We get a lot of different brands of phones every month, some really cool and some not much so. This month, Vivo sent us their new smartphone for review and I must say, it definitely falls under the former group. Without further ado, let’s check out the Vivo X5Max.
The X5Max came in a surprisingly large box, considering that the device is supposed to be quite thin. Opening it and taking everything out revealed the reason; it doesn’t just come with the phone and USB cable, but uses a larger than usual 3-pin plug, a smaller rectangle box with a free plastic casing inside, and also a pair of headset that has inline microphone.
At a mere 5.08mm, 0.33mm thicker than the original Chinese variant for some reason, the Vivo X5Max is the second slimmest Android device on the market next to the Oppo R5 (4.85mm). However, unlike the Oppo R5 it still has a 3.5mm audio jack. Besides that, the X5Max sports the usual front and rear camera with flash, a speaker that’s longer than most, three capacity touch buttons for navigation, and the power as well as volume buttons.
To insert my SIM card, a pin was provided in the packaging, allowing me to eject the SIM tray, which has two slots. There’s the first slot for a micro SIM card, while the second slot can either accommodate a nano SIM card for a dual-SIM setup, or you could put a micro-SD card in to boost the X5Max’s 16GB of storage space. Seeing as I like carrying my music and videos in my 64GB micro-SD card, this is a feature I consider a must-have in phones I use.
Love watching YouTube or your own videos on your smartphone? You’ve hit bingo with this baby. Though not a 2K or QHD screen, the X5Max boasts a 5.5in Super AMOLED capable of crisp and colourful visuals, and I enjoyed this a lot when I had to use the public transport to go for assignments instead of driving.
To add to the viewing experience and more, it also has some of the best audio around. Plug in a good set of earphone or headphones and you get to enjoy Hi-Fi 2.0 sound quality, on a smartphone no less! I’m fussy about audio, but the X5Max definitely satisfied me in that regard. Audiophiles should be intrigued to know that this smartphone has a dedicated DAC and headphone amp. Combine this with Full HD video playback, this smartphone makes for a great music and video player when you are on the go.
The X5Max can last quite long, especially if you’re daily top-used apps are like mine: Waze, Whatsapp, Gmail and Google Chrome. The GPS drain isn’t bad, which really helped, but as usual games or HD videos will drain the battery much faster. In one instance, I was trying out a new game for about an hour and the battery use was just over 20 percent. For regular use, I’ve had days where the battery lasted the whole day and this is what most users can expect. Of course, if you are a heavy user then keep powerbanks or your car charger handy.
The Vivo X5Max doesn’t heat up badly, even if you’re playing a mobile game that’s taxing enough to get all cores running. Most of the time, the device won’t get hot enough to really bother you or make you stop doing what you were doing, and that’s great since I was worried about that as the phone is made of metal. It can be noticeably warm when it’s running full throttle, but in my experience of using the phone there hasn’t been any slowdowns caused by the heat.
Pictures taken with this smartphone turned out really well, especially if there’s enough light. That makes sense since the lens on the X5Max has an aperture of F2.0. I tried my favourite mode, HDR, and found that it sort of balances the end result; dark areas are slightly brightened and vice versa with the bright areas. 13MP on the rear camera may not be impressive, but 5MP front makes for some pretty detailed selfies. Don’t worry though, there’s a Face Beauty mode to ‘improve’ your complexion.
It’s also got a Bokeh, Night, and a watermark mode. The first two work well enough, though the watermark mode only has three watermark images you can use.
I personally find despite the steep price, it deserves a closer look. Not only does it look great, it performs well (processing-wise) and doesn’t burn your hand like many of the other metal-build smartphones on the market. Furthermore, with the microSD card storage of 128GB, you could turn this into your portable entertainment hub. Ultimately, your mileage may vary, but if the plus points of this sweet device by Vivo intrigues you then by all means give it a go.
VERDICT
A little heavy on the wallet, but worth a look.
SPECS
DIMENSIONS 153.9 x 78 x 5.08 mm
WEIGHT 156g
CHIPSET Snapdragon 615
CPU Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
GRAPHICS Adreno 405
MEMORY 2GB RAM
DISPLAY TFT LCD, 8in, 1200 x 1920 pixels
CAMERA 16MP rear-facing (autofocus), 5MP front-facing
STORAGE 16 GB, expandable by microSD
OPERATING SYSTEM Android 4.4.2 Kitkat
BATTERY 2000 mAh
BENCHMARKS
ANTUTU 28780
3DMARK ICE STORM
UNLIMITED 8127
GFBENCH MANHATTAN 350 (5.6 fps)
GFBENCH 1080P
MANHATTAN 348 (5.6 fps)
GFBENCH T-REX 812 (14.5 fps)
GFBENCH 1080P T-REX
OFFSCREEN 830 (14.8 fps)