It’s that time of the year again for another product refresh. This time, vivo is stepping up their flagship midgrange with the newest V25 and V25 Pro.

But in this write-up, we’re totally focusing on the base variant — vivo V25.

Color-changing Glass 2.0

Being able to hold a vivo smartphone since 2020 starting with the V20 series and this 2022 with the recurrently-stated V23 5G, I attest that vivo continues to deliver better design implementation over the table in their continuous release of smartphones almost every quarter.

vivo pioneered some of the world’s technology trends being used around in smartphones today — the under-display fingerprint sensor and the pop-up camera mechanism.

This year, vivo has announced not just your usual gradient-y phone, they have unveiled the first phone with a color-changing back — and that’s the vivo V23 series.

With the updated “Photochromic version 2.0” found on the back of the vivo V25, it only takes a few seconds of UV light exposure to change its color. After three (3) minutes of exposure, the vivo V25 will get back to its original Sunrise Gold colorway — just like how we perceive the golden orange and reddish hues of a beautiful sunrise.

The best thing about vivo’s material design choice is that, its AG Fluorite Glass is resistant to scratches and fingerprints. And unlike plastic, this feels a lot more premium and refined.

Flipping the other side of the card shows a rather surprising display cutout. It honestly brought me some nostalgia as I immediately remembered the vivo V11 series (or the vivo X23 in China) where the Halo FullView Display first made its debut.

While it’s not the most modern-looking smartphone up front, its actually a lot brighter (literally). With almost half the jump from the V23 5G’s display that maxes out at 628 nits, the V25’s peak brightness of 1300 nits saves this phone from humiliation compared to its modern-looking yet humiliating display panels when hit by the direct sunlight.

Game-Changing Night Mode

Before you whine about the clickbait-y headliner, I’m speaking in behalf of other Android smartphones in the same price range as the V25.

Admit it or not, smartphones nowadays can take decent daylight photos. But indoor shots look awful regardless of how prominent or scarce an artificial source of light is to the subject. What more if its totally night?

When I took the vivo V25 onto the streets where natural light is totally absent, that’s when I realized that it offers promising night mode performance for what its worth and the lower-midrange class it belongs to.

When shooting photographs at night (whether it’s the vivo V25 or pretty much any phone that’s capable of doing so), I usually consider any of the five factors below:

Before doing and experimenting on certain photo angles, be wary of your environment and always prioritize your safety. Not all cities / places are designed to be safe from the prying eyes and pesky hands of pickpockets and thieves.

1. Lines and Curves

As a fan of architecture and everything in-between, I usually love taking photos of high-rise infrastructures especially at night where most display variations of light in different levels, colors, and styles.

Paired with a sky that’s hazy, it was able to imitate a photograph that would remind you of Beijing’s night skyline more than anything else.

In a cityscape, always find the angle that showcases or emphasizes the structure’s form.

While the vivo V25 doesn’t have a dedicated telephoto camera, it’s still able to produce this shot from a distance through 2x digital zoom.

2. Symmetry

Symmetry comes in when angled or skewed shots just doesn’t suit any image you took. It doesn’t always have to look like the other half is a total copy of the other. Rather, find a center point where you can capture a better perspective of the subject — such as the middle of the road, a building’s apex, or just two same structures facing each other.

With the camera grid and level meter options turned on, it’s better to see if you’re shooting symmetrical shots right before clicking the shutter button.

3. Coalescence

In an urban jungle, there will always be a fusion of organic forms and inanimate objects. That alone would already make your night photographs evoke feelings or convey story among other viewers.

The harmonious combination of concrete slabs alongside live creatures such as the movement of trees and shrubs, various motions of humans, or just some cute animals playing on the grass are enough to say a photo is alive. With V25’s AF (Auto Focus) and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) in the main camera, it can shoot photos minus the motion blur — like it was a time freeze.

4. Juxtaposition

Just like in a street photography-centric article I did back in 2019, I talked about how juxtaposition (or combining two contrasting elements in a single frame) is something you can do when taking photos — but of course that’s not limited to just streets.

In the particular photo above, I took the second photo just to show that even if you’re living or working in a high-rise building, you’re not a totally free person and is still locked up in that lifestyle or working condition.

Unlike the first staged photo, this one is rather candid and timeless. I was supposed to shoot the perspective of the street when a motorcycle suddenly went from my behind. The rider then made a sharp U-turn going back to the parking lot — and don’t ask me why because I really don’t know why.

The set above is all about human growth and life. From the ground-up we loved to goof around these colorful playgrounds. But as we all grow up, we dream of having the utmost security and financial stability just like what’s in the condominiums behind.

Lastly, the rain shower suddenly poured while I was shooting the night life around. Then again, my original plan was to just take a photo of the well-lit alleyway. But my sharp eyes suddenly focused onto that lonely, bright flower that’s blooming amidst the bad weather. Probably a good way to remind one’s self that there’s still hope even under the harshest conditions.

