vivo V29 review

Design, build quality, handling

Let's kick things off with what is possibly the most significant design change vivo is bringing with the V29 - the UV-sensitive color-changing back that three generations of Vs had is no longer available on this model.

The vivo V29 in Starry Purple

Other than the two colorways above, there are two more - Purple Fairy (pictured above) and Magestic Red. Here's how all four look in the official images.

The blue and purple variants have seemingly random waves and splashes of what looks like glitter underneath the surface that appears to move as you tilt the phone at different angles. The black and red colorways have their glitter uniformly spread out and their surface is frosted, as opposed to the glossy treatment of the other two.

Himalayan Blue (glossy) and Space Black (frosted)

Some things haven't changed, though. The super slim profile was one of the design team's priorities and they've kept it for the V29. The curves on both the display and the back panel that meet in a thin frame on the sides enhance the perception of compactness, and also contribute to an overall feeling of poshness.

That's further reinforced when you fire up the display on the V29 and look at the slim bezels. It's one of the more premium-looking handsets you can get in the midrange.

And it's not just about the looks this year - vivo has finally made the extra effort to ensure the V29 is dust- and water-tight to meet the IP68 certification requirements.

The V29 comes with an optical under-display fingerprint sensor and, like all recent such implementations, it has treated us well both in terms or speed and reliability. Similarly to the V27, we'll have to mention that we're not super happy about its rather low position.

We'll use the tour of the V29's feature placement to mention that the earpiece right above the screen does not double as a speaker. It feels like a missed opportunity and it's an area where vivo has been lagging behind the competition.

The V27 scrapped the microSD slot and the V29 doubles down on that - the V25 still had one. The card tray will still accept a couple of nano SIMs back to back.

The physical controls remain unchanged this generation. Both the power button and the volume rocker are on the right side of the phone in a slightly thickened stretch of the otherwise minimal plastic frame. The buttons are plastic too, but click positively nonetheless. Reaching them with either hand is equally natural too.

The vivo V29 measures 164.2x74.4x7.5mm (0.1mm thicker than the V27) and weighs 186g (6g heavier than the old one). Blocky flat-sided competitors like the Galaxy A54 or the Nothing Phone (1) feel nowhere as compact, but the Pixel 7a might be able to make a case for itself in terms of compactness thanks to a smaller footprint, despite its 9mm thickness. The Motorola Edge 40 is a decidedly more pocketable unit than the vivo though - not only is it smaller, but it's also lighter.