Vivo liked what Apple did with the iPhone 13’s squared-off body so much, it decided to have a go itself, and the result is the Vivo V23 5G. There aren’t many phones with flat sides, making it hard not to compare the V23’s design with the iPhone 13 (and iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 before it), but is there anything more to the phone?
The Vivo V23 5G launches alongside the Vivo V23 Pro, a higher specification device that doesn’t share the same flat-sided design, and instead goes for a super thin and light case. The V23 is similarly lightweight at just 179 grams, and also very thin at 7.39mm. However, the glossy, square sides make it slippery and quite uncomfortable to grip, accusations also raised against the iPhone 13.
The V23 5G you see in our photos is the Sunshine Gold color, which sparkles and shifts in color when exposed to sunlight, and it’s very pretty indeed. The camera module isn’t pretty, though, and is a simple oblong block in the top corner with three cameras set inside it. A 64-megapixel main camera is joined by an 8MP wide-angle camera and a 2MP macro camera, but it’s the selfie camera that impresses more.
Inside a notch at the top of the 6.44-inch, 90Hz AMOLED screen is a 50MP main camera with an 8MP wide-angle camera, which is very similar to the system as found on the V23 Pro. It takes great photos and comes with masses of features, including 4K video recording at 30 frames per second (fps), and even a Night mode.
The V23 5G’s thin and light frame means Vivo couldn’t fit a large capacity battery, and it has to make do with a 4,200mAh cell, recharged using Vivo’s 44W fast charging system to reach 68% in 30 minutes. MediaTek’s Dimensity 920 processor comes with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, to provide the power.
Vivo doesn’t sell its phones in the U.S., but we expect the V23 5G to be available in China, India, and possibly parts of Europe as the company expands its markets over the coming months. The price has not been announced at the time of writing, but we expect it to compete with midrange Android phones. Vivo’s announcement comes amid a flood of other smartphone announcements as part of CES 2022.
