The Vivo V40e was launched in India at the end of September and is the cheapest option in the lineup, which also includes the standard V40 and V40 Pro. So, I believe the ‘e’ in the name stands for ‘economical’, but I bet Vivo wouldn’t agree with me. The V40e is a mid-range smartphone whose main selling point is its design and claims to be the slimmest smartphone with a 5,500mAh battery. Vivo also says the phone is a pro at taking portrait photos thanks to Aura Light.

At a starting price of Rs 28,999, the Vivo V40e looks like a good deal for someone looking for a phone with a particularly large battery, slim design, and decent portrait photography. It is, though? Read on to find out.

Vivo V40e Design: Visually pleasing

• Dimensions – 163.7 × 75 × 7.49 mm
• Weight – 183 grams
• Color – Mint Green, Royal Bronze

You get a sleek and stylish phone as advertised. The Vivo V40e is only 7.49mm thin and feels slim thanks to the curved edges on the front and back. The corners are rounded, and you get a glossy plastic frame. The top and bottom are flat, though. You’ll also find a bullet/keyhole-shaped camera module with the upper oval section protruding and the lower unit flush with the Aura Light LED at the back. We reviewed the Royal Bronze unit, which has a matte-finish rear plastic panel and no artifacts. The panel is prone to fingerprints and scratches, however, so it’s best to protect the phone with a case.

The phone is only 7.49mm thick despite having a 5,500mAh battery.

The phone has just the right amount of weight, and feels like more than it costs. The right edge houses the volume and power buttons. The bottom has a microphone, loudspeaker, SIM tray, and USB Type-C port, while the top has a second microphone. The V40e also gets an IP64 rating, and I found a rubber seal inside the SIM card tray.

Vivo V40e Display: Big and Curved

• Size – 6.77 inches, Full HD+ resolution
• Type – AMOLED, 120Hz
• Protection – SCHOTT Xensation Up glass

On the front, the phone has a large display with curved sides. Besides making the phone feel thinner than it actually is, the curved sides also make the side bezels appear thinner. The bezels are also identical at the top and bottom. The panel is bright enough for indoor use, and it’s also usable outside, as long as it’s not an extremely bright day.

The display supports 120Hz refresh rate.

As for the refresh rate, the display supports up to 120Hz with the Smart Switch option. You can also switch between 60Hz or 120Hz. The display supports HDR10+ and offers three color modes – Standard, Professional and Bright. SGS low blue light certification is also available on the phone. All the above makes the display on the Vivo V40e a great option for viewing content and playing games.

The in-display fingerprint scanner is low.

The display also offers an in-display fingerprint scanner, which, aside from a few failed attempts, was fast and worked well during my time with the phone.

Vivo V40e Software: Smooth but bloated.

• OS – Android 14
• UI – Funtouch OS 14
• Latest Security Patch – October 1st

The Vivo V40e runs Funtouch OS 14 based on Android 14 out of the box, and I received several updates during the review period. Vivo promises to provide three years of OS updates and four years of security patches. The software experience is similar to Vivo’s other mid-range smartphones. You get a lot of third-party apps from the get-go, but luckily, they can be uninstalled. There are also Vivo V-Appstore and some other Vivo apps, such as the browser, that keep sending notifications and cannot be removed.

Aura Lite on the back can be used for notifications.

However, you will find some useful features on the phone. The Gallery app has an AI cleaning tool, and it works well. You also get an AI image enhancement feature that is claimed to reduce blur, blur and noise. However, he actually did an okay job. You get Smart Sidebar to use the curved display, Dynamic Light that uses Aura Light to display notifications, Ambient Light effect that uses edge lighting for notifications and acts as a light show while playing music. , also acquires similar properties.

The software experience on the phone is mostly smooth, but unwanted notifications from built-in apps are quite annoying.

