The vivo V50 makes a striking first impression, blending sophisticated design with advanced photography capabilities. Co-engineered with ZEISS, it positions itself as a premium portrait photography smartphone, promising a seamless and enjoyable user experience. From its immersive curved display to its AI-powered camera system, the V50 is designed to appeal to casual users and enthusiasts who value high-quality imaging and smooth performance. vivo has infused this device with innovations beyond raw specifications, focusing on intelligent optimisations that enhance everyday usability.
Photography takes centre stage with the V50, offering an advanced imaging system that captures stunning shots in any environment. Beyond its camera prowess, the device boasts a refined build, a powerful battery, and an intuitive user experience, making it a compelling choice in a crowded smartphone market. Whether you’re capturing memories, gaming, or staying productive, the V50 is designed to keep up with the demands of modern life.
A bold design with refined details
The vivo V50 has refined aesthetics, balancing elegance with functionality. Available in Satin Black and Ancora Red, it exudes luxury while maintaining a lightweight and ergonomic form. Satin Black offers a sleek, understated look with a subtle metallic sheen, while Ancora Red stands out with a deep, sandstone-inspired hue that adds a sense of bold sophistication. The 4D infinity curved screen enhances the device’s premium feel, featuring a rounded middle frame with a 41° golden curvature that makes it comfortable to hold. Despite housing a large battery and high-end camera system, the V50 remains impressively slim, measuring 7.39 mm (Black) and 7.57 mm (Red, Purple), making it one of the thinnest devices.
The button placement is intuitive, with the power and volume buttons neatly positioned along the right edge, ensuring easy access. Inspired by luxury timepieces, the dual-ring camera module adds an extra layer of sophistication, featuring a diamond-patterned texture that subtly reflects light. Unlike many competitors that sacrifice aesthetics for functionality, the V50 manages to strike a perfect balance. The IP68 and IP69 ratings make it exceptionally durable, offering protection against dust and water and even allowing for underwater photography. Whether in a café, on a hike, or caught in the rain, the V50 is built to withstand real-world conditions without compromising its sleek design.
An immersive display for all occasions
The vivo V50 features a 6.77-inch AMOLED display, delivering rich colours, deep blacks, and excellent visibility in all lighting conditions. Whether watching a film, scrolling through social media, or playing games, the 120 Hz refresh rate ensures a fluid and responsive experience. Under direct sunlight, the peak brightness of 4500 nits makes reading text and viewing content effortless. Even during an afternoon stroll in the bustling streets of Bangkok, the display remained impressively clear, showing every detail with crisp precision.
Streaming high-resolution videos on the V50 is an immersive experience, thanks to its P3 broad colour gamut support, which enhances vibrancy and contrast. Watching a travel vlog of Thailand’s floating markets on the phone felt lifelike, with every colour and shadow rendered accurately. The curved edges of the display contribute to an almost bezel-less look, making the experience even more engaging. The capacitance multi-touch response also adds to the device’s smooth operation, making every interaction seamless. From casual browsing to intense gaming, the V50’s display elevates visual engagement to a new level.
Power-packed performance with AI intelligence
Under the hood, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor ensures fast and efficient performance, capable of handling demanding applications without lag. Paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage, the V50 effortlessly juggles multiple tasks, from video editing to gaming. Running graphic-intensive games such as Genshin Impact and PUBG Mobile felt smooth, with no noticeable frame drops. The AI-driven Funtouch OS 15, built on Android 15, further enhances the user experience by intelligently managing background apps and optimising battery life.
Throughout a full day in Bangkok, jumping between navigation apps, photography, and messaging, the V50 never showed signs of slowing down. AI optimisations help prioritise tasks, ensuring that frequently used apps remain responsive. The phone’s advanced cooling system prevents overheating even during extended gaming sessions or 4K video recording.
Capturing Bangkok’s beauty with ZEISS-powered cameras
The vivo V50 delivers an impressive photography experience, but it does not quite match the level of more expensive flagship models. The ZEISS co-engineered camera system brings professional-grade features, yet some trade-offs are noticeable, particularly in over-saturation and post-processing enhancements. During testing in Bangkok, the V50 handled diverse lighting conditions well, but colours often appeared more vibrant than in real life. While this makes social media-ready images without much editing, it may not suit users who prefer a more natural colour profile. The detail retention is excellent in well-lit environments, and the 50 MP ZEISS OIS main camera ensures clarity, even when capturing intricate details in architecture or bustling street markets.
