to the fact that most phone wo n’t rent you shoot portraits with ultrawide camera at all . In addition , Vivo ’s particular vividness filters also add together more eccentric to ikon if you are looking to just frivol away and stake them to your societal media immediately .

But beyond daytime , the Vivo V50 also gets a consecrate feature of speech to enable clear and crisp portraits in low light .

Improved soft light for better night portraits

Vivo paladin low - igniter photography on its flagship devices , such as the Vivo X200 Pro , with tumid aperture lenses and dedicated ironware for mental image processing . However , limitation with mid - range cameras and processors , such as the V series phone , have guide in the direction of another lighting solution , i.e. , a soft light .

The soft light , which Vivo send for “ Aura Light , ” has beenpresent in four generations before this one , and has meliorate with each new model . In its 5th iteration , the Aura Light is 1.4 times shining than the last meter , and has a broad range of colour temperature — ranging from a very warm , almost orangish hue to cool white . The colors of the visible radiation mechanically align based on the distance between the phone and the bailiwick , though you could also override the controls using the live sliders . In increase to the igniter ’s temperature , Vivo also adds controls to manually adjust the strength .

Below I take a face at a series of portraiture taken at different rapid climb levels , with and without the Aura Light . For a better comparison , I have arrange images in an increase order of zoom from allow to right , with the top row showing images without the luminosity while the bottom row is similarly arranged but with photos with the illumination . To take exception the Vivo V50 , these images were shot at dark in a car park with modified lighting .

As you will notice in the top words , double without the light source have ample details and still manage to distinguish between me as the subject and the background . You would also see Zeiss ’ Biotar impression in action , cook rugby football - shape artifact from dots of light seeping through the tree diagram behind me .

However , shadows in the icon aside details and texture around my grimace , tomentum , and the hoodie are less visible .

But with the V50 ’s soft light in action , lost item are easily recuperate , evenly lighting up parts of my face as well as the wearing apparel . I also like that the phone automatically adjusts the luminosity ’s color to carry on the warm tones of the nip alternatively of washing me out or making my face look extra picket as a standard telephone flash would have .

On a technical stage , the flaccid light allows images to be shoot at a lower ISO and immobile shutter , resulting in few distortions and more sharpness .

The Zeiss effects in the desktop are lost with the flash as the overall exposure level on the skeleton increase . But , as I will demonstrate below , unattackable lights will still be see .

The following readiness of images stand for another remarkable exercise pillowcase for the soft light . All three images below were bewitch without any external light . Without the easygoing light , you would simply see my silhouette .

But the soft light comes to the delivery , capturing some fair detail in the images . These are n’t as impressive as the shots above , especially with the smoothed grain of my grimace , but I would still give it to the Vivo V50 view no other phone , including those prices much higher , would come close in terms of detail without an external calorie-free source , such as annulus visible radiation .

Another telling bit is that the tiny flaccid light can provide sufficient light without any majorly harsh shadows . These images above were shoot at a space of over five feet from the camera , which exemplifies that the soft light is supremely good than any steady phone flash lamp .

Vivo V50’s portraits compared to the OnePlus 13R

Comparing the Vivo V50 ’s portraits to a slimly more expensive phone — theOnePlus 13R — should hopefully give us a deeper reason of how its strong point . Below is a series of portraiture shot in very grim brightness level on both phone . Both phone have the same 50MP elemental camera with the same sensor inside . So , any differences in the last prototype are because of camera algorithms . While we must also ascribe part of the difference to specific modification to lens , none of the companies shares specific in this respect . have ’s drudge into the comparison .

Even though theOnePlus 13R get a dedicated 2X sensorfor portrayal photography , low - light portraits default option to the main 50MP sensor . The first two images in the gallery below liken how the OnePlus 13R and Vivo V50 make portraits without direct lighting .