Vivo V40e Performance: Pretty good

• SoC – MediaTek Dimensity 7300
• RAM – 8GB LPDDR4X
• Storage – Up to 256GB UFS 2.2

The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 on the V40e is an octa-core 4nm chipset paired with the MediaTek NPU 655 and Arm Mali-G615 GPU. I didn’t notice any lag when it came to regular use. Apps open quickly, multitasking is a breeze, and animations throughout the UI are smooth. The camera app also works flawlessly, and there’s no major shutter lag. Overall, this phone is easy to recommend for everyday tasks.

Gaming on the phone isn’t a problem, and it doesn’t get too hot either.

I ran some benchmarks to compare with phones in a similar price bracket, and the numbers show that the Vivo V40e underperforms in most cases. Of course, you should keep in mind that these benchmarks should not be taken at face value, as actual word usage will vary.

The phone also performed well while playing games and didn’t overheat even after a 45-minute session of BGMI. I played BGMI with HDR graphics and ultra frame rate and didn’t notice any major lag. I also played Genshin Impact and COD with medium settings, and they mostly worked fine.

The phone has a dual speaker setup, which is good enough for indoor use. It doesn’t offer a lot of bass, but there is a volume booster mode that boosts the sound output. Calls and connectivity are also quite good. Audio from the microphone and ear speakers was clear on both ends, and I didn’t notice any major network issues in my area.

Vivo V40e Cameras: Not the Pro It Claims To Be

• Main Rear – 50 MP, OIS, Sony IMX882 sensor, f/1.79 aperture
• Secondary – 8-megapixel ultrawide, f/2.2, 116-degree FoV
• Selfie – 50 megapixel, autofocus, f/2.0, 92 degree FoV

You get two rear cameras and two different types of LED flash on the V40e. The Aura Light is primarily for portrait photos, but you can use it as a fill light in creative ways.

There are two different LED options available on the phone.

The primary camera is good for daylight photos but can deliver good results at night. Images offer good detail, color and white balance. Low-light images with plenty of light also offer good detail, albeit with some noise.

The secondary camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide, is fine for daylight photos, but you’ll notice a chromatic aberration between the two rear sensors. Low-light images with an ultra-wide camera are blurry and have a water-colored effect.

I’m not sure why Vivo markets it as a pro camera for portraits, since the phone doesn’t even have a depth sensor. It uses a basic camera, and you get to choose between 1x or 2x crop. However, the results are somewhat good, and you get a nice blur effect, but the edge detection could have been better. Aura Light also helps in taking good portrait photos at night.

Portrait shot with Aura Light enabled

Switching to the front, the 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 sensor with autofocus does well with selfies. Skin tones are mostly accurate, colors are good, and there’s good detail. Selfies aren’t as good in low-light situations though.

Moving on to video, you can record at 4K 30fps from the main rear and front cameras. Stabilization is available as well, which does a good job of eliminating shake, but panning is obnoxious. Video quality is good when there is a lot of light, with slightly enhanced colors. However, I found the dynamic range and white balance to be all over the place.

Vivo V40e Battery: Impressive

• Capacity – 5,500mAh
• Charging speed – 80W
• Charger – 80W in the box

The battery performance of the Vivo V40e, as I mentioned in the subheading, is impressive. The 5,500mAh battery easily lasts a day and more with usage. In our HD video loop test, the phone managed to last more than 32 hours on a single charge. This was with a refresh rate set at 120Hz. Not many phones in this price segment can manage that.

Charging is a quick affair.

Charging is quite fast, thanks to the included 80W charger. It takes about an hour to fully charge from 0 to 100 percent. It also doesn’t get too hot while charging.

Vivo V40e Verdict

While the Vivo V40e is definitely not the one to get if you’re after portrait photography, it’s something I’d recommend if you want amazing battery life and a beautiful design. The Royal Bronze option is nice to look at, and the curved edges make the phone easy to hold. The phone also has a large, bright display for most situations. Sound output is decent, the primary rear camera and front camera are good during the day, and the performance is quite decent.

Alternatively, if you want a more unique design and better performance, you can go for the Nothing Phone 2a Plus (Review). If you prefer a better camera and a lot of performance, the OnePlus Nord 4 (Review) is also a great choice. There is also the Infinix Zero 40 (Review), which offers much better performance and a good main rear camera.