A walk through the market provided a great opportunity to test the main camera’s sharpness. The market’s vibrant stalls, filled with local snacks and handmade crafts, were captured with high clarity. However, the AI-driven enhancements tended to over-boost the reds and yellows, making food look more exaggerated than in real life. A bowl of steaming tom yum soup, photographed in Food Mode, had rich textures, with the fiery broth looking even more intense than it appeared to the eye. While this effect adds drama to food photography, some images required tone adjustments to restore a more balanced colour profile.
Night mode offered an impressive level of brightness but struggled with retaining natural tones. A shot taken at Big C Supercenter in Ratchadamri showcased the phone’s ability to brighten dark areas while keeping highlights under control. The neon lights from surrounding buildings stood out brilliantly against the dark sky, but finer textures in shadows sometimes lost detail. The CIPA 4.0 DSLR-level stabilisation worked well in keeping handheld shots sharp, ensuring that movement didn’t introduce blurring. However, in extremely dim conditions, some noise became apparent, and the V50’s night shots, while good, lacked the dynamic range of flagship competitors.
The 50 MP ultra-wide camera captured expansive views of Wat Arun and Wat Pho, allowing intricate details of the temple’s architecture to be framed beautifully. However, some distortion was noticeable around the edges, and while the ultra-wide mode added drama to scenic captures, the processing slightly reduced overall sharpness. The 50 MP ZEISS Group Selfie Camera proved effective in taking wide-angle selfies, particularly at a rooftop café in Sukhumvit, where multiple people fit into the frame without squeezing in. The AI Aura Light Portrait 2.0 was beneficial in low-light selfies, offering softer lighting that felt more natural compared to harsh LED flashes found in some phones.
For video recording, the 4K recording capabilities on all cameras made it easy to document Bangkok’s dynamic energy. Shooting a tuk-tuk ride through the city’s streets demonstrated the V50’s effective stabilisation, keeping footage steady even with constant movement. However, colours in video mode leaned towards oversaturation, especially with bright neon signage. While content creators will appreciate the punchy visuals, users seeking a more cinematic or natural look might need to tweak settings or apply post-processing adjustments.
Battery life that keeps up with your adventures
With a 6000 mAh BlueVolt battery, the V50 is designed to last. A full day of sightseeing, photography, and social media use in Bangkok left the phone with nearly 35% battery by nightfall, a proof to its efficiency. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor plays a key role in power management, ensuring the device only consumes what is necessary. Even after hours of navigating through Google Maps, capturing 4K videos, and streaming music on Spotify, the V50 continued to perform without the anxiety of needing a power bank.
Charging is equally impressive. The 90W FlashCharge technology took the battery from 0 to 50% in just 20 minutes, making it perfect for those constantly on the move. Even with power-hungry tasks such as gaming or recording long video clips, the V50 rarely needed a midday top-up. Its ability to keep up with heavy usage makes it an ideal companion for travellers, professionals, and content creators.
The verdict: vivo V50
The vivo V50 strikes a balance between design, performance, and imaging capabilities, making it a strong contender in the mid-range smartphone category. Its ZEISS-powered cameras deliver impressive portrait and daylight shots, though the over-saturation in colours and limitations in low-light performance keep it a step behind true flagship models. That said, the AI enhancements, 4K video recording, and versatile camera setup make it a great choice for users who prioritise social media-ready images and engaging content creation.
Beyond photography, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor provides smooth everyday performance, handling multitasking and casual gaming without issues. The 6000 mAh battery ensures long-lasting usage, while the 90W fast charging minimises downtime. However, the device lacks flagship-level speed and premium features like higher-end displays or top-tier computational photography.
If you’re looking for a smartphone that excels in aesthetics and portrait photography, the vivo V50 is a stylish and capable option. It may not compete with the highest-end flagships in raw power, but for users who want a well-rounded, photography-focused device with premium design elements, it remains a solid mid-range choice.