5. Illumination

No natural light can stop the vivo V25 from taking nighttime photos — well at least if the subject is self-illuminating.

Shooting light filaments or neon signs are subjective — moreover to the phone itself and how it will process the subject in focus.

Luckily, the photos above just proved that with the right amount of distance and lens opening, you can achieve shots that are well-focused. At the same time, the bokeh will get creamier the more you focus on a certain subject.

6. (Super) Macro

You would barely hear night-time photography and Macro mode in a single sentence. Still, here I am talking about them in one. Don’t be confused though as I didn’t say I simultaneously used Night Mode and Macro Mode because that’s merely impossible — at least in the vivo V25.

To support my claim in the previous section, you can also produce a good shot if it’s well-focused. Photographs taken during this time is definitely harder since it tries to gather more light. Definitively, shots looked better since the main sensor has the widest aperture out of the bunch.

BONUS: Food

A lot of people (me included) prefer shooting food out and about — where there’s plenty of sunlight that makes your food glimmer and shadows that make it aloof from its base backdrop (such as a wooden table, picnic rug, or even a marble tabletop).

Fortunately, even if fast food stores, cafés, and restaurants have one of the least favorable source of lights for food (I mean indoor lighting is already bad as it is), #foodporn captured on the vivo V25 proved me otherwise.

With the less bright and warm indoor lights above me, the phone was still able to produce mouthwatering 치킨 (chicken or chikin) without me ever touching the photo after being shot.

If that’s not enough, here’s my trifecta from the number one fast-food joint in the Philippines.

If those made you (figuratively) full, here’s a Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake to finish it off. After all, there should always be room for desserts. And if you’re not a fan of the sweet and sour fusion, just shush.

Night Portrait Master

It would be a total miss not to mention portraits. After all, vivo is proud to say that the V25 is a #NightPortraitMaster.

One feature that stood out to me the most is the ZEISS Portrait Effects found on the vivo X80 Pro that I used for some time. That feature is super handy that I always prefer using it when shooting portraits of my friends or myself even.

While it’s not present in the vivo V25 for the most obvious reasons, I still like how it’s able to give me these portrait effects. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it adds flair to your plain old portraits.

Switching to the front camera gives us a single camera house in the phone’s teardrop notch. While I miss that extra ultra-wide selfie shooter of the V23 5G (as the V25 cannot go wider), my selfies still looked good imo nonetheless.

And according to my friend (who’s a major #SelfieExpert), he liked how the photos looked even without the Beauty Mode turned on.

You lose some, you gain more

The vivo V25 is the successor to the vivo V23 5G that was launched around the early months of 2022. Even though it hasn’t even been a year after it was replaced, the vivo V25 definitely had to cut some corners such as the removal of that extra front camera with the Dual-Tone Dual Spotlight Front Flash, as well as the chipset used.

	V25	V23 5G
Display	6.44” FHD+ AMOLED 90Hz Halo FullView display 1300 nits peak brightness	6.44” FHD+ AMOLED 90Hz Halo FullView display 628 nits peak brightness
Processor	MediaTek Dimensity 900	MediaTek Dimensity 920
Configuration	8/128GB 8/256GB 12/256GB	8/128GB 12/256GB
Cameras	64MP f/1.79 wide PDAF, OIS + EIS 8MP 120º f/2.2 ultra-wide 2MP f/2.4 macro 50MP f/2.0 selfie	64MP f/1.89 wide PDAF, EIS 8MP 120º f/2.2 ultra-wide 2MP f/2.4 macro 50MP f/2.0 selfie 8MP f/2.28 ultra-wide selfie
Battery + Charging	4500mAh 44W FlashCharge	4200mAh 44W FlashCharge
Operating System	Android 12 FuntouchOS 12

Nevertheless, there are still more improvements like larger battery, brighter display, an extra configuration, and finally, a main camera with OIS and wider aperture.

Pricing and Availability

The vivo V25 is offered not just in the Sunrise Gold colorway (PH exclusive), there’s also a darker Diamond Black / Elegant Black variant and the India-exclusive Surfing Blue option.

 

In the Philippines, the vivo V25 is priced at just PhP 23,999 for a lone 8GB+256GB configuration — a major deduction from the PhP 27,999 launching price of its predecessor, the V23 5G.

• Shopee: https://bit.ly/vivo-V25Launch-SHP
• Lazada: https://bit.ly/vivo-V25Launch-LZD
• Website: https://bit.ly/vivo-V25Launch-WEB

It’s available for online purchase starting on September 24, 2022 (Saturday) via Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, and vivo’s e-store. Pre-ordering gives you freebies such as a SIM card, clock speaker, and a Bluetooth neck band — all until their supplies last.

For offline availability, you should further wait until October 1st (Saturday). You can also opt for several installment plans:

• 9, 12, 15, or up to 18 months in Home Credit
• 6, 12 or up to 24 months via credit card

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This feature is a collaboration between GadgetMatch and vivo Philippines.