Vivo V11 Pro Camera Review: Impressive Portrait Mode Capabilities

Vivo recently released the Vivo V11 Pro in India, which is a mid-range device that packs in some impressive features. The device packs in a beautiful 6.41-inch Super AMOLED display with minimal bezels and a waterdrop-style notch, features which have previously been limited to flagship devices. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC and 6GB of RAM, the Vivo V11 Pro is a decent performer in pretty much all aspects.

In the camera department, the Vivo V11 Pro packs in a 12MP+5MP dual camera setup on the back along with a 25MP front facing selfie shooter. However, as you’d already know, specifications don’t even come close to highlighting a smartphone’s camera prowess. Which is why we put the Vivo V11 Pro (Rs. 25,990) to the test, in order to find out how the device’s cameras actually perform in real world use.

Vivo V11 Pro Camera Review

Specifications

Before we go any further, lets take a closer look at the Vivo V11 Pro’s camera specifications. The device’s primary dual camera setup houses a 12MP f/1.8 sensor coupled with a secondary 5MP f/2.4 sensor which aids in depth perception. Up front, the device houses a 25MP f/2.0 sensor which is primarily used for capturing selfies and helping with the device’s face unlock feature. While cameras pack in a number of software features, including an AI assisted scene recognition feature, it doesn’t include any form of stabilization. This, as you’d see shortly, has a negative effect on the camera’s video capture performance.

Rear Cameras

• Performance in Good Lighting Conditions

The Vivo V11 Pro’s primary dual camera setup is very capable when it comes to capturing images in good lighting conditions. The images captured by the device are sharp and have an ample amount of detail. While the images aren’t exactly color accurate and the device slightly increases the saturation more often than not, the resulting images always look pretty great. Images captured in good lighting conditions also have great dynamic range and the device is able to capture a wide color palette in a single frame. Here are a couple of sample images we clicked using the Vivo V11 Pro’s rear cameras:

• Performance in Low-Light Conditions

Even when there’s a dearth of light, the Vivo V11 Pro’s primary camera setup manages to capture just enough light to deliver great looking images that have good details and little to no noise. The images are well-exposed and there isn’t much loss of color saturation and the camera’s AI features play a major role in delivering great pictures in low light. Check out some these sample images that we captured in low-lighting conditions:

• Portrait Mode Performance

The Vivo V11 Pro’s cameras perform exceptionally well while clicking portrait images, delivering images that have good subject separation and decent edge detection. However, if you were to use the images as is, you’d notice that the background blur looks a bit unnatural. However, Vivo’s camera app allows you to edit the portrait mode shots after they’re clicked and you can easily change the intensity of the background blur after clicking the image. You can even choose which part of the image remains in focus, something that really comes in handy if you’re clicking pictures in a hurry. Here are a few portrait mode samples captured using the Vivo V11 Pro:

• Video Recording Performance

The Vivo V11 Pro lags behind the competition when it comes to video recording performance. The device only supports 1080p video capture, as opposed to other mid-range devices that support 4K capture, and it doesn’t include any stabilization which means that videos captured by the device are very shaky and often out of focus. Just take a look at this sample video captured using the Vivo V11 Pro:

Front Camera

The Vivo V11 Pro’s 25MP f/2.0 front facing camera captures great selfies in almost all conditions. Be it good lighting or low light, the front facing camera captures images that have a good amount of detail and decent color accuracy. While it does smooth out the subject’s features a bit, even when beautification is turned off, the effect isn’t as pronounced as on some other devices. The front facing camera also features portrait mode capabilities and much like with the rear camera setup, portrait mode images captured by the front camera have good subject separation and a decent background blur. Check out these sample images clicked by the Vivo V11 Pro’s front facing camera:

Vivo V11 Pro vs. Competitors: Camera Comparison

Even though the Vivo V11 Pro is a mid-range device on paper, its price pits against the likes of the Poco F1. Therefore, I’ve compared the device’s camera with that of the Poco F1 and also the Vivo V9, just to see if there’s any major improvement in the image quality. Unsurprisingly, the Vivo V11 Pro fares quite well against the competition, delivering great images in both good lighting and low light conditions. The Vivo V11 does oversaturate images at times but it’s not really a huge issue. Here are a few sample images we used for comparison:

Poco F1

Vivo V9

Vivo V11 Pro

The images posted above might have already made it quite evident that the Vivo V11 Pro not only manages to match the competition in good lighting, but it also fares quite well in low lighting conditions. Portrait mode images captured by the Vivo V11 Pro are at par with the ones captures by the Poco F1, but the sheer versatility that the Vivo V11 Pro provides in portrait mode images is definitely unbeatable. Check out these sample images and see for yourself:

Poco F1

Vivo V9

Vivo V11 Pro

The front facing 25MP selfie shooter on the Vivo V11 Pro also performs quite well when compared to the other two devices, delivering high-quality images both with and without portrait mode turned on. Just take a look at these samples below:

Vivo V11 Pro Camera Review: Amazing Portrait Mode Capabilities

As you can probably already tell, the Vivo V11 Pro has a great set of cameras and it delivers amazing images in almost all scenarios. While capturing still images, the only shortcoming that you might find with the device is its tendency to over-saturate images. However, I tend to like the tweaked images more often than not, so I wouldn’t hold that against the device; your preferences might vary. All-in-all, if you’re in the market for a mid-range device that offers a few unique features along with a great camera to boot, then the Vivo V11 Pro might be the perfect choice for you.

Buy from Amazon: (Rs. 25,990)