Vivo today introduced the V70 series at an event in New Delhi, India. The lineup includes two smartphones – V70 and V70 Elite. While the Vivo V70 succeeds last year’s V60, the V70 Elite is the first “Elite” model in the V series. Vivo has not yet confirmed whether the Elite is the new Pro or not. However, we got a chance to spend some time with the Vivo V70 Elite, and here are our first impressions of the phone.
The Vivo V70 Elite comes in the same retail box as the V60. It includes a charging cable, a SIM ejector, a 90W power adapter, some documents, and a protective case. However, the protective case is transparent and does not match the color of the phone, unlike the cases bundled with some V60 models.
As mentioned, the Vivo V70 Elite features a 6.59″ AMOLED display on the front, which is protected by Schott Xensation Core glass and surrounded by thin bezels. It’s a 120Hz panel with a 2,750×1,260-pixel resolution, 459 ppi pixel density, 5,000 nits local peak brightness, and the ability to display 1.07 billion colors.
The panel supports 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz refresh rates, and offers three refresh rate options in the Settings menu: Standard, Smart Optimization, and High. Standard mode refreshes the panel at up to 60Hz, while High mode refreshes the screen at up to 120Hz. Smart optimization chooses the best refresh rate for “smooth display and long battery life”.
When you select High mode, you get the “Apps running at higher refresh rates” option, which lets you enable the 120Hz refresh rate on a per-app/game basis. It’s also worth noting that the display supports HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG codecs and has Widevine L1 certification, enabling 1080p video streaming in supported apps.
The display of the Vivo V70 Elite has a centered punch-hole at the top for the selfie camera. It sports a 50MP “ZEISS Group Selfie Camera” with f/2.0 aperture, 92° FOV, auto-focus, and 0.8x–2x magnification. The front camera is also capable of recording 4K video at 60 fps, but Vivo has not disclosed which sensor the camera uses.
Additionally, the display of the V70 Elite features an embedded 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication, making it the first V series smartphone to feature an ultrasonic fingerprint reader. It supports swipe-based fingerprint enrollment and can unlock the smartphone even with wet fingers. We found this fingerprint scanner to be fast and accurate, and we like that it’s not too close to the bezel, resulting in a comfortable phone-unlocking experience.
On the other side of the Vivo V70 Elite is a circular-shaped camera island, which houses a circular flash called Aura Light, three cameras and a ZEISS logo, as all the rear cameras are co-developed with ZEISS.
The Vivo V70 Elite’s 50MP primary camera (23mm) uses a Sony LYT-700V 1/1.56″ sensor, with an f/1.88 aperture, 84° FOV, and OIS. The V70 Elite’s 50MP telephoto camera (73mm) also uses a Sony sensor, but it’s an IMX882 1/1.95″ sensor, sitting behind a lens. f/2.65 aperture, OIS and 3x optical zoom.
The resolution of the V70 Elite’s ultrawide camera (15mm) is only 8MP, and while Vivo hasn’t revealed the sensor it uses, we do know that the ultrawide unit has an f/2.2 aperture and 115° FOV. This is the only camera on the V70 Elite that does not have auto-focus.
The V70 Elite can record 4K@60FPS video at 1x, 2x and 3x magnification, Portrait mode supports five focal lengths: 23mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and 100mm. The smartphone comes with a bunch of AI-powered photography features, including the India-exclusive AI Holi Portrait, which will be available to users only till March 15, 2026.
Additionally, the V70 Elite features AI Audio Noise Eraser, which lets you remove voices, music, wind noise, and other unwanted noises from your video recordings. This didn’t work on our unit, so it’s unclear how effective it is.
Vivo says that the camera module that houses these snappers is “engineered from smooth metal.” Well, it’s sleek, but it still makes the phone wobble when used on a flat surface.
That said, the camera module of the Vivo V70 Elite, like the rest of the back panel of the phone, has a matte finish that resists fingerprint smudges. The back panel of our Passion Red model is made of an unglazed glass, as is the Sand Beige model, while the Authentic Black version has a glass-fibre cover. The Authentic Black model weighs 187 grams, making it 7 grams lighter than the other two versions. Not only that, the V70 Elite Authentic Black is also thinner than the Passion Red and Sand Beige models: 7.4mm vs 7.59mm.
The V70 Elite’s flat “aerospace-grade” aluminum frame also has a matte finish. On the right side of the frame are the volume rocker and power button, both of which are well received. At the bottom is the USB-C port, flanked by a SIM card slot, a microphone, and a speaker grill. At the top is the IR blaster, which is joined by another speaker outlet and a microphone.
ports and controls
We like the overall design and build of the Vivo V70 Elite. It’s sleek, compact and easy to use with one hand, making it the most comfortable to hold V series smartphone we’ve used so far.
The Vivo V70 Elite is powered by a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. Vivo was criticized for launching the V60 with UFS 2.2 storage, so it’s good to see the brand offering something better with the V70 Elite.
On the software side, you get the V70 Elite with Android 16-based OriginOS 6. Vivo has promised four OS version upgrades and six years of security updates, which will be released quarterly.
Vivo V70 Elite is going to be fueled by a 6,500 mAh battery with 90W charging. It also supports multi-scenario bypass charging. Other features of the Vivo V70 Elite include IP68 and IP69 ratings, underwater photography, 4D gaming vibration, X-axis linear motor, and NFC.
