As one of the most popular, household names in the smartphone world, vivo definitely knows how to create a device that would please the mainstream market. From what it looks like, the vivo V40 5G is the same.
Upon first holding the device, it already felt promising. It’s incredibly sleek, has a curved display, ZEISS branding on the camera, and a large battery — all the usual recipe for an appealing device.
But in our vivo V40 5G review, we’ll dig deeper beyond the surface to see if it’s actually as impressive as it looks, see the pros and cons, and by the end, let you know if this is the device for you.
vivo V40 5G Specs
- Android 14, Funtouch OS 14
- Dual SIM, Dual standby
- 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, 2800 x 1260 pixel resolution, ~452ppi
- 120Hz refresh rate
- 100% DCI-P3, 105% NTSC, HDR10+, 4500-nit peak brightness
- 2.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 octa-core processor
- Adreno 720 GPU
- 12GB RAM
- 256GB/512GB internal storage, non-expandable
- 50-megapixel ultra-wide front camera
- 50-megapixel (f/1.8, OIS) + 50-megapixel (ultra-wide) rear cameras, ring fill flash
- ZEISS imaging
- IP68 dust and water resistant
- In-display fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
- HSPA+, 4G LTE, 5G
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
- Bluetooth 5.4
- GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BDS
- USB-C
- Dimensions: 164.16 x 74.93 x 7.58mm
- Weight: 190g
- Colors: Lotus Purple, Ganges Blue, Titanium Grey
- 5,500mAh non-removable battery, 80W FlashCharge wired charging
Design and Build Quality
After reviewing the vivo V series for years, we already expected that the company will nail the looks of the vivo V40 5G. And it didn’t disappoint. Like its predecessor, it sports an incredibly sleek and elegant design.
It is incredibly thin at only 7.58mm, which feels thinner thanks to the curved sides in the screen and rear panel. It is very comfortable in the hands and so thin it slides down easily into your pocket.
At 190g, the V40 5G is definitely not the lightest smartphone out there, but those sleek curves really make it feel lighter than what it actually is on paper. What’s more impressive is that it actually has a massive 5,500mAh battery, which is bigger than the usual 5,000mAh capacity we see on other devices. And to be honest, most of them feel bulkier than this one.
The build quality also feels great. No weird creaks or squeaks when we did a couple of light bend tests. But due to how thin it is, the whole frame did bend a little, but that’s to be expected and shouldn’t be an issue unless you deliberately try to break it.
In addition, it is now IP68 and IP69 rated for being dust and water-resistant. According to vivo, it can survive static freshwater with depth of up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes. That doesn’t mean you should use it underwater, but it should be able to survive being dropped accidentally into the pool or coffee spills.
The review unit we have is the Stellar Silver colorway. It’s also available in Nebula Purple and Sunglow Peach. The paint job makes fingerprint marks and smudges barely noticeable despite its glass rear panel.
vivo has also redesigned the camera island, which plays a significant role in how the device looks. It is now curvy and circular, unlike the square island on the vivo V30 5G.
The glass used on the front was not mentioned, but we don’t think it’s from Corning. On the upside, vivo has pre-applied a screen protector like they always do. It also has an all-black case, which has ample protrusion to protect the camera bump and camera island. I also appreciate that it’s not the usual jelly case.
Bottom line is, vivo nailed the design and build quality of the vivo V40 5G. No surprises here.
Taking a tour, we have the large 6.78-inch curved AMOLED screen on the front, with a punch-hole on top for the sharp 50-megapixel camera.
The top has a glass surface with the “Professional Portrait” branding and the speaker grills.
Left side is empty, while the right has the left side has the volume controls and lock/power button. The buttons are tactile and clicky, but they wobble a little, which I’m not a fan of.
We have the SIM tray, microphone, USB-C port, and primary loudspeakers at the bottom.
On the back, we have the said camera island, which has the 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera on top, the 50-megapixel main shooter below it, and the ring flash and color sensor.
Display and Audio
The display is one of the highlight features of the vivo V40 5G. It uses a 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen with a 2800 x 1260 pixel resolution, ~452ppi, 120Hz refresh rate, a whopping 4,500 nits of peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 coverage, 105% NTSC, and HDR10+ support. It also has SGS low flicker, low blue light, and low motion blur certifications.
What struck us the most is how incredibly bright it gets. We were able to comfortably take pictures by the beach, where the sun was very bright. Sharpness is also not a problem, even when the resolution is dialed down to power-saving mode (2400 x 1080).
Watching content was also great. The large and wide panel makes movies immersive, the colors pop, and the contrast is very deep.
The stereo speakers are great, but not the best we’ve tested. The stereo separation is good and really adds to the immersiveness, the bass adds depth to dialogues, albeit the mids and the trebles are not the cleanest.
