WE don’t usually write about markdowns for consumer electronics (because street prices fluctuate like gas prices) — but today, we’re making an exception for a deal that we think is too good to pass up. That is, if you’re in the market for a capable smartphone and expensive flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Apple iPhone 7 are out of the question.

This week, Chinese smartphone-maker Vivo announced a new price for the Vivo V3 Max (see its complete specs here), which debuted in April in India with the tagline “Faster than faster.” That silly claim notwithstanding, the midrange phone had us taking special notice of its Snapdragon 652 and 4GB RAM combo and very reasonable price tag.

Now, the V3 Max costs just P13,990 (from P16,990), which is bonkers for something that’s on the same level as the Snapdragon 652-based Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro and ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra, a P25,990 and P32,995 dent on the bank account, respectively — at least from a technical standpoint. The phone delivers the same high degree of performance at a fraction of the competition’s cost. Outside of the OnePlus 3, which isn’t sold in retail locations (not officially), you won’t find a better value elsewhere in the Philippines.

The Vivo V3 Max now costs P13,990, which is bonkers for something that’s on the same level as the Snapdragon 652-based Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (P25,990) and ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra (P32,995).

The Vivo V3 Max is a far more powerful handset than the P19,995 ASUS ZenFone 3, too. In fact, a previous AnTuTu Benchmark report had suggested the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 is a lot faster than the Snapdragon 808 inside the LG G4 and just a tad slower than last year’s fastest Qualcomm silicon, the Snapdragon 810.

The V3 Max’s impressively speedy fingerprint sensor and fast-charging tech (50 percent battery life from a 30-minute charge) are icing on the already delightful cake. The only sticking point is Android Lollipop. For a phone that comes with several “hot in 2016” features, shipping with Android software from 2014 feels like a misstep. The rest of the phone is pretty golden, like its rear casing.

Related video

Vivo V3 Max review by Android Authority

---