Meet V70 FE: vivo’s fashionable midrange powerhouse collab with POP MART Zsiga

Mom, wake up—vivo V70’s fashionable brother is here.

For many of us who cannot (or will never) splurge almost half a hundred thousand pesos for a slab (or even more for the flip and fold enthusiasts), we can only set our eyes on the budget smartphones. 

What could be considered a “budget” smartphone has changed over the years, but vivo’s new entry to the V series might just up the game even more.

This time, vivo partners up with POP MART’s Zsiga for the fashion-forward V70 FE.

200MP CAMERA EXCELLENCE

When phones first began, it was all about communication. Over the decades, as phones became more and more sophisticated, part of their core purpose has been to capture and treasure memories.

vivo seems to be fully aware of this, as their whole suite of camera tools provides the user with a wide range of scenarios.

This flexibility is made possible by vivo’s robust software and its capable camera hardware, as the vivo V70 FE features a 200-megapixel Ultra-Clear main camera with optical image stabilizatio, an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, and a 32-megapixel HD selfie camera.

With vivo V70 FE’s 200-megapixel camera, you can crop photos and still retain clarity.

Multi-focal portrait with 50mm (left) and 85mm (right)

The V70 FE’s camera module also allows for some stunning portrait photos, allowing up to an 85mm focal length. 

Some cameras at the same price as the V70 FE tend to have bokeh effects that can be a hit or miss, with the effect bleeding into the outline of the subject, giving an unnatural look. But the ZEISS-style bokeh effect in the V70 FE also looked natural, perfect for your Instagram summer post.

What I find even more astounding is how prepared this new vivo phone is for scenarios that not everyone might always find themselves in.

Need to capture the vibe of a film camera? Say no more, as this phone can do that with the Film Camera Mode 3.0, jam-packed with pre-made layouts and filters to imitate an instant film camera. Walking outside in the evening and suddenly thinking about taking a picture of the moon? There’s a “Supermoon” mode for that.

Do you happen to be underwater and want to take a picture of your diving lesson or swimming session? vivo’s “Underwater Photography” makes capturing one a breeze. Go up to 1.5 meters deep in water for 30 minutes and make sure to have this mode on. Only the volume rocker and power button can be used to operate the camera in this mode, and exiting it automatically prompts “Water eject” mode to eject any water that might have gotten inside the speakers.

Inside there is a 1/1.56-inch flagship-grade large sensor to capture as much light as possible and make each photo as clear and detailed even from afar.

Its video is just as impressive, capable of capturing a stable 4K video at 30 fps, using both optical and electronic image stabilization for a smooth video in those shaky situations.

It also features a ring-like flash module called Aura Light, designed to make your portraits look stunning, even in low-light situations.

And as I mentioned earlier, vivo collaborated with POP MART Zsiga with the V70 FE, so it comes with an exclusive Zsiga photo border.

SOFTWARE LIKE A BLITZ

Of course, what is even a smartphone nowadays without AI? The V70 FE comes packed with it, such as AI Magic Weather, which allows users to adjust the skies and light for the picture-perfect travel photo, or AI Magic Landscape, which can change the background to fit your particular taste. There is also the AI Four-Season Portrait to make sure every season is any season.

Without AI Magic Weather (left), with Morning Glow (middle), and evening glow (right)

But the one thing I would like to focus on is its Telephoto Enhancement.

Usually, when you would use digital zoom of up to 30 or sometimes 50x in other midrange phones, the photos tend to be crap, to say the least. But here, with the aid of Telephoto Enhancement, a 30x digital zoom might as well be similar to taking a no-zoom, close-up photo.

Photo from more than 50 meters away without Telephoto Enhancement (left) and with Telephoto Enhancement (right)

vivo calls it “AI 30x Super Zoom,” which removes any noise, blur, or unnecessary artifacts and makes your photo appear as you see it with your own eyes. I do not know what kind of technical magic they placed into this thing, but to call it modern wizardry would be an understatement.

The V70 FE is powered by vivo’s own OriginOS 6, based on Android 16.

Love it or hate it, AI will be here for a long time, and vivo makes sure to give the user a useful and worthwhile experience with it. There is AI Erase to remove unwanted objects in your photos, AI Color Adjustment to help you fine-tune your photos, and AI UHD to help you further enhance the quality of your photos.

Beyond the AI stuff, the software experience has been incredible so far. It is lag-free, and OriginOS 6 offers a truckload of customization and features. The phone came with a lot of preloaded apps, but the good news is that almost all of them can be deleted if the user wishes for a simpler experience.

EVEN MORE POWER

Any software cannot stand alone on its own; it must be coupled with equally capable hardware. The V70 FE comes packaged with a 4-nanometer MediaTek Dimensity 7360-Turbo at its heart. You can get it with either 8GB or 12GB RAM (with additional 8GB or 12GB extended RAM, respectively), but both come with 256GB storage.

What this ensures is a powerful, lag-free performance, even for intensive tasks such as gaming.

You can play your typical MOBA or first-person shooter games with it and not worry too much about anything. I was honestly (and pleasantly) surprised that it was even able to handle heavy games. I tried playing Diablo Immortal with vivo’s Ultra Game Mode turned on, and it was able to handle it well.

And with great performance comes the need for great power—and by that, I mean an excellent battery, which, fortunately, the vivo V70 FE didn’t cut corners on.

It has a 7000mAh BlueVolt battery, which, according to vivo, can deliver up to 43.8 hours of YouTube streaming or 13 hours of playing Mobile Legends. And even if you drain your battery, the V70 FE also comes with 90W FlashCharge, which can power up your phone from 0 to 100 percent in around an hour of charging. So far, all their claims seem to be in the ballpark of real-life usage, as I found myself barely needing a charger at the end of the day even after using the phone as a power user.

The screen features a stunning 6.83-inch Ultra Clear AMOLED display for those deep blacks and vibrant colors that, at the same time, saves on your battery. With a resolution of 2800 x 1620, and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, every motion on the screen feels crisp and fluid.

FINAL VERDICT

If you are not too hung up on being far from either the Apple or Samsung ecosystem, the vivo V70 FE is perfect for you, regardless if you are a casual user or a power user. It can handle the day-to-day usage while also having enough power to accommodate the needs of the heavy users.

And the good thing about it is that it’s budget-friendly, especially when compared to other (more expensive) phones that offer equal performance. It starts at P25,999 for the 8GB RAM model and P29,999 for the higher 12GB RAM.

It comes in three colors: Muse Purple, Ocean Blue, and Urban Silver. My review unit was Muse Purple, which changes shade as you move it around, kind of like those holographic cards you play with as a kid (or as an adult; I’m not going to judge).

You can pre-order today until April 24 at vivo stores nationwide. Enjoy a limited-time vivo VIP Card with a 6-month extended warranty and 6-month broken screen insurance, a limited edition vivo Buds Air3, a Php 1,000 discount, and free Globe prepaid SIM with 1-year Unli 5G.