Vivo launched Vivo 23e in Nepal with a 50MP front camera & triple camera setup. One of the top 10 smartphone manufacturers; Vivo is known for launching attractive phones with a primary concern for selfie cameras. The V23e is also its latest offering focused on the front shooter with a whopping 50MP. Okay, here’s the Vivo V23e full review after testing it for more than a week.
Vivo V23e 
50MP Front Eye Focus Camera, the Centre of Attraction
Vivo V23e boasts a spectacular 50MP front camera with an eye focus feature. The front shooter is well capable of capturing selfies that too in natural skin tone. Of course, one has to turn off the beautification options to get the natural result. With more options, one can change their skin tone, facial size & structure just with a tap. Vivo has always been known for beautification & customization.
The selfie camera is a well capable one. Also with low light, the output is above average, thanks to the AI engine. Portrait shots look amazing while you can also adjust the bokeh aftermath. The camera app is feature-rich with cinematic aspect mode on videos, beautification options, filters, dedicated EIS for stabilization, etc. For stability, the video is capped at 720p 30fps resolution. Also, the movie mode turns the aspect into a cinematic ratio. You can also shoot at 24fps for the cinematic vibes.
Check out: Top features of Vivo V23e; Nice Selfie Camera to VoLTE
Vivo V23e Rear Camera Review
On the backside, there is a triple camera layout with a 64MP main camera, 8MP Ultrawide & a 2MP Macro lens. The primary sensor clicks nice images with an adequate amount of details in broad daylight. The normal shots are pixel binned at 16MP. The 16MP pictures look nice in daylight situations. Turning on the HDR & AI option gather in more light & boosted color contrast in pictures. While color reproduction might not be natural in some of the scenarios. In particularly low light situations even in daylight, the pictures come a little faded. Apart from that, there is nothing much to complain about. The 64MP shots are also very similar to the 16MP ones with a slight amount of more details.
Click to enlarge the photos.
The portrait engine is strong and even portraits of objects look fabulous. The bokeh amount is good and edge detection is almost perfect. Human subjects’ images are also nice to look at. Further, you can also adjust the amount of bokeh after the picture is taken. Skin tone looks natural too. For the ultrawide camera, I wish the FOV was a bit more. Pictures still look wide but the color contrast is different from the main camera. The output looks okay in daylight. For the macro lens, the 2MP camera is as usual. Close-up shots are average due to the camera resolution.
The rear camera can shoot up to 1080p @60fps. There is EIS mode for stabilization with 1080p @30fps resolution. There is no 4K recording though. Just like on the front camera, there is a movie aspect mode for cinematic feels. Videos are stable enough with EIS turned on. The output is also nice with ample light provided. We can also shoot via the ultrawide camera for a wider FOV. It can shoot up to 1080p @30fps only.
Vivo V23e Usage & Performance Review
The phone has this flaunting back panel that changes color on light reflection. The device is very light, weighing just 179 grams. The slim form factor looks appealing for those who desire better looks & design. On the performance side, the phone features a Mediatek Helio G96 midrange 12nm chipset. We had this 8/256GB version of the phone. The RAM could expand by 4GB via the virtual RAM expansion feature on the device. Making a total of 12GB RAM, the phone felt smooth while multitasking. Day-to-day usage like scrolling on social media & browsing basic apps felt snappy enough on my usage period.
On the gaming side, the phone is not a power machine though. The Helio G96 can run PUBG up to Ultra FPS (40FPS) on Smooth settings. The overall performance was just average and minor hiccups can be seen in hot drops. Similarly, the phone could run CODM on a similar FPS. Gaming on CODM was a bit smoother as the Multiplayer Mode on this game is well optimized. Further, there is also a gaming mode toggle with voice changer, eSports mode, record screen, CPU & GPU usage indicators, etc.
The G96 in the Vivo V23e caters well performance for normal usage and activities. Watching multimedia on the AMOLED display was pleasing. I wish the sunlight readability was a bit more bright. Though, you can use it in sunlight without a doubt. The mono firing speaker on the bottom outputs enough audio to listen in a quiet room. I wish it was a bit louder or a secondary speaker would have been awesome.
The cellular reception was decent with VoLTE on NTC. Also, this handset supports band 20 of NTC’s 4G, which ensures better 4G connectivity wherever you roam that too in rural areas of Nepal. The VoLTE was automatically enabled as soon as I swapped my NTC sim on it. The mic quality is also very good for cellular calls.
Battery Life & 44W Fast Charger
The 4050 mAh battery lasts for a day with moderate usage. This is accompanied by a 44W fast charger from Vivo. It can charge the phone from 0% to 100% within 66 minutes. The charger also comes with dual IC technology for safe charging.
On heavy usage, the 4050mAh cell wouldn’t last for an entire day. Still, the average screen on time is more than 6 hours on my usage while normal usage. Gaming extensively shall cut an hour and a half from the normal screen time. As the display is a 60Hz one, it consumes less battery while sacrificing screen smoothness & fluidity. The battery size could have been a 4500mAh at least but it seems the slim form factor couldn’t make it happen. Nevertheless, the 44W charger is a nice add-on.
Also Read:- Vivo V23 Goes Official | Find Price and Specs
Our Verdict on Vivo V23e
Vivo V23e is a pretty-looking device with a very lightweight & slim form factor. The Helio G96 powered device is good to go for social media enthusiastic customers. Normal usage seems all okay with an additional 4GB RAM from the virtual RAM expansion feature. The front camera is well capable of capturing true-to-life face tones. Additionally, the inbuilt editing features have ample things to play with. The back camera setup is also a nice one. Daytime shots look very nice. While the performance tends to go down with the absence of light. The dedicated night mode does assist for the night shots though. The camera app is feature-rich and offers many options to play with. The movie mode with cinematic aspect ratio is a cool feature.
Things missing here are; a fast refresh rate screen, dual stereo speakers, a bigger battery, and a punch hole panel. Vivo could have implemented 120Hz on this phone, to be honest. Also for the price given, a better SOC would have been awesome. The Helio G96 is good for normal usage but doesn’t provide the best performance when it comes to gaming. Also, the 4050mAh battery is enough for a day of moderate usage.
Do Check:- Vivo Mobile Price in Nepal | Latest Update
Smartphone OEMs have different target customers in the market. Vivo V23e is for the ones who are enthusiastic about selfies & beautiful design. The slim form factor is delightful to hold & feel. Customers today need products having high value for the money they are paying. So, the pricing could have been better in this regard. While for the design, looks, and selfie camera, this phone is a nice one.
Nevertheless, Vivo also has its subbrand known as iQOO which caters to the customers wanting more features on the device they are paying for. Wish that this brand shall make its way in Nepal too.
So this was our Vivo V23e review. Do write down your thoughts in the comment section below.
