Features

Vivo V5 Plus camera hands-on: Another perfect selfie?

Published

April 22, 2017

Isa Rodriguez

With the advent of Snapchat and cute doggie stickers that become instant face filters (sorely needed on days I’m not feeling a hundred percent), simple photo selfies have become a rarity in my camera roll — I mean, who has time to airbrush and edit said selfies after shooting?

The Vivo V5 Plus may just be a game changer. Dubbed the “Perfect Selfie” phone, Vivo promises a photo experience that optimizes, well, your face.

For two weeks, I used the Vivo V5 Plus (because you never know when you’re going to need a good selfie ??) and here are my thoughts.

First things first…

Look and feel

The Vivo V5 Plus is a familiar-looking phone. There’s no beating around the bush: It looks like an iPhone 7 and is roughly the same size as the iPhone 7 Plus.

This means that the phone is slightly bigger than the phone I’m used to.

The two things that occupied my hands for most of last week: the Vivo V5 Plus and my iPhone 6s

The Vivo V5 Plus is a literal handful. But if there’s one thing that my phone-toting experience has taught me, it’s really not the size but the performance that matters.

For a good few days, the V5 Plus remained untouched until I discovered the wonders it could do to my face.

Beauty mode: ON

The Vivo V5 Plus has two cameras in front for better selfies. Combined with its beautification mode, this becomes the true winning function of this smartphone.

The phone’s “Face Beauty” mode allows you to adjust the camera settings for “Buffing,” “Skin tone,” and “Whitening.” Armed with this precious knowledge, I set out to try using the cameras. Time for a shootout!

The rear camera

At 16 megapixels, the Vivo V5 Plus’ rear camera is less powerful than its front cams, but it does the job for your OOTDs:

Or those glorious food shots:

The brownie that I probably should not have eaten

And if you’re feeling artsy, those macro shots:

Perfect to show off your #tita hobbies like gardening

We now move on to this smartphone’s crowning glory (and my favorite feature).

The front-facing cameras

Now, this is where the Vivo V5 Plus shines; it has a dual front-facing camera setup that features a 20-megapixel and 8-megapixel pair of sensors. Since those numbers never meant anything to me (and I shall assume the same for you, dear reader), let me put that into perspective: The newly released Samsung Galaxy S8 has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera and my iPhone 6s, 5 measly megapixels.

I put the cameras to the test. (Fair warning: There will be a lot of selfies ahead, all taken in the interest of writing a fair and unbiased camera review.)

First up, a quick selfie indoors with minimal buffing.

And since the best place to take photos is an area with natural light (as per me in this previous article), I had to snap a photo outdoors, too.

Also with minimal buffing because we can’t all be perfect all the time.

The Vivo V5 Plus’ camera also adjusts depending on the lighting situation. Going against the light (a cardinal no-no in any photo taking endeavour) still resulted in good photos.

I liked this photo so much, it’s now my primary Facebook photo.

Not even nighttime can stop your selfie taking. Even with minimal light, the Vivo V5 Plus takes acceptable photos. The front-facing flash also acts as a fill light for when you need light in your life — specifically on your face, for selfies.

After two weeks of constant use, I have grown accustomed to great selfies with my face automatically beautified by this phone. My camera roll now houses selfies at an alarming number, and I’ve changed my Facebook display photo twice, both times with selfies from this smartphone’s camera. Honestly, I don’t know how I’m ever going back to life without the Vivo V5 Plus’ beauty mode.

Take your doggie filters; 200+ likes on my new profile photos say a lot.

This feature was produced in collaboration between GadgetMatch and Vivo.

[irp posts=”12138″ name=”How to take the perfect selfie”]

Features

GadgetSnaps: Malaysia shot on the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ 5G

Beyond charging tech

Published

April 24, 2024

GadgetMatch

The Infinix Note 40 Pro+ 5G prides itself in its charging technologies. But what about its camera capabilities? Well, here’s a quick round-up of the many photos we took around the time the Note 40 series was launched in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

The NOTE 40 Series features a 108MP main shooter with 3x Lossless Superzoom. It also has OIS for steadier shots when taking videos.

The edits applied to the photos here only some resizing and cropping to make the page easier to load. Take a look at all these sample shots

Infinix Note 40 Pro series launch day

Kwai Chai Hong/ ‘Little Ghost Lane’

Petaling Street (Chinatown)

In and around Central Market

Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery

Istana Negara entrance

Merdeka Square

Malaysian Bak Kut Teh and more

Petronas Twin Towers at night

Steady shooter

The Infinix Note 40 Pro+ 5G isn’t a stellar shooter. But at its price point, it’s pretty darn decent for capturing different scenarios. Take these photos into some editing software and you can certainly elevate their look.

The NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G is priced at PhP 13,999. It may be purchased through Infinix’s Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop platforms, where customers can get up to PhP 2,000 off. Additionally, the first 100 buyers can get an S1 smartwatch or XE23 earphones. Alternatively, customers may opt for the Shopee-exclusive NOTE 40 Pro (4G variant) for PhP 10,999.

Features

LOQ and LOAD: The Lenovo LOQ 2024 is for gaming and more

Your entry to PC Gaming

Published

April 23, 2024

GadgetMatch

Get your game on with the Lenovo LOQ 2024. This capable laptop is your entry point to PC Gaming and a lot more.

It comes an absolutely affordable price point: PhP 48,995.

You get capable hardware and the hood to support gaming and more. The Lenovo LOQ 15IAX9I runs on the 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and Intel Arc Graphics.

Those are key to bringing unreal graphics to this segment. Supporting latest tech like DirectX 12 Ultimate, players are able to enjoy high frame rates on the Lenovo LOQ.

Creating content? It comes with AI Advantage to help boost performance. Engines and accelerators boost the media processing workloads especially for creatives. It also works with Intel’s X Super Machine Learning, Leading to images that are as close to reality.

The laptop supports a configuration of up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD Storage.

As for its display, the device has a large 15.6-inch, Full HD panel that is more than enough for gaming, video editing, content consumption, and whatever else you do on a laptop. This display has 144Hz refresh rate, 300 nits brightness, and anti-glare.

Videos come out clear, crisp, and realistic. Audio is punchy and as loud as it gets. Windows Sonic elevates it more when you use headphones. And it just takes a few minutes to render HD videos on editing software.

As it runs on Windows 11, if you are going to use it for work, you can take advantage of various features. The Lenovo Vantage Widget is there for constant reminders, Copilot will help you organize your tasks, and Microsoft Edge is there for casual browsing.

There is an assortment of ports at the back for easy connectivity. And as this is meant for gaming, we put it to the test. Racing that looks better with high frame rate? Check. Shooting titles that require heavy work? Not a problem. You can play all your favorites and not worry about performance.

Best of all, it takes less than an our to juice up this laptop all the way to 100%.

So, whether you’re looking to get started with PC Gaming, or an upgrade for work and entertainment needs, the Lenovo LOQ has you covered.

This feature is a collaboration between GadgetMatch and Lenovo Philippines.