VIVO has a new Android on offer, though this one ups the ante not only for the Chinese OEM but also for selfie smartphones en masse. And while the Vivo V7+ is pretty much what we had expected it to be all along, it leaves a better impression in person.

SEE ALSO: Complete specs of the Vivo V7+

Available in black, gold, or pink, the V7+ is priced at P17,990 or around $353 after taxes. Preorders begin tomorrow, September 21, for a scheduled September 30th release.

The Vivo V7+ is prettier than a picture. A bit larger, too, but not cumbersome to hold because of those narrow bezels. The side bezels have been pushed back to the fringes; the borders on the top and bottom, almost non-existent. For a phone with a 6-inch (5.99 inches, to be exact) display, it doesn’t feel unwieldy.

You probably never saw it coming (prior to the leaks, we mean), but the V7+ rocks an edge-to-edge design to keep up with modern trends, similar to what the Apple iPhone X and latest Samsung and LG phones are rocking. “Welcome to the future of smartphones, today,” we can almost hear Vivo whispering.

And because the front is almost entirely glass, the capacitive buttons you’d find on previous Vivo models have been retired, replaced by on-screen shortcuts with a similar purpose, which we’re totally in favor of.

You’ll still get your regular Quick Settings menu by swiping up from the bottom of the display, and thank goodness for that. We’d much prefer to switch Wi-Fi networks and toggle things like auto-brightness, Bluetooth, and mobile data on and off without ever leaving the home screen.

Coming in at 6 inches, the lanky LCD display features an 18:9 picture mode, meaning it is better for viewing content than the regular 16:9 screen on most phones. However, if you insist on the 16:9 format, as opposed to filling the display entirely, there’s a setting for that.

Coming in at 6 inches, the lanky Vivo V7+ LCD display features an 18:9 picture mode, meaning it is better for viewing content than the regular 16:9 screen on most phones.

The colors look saturated enough, and the viewing angles are wide — even with a full sheet of 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass shielding the front from harm. We also particularly like how bright the screen was able to go. The notification LED is found on the top bezel.

What is lacking, however, is detail, as the Vivo V7+ only outputs at 1,440 x 720 pixels, so text and images are not going to look just as crisp as they do on other screens in this price category. The resolution of the screen is our biggest grumble so far.

READ ALSO: Vivo V5 Plus review: Selfie superstar

The SIM tray is featured on the left-hand side, and it can fit two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card of up to 256GB. It’s a welcome change from unibody designs that limit you to either two SIMs or one SIM and one SD card.

On the right, you’re looking at volume and power buttons that are positioned where you’d want them to be, sitting where your thumb would normally rest assuming you’re right-handed. The ports for headphones and microUSB are along the bottom. Yes, no newer Type-C connector for this new model.

The loudspeaker is pretty good. For more private listening, the V7+ includes a decent digital-to-analog converter that offers superior sound if paired with an equally decent pair of headphones or earbuds.

Sadly, the rear panel is made of plastic, or a metal compound that feels more like plastic than the aluminum casing competing models typically use. Even so, the Vivo V7+ feels lighter than expected. You can use the fingerprint sensor on the back to secure apps and their data and quickly snap a selfie.

As for the specs that power the phone, there’s a newer but lower-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chip with eight CPU cores and Adreno 506 graphics tasked to run Vivo’s custom fork of Android 7.1.2 Nougat.

Those are not the kind of details that make the news on a midrange entry, but we’re willing to give Vivo the benefit of the doubt that the V7+ won’t bog down so easily. On the upside, the 4GB of RAM should make multitasking easier in general, whereas the 3,225mAh battery will likely last you over a day with mixed use.

What about the cameras?

Based on earlier releases, Vivo has made it abundantly clear that the V series leans heavily on the front camera and the quality of selfies you can take with it. In our limited time testing a production unit, we came away quite impressed with what it has been able to bring to the table.

The 24-megapixel sensor sits behind an f/2.0 lens and allows users to shoot crisp pictures with depth of field, despite the absence of a secondary sensor. Rendering skin tones with accuracy are a hit-or-miss proposition, though.

Resized sample selfies taken with the Vivo V7+

The 16-megapixel primary camera is quick to focus and take a shot with vivid detail. Video recording is limited to 1080p, but without stabilization, footage tends to wobble and jitter. It also bears noting that the camera app is identical to that of the iPhone, utilizing the same design and button layout.

Final thoughts

The Vivo V7+ is something of a technical wonder, sporting a camera that takes super-sharp selfies and an edge-to-edge display surrounded by small bezels from top to toe. Sure, the screen misses out on the clarity of the cameras above and behind it, but the rest of the hardware, including the processor, doesn’t disappoint.

At P17,990, though, it will make you wonder if you are missing out on better options that cost about the same or a bit more.

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