World’s First 20-megapixel Selfie Camera, Launched In India

At an event in Mumbai, Vivo launched a new smartphone under its V-series, called the V5. This is essentially the successor to the V3, which was launched earlier this year in April. The Vivo 20-megapixel selfie camera is priced at Rs 17,890, and it will be up for pre-orders between November 16 and 25. It is set to go on sale for the first time on November 26. Besides bringing upgraded specifications, the new smartphone is targeted at the selfie-centric crowd.

The talking point of the Vivo V5 is the 20-megapixel selfie camera, making it the first smartphone with such a feature. The selfie camera is accompanied by a Moonlight Glow LED flash, a Sony IMX 376 image sensor, an f/2.0 aperture, and a 5P lens. It also supports Face Beauty 6.0. Just like its predecessor, the Vivo V5 also features a metal unibody design along with 2.5D curved glass on top. However, the fingerprint sensor (embedded inside the home button) has now been moved to the front, just below the display. The company says the sensor is fast enough to unlock the device in 0.2 seconds and also works with moist fingers.

Vivo V5 specifications

The Vivo V5 comes with a 5.5-inch HD (720p) display with 2.5D curved glass and Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It is a tad disappointing because even smartphones under Rs 10,000 are equipped with full-HF panels. It is powered by MediaTek’s 6750 64-bit octa-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM. With 32GB of onboard storage, a microSD card slot is also present.

Besides the 20-megapixel selfie camera, the V5 also comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with phase detection auto-focus (PDAF) and LED flash. Armed with a 3,000mAh battery, the smartphone features connectivity options such as 4G LTE with VoLTE support, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and GPS. On the software front, the Vivo V5 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Vivo’s custom Funtouch 2.6 UI running on top. One of the talking points of the UI is what the company calls Smartsplit. This feature lets one use up to two apps side-by-side.

At its price point, the Vivo V5 will compete with other selfie-centric smartphones such as the OPPO F1s, which is priced at Rs 17,990 and comes with a 16-megapixel selfie camera, and the Gionee S6s, which is priced at Rs 17,999 and comes with an 8-megapixel selfie snapper. The F1s also features a 5.5-inch HD display, a 64-bit MediaTek MT6750 octa-core SoC clocked at 1.5GHz, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 3,075mAh battery.

The Gionee S6s, on the other hand, features a 5.5-inch full HD display, a MediaTek MT6753 octa-core SoC clocked at 1.3GHz, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a 3,150mAh battery. Besides these, there is also the Lenovo Z2 Plus, which is the most affordable smartphone to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC.

Available in two variants, with 3GB of RAM for Rs 17,999 and 4GB of RAM for Rs 19,999, the smartphone features a capable 8-megapixel selfie snapper. With features such as a 5-inch full HD display with 2.5D curved glass, 32GB / 64GB onboard storage, a 3,500mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS, the Z2 Plus is for those who are looking for a powerful flagship smartphone that doesn’t create a hole in their pocket.