Hands-On

Vivo V7 Hands-on: A smaller near bezel-less option

Published

November 18, 2017

Isa Rodriguez

Vivo released yet another near-borderless smartphone two months after they released the Vivo V7+.

This is the Vivo V7, a smaller, more affordable, and almost bezel-less option.

Here’s what’s new and what stayed the same.

Look and feel

The Vivo V7 has a familiar-looking screen — at 5.7 inches, however, it’s smaller than most near-borderless displays.

The forehead (yep, that bezel up top), houses a selfie shooter, the earpiece, proximity sensor, and LED flash.

There is nothing on the bottom bezel — no buttons, capacitive or otherwise. The fingerprint scanner has been moved to the back near the rear shooter.

The top right houses the volume rockers and the power button.

On the left, we find the SIM card tray which can accommodate two nano-SIM cards and a microSD card.

Admittedly, this phone fits my teeny hands better as I’ve always struggled with bigger handsets. Worth noting also is how gestures, much like those in the iPhone X, can be used instead of the onscreen home, back, and recent apps buttons.

Cameras

Vivo phones are known for their capacity to take “perfect selfies” and this particular release does not disappoint in that department. It has a 24-megapixel front-facing camera equipped with Face Beauty 7.0. If you’re wondering, this is what it can do. And no, I don’t normally look this fresh, unfortunately.

Vivo V7 selfie sample

The beauty filter is also available on video calls for certain apps like Facebook Messenger; however, you can’t activate it for normal video recording. (Sorry, vloggers!)

The single 16-megapixel rear shooter also has a portrait mode equipped with bokeh and beauty mode.

Here are a few more sample shots:

What’s inside

The V7 is powered by a Snapdragon 450 processor which is, as Dan has explained earlier, “pretty much based on the Snapdragon 625.”

It has 4GB of memory, 32GB of storage, and runs on Android Nougat with FunTouch OS 3.2. A 3000mAh battery powers the device.

Much like the V7+, and all other near bezel-less smartphones, this handset is equipped with facial unlock capabilities.

V7 versus V7+

Side by side, the V7 looks much like its predecessor. Basically, the Vivo V7 is a smaller version of the V7+.

Just a teeny bit, smaller, though — 0.3 inches to be precise. This isn’t much of a difference even when you get to hold both phones. The V7 also has the same screen resolution of 1440 x 720 pixels.

There are a few other differences, too. The V7 has less storage and a smaller battery capacity. It also lacks the Hi-Fi audio chip that the V7+ is equipped with.

Photo lovers need not worry: This device is equipped with the same powerful shooters as on the V7+ for all you picture-perfect needs!

First impressions

At PhP 14,990 or around US$ 290 (IDR 3,799,000 in Indonesia), the Vivo V7 seem like a great deal compared to its more expensive predecessor.

With this more affordable tag, however, come those spec compromises. How will they affect performance and phone capabilities? Does screen size really matter? These are questions we’ll reserve for the review.

In the meantime, it’s looking good for the V7.

Hands-On

OPPO Reno15 F 5G hands-on

More question marks than exclamation points?

Published

March 6, 2026

Manila Connoisseur

The OPPO Reno15 Series 5G made its way to the Philippines last month, and reception has been pretty great so far.

With a powerful camera package, AI, and a slew of upgrades, there’s a lot to love and not much negative to say. But that’s with both the standard and Pro models.

On the other hand, with the Reno15 F 5G — the series’ supposed budget-friendly “lite” variant —there were more question marks than exclamation points.

I attack this piece once more from a consumer standpoint: shelling out PhP 23,000 to PhP 26,000 for a midrange smartphone that feels and performs like it’s a few notches below its segment doesn’t sound too pleasant.

Performance

With a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor, the OPPO Reno15 F performs pretty much like any sub PhP 20,000 mid-ranger. It’s acceptable, but does not punch above its weight as expected.

No major hiccups for light and casual usage. But performance struggles a lot for demanding video games.

It also heats up significantly just 10 minutes into a title like Honkai: Star Rail. This is a stark contrast to the marketed 25℃ and up to 10 hours straight of smooth gameplay.

Although, the experience was still enjoyable with several wins and MVP runs in Call of Duty Mobile. It only means the F variant remains a more camera-centric phone rather than an a hard-hitting all-arounder.

As with other devices, the 7000mAh battery with 80W SUPERVOOC is a strong suit. You’re fueled from dawn ’til dusk, with much to spare. Recharging takes a breeze, too.

Display

The OPPO Reno15 F has a 6.57-inch 120Hz display, with a 92.8% screen-to-body ratio. At least, that allows you to focus on content on the screen.

Content leans more towards the cooler tone, so you’ll have to adjust it manually if you want a warmer or more vivid look.

The 397ppi pixel density is fine to ensure sharper visuals, while the 1400 nits peak brightness is helpful outdoors.

Camera

The device’s 50MP main camera captures decent quality. The color science leans on being natural anew, without being too dull nor washed out. You can pull off smooth portraits too.

I hardly used the phone for stills as I focused on videos, but here are some samples, on the occasions I was able to take the handset with me:

The 50MP front camera is an intriguing add-on, as it is capable of up to 4K video and a wide 100° field of view.

What this does is it essentially removes the need to flip your phone for the popular “0.5” shots. And the quality doesn’t get compromised given the pixel count.

Here are some selfies from different focal lengths:

To its credit, filming with the back camera at 60fps does look and feel smooth, although it can be improved.

Same with the front camera; and the zoom range can be switched from 0.6 to 2x without cutting the recording.

Although, it’s still best to use a selfie stick or small tripod if you’re just after talking head videos.

Speaking of which, here are a few I’ve made with just this device:

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But for travel and on-the-go captures, as OPPO markets for the series in general, even the Reno15 F can cover a lot of background along with your or your groups’ faces.

Make no mistake, there are some useful AI editing features here. In particular, AI Portrait Glow gives your raw capture an effect to make it look it was taken with flash.

I do not recall the device heating up as well when taking many photos or videos, so you can say it’s more optimized for that task rather than gaming.

Connectivity issues

Meanwhile, AI LinkBoost 3.0, as in the case of the OPPO A6 Pro, doesn’t seem to punch above its weight either.

Once, I also played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and the session opened to a jittery start despite being on Wi-Fi and having a stable connection. I don’t know what triggered this.

Design, feel

We got the Aurora Blue variant which does kind of resemble the northern lights when you tilt the phone a certain way and when light hits its back panel.

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The cursive “Reno” on the large, protruding camera island gives it more style.

However, it’s all just aesthetics. On the downside, the phone is all sorts of slippery.

I couldn’t hold it properly without think of it slipping away from my hands; nor could I put it on my lap with confidence.

So I guess it’s good that it has structural integrity and waterproofing, because you’ll need that.

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The 6.57-inch body does have a good balance between being too compact and too large, like ultras and pro maxes.

It has a squarish body and has already adapted to the premium, aluminum frame look from the sides.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

Sadly, the OPPO Reno15 F 5G is a Swipe Left unlike its bigger, more capable siblings. There are plenty of plus points for the camera package but take that away, and I don’t see much difference between the Reno15 F and something like the A6 Pro.

Granted, the asking price of this phone will drop significantly in a few months. But throw in a little more, and you’ve got a legitimate mid-ranger that’s more on the premium side rather than the cheap end of the spectrum.