We recently spent some time with the Vivo V27 Pro, and we were impressed with its performance and photographic abilities, especially considering its relatively affordable price point.

The sticking point with that device, though, is that it’s pretty hard to get your hands on – unless you happen to live in India. The phone’s non-Pro sibling, however, has received a much wider release, initially launching in 25 markets globally.

The Vivo V27 carries an attractive price tag of around $399 and features the same great cameras, in an almost identical chassis, but its processor gets a downgrade.

We wanted to find out how the cheaper option stacks up, so we’ve been using it as our main device. Here’s what we found out.

Design

• Dimensions: 164.1 x 74.8 x 7.36 mm
• Weight: 182 grams
• Colours: Emerald Green, Magic Blue, Flowing Gold, Noble Black
• UV reactive Fluorite AG / Emerald Glass back

The Vivo V27 shares the same chassis as the V27 Pro, the dimensions are identical, as is the weight, but you get a few more colour options on this model. We have the Emerald Green version in for testing, and it’s a very attractive look that’s quite different to anything we’ve seen before.

This colourway has some subtle marble-like veins running through the upper portion of the back panel, with a pale green gradient that fades across the length of the device. That is, until you place it in direct sunlight.

The V27 is UV-reactive, just like the Pro model, and last year’s V25. When the sun hits it, it quickly turns to a uniform shade of dark green, and if you put it back in your pocket, or indoors, it’ll fade back to normal after 5 minutes or so.

There’s not much point to this, but it’s a neat party trick, and if you often get bored with the colour of your phone, maybe this is the feature for you.

The Emerald Green option has a different type of glass back to the rest of the lineup, it’s a more traditional glossy back, as opposed to the velvety-feeling Fluorite AG back panel that we tried on the Pro. We prefer this option as it’s more grippy, and less nerve-wracking to use without a case. Though it should be noted that the standard clear TPU case is included with this model, too.

As we saw with the Pro, the V27 is exceptionally slim, and the curved edges make it feel slimmer still. It’s still a sizable slab, but its thin profile and light weight mean that it feels great in your pocket.

Display and speakers

• 6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED display
• 2400 x 1080 resolution
• Curved edges
• Single speaker

Moving on to the display, and again we find that it’s identical to the V27 Pro, and that’s no bad thing. Its 120Hz refresh rate makes everything feel smooth and responsive, while a decent brightness output contends with sunlight well.

The same colour reproduction controls are present on this model, too, offering three basic presets and the ability to tweak the temperature of each. There are also low blue-light modes available, if you’re concerned about such things, and the phone carries an SGS Eye Care certification.

The speaker also remains unchanged, and just like the Pro model, it fails to impress. It’s loud and clear, but it’s lacking in bass, and it’s a single speaker, so you don’t get any kind of stereo effect.

When switching to this phone from a flagship device, it’s surprisingly the speaker that bugged us the most. It’s not terrible, by any means, but the lack of stereo sound when watching YouTube around the house was hard to get used to.

Hardware and software

• MediaTek Dimensity 7200
• Up to 12GB RAM (extendable) and 256GB storage
• 4600 mAh battery, 66W wired FlashCharge
• Funtouch OS 13, based on Android 13

This is where things start to get interesting, as the Vivo V27 utilises the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 processor, instead of the Dimensity 8200 that’s found in the Pro model.

In day-to-day use, the 7200 chipset performs well. There were a few instances of animations stuttering, and one brief freeze-up over the course of our testing, but for the vast majority of the time, the phone felt nippy and responsive. You really have to be looking for the differences to notice.

When loading up some games, however, the performance disparity is much more apparent. On the Pro model, we were able to run Genshin Impact at 60fps high settings, but to get a smooth experience on the V27, we needed to drop down to 30fps low settings.

There’s a game boost mode, which attempts to optimise the system for the best gaming performance, but even with this activated, we weren’t able to play at 60fps on anything but the lowest graphical settings.

On the plus side, the battery life seems to be even better on this model. It always got us through the day, even when we were travelling, with lots of screen-on time and GPS navigation. With light usage, you could likely squeeze two days from a single charge – impressive stuff.

When it finally conks out, the Vivo V27 charges quickly with the included 66W wall adapter. It’s not up there with the 120W charging of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, but it’s plenty fast enough for us – getting up to around 50 per cent in just 20 minutes.

The software experienced is unchanged on this model, which means that you get some pretty handy features but also much more bloatware than we’d like to see. As usual, most of this can be removed or hidden away, but it’s an annoyance.

Cameras

• 50MP OIS main (Sony IMX766V)
• 8MP ultra-wide
• 2MP super macro
• 50MP selfie camera with autofocus

The cameras are, you guessed it, the same as the ones on the Vivo V27 Pro. This means that you get a brilliant main shooter and one of the best selfie cameras that we’ve tested on any device.

The ultra-wide and macro are very underwhelming, but the ultra-wide, at least, comes in handy from time to time. You’ll get the best results by sticking to the main camera and the selfie shooter.

The shooting experience on the V27 is essentially identical to the Pro model, we didn’t notice any significant shutter lag or much difference in processing time, despite the weaker processor. And that’s exactly what you’d hope for.

To recap, the standout feature is the 50MP selfie camera with autofocus, which delivers some of the best-looking front camera shots of any phone that has crossed our desk.

The main camera is Sony’s IMX766V, and it delivers great shots with plenty of detail and lively vibrant colours. As usual, Vivo’s image processing is a highlight, and there are endless filters, effects and beautification options to play with in the camera app.

Low-light shots are prone to motion blur, but the night mode does a great job of retaining details and delivers good dynamic range.

For video, you can shoot up to 4K 60fps on both the main camera and the selfie camera, and both benefit from solid image stabilisation – which is a rarity in this price category.

Verdict

As you may have gathered by this point, the Vivo V27 is essentially the same phone as the V27 Pro. To summarise the differences, it has a slower processor, more colour options and a lower MSRP.

Crucially, it’s available in many more regions than the Pro model, so depending on where you live, you might not have the option to choose the pricier model.

Initially, we were concerned that the slower chip would result in a significantly worse experience, but that has not proven to be the case. In most scenarios, using the V27 feels exactly like using the V27 Pro.

It’s only the gaming performance that suffers to a significant degree, and if you don’t play graphically intensive mobile games, then that won’t matter in the slightest.

On the plus side, the battery lasts even longer on this model, which is very impressive, as it was already great on the Pro. We also think that the additional colour options look lovely, and serve to make this phone stand out from its competitors.

If you’re shopping for a photographic performer in this price range, and especially if you’re an avid selfie snapper, the Vivo V27 won’t disappoint.