Appearance and Display

Vivo has tried to replicate the design of its earlier devices in the new V3 Max, sporting a metallic frame with the company's silver logo encrusted on the back of the device.

The company has however made a design upgrade this time, with the device exhibiting curved edges as compared to a regular rectangular housing, which Vivo came up with in its earlier smartphone versions.

The phone is lightweight and fits comfortably in your palm, with a fingerprint scanner mounted at the rear center of the device. The 13MP primary camera rests at the top left corner of the rear panel with an LED flash integrated just below the lens.

The power as well as the volume rocker buttons are mounted on the right end of the device, while the hybrid SIM card slot is nestled at the left side of the smartphone. The speakers as well as the micro-USB charging slot are present at the bottom of the device, while a 3.5mm headphone jack rests at its top.

On the display front, the V3 Max is integrated with a full HD 5.5inch screen with Corning Gorilla glass protection. The screen offers a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels with a pixel density of 401ppi and does a neat job while viewing full HD videos or swiping through high resolution pictures. The 5.5inch screen size though did felt a bit too large to be operated single handedly at times.

At the top left of the device, lies a front facing 8MP camera which performed fairly well while capturing selfies even in low lighting conditions.

Camera Performance

Vivo has done a good job in advancing the optics of the device's 13MP primary camera as well as its secondary front facing 8 MP camera. The lens managed to capture some exceptionally well pictures, oozing vibrant contrast and colors.

The camera's ability to absorb significant light, even in dim lighting environments also marked an impression during its camera test. Geo-tagging, face detection, panorama, HDR, touch focus are some of the camera features which come pre bundled with the device. On the video mode, it is capable of recording full HD 1080P videos at 30 frames per second, which is just enough for your day to day shooting requirements, of course if you are not a professional videographer

The front facing 8MPcamera, as mentioned performs its job fairly well capturing crisp selfies and enabling a luminous experience while video chatting.

Hardware Performance

The device operates smoothly and reflects no lag, despite what you throw at it. The combination of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, clocking at 1.8GHz, with 4GB of RAM, generating power below the hood is good enough to play full HD videos or run heavy gaming applications like Asphault 8, NOVA 3 Freedom edition seamlessly.

Vivo is providing 32GB of internal storage in the device which can be further expanded up to 128GB via a micro SD card. The speakers at the bottom also do a fair job (though not outstanding) once you hit the volume rocker to listen to your favorite melodies.

What is also impressive about the device is the ultra-fast response of its fingerprint scanner, which unlocks the device in a fraction of a second, the moment you rest your recognizable finger on it.

The smartphone also comes pre bundled with an OTG (On The Go) cable, with which you can directly connect your external hard drive or pen drive and browse as well as play its contents. The phone's 3000mAh battery offers a power-back up of around a day with average use, however you will have to plug in the charging cord after every 4-5 hours while watching videos or playing games.

Operating System

The phone runs on Vivo's Funtouch OS2.6, which is a customized version of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop operating system. It is not difficult to recognize that the customized user interface has replicated some iOS components like the spotlight search feature or the absence of the App tray. Nevertheless, the customized OS is smooth and easy to operate.

The device box comes equipped with the charger along with a cable, an OTG cable, an earphone and a pin to pull out the Hybrid SIM slot.
Verdict

At a price of INR 23,980, picking up the Vivo V3 Max isn't bad deal as the device will not disappoint you with its overall performance. A slight reduction in its price, however will definitely place it in the list of top mid-range smartphones. 

TAGS: Vivo V3 Max, 4GB RAM, Android 5.1.1 Lollipop Update