Vivo’s V20 Pro was a good mid-range smartphone, as we concluded in our detailed review. However, Vivo skipped a ‘Pro’ branded model in mid-2021 and only announced the V21, which was followed by the more affordable Vivo V21e two months later.
It’s been a year since the V20 Pro was released, and now Vivo has finally announced the V23 Pro. It’s packed with new hardware and features a new design. So let’s take a closer look at this Vivo V20 Pro update and find out what’s new.
The Vivo V23 Pro has a 6.56-inch AMOLED screen with a medium-sized notch on the top.
The Vivo V23 Pro is available in two finishes – Stardust Black and Sunshine Gold. There are two RAM and storage variants to choose from, the basic variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage which costs Rs. 38,990, and the top of the line with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, priced at Rs. 43,990. I received a Sunshine Gold drive with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Like the Vivo V21 and V20 Pro, the V23 Pro has a slim, premium-looking design. The Vivo V23 Pro, unlike the V23, has a polycarbonate frame instead of metal, but gets a glass back, which looks quite premium with its matte texture. The gradient finish of the rear window appears to change color from gold to blue when viewed from different angles.
The Vivo V23 Pro has a frosted glass back panel that appears to change color when viewed from different angles.
While the V23 Pro looks slim at 7.36mm, it’s also quite light at 171g. There is a full-HD + notched AMOLED screen with 90Hz refresh rate, curved on the left and right sides. The sides of the display glass curve into the frame and then meet the back panel, which makes the phone look very thin. However, the phone’s rear camera module protrudes a few millimeters.
The Vivo V23 Pro has two front selfie cameras along with two front LED lights
The medium-sized notch at the top of the screen has two front cameras; a 50 megapixel main camera and an 8 megapixel ultra wide angle camera. They are accompanied by two LED flash units that are well hidden in the slim panel on either side of the camera setup. The rear module includes a 108 megapixel main camera, an 8 megapixel ultra wide-angle camera, and a 2 megapixel macro camera.
The phone comes in a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC, which is also available on the OnePlus Nord 2, Poco F3 GT and Vivo X70 Premium. There’s a dual-SIM tray that has room for two Nano-SIMs (with dual 5G standby), but there’s no room for a microSD card. The phone also has a 4,300mAh battery and Vivo includes a 44W quick charger in the box.
The Vivo V23 Pro has three rear cameras, including a macro camera
The Vivo V23 Pro, like previous models in the V series, is all about slim design and selfie cameras. However, this time around Vivo added a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC and a 108 megapixel rear camera to the mix to make things more interesting. Although I expect better performance compared to the Vivo V20 Pro (Review) and V21, the V23 Pro will have to take on mid-range devices like the OnePlus Nord 2 (Review) and the Poco F3 GT (Review) along with some smartphones premium as the Galaxy S20 FE (Review) (and the upcoming Galaxy S21 FE). Vivo has also incorporated Android 12 into its custom Funtouch OS 12 skin, so it will be interesting to see how Google’s Material You design philosophy merges with Vivo’s Funtouch OS. Stay tuned for my full review, which will be out shortly.
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