Review Verdict: The vivo V29 feels more like an iterative upgrade over the V27 in the Philippines with upgrades to the Aura Light, charging speeds, and display resolution. While we welcome a 512GB option, we felt that vivo’s decision to use the Snapdragon 778G is a slight downgrade.
Pros
-More usable Aura Light
-512GB storage is now an option
Cons
-Snapdragon 778G a slight downgrade
-Almost similar to the V27
It has only been months since the V27 made its arrival in the Philippines, and vivo followed it up with the V29. While it’s an incremental update at best, is the V29 worth considering given the upgrades it has over its predecessor?
vivo V29 Review Philippines: Design
The V29 looks very similar to the V27 with its curved sides and slim frame, However, vivo does not over any color-changing back option with the V29. Our review unit in Purple Fairy has a gradient finish underneath the glossy back panel with lines that mimic ocean waves. The most distinctive difference is with the camera module: with the V29, the LED flash and Aura Light are now two separate modules, and the 2-megapixel depth sensor is now a small dot right below the LED flash.
Despite having a similar frame as the V27, the V29 has a wider SIM card tray that’s part of its IP54 protection. It is nice that vivo is joining the trend of mid-range phones to offer at least an IP54 rating for water and dust protection–and we hope that this feature will become standard in its price segment.
Because of the separate Aura Light and IP54 rating, the V29 is actually a mm thicker and around 6 grams heavier than the V27–though you will barely notice any difference.
vivo V29 Review Philippines: Display and speakers
Despite looking like the same display used on the V27, the V29’s 6.78-inch 120hz curved AMOLED display has a higher resolution at 1.5k. This means that texts and images are more detailed on the V29’s display, though this comes at the expense of battery life since there’s no option to switch to Full HD+. Fortunately, you still get a 120hz variable refresh rate option that should help get a decent battery life despite the bump in display resolution.
One aspect that vivo’s V-series phones lag behind is with audio–with the V29, you still get a single, bottom-firing speaker and no stereo speaker option. It is something that we have been nitpicking with the past few generations of the V-series, and we hope that vivo makes that shift to stereo speakers with future models.
vivo V29 Review Philippines: Cameras
The V27 already has a great camera setup–particularly the 50-megapixel IMX766V main and 50-megapixel ISOCELL JN1 selfie shooters–and the V29 retains them. Though we wished that vivo upgraded the ultra-wide camera, the V29 takes great photos–and overall performance is similar to the V27 despite using a different processor.
Mirroring our general impressions of the V27’s cameras, the V29’s main camera is one of the better-performing cameras in the mid-range segment. Aside from providing a wide dynamic range and excellent low-light performance, vivo was able to retain the V27’s excellent 2x digital zoom on the V29, where you still get sharp and detailed photos even when zoomed in.
The ultra-wide camera has generally good performance–but most importantly has colors that are consistent with what we shot on the main camera. 8-megapixels may be limiting for ultra-wide cameras on a mid-range phone in 2023, but vivo manages to make the most out of the aging hardware with proper software optimization and post-processing.
Overall, the V29 retains the great camera performance of its predecessor, making it an equally capable phone for content creation–especially with its ability to shoot 4K30 video for both main and selfie cameras.
vivo has been consistent with the selfie performance of its selfies, and the V29 continues that tradition. With its 50-megapixel ISOCELL JN1 shooter, selfies are well-detailed in most lighting conditions.
The main selling point of the V29 is the updated Aura Light, which is now a separate module in the phone and has an adjustable color temperature. Being an independent module and having an adjustable color setting, users can be more creative in utilizing Aura Light for their portrait shots, or even for casual photography. Check out these photo samples we shot with Aura Light enabled:
vivo V29 Review Philippines: Internals and Battery Life
Unlike its predecessor, the V29 went for team Snapdragon with a 778G processor. You still get 12GB RAM, though storage is not limited to 256GB–this time, vivo is offering a 512GB storage option for those who need more space for their media, apps, and games. The V29 marks the first time that vivo offered a 512GB storage option on any of its offerings–even its flagship X-series phones are only available with up to 256GB storage in the Philippines.
While the Snapdragon 778G is not as powerful as the Dimensity 7200 found on the V27, this mid-range chip is one of the best Qualcomm processors to date. Aside from having an excellent ISP that natively supports three cameras, the Snapdragon 778G offers a well-balanced performance for both productivity and games. Make no mistake: despite that the Snapdragon 778G is more than 2 years old, it is powerful enough to run Genshin Impact at the highest graphics–though you are limited to 30FPS for the most optimal gameplay.
You also get a 4600mAh battery with the V29, though battery life is at 14 hours and 33 minutes. That is around an hour shorter than what we got on the V27, and this is because the V29 has a 1.5K display resolution that consumes more power than typical Full HD+ displays. Battery life could be better on the V29 if vivo updates it with an option to select between Full HD+ and 1.5k resolutions. To make up for the slightly shorter battery life, the V29 supports 80w charging, which can top up the battery in around 40 minutes.
vivo V29 Review Philippines: Wrap-up and Conclusions
The V29 honestly is very similar to the V27 that arrived in the Philippines a few months ago, and it balances the processor tradeoff for other upgrades like a higher-resolution display, faster charging speeds, an IP68 rating, and a more versatile Aura Light. Of the two variants offered in the Philippines, the V29 is a good choice if you are opting for the 512GB variant. If you are fine with 256GB storage and prefer a more powerful processor, the V27 is the better option.
vivo V29 Review Philippines: Price
The V29 is priced at Php 24,999 for the 256GB model and Php 26,999 for the 512GB model and is available at all vivo Concept Stores, dealers, and kiosks nationwide, as well as on Shopee, Lazada, TikTok, and vivo website.