Hardware and Performance
While there were upgrades in other departments, the chipset is still the same. The vivo V40 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor — the same one from the last generation. It is clocked at 2.6GHz, has an Adreno 720 GPU, 12GB of RAM, and an option between 256GB and 512GB of storage. Like its siblings, it lacks a microSD card slot for storage expansion.
vivo V40 5G Benchmark scores
With the existence of similarly priced, bang-for-the-buck phones sporting Snapdragon 8-series or Dimensity 9000-series chips, there’s no denying that the V40 5G doesn’t have the best processor in its price segment. Heck, it didn’t even receive an upgrade from the V30.
Still, the chipset held itself pretty well. The interface feels incredibly smooth, apps launch fast, scrubbing through social media feeds is butter, and taking pictures is very snappy. Performance is almost flagship-like, apart from the occasional hiccups reminding you that it’s not.
Now, let’s head to gaming. Genshin Impact had no issues under the default Low settings, but for the price, we should already be hitting Medium or High. Call of Duty under High/Max had no problems, as well as PUBG Mobile with Ultra HDR/Ultra.
Farlight84 was also smooth on HD/High settings. Mobile Legends was seamless with Super/High, as well as Asphalt Legends Unite under High Quality/60fps.
So, can the vivo V40 5G game? Definitely. We got consistently smooth frame rates with no overheating issues. Although for the price, we should already be able to set most triple-A games at higher graphics settings.
| Game | Graphics Settings |
| Call of Duty: Mobile | • Graphics Quality: High • Frame Rate: Max |
| Farlight84 | • Graphics Quality: HD • Dynamic Shadows: Enabled • Frame Rate: High |
| PUBG Mobile | • Graphics Quality: Ultra HDR • Frame Rate: Ultra |
| Genshin Impact | • Graphics Quality: Low (Default) |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | • Graphics Quality: Super • Frame Rate: Ultra • HD Mode: On |
| Asphalt Legends Unite | • Visual Quality: High Quality • Frame Rate: On |
Software and User Interface
The vivo V40 5G runs on Funtouch OS 14 that’s based on the latest Android 14 operating system.
vivo did an okay job designing the user experience, but we’ve definitely seen better. Thankfully, they are heavily customizable to fit your taste. You can change the icons and theme to personalize it to your liking.
Still, there are a couple of things we’re not a fan of. For one, the device is riddled with bloatware. They can be removed, but the process can be tiresome since there are a lot of them.
Also, it lacks some AI features that most of its competition already have. Things like an AI Text Generator and AI Image Generator are still not here. However, the photography department did get a lot of AI treatment. Plus, there’s what vivo calls AI SuperLink that improves connectivity using 360-degree antennas and network optimization.
iManager is a nice app for performance conscious peeps out there. It does a quick scan of the system so you can “Optimize” everything with the press of a button.
If you’re running out of space, you can use the Space cleanup feature to delete junk files and free up a bit of space.
The vivo V40 5G has both an in-display fingerprint scanner and face unlock. The fingerprint sensor worked incredibly fast while the face unlock was able to detect our face even in a pitch-black room thanks to the very bright screen acting as a flash.
Google Keyboard is set by default, which we prefer over other keyboards in the market as it has tons of features, access to gifs and emojis, and is comfortable to type on.
vivo’s Camera app is still as feature-packed as before, equipped with all the usual camera settings you would expect from a smartphone of its caliber.
Cameras
Similar to its predecessor, photography is a big deal for the vivo V40 5G. It has a 50-megapixel main camera that has a 1/56″ GNJ sensor with an f/1.86 aperture and optical image stabilization. It also has a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens with 119-degree FoV, f/2.0 aperture, and autofocus function. Another 50-megapixel sensor is on the front with a 92-degree wide view, f/2.0 aperture, and autofocus. The device also has ZEISS technology and AI Erase function.
Now, let’s inspect the sample photos. The daylight shots from the main camera look appealing with extra lively but still realistic colors, deep but not exaggerated contrast, and nice but not perfect dynamic range. Photos are detailed enough at first look, but closer inspection reveals a bit of softness.
Low-light shots are equally impressive. They are well-exposed with nice colors. Noise and grains are there, but barely noticeable unless you zoom in. Shutter speeds are also fast and Night Mode shots look clean thanks to the OIS.
Thanks to its sharp sensor, the main camera can shoot 2x photos with a 47mm equivalent. Image quality is the same and the details are not as bad as 1x shots cropped in.
It works best with the Portrait Mode, with a 50mm equivalent and a believable synthetic depth of field.
Now, let’s check out the ZEISS software features. the vivo V40 5G lets you mimic the look of different classic ZEISS portrait lenses. There’s the 24mm that’s great for landscape portraits, 35mm for street portraits, and the popular 50mm for classic portraits. The effects look really nice and add a creative look to your photos.
