The Vivo V29 Pro is official barely six months after the Vivo V27 Pro (review) launch in India. The new Vivo smartphone looks and feels familiar to its predecessor, but mind you, there are some modifications in the camera department and charging speeds. The camera improvements can also strategically attract new customers, given that the wedding and festive season is around the corner.
Apart from these upgrades, the display, design, and other aspects remain more or less the same. Does it make it worth considering, given that the price (Rs 39,999 for the 8GB and 256GB storage and Rs 42,999 for the 12GB RAM variant) remains more or less similar to its predecessor? Let’s find out.
Verdict
The Vivo V29 Pro is an incremental upgrade over the Vivo V27 Pro, though some tweaks here and there definitely give the new phone an edge. The software experience might be a bit cluttered, but the phone does offer good battery backup, impressive charging speeds, and nice camera performance. And despite using the same MediaTek chipset as before, the new Vivo phone performs relatively better than its predecessor.Design and display
As I mentioned, the Vivo V27 Pro 5G looks similar to its predecessor. The phone retains 7.4mm thickness, which is not bad at all, provided that flagship devices by many OEMs continue to get marginally thicker. The weight is again capped at roughly 188 grams.

If you’re not a fan of using the case, the finish on the back will not disappoint. Vivo has introduced an India-specific Himalayan Blue colour option for the Vivo V29 Pro, which uses “3D magnetic and nano-scale magnetic particles” technology to create a floating mountain texture on the back. As I used this blue variant, I feel this colour option can easily go with daily and formal attire.

The display size also remains unchanged compared to the last-gen model. The Vivo V29 Pro features a 6.78-inch Full HD+ (2,800 x 1,260) pixels 3D curved AMOLED display with a centrally aligned hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. Some display specifications remain uniform across this segment, therefore, we are getting more or less standard features, including a 100 percent colour gamut on DCI P3-scale, 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and 1,300nits peak brightness.
Overall, Vivo V29 Pro’s display performance remains sharp and vivid. I suppose the viewing experience could’ve been better had there been a stereo speaker setup. But the tall display won’t disappoint in terms of brightness or colours, at least when you’re reading or scrolling through Instagram.
There’s also an in-display fingerprint scanner, which is fairly fast and responsive. At least in my testing, the curved display on the Vivo V29 Pro appeared nicely optimised to prevent accidental touches.
Cameras
The Vivo V29 Pro retains the rectangular module on the back for the three sensors. The back includes:
-50MP OIS-enabled primary camera
-12-megapixel portrait camera with 2x zoom
-8MP angle ultra-wide camera

Once you get the hang of it, the Vivo V29 Pro offers loads of options to play with. Photos in daylight with HDR are naturally boosted and sharp – in a good way. With the 50MP primary camera, you will naturally get a good mix of contrast, shadows, and saturation, which many customers will like. Of course, if you prefer more natural colours, there are options to turn off HDR and AI-powered colour detection. Similarly, portrait shots with the primary camera (1x zoom) appear equally sharper with improved edge detection. The consistency stays across the 12MP portrait camera as well.
The Smart Aura Light can be equally useful in low-light environments, though it can soften facial details. At least, the Vivo V29 Pro still achieves a nice blurry background effect with the Aura Light, which may please many customers. The primary camera can also record 4K30fps videos with stabilisation. There’s no video recording option in portrait mode.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera is so-so. You can achieve similar colours as the primary cameras, though the sharpness can be an issue. The photos also include some noise, be it in harsh sunlight or low light. The 50MP front camera is more or less the same, and isn’t that impressive in terms of capturing skin tones accurately.
Performance and software
Both Vivo V29 Pro and Vivo V27 Pro draw power from MediaTek’s 4nm process-based Dimensity 8200 SoC. The smartphone’s base variant now comes configured with 256GB of storage. There are two RAM configurations available – 8GB and 12GB.

In my daily usage, the Vivo V29 Pro offered reliable performance with some degree of heating. However, that did not hamper running multiple apps simultaneously or playing games like BGMI or my favourite 99Balls (a simple strategy game that involves a bit of maths). In my test, I also did not face any abrupt app crashes. Some Meta apps like WhatsApp and Instagram perform relatively better on iOS, but that’s an Android limitation and not Vivo’s.

Vivo has promised two years of Android OS updates (ships with Android 13-based FuntouchOS 13) and three years of security updates with the Vivo V29 Pro. It won’t be too much to ask for additional years of OS updates as brands like Google, OnePlus, Nothing, and Samsung are doing in the same segment.

Battery
The Vivo V29 Pro houses a 4,600mAh battery, the same as the Vivo V27 Pro. However, the current iteration comes with a bump in the charging speed (80W instead of 66W). With bundled charger, the phone attained 50 percent charge in barely 20 minutes, while 100 percent charge can take nearly 40 minutes. Vivo has provided the option to optimise charging for those concerned about the effects of ultra-fast charging on the battery over a prolonged period of usage.


In real-life usage, I got up to seven hours of backup with the highest settings enabled (AoD, 120Hz refresh rate, mild gaming, and high brightness) on the Vivo V29 Pro. Naturally, you can expect a relatively better backup per charge with moderate settings.
Final verdict

Editor’s rating: 7.5 / 10
Reasons to buy Vivo V29 Pro
- The design and display are easily the highlight of the Vivo V29 Pro. The back also has a nice smooth finish.
- The back camera system, especially for portraits is good. Aura ring light makes all the difference.
- The Vivo V29 Pro can attain a 50 percent charge from 0 in just 20 minutes.
- For daily tasks, the Vivo V29 Pro is decently reliable. Apps open smoothly.
Reasons not to buy Vivo V29 Pro
- Despite a relatively high price tag, the Vivo V29 Pro lacks stereo speakers.
- The Vivo V29 Pro’s user experience can also be slightly cluttered due to loads of pre-installed apps.
- The 50MP selfie camera is average at best.
The post Vivo V29 Pro review: reliable camera-focused smartphone first appeared on 91mobiles.com.
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