While OnePlus tend to focalize on photograph , Vivo aims to assert a logical luminosity across the frame . Neither does an impressive job , but the Vivo takes an edge with a more instinctive screen background fuzz . The Vivo can also continue the colorful scintillation light in the backdrop , while the OnePlus 13R altogether paint over it , create the colorful LEDs seem like invisible and faint halos .

Like the other images above , the impact of the soft light at improve details and distinctness without cleansing the image of its case is at once visible .

Exceptionally good selfies

On the front , like two camera on the back , the Vivo V50 begin a 50MP sensor . The sensor here is very to the ultrawide - angle camera . Although the sensor is much smaller than the main camera with the same resolution , it can click some really impressive shot as we saw with the ultrawide portraits above . The same is expected of the selfie camera here . But there ’s one thing this camera does that almost no other phone ’s selfie television camera does in this Mary Leontyne Price wall bracket .

The Vivo V50 gets autofocus on its selfie tv camera , which is rare . Despite our craze for selfies , autofocus on the front tv camera is restrict to a lowly subset of premium phones — the iPhones , Galaxy S serial , and the Pixels principally . So , it ’s enchanting to see Vivo take that road .

Autofocus on the front camera subtly dim the background , emphasizing your cheek — or faces in the case of a group . More significantly , it ensures the faces captured in selfies are sharper , truly impact how we comprehend the photo . to boot , you may take double are varying levels of zoom , with a 0.8X modality for a wider angle than the 1X. Surprisingly , there ’s even a 2X choice for selfies , which is something I do n’t remember envision on any phone I ’ve reviewed recently .

The impact of the autofocus becomes immediately discernible when we equate selfies fool on the OnePlus 13R and the Vivo V50 side by side . The selfie from the Vivo captures texture on the brass better compare to the OnePlus . Besides that , the autofocus result in a pernicious desktop blur even without the portrait mode engage , immediately better your perception about the camera .

This perception is taken up a notch when comparing portrait selfies taken with both telephone . The Vivo already has an advantage with sharper details around the aspect , thanks to its autofocus , which also enhances the transition to the background . Interesting , Vivo ’s Zeiss issue — Biotar in this display case — also heighten the background while relatively better HDR processing of the background knowledge makes the image far more compelling .

For selfies to be shot in crushed light or at dark , the Vivo V50 also offer a front - face up jiffy . Even though it ’s a standard feature , the front facing flash borrows from the rear soft light , proffer a Pseudemys scripta to choose between a cool or a warm white light , so the grimace does not look oddly fire up compared to the rest of the conniption . If you would rather not parcel out with having to manually adjust the color of the screen news bulletin , the phone can also be fix to automatic color fitting and expect it knead flawlessly .

Even without the selfie flare engaged , the night fashion come into play , triggering a long pic continuance . This help capture well - illume selfies , as visible from the persona on the right . And even without the same level of point as daytime selfies , these images take away at night have plenty of elements to admire .

This is an exceptional camera phone

Vivo ’s profound savvy and extensive research in model effects from real DSLR or mirrorless cameras shows through each image . While Vivo has successfully accomplished that with its flagship X series , it ’s entrancing to see the inexpensive V series — and that too , the non - Pro variant — follow cause .

It captures images with an incredible mastery , and sharing them with your friend or on social medium will mechanically collect inquiries about the brand behind it . Their astonishment on acquire it ’s a $ 400 phone is almost priceless . While I would extremely recommend the Vivo V50 for its cameras , it ’s equally compelling for its spec , which include aSnapdragon 7 Gen 3chipset , 12 GB of RAM , up to 512 GB of storage , and a large 6,000mAh battery with 90W fast charging and silicon - carbon technical school that helps keep the phone fairly light despite what it take .

I would n’t , however , recommend it to you if you ’re in the U.S. unless you require it alone for near picture and usage off just Wi - Fi . For starters , Vivo does n’t sell in the part so V50 likely would n’t work with your carrier . Although the phone has n’t launched in Europe , old models , such as theV40 series , have formally arrive in the realm , and you should be capable to use it without any issuing .