35mm Street Portrait
35mm Street Portrait
35mm Street Portrait
It also has a couple of ZEISS-inspired bokeh styles, which mimic the depth-of-field look of ZEISS lenses. There are a bunch of them to choose from and can really take your photos to the next level. The effects look believable, too.
Unfortunately, the device lacks a dedicated telephoto lens. However, it can still shoot faraway objects with a digital 470mm lens equivalent using the main sensor. Paired with the smart post-processing, the shots under these extreme cropping still looks nice and relatively clean.
Now, onto the 50-megapixel ultra-wide. Like the main camera, the colors are really nice, and the contrast and dynamic range are fine. Low-light shots are good, too, and barrel distortion is not an issue.
However, the details are a little off. For a 50-megapixel sensor, I expect the shots to look a bit sharper.
Let’s talk about the last camera, the 50-megapixel selfie snapper. The sample photos look well-detailed with nice skin tones. Low-light selfies look very passable, too.
What’s more, it uses a wide lens, so you can cram more people on a single shot. Great for group photos.
Of course, the device features a V series staple: the Aura Light. It works well in providing a soft, even lighting to your subject. The color temperature is also adjustable to match the subject’s skin tone.
Going back to the ZEISS features, you can easily access and customize them within the camera app. One of our favorites is the ZEISS Cinematic Portrait Video, which has an extra-wide aspect ratio and can intelligently detect subjects in a shots, tap on the face you want to focus, and let the app smoothly transition focus.
Speaking of recording, it can shoot videos up to a 4K resolution at 30fps.
Another cool camera app feature is the AI Erase, which works just like the other phones that already has this feature. AI Erase has two modes: Manual Select and Smart Circle.
The Smart Circle requires an internet connection but does a cleaner job of removing elements on a photo. Manual Select doesn’t need internet, but smudges are kinda visible when you look at it closely.
The vivo V40 5G clearly has good and flexible cameras, both in the hardware and software. But for the price, it would’ve been better to see a dedicated telephoto lens.
Battery and Charging
Even with their usual 5,000mAh batteries, the vivo V series has consistently received high scores in our battery tests. That’s why we’re not surprised when the vivo V40 5G scored even higher since it boasts a higher 5,500mAh capacity.
In PCMark’s synthetic battery test, it lasted for 20 hours and 50 minutes. It ranked second for having the best score from all the phones we’ve reviewed over the past year and is much higher than the average score of 14 hours and 20 minutes. For comparison, its predecessor scored 18 hours and 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, it lasted 22 hours and 15 minutes in our 1080p YouTube Video Loop Test, which we ran ’til the battery dropped from 100% to 0. That’s the highest score we got from all the phones we’ve tested over the past few months, and much higher than the average score of 15 hours and 35 minutes.
The charging tech is the same. It uses vivo’s 80W FlashCharge adapter. But due to the bigger battery, charging times are slightly longer, albeit the difference should be barely noticeable. A quick 15-minute charge provides 30% of the charge while a full charge takes around 59 minutes.
- 15mins: 0-30%
- 30mins: 57%
- 45mins: 83%
- 59mins: FULL
Verdict
So, is the vivo V40 5G a good phone? It is. But is it the best you can get for the price? It depends on what features you prioritize on a smartphone.
The vivo V40 5G is a great daily driver thanks to its sleek and light design that’s easy to carry around. It also has a large battery that can last for a day or two, paired with speedy charging, and now, an IP68/69 dust and water-resistance, so you don’t have to worry about accidental water exposure.
What’s more, it has flexible cameras that would please casual and semi-pro users, a large and bright screen for outdoor use and, finally, a decent pair of speakers.
It also provides a snappy, flagship-like performance for day-to-day tasks. Still, for the price, it should already have a more powerful processor that can handle games better. Plus, the bloatware is too much, the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens is disappointing, and it falls behind on AI offerings compared to the competition.
Overall, if you want a comfortable and reliable daily driver with a sleek design, long battery life, and snappy day-to-day performance, it’s hard to find anything with that combo than the vivo V40 5G. But if you want to have the best value for the price, there are a lot of better alternatives out there.
vivo V40 5G pricing and availability in the Philippines
The vivo V40 5G comes in 12GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB variants for a price of Php26,999 and Php29,999, respectively. They are now available in physical stores and retailers nationwide and through the vivo website, Shopee, and Lazada.
Pros
- Incredibly sleek, light design
- Vibrant, bright feature-packed displayIP68/69 dust and water-resistant
- Great, flexible cameras
- One of the best battery life, speedy charging
Cons
- Same chipset as its predecessor
- Riddled with bloatware
- Lacks AI Text Generator, etc.
- No dedicated telephoto lens