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Vivo V70 Elite Review: A Capable Addition to Vivo’s Premium Segment

Vivo V70 Elite Review: A Capable Addition to Vivo’s Premium Segment

Name: Vivo V70 Elite Review: A Capable Addition to Vivo’s Premium Segment
Item: Vivo V70 Elite

Vivo’s “elitist” new V70 smartphone attempts to bite off more than it can chew. Here's our review.

Written by Sheldon Pinto, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 19 February 2026 20:36 IST

Vivo V70 Elite Review: A Capable Addition to Vivo’s Premium Segment

The Vivo V70 Elite is priced at Rs. 51,999 in India

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Highlights

The Vivo V70 Elite has a modern and premium IP69-rated design
Performance is good but not on par with the competition
Cameras are a bit of a mixed bag

Rising memory prices are making it difficult for smartphone manufacturers to stick to their tight segments (and margins) in 2026. With this comes the obvious shift of rising price tags and lower value. Vivo is dealing with this crisis by launching the Vivo V70 series in new flavours. The standard V70 exists only by name. It is priced as much as the older premium V40 Pro model and hopefully offers enough value to justify its new premium price tag.

The second device is the new Vivo V70 Elite, which now takes the V series into a completely new territory of sub-Rs. 60,000 premium flagships. Vivo has smartly priced the 8+256GB variant at Rs 51,999 in India, even though the 12+256GB variant will sell at Rs. 56,999. This second variant brings it eerily close to Vivo's own X200T, among other competitive offerings from Motorola and OnePlus.

Does the Vivo V70 Elite have enough value? Or does it desperately need a price cut? Read on to find out!

Vivo V60 Review: Get it for the Cameras

Vivo V70 Elite Design: A premium feeling compact

Dimensions - 157.52 × 74.33 × 7.59mm
Weight - 194g
Durability - IP68 + IP69

With a new moniker comes a new design. Vivo seems to have gone all out with the Vivo V70 Elite, giving it a design that stands out from the rest of the V series and even the X series. Compared to the V60 and V40 Pro, the Vivo V70 Elite has flat, rounded corners. Both the front and rear panels are perfectly flat, and the same also applies to the sides.

The Vivo V70 Elite gets a fresh new design for a V-series handset

The phone feels properly premium, unlike the V40 Pro, and uses glass for the Sand Beige and Passion Red finishes, while the Authentic Black version gets a glass-fibre back. The frame is finally made of aluminium alloy with a matte finish that makes it appear premium and feel quite slippery.

Fit and finish are top-notch, with no gaps or sharp edges, and the phone offers IP68 and IP69 ratings, allowing it to be immersed in water. However, since damage caused by water ingress is not covered under warranty, we advise readers to avoid doing so unless it's unavoidable.

The phone also feels quite compact. This does not fall into the “mini” category of smartphones but is more in line with modern flagships. Contributing to this feeling are its smaller footprint compared to the V60 and the V40 Pro. The phone is also slimmer than the other two and surely will be an easy pick for those tired of large devices and are looking for something compact. The only other device that comes close and is lighter is the OnePlus 13s, which is about 2.63mm shorter but 0.6mm thicker. The 13s is also 9 grams lighter than the V70 Elite.

It feels a bit smaller than your usual flagship but not “mini”

That said, its compact dimensions do make Vivo V70 Elite comfortable for one-handed use, though it would require the occasional stretch to reach the top of the display from time to time.

Vivo V70 Elite Display: A bit too close for comfort

Display size - 6.59-inch, 1,260 x 2,750 pixels, 459 PPI
Display type - AMOLED, 120Hz
Display protection - Schott Xensation Core

The high-end V-series models always offered something special, be it a curved-edge display or a quad-curved panel. Keeping up with the times (and trends), Vivo has opted for a flat display on its V70 Elite. It's got skinny borders on the left and right sides and slightly thicker ones at the top and bottom. And all of this plays nicely with the premium image of the device that the brand wants to portray (keeping its price in mind).

Vivo goes with a flat display with skinny borders for its V70 Elite

In terms of quality, the display glass seems sturdy and did not show any scratches or scuffs during testing, but it does pick up fingerprints, which can be wiped off easily. The colours appear natural and show good accuracy. Sharpness is on point for a 1.5K resolution display, and OriginOS' new Vivo Sans font also looks great on it.

