The vivo V30e 5G is a pretty smartphone with plenty of photography features and long-lasting battery at a reasonable price of ₱17,999.00.
I used the device for several weeks and this is my full review. It includes my observations on the design, display quality, performance, camera quality with sample pictures, battery life, and overall experience.
What’s in the box?
Unboxing the vivo V30e 5G
Inside the vivo V30e 5G box, you’ll immediately see the smartphone itself along with a FREE transparent phone case, a couple of documentations, the 44W fast charger, USB type-C cable, and SIM ejector tool.
Design and Display
The vivo V30e 5G comes in two color choices – Coco Brown and Cloud White. I have the latter with its patterns of brush strokes that gleam with gold and purple hues under angled lighting.
Back design of the Cloud White vivo V30e 5G.
This is a slim and light smartphone measuring 7.65mm only in thickness and tipping the scales at 179 grams. It also has IP54 dust & splash resistance so it should be able to handle a light drizzle but NOT a complete submersion in water.
Its camera module has a shiny “gem-cut” ring reminiscent of a luxury wristwatch. Then there are the curved edges for both the front glass panel and back plastic panel that add to the overall ergonomics of the device.
Curved-edge display of the vivo V30e 5G.
The curved-edge 6.78-inch display is the first in the vivo Ve series. It’s a bright screen with sharp details, smooth 120Hz refresh rate, and scratch resistant SCHOTT Xensation α glass.
This is nitpicking but there’s no HDR support for either Netflix or YouTube. It’s still a great display for watching your favorite shows on the go or simply scrolling trending posts on social media.
There are several features that enhance the display including Ambient Lighting for calls and notifications as well as Always on Display.
Camera Quality with Sample Pictures
Camera app interface of the vivo V30e 5G.
The vivo V30e 5G has dual rear cameras composed of a 50 Megapixel main camera and an 8 Megapixel ultra-wide secondary camera. Beside the main camera is a circular flash called Aura Light 3.0 with smart color adjustment and fill light function.
It uses a Sony IMX882 image sensor which results in good-looking pictures with sharp details and decent dynamic range. Portrait mode produces pleasant-looking portraits at 2x zoom with minimal distortion.
Night photography is really good with the vivo V30e 5G. Colors remain vibrant, details are sharp, and brightness can be augmented by the Aura Light 3.0 feature for portraits. Even the ultra-wide camera is capable in low light.
Here are several sample pictures:
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Default camera settings
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Default camera settings, food photography
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Portrait mode with default 2x zoom
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Default camera settings, indoor scene
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Default camera settings, outdoor, overcast scene
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Low light photography
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Low light photography using ultra-wide camera
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Low light photography with human subject.
📸 vivo V30e 5G | Low light Portrait Mode with Aura Light 3.0.
Meanwhile, the vivo V30e 5G also has a 32 Megapixel selfie camera. It’s also a capable camera for capturing selfies although there’s no ultra-wide mode.
Selfies look bright and sharp with decent skin tones although not as good as the rear camera.
Of course, you’ll have to tweak the beautification enhancements if you prefer a more realistic look. The default settings can be too much.
Here are some sample selfies:
📸 vivo V30e 5G selfie
📸 vivo V30e 5G indoor selfie
📸 vivo V30e 5G low-light selfie
The device can also capture videos at 4K resolution for both the front and rear cameras. It has video stabilization but the resolution is limited to 1080p for smoother hand-held videos.
Performance and Gaming Experience
My home screen apps on the vivo V30e 5G.
The vivo V30e 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor with 8GB of physical RAM and the Funtouch OS 14 software.
It runs smoothly when opening apps, swiping across different social media feeds, or browsing mobile websites. There’s also plenty of storage at 256GB for storing pictures, installing games, and downloading shows for offline watching. There’s also a microSD card slot for even more storage.
I’m a bit used to the Funtouch OS 14 interface but I wish vivo would reduce the amount of promotional notifications from the V-Appstore.
vivo V30e 5G screenshots.
The flower live wallpaper that blooms as you increase step count is still here and the Always-on-Display keeps on adding cool “space themed” styles.
In terms of gaming performance, the vivo 30e 5G doesn’t disappoint with Mobile Legends and Call of Duty Mobile. Both games run smoothly at high graphics quality.
There are a few frame drops during team fights but it’s generally a good gaming experience.
Connectivity and Sound Quality
A view of the bottom ports and loudspeaker grille.
The vivo V30e 5G is a dual SIM 5G smartphone with fast mobile internet connectivity in areas with 5G signal coverage. It also has dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, and GPS.
Sadly, it only has a single bottom-firing loudspeaker instead of a more immersive stereo dual speaker setup.
It does have up to 200% of volume booster so it’s louder than normal. There are also some audio enhancements that can be enabled in the Settings including audio resolution enhancement.
Battery and Charging Time
The vivo V30e 5G has a large 5,500mAh battery that lasts a long time on a single charge. It can almost survive up to 2 days on my normal use with about 40% battery capacity left after a day.
When playing games at 50% screen brightness, it can last up to 8 hours.
Recharging the battery to 100% is relatively fast at 47 minutes thanks to the included 44W fast charging adaptor and cable.
Conclusion
The vivo V30e 5G with its Aura Light 3.0 feature.
In conclusion, the vivo V30e 5G is a well-rounded smartphone in terms of design, photography, and performance. It looks good with the curved display and gem-cut camera ring while the gaming experience is mostly smooth and photography is outstanding for the price.
At an official price of ₱17,999, I highly recommend the vivo V30e 5G. It’s even more affordable than its predecessor, the vivo V29e 5G.
It is now available in vivo physical stores, kiosks, authorized dealers, and official vivo online shops on Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, and the vivo e-store.
vivo V30e 5G Review Summary
The vivo V30e 5G is a well-rounded smartphone in terms of design, photography, and performance.
- 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED Display (1080 x 2400 Pixels), 388 ppi
- Android 14 Operating System
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 (4 nm) Chipset
- 8GB of RAM
- 50 Megapixel Rear Camera with Circular Multi-LED Flash
- 32 Megapixel Front Camera
- Dual SIM
- 256GB Internal Storage
- Expandable Up to 1024 via microSD
- 5G, 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE & GPRS Networks
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac (dual band)
- Bluetooth 5.1
- USB Type-C
- USB Type-C
- Fingerprint Sensor
- 5500mAh Battery
- 44W Fast Charging
- ₱17,999.00 Official Price in the Philippines
