Review Verdict: While the V30e gets a few necessary upgrades, vivo had to drop some features found on its predecessor to give it a more affordable price tag. 

Pros

• Insane battery life
• IP64 rating
• Can now shoot 4K videos

Cons

• OIS has been omitted
• Downgraded selfie camera
• Less physical RAM than V29e

vivo finally completes the V30 series in the Philippines with the arrival of the V30e. Despite looking very different from its siblings, the V30e follows the same philosophy of the Vxxe models in offering a feature-packed set at an under Php 20k price point. We’ve been using the V30e for over a week in the Philippines, and here are our insights on this new mid-range device from vivo:

 

vivo V30e Review Philippines: Design

Unlike previous Vxxe models, the V30e goes for a dual-curved design that helps make it have the same thickness despite packing a physically larger battery inside. The frame is made of plastic, while the back panel is made of glass–at least for the white colorway of our review unit. The circular module in the back has two cameras and the same Aura Light design as the V29e.

While the button and port layout remains the same–which also means a single speaker setup still–vivo finally added an IP64 rating to the V30e, which is a feature we’re glad to see on this mid-range phone. Another noteworthy addition to the V30e is a slot for a MicroSD card, allowing to you expand storage according to your needs.

 

vivo V30e Review Philippines: Display and speakers

The V30e uses the same 6.78-inch display found on the V27, so you’re getting a 120hz refresh rate, Full HD+ resolution, and a high 1300nits peak brightness. The V30e has a great choice of display, and echoing our sentiments with the V27 it’s a high-quality display that has deep black and vibrant colors that make it perfect for watching videos.

Our frustration with the V30 and V30 Pro is the same with the V30e, as you only get a single bottom-firing speaker with it.

 

vivo V30e Review Philippines: Cameras

While the V30e retains the same 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera that’s used on a number of its V series phones, the main camera uses an IMX882 sensor, which is said to be similar to the LYT-600 that’s used on several mid-range phones.

The IMX882 is a decent sensor, but vivo omitted OIS on the V30e that’s available in the Philippines–the India version does have OIS. Despite that, we noticed that photos looked better compared to the V29e’s 64-megapixel shooter.

You still get the same, aging 8-megapixel sensor for the ultra-wide camera. While vivo does a good effort in maximizing the performance of its ultra-wide camera, we think that vivo (and other brands) should move on and start using a different sensor for the main camera.

One major upgrade of the V30e is that you can use it to shoot 4K video, However, you have to be mindful of handheld shooting as vivo omitted OIS on the V30e. Also strange is the selfie camera, where the V30e settles for a more conventional 32-megapixel selfie shooter without eye-tracking AF.

 

vivo V30e Review Philippines: Internals and Battery

The V30e is powered by a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor that’s paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage. While the RAM has been reduced, the V30e makes up for it by having expandable storage via MicroSD.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is the successor of the popular Snapdragon 695, and benchmarks show improvements in CPU performance. While it trails behind other popular mid-range chips like the Dimensity 7050, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is good for its price point. The processor is good enough for games as well–you can check out our deep dive here to know more about the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1‘s performance.

 

The V30e has a huge 5500mAh battery inside its 7.7mm thin body, and its battery life is insane: we got a score of 24 hours(!) in PCMark’s battery benchmark, making the V30e the longest-lasting phone we’ve ever tested in 2024 to date. That out-of-this-world battery life translates to around 2 days of use–or even stretch it further to 3 days if you’re a light user.

 

vivo V30e Review Philippines: Wrap-up and Conclusions

While it has a lower SRP than the V29e, vivo had to make a few compromises to the V30e to maintain that pricing. However, it makes up for it with quality-of-life upgrades with the processor, video recording capabilities, and an IP rating, while its biggest upgrade over the V30e’s predecessor is the display and the sensor used for the main camera.

vivo V30e Review Philippines: Price

The V30e is priced at Php 17,999 and is available in Shopee, Lazada, TikTok shop, and authorized vivo stores nationwide.