The display is HDR10 and HDR10+-certified, and supported content in OTT apps works as expected, delivering bright and vibrant visuals. The accompanying stereo speakers are loud but also treble-heavy, and so don't sound rich in terms of quality. These aren't the best we have heard in this segment.

The ultrasonic fingerprint reader works quickly and can read through water droplets as well.

When the redesigned Google Pixel 9 series handsets launched, Google ensured its software interface did not get swallowed by the display's rounded corners. It did this by spacing out elements (wasting a bit of space in the process), but the end result looked elegant and comfortable to read.

Vivo's software interface seeps into the wide and rounded display corners

Vivo seems to have forgotten its transition from sharper corners to aggressively rounded ones with its V series, so a lot of the text near the corners gets uncomfortably close to the bezel. This is easier to notice near the status bar, but it's also present at the bottom corners, and it feels like Vivo stretched the display a bit too far under the borders. Apart from giving the UI a slightly cramped feel on this compact device, the rounded corners also eat into the usable display area, which I noticed while playing games.

Vivo V70 Elite Software: Highly customisable and fun

Android version - 16
Software - OriginOS 6
Software commitment - 4 years OS + 6 years SMRs

Vivo's OriginOS 6 marks a fresh direction for the brand, even though it appears to mimic Apple's Liquid Glass design philosophy. Vivo goes with a flat, translucent glass appearance and new font and iconography for OriginOS 6.

OriginOS is customisable and refreshing

While FuntouchOS was already big on customisation, OriginOS takes things a notch up, letting users customise smaller details like the shapes of UI elements, pop-ups, and menus. The theming system works a bit differently compared to what's available on ColourOS or iOS. Vivo's lockscreen has its own unique and playful themes, which need to be downloaded and applied, and can then be customised to suit your needs. OriginOS 6 also lets Vivo force system (or downloadable) fonts into more places, so you can enjoy the same font in your Chrome browser and other third-party apps as well.

As for AI, it's all embedded into Vivo's native apps, and you get the usual options from Google's Gemini as well. Software commitment seems good enough, although an additional year of OS updates for a premium device would have been appreciated.

Vivo V70 Elite Performance: Good, but not the best

Processor - Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, 3.0GHz, 4nm
RAM - 8/12GB (LPDDR5X)
Storage - 128/256/512 (UFS 4.1)

The Vivo V70 Elite's speakers sound treble-heavy and lack bass

Software performance and smoothness were never going to be an issue for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, but a chipset like this feels more at home in a “flagship killer” phone than on a device in the premium segment. This is pretty evident when you compare its synthetic performance with the numerous devices at, below and above this price point, as can be seen in the table below.

Benchmarks	Vivo V70 Elite	OnePlus 13s	Vivo X200T
Display resolution	1.5K	1.5K	1.5K
Chipset	Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (4nm)	Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm)	Dimensity 9400+ (3nm)
AnTuTu v10	18,21,492	24,49,859	28,01,131
PCMark Work 3.0	12,897	14,491	14,615
Geekbench 6 Single	1,911	2,874	2,434
Geekbench 6 Multi	4,753	8,741	7,273
Geekbench AI CPU (Quantized)	2,196	NA	2,899
Geekbench AI GPU (Quantized)	993	NA	1,262
3DM Wild Life	7,848	Maxed Out	Maxed Out
3DM Wild Life Unlimited	7,866	23,593	22,715
3DM Steel Nomad Light	647	NA	2,380

Gaming performance isn't bad. Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) works smoothly at ‘Very High' graphics and ‘Max' frame rate. There's no MEMC-enhanced gameplay available here, but you can stabilise the framerate to appear smoother by activating ‘Frame-rate Priority' (Settings> Ultra Game Mode> Frame-rate Priority), which reduces the overall resolution of the game to deliver the same. However, the gaming experience isn't flawless, and you will notice random slowdowns and skipped frames in chaotic matches. Switching to ‘Medium' graphics and ‘Ultra' frame rate did make things more stable, but it ran hotter. I also tried out Genshin Impact, and the phone can handle the ‘Highest' graphics at 60 fps. However, the phone gets toasty quickly (with obvious slowdowns during conflicts), so ‘Medium' to ‘High' at 60 fps is ideally the sweet spot for this device.

