Vivo V70 Elite Review: Walking a fine line in the mid-premium segment

Vivo has welcomed a new member to its V series with the Vivo V70 Elite. The timing of this launch is slightly peculiar, especially since the company introduced the Vivo X200T barely a month ago. Pricing is where things immediately get interesting. The V70 Elite starts at ₹51,999, while the X200T sits at ₹59,999, leaving just an ₹8,000 gap between the two. At the same time, the phone also faces pressure from rivals like the OnePlus 15R, which offers stronger performance at a lower starting price.

The obvious question is this: what exactly does the Vivo V70 Elite bring to the table to justify its position? In this review, I try to understand its value proposition and where it truly fits.

Design

Vivo deserves full marks for how the V70 Elite looks. The Passion Red variant I reviewed is elegant and thoughtfully finished. The matte glass back looks premium and feels smooth to the touch, but it is not slippery. In the hand, the phone feels comfortable and well balanced, even during long usage sessions. Vivo has clearly focused on making this phone feel refined rather than flashy.

The rear houses a neatly arranged triple-camera setup placed inside a clean frame with a sleek metallic outline. The design remains minimal and avoids visual clutter. The materials used also resist scratches, which increases confidence for long-term use. Vivo uses a glass back for the Passion Red and Sand Beige variants, while the Authentic Black version gets a glass-fiber finish. The Passion Red model weighs slightly more at 194 grams, but the weight distribution is handled well.

Button and port placements are familiar. The power button and volume rockers sit on the right side and are easy to reach. At the bottom, you get the SIM tray, the USB Type-C port, and the speaker grille. One noticeable omission is Vivo’s Essential Key, which some users may miss if they are used to higher-end Vivo phones. On the durability front, the V70 Elite impresses with IP68 and IP69 ratings, which are still rare in this price bracket and provide peace of mind for everyday use.

Display

The Vivo V70 Elite features a 6.59-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,750×1,260 pixels and a 120 Hz refresh rate. Bezels are slim and uniform, giving the phone a modern, immersive look. The panel uses VM9 light-emitting material and delivers a pixel density of 459 PPI, which translates to sharp text and crisp visuals.

The brightness is one of the phone’s strongest points. With a local peak brightness of up to 5,000 nits, outdoor visibility is excellent, even under harsh sunlight. The display supports the P3 wide color gamut and delivers vibrant yet controlled colours. For users, this means smooth scrolling, comfortable reading, and an enjoyable experience for streaming and gaming.

Placed against the OnePlus 15R, the V70 Elite holds its own in terms of sharpness and brightness, though it falls behind on refresh rate, as the OnePlus pushes up to 165 Hz. Compared to the Vivo X200T, the V70 Elite offers a very similar brightness level, but the X200T’s panel feels slightly more refined overall.

OS and AI

The Vivo V70 Elite runs OriginOS 6 based on Android 16, which immediately gives it an edge over several phones in this segment. The interface feels mature and well optimised. Animations are smooth, multi-tasking is reliable, and the overall experience feels stable and predictable.

AI features focus on everyday usefulness rather than flashy demos. Origin Island provides glanceable information, while Gemini Live allows users to interact with their surroundings using the camera for travel and discovery. Vivo’s commitment to four OS upgrades and six years of security updates adds long-term value, especially for users who plan to hold on to their phone for several years

Performance

The Vivo V70 Elite is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, and that immediately sets expectations around where this phone stands. The chipset is dependable for daily use. Apps open quickly, multi-tasking is smooth, and the phone rarely feels as though it is under stress. For most users, this level of computing power is more than sufficient for everyday tasks.

That said, at ₹51,999, users can also opt for the OnePlus 15R, which comes with the newer Snapdragon 8s Gen 5 at a lower starting price. I am not going to compare benchmark scores with the OnePlus 15R here, simply because the V70 Elite falls short in raw performance, and that gap is expected, given the difference in chipset generation. Performance-focused users will notice this immediately.

Even within Vivo’s own lineup, the comparison is hard to ignore. The Vivo X200T, priced higher at ₹59,999, posts stronger benchmark numbers as well. That makes sense considering the higher price, but it also highlights how tightly Vivo has packed its portfolio in this range. On paper, the V70 Elite is neither the performance leader nor the most aggressive value proposition.

Where the V70 Elite does steady itself is in real-world consistency. The large vapour-chamber cooling system helps keep temperatures under control during long gaming or streaming sessions. The review unit came with 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256 GB of UFS 4.1 storage, which ensures stable multitasking. Games like BGMI and Asphalt ran smoothly at high settings. While benchmark scores like a Geekbench single-core score of 1941, a multi-core score of 4898, and an AnTuTu score of around 1,821,100 are not class-leading, they are decent enough for this segment.

Camera

Vivo has always positioned the V series around camera performance, and the V70 Elite largely justifies that focus. The rear setup includes a 50 MP ZEISS OIS main camera, a 50 MP ZEISS telephoto camera, and an 8 MP ultrawide camera. On the front, there is a 50 MP ZEISS group selfie camera.