Vivo V70 Elite Cameras: A few hits and some misses

Primary camera - 50-megapixel, f/1.8, OIS, AF
Telephoto camera - 50-megapixel, f/2.6, OIS, 3X optical, AF
Ultrawide camera - 8-megapixel, f/2.2, FF
Selfie camera - 50-megapixel, f/2.0, AF

Vivo's Elite model maintains the three-camera setup from the Pros

Vivo's Pro series never really impressed in recent years as its price tags moved from the mid-range to the premium segment. With the Vivo V40 Pro, Vivo wanted to take things up a notch given the phone's higher price, but it fell short of expectations in our review, despite the Zeiss badge. Given that the V70 Elite is priced even higher than the older Pro model, I hoped that things would be different this time, more so because of how well the Vivo X200T performed in our review.

When the OnePlus 13s was launched, it was good to see a brand swap an ultrawide camera for 2X telephoto and a very capable primary camera (with LDAF) to help maintain the phone's overall design (and its limitations), philosophy, and keep its pricing sensible. The phone scored an 8 in our revie,w meaning it met expectations for its segment.

Vivo V70 Elite ultrawide camera sample (tap image to expand)

As you can see from the bullet points in the camera section, Vivo wanted all three cameras at any cost and so chose a basic 8-megapixel ultrawide camera on a smartphone that costs upwards of Rs. 50,000. Its low-resolution sensor, combined with shabby processing, barely helps it capture passable photos in daylight, let alone in low-light conditions. The photos from this ultrawide appear soft, with blurred patches, plenty of lens-barrel distortion, and flattened textures when shooting in bright daylight. In low-light conditions, the image quality is too noisy and blotchy to be considered usable.

Vivo V70 Elite primary camera samples (tap images to expand)

Moving on to the primary camera, things feel far better out here because the ultrawide is so bad. The dynamic range is good, but I noticed some minor highlight clipping in scenes with contrasting lighting. Colours are a bit punchy (in the default Vivid mode), and sharpness is fine but the resolved detail could have been better. Portrait images captured by this camera come out well, and show good detail with a bit of sharpening when using the dedicated Portrait mode. In low-light or street-lit conditions, the photos pack enough detail. Dynamic range is also fine, and so are the colours. In dim lighting, quality takes a hit and textures appear a bit flat.

The telephoto camera on the Vivo V60 has 3X optical zoom. However, it has a weird close-focusing limitation where the viewfinder will prompt you to move further away from your subject to be able to capture the scene using the telephoto camera and not a scaled-down crop of the primary camera. Weirdly, at times, it will not ask you to “move further away” and lets you capture the shot using the primary camera, which is not as crisp as the telephoto capture.

This process is genuinely annoying, and the camera system often struggles to stick to one camera, resulting in soft photos at times. Even after a week of shooting photos, I still haven't mastered the exact distance needed to activate the telephoto lens, but I've come to the conclusion that the sweet spot is around 60 centimetres. The current auto camera switching (between the primary and the telephoto) works fine when you are zooming into a landscape or when shooting a portrait, but gets annoying if you want to use the tele to get a close-up of an object at arm's length.

Vivo V70 Elite 3X zoom camera samples (tap images to expand)

The telephoto camera produces good photos in daylight that appear slightly overprocessed when you pinch to zoom, revealing slightly flaky textures. Dynamic range is good even in low-light conditions, and the photos appear surprisingly clean in street-lit conditions because of the longer exposures.

Vivo V70 Elite 10X zoom AI UHD camera samples (tap images to expand)

The next zoom focal length for some reason is set to 10X, and the results (called AI UHD photos) are a lot better than the 6X photos, because of some advanced AI-enhancements. However, the 10X images quickly lose detail when the lighting isn't favourable, and then the AI dreams up things and starts producing waxy textures ,as can be seen in the second photo (leaves) above.

Selfies, thanks to the autofocus system, come out clean with enough detail in both daylight and low-light. (tap image to expand)

Video quality in daylight appears fine, with good dynamic range and natural colours. We would have preferred some additional detail. Stabilisation is good as well. 60 fps footage looks even better and sharper. Since the ultrawide camera has a smaller sensor, it can only capture 1080p at 30 fps. Low-light quality isn't as good as daylight footage, with aggressive noise cancellation that reduces detail and makes it appear a bit overexposed, especially at 60 fps.

Vivo V70 Elite Battery: Good for a compact device

Battery capacity - 6,500mAh, (Si/C) li-ion
Wired charging - 90W
Wireless charging - NO
Charger in the box - YES

I found the Vivo V70 Elite's battery life good enough to last a full day of intense use, but you will need to plug it in once you are back home. With casual (non-camera, non-gaming) use, it can last until the next morning, but you will have to plug it in before heading out. PCMark's Battery life test lasted 24 hours and 17 minutes, which is pretty good for a compact device.

Charging speeds are good. The device charged to 22 percent in just 15 minutes, 49 percent in 30 minutes and reached a fully charged state in 1 hour and 11 minutes.

Vivo V70 Elite Verdict

Vivo has come a long way with its V series, starting in the budget segment, then moving into the mid-range, and now delving deeper into the premium segment. It has addressed the right bits (build quality, durability, cameras, and battery life) to give this buyer the “flagship feeling”. We noticed a few chinks in its newfound premium armour. And these are mainly about its camera and raw performance. With this in mind, we would like the V70 Elite to be priced a bit lower, around Rs. 45,000, like the Vivo V40 Pro, as its current asking price seems a bit excessive.

As mentioned at the beginning, the base 8GB model of the V70 Elite retails at Rs. 51,999, but the 12+256GB variant starts at Rs. 56,999. For those who are willing to be a bit flexible with their spending on a premium device, Vivo's own X200T is the bigger elephant in the room. An additional Rs. 3,000 (Rs. 59,999) can get you the 12+256GB variant of the Vivo X200T, which is a much better option compared to the V70 Elite. You get a bigger display, good battery life, better cameras, and raw performance at a slightly higher price tag.

The minor annoyances of the V70 Elite may or may not be high up on your list if you are on a tight budget, but it is hard to deny that both of these issues are addressed by the OnePlus 13s, which currently retails at a slightly lower price of Rs. 50,999. The 13s' lack of a third rear-facing ultrawide camera and slightly limiting 2X optical zoom will put off some buyers. But again, the V70 Elite is no “expert” at the former, so it may not matter.

The iQOO 13 at Rs. 54,999 (12+256GB) (now replaced by the iQOO 15) is still a better choice for those looking for excellent gaming performance in a well-rounded package. And if you are looking for something properly premium, Motorola's recently launched Signature sure seems like a better performer in a better package at an attractive starting price of Rs. 59,999 (12+256GB).

Vivo V70 Elite

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Premium and classy IP69 rated design
Bright and vibrant HDR display
Quality primary camera
Capable performance
Good battery life

Bad
Telephoto camera operation is annoying
Poor ultrawide camera performance
Low-light video could have been better

Read detailed Vivo V70 Elite review

Display 6.59-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3

Front Camera 50-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel + 8-megapixel

RAM 8GB, 12GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB

Battery Capacity 6500mAh

OS Android 16

Resolution 1,260x2,750 pixels

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Further reading: Vivo, Vivo V70 Elite, Vivo V70 Elite 5G, Vivo V70 Elite Price in India, Vivo V70 Elite Specifications, Vivo V70 Elite Design, Vivo V70 Elite Display, Vivo V70 Elite Software, Vivo V70 Elite Performance, Vivo V70 Elite Cameras, Vivo V70 Elite Battery

Sheldon Pinto

Email Sheldon Pinto

Sheldon Pinto is based in Mumbai, and has several years of experience in reviewing smartphones and gadgets. As a Senior Reviewer at Gadgets 360, you will always find him deeply immersed in his reviews, switching from one phone to another. When the battery dies out, Sheldon is always browsing the web for a good sci-fi movie or reading up on cars and bikes. He also loves creating lists of interesting places to eat and travel. Sheldon is available on Twitter at @shellshocd, and you can mail him at ...More