vivo V25/X80 Lite review

Funtouch OS 12 on top of Android 12

vivo hasn't made any spectacular advancements in the software department since its last big mode earlier this year - migrating FuntouchOS 12 to the Android 12 core. That's what the V23 family ran and what the V25 is shipping with out of the box as well.

You can find more than a few traces of the new Android core scattered about here and there, like Google's new privacy-focused green notification dot that indicates when the camera or microphone are being used or the increased "bounce back" animations on most UI components. Overall, however, the UI and UX are deeply customized by Funtouch OS 12.

The stock-ish-looking UI elements that were kind of the norm in FunTouch OS 11 have been substituted with a highly modified and customizable UI. Some of the changes are pretty nifty, too, including the system menus being tailored toward single-handed use. Some of the menus' content moves to the lower half of the screen when you swipe down, but not all, which is odd. vivo has revamped its default selection of widgets to make them more intuitive and easier to use as well.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • Settings menu

The recent apps menu, for example, has one of those useful proprietary features. You can choose between the standard carousel formation and a horizontal tiles layout - sort of like MIUI, only scrollable horizontally.

The app drawer, although stock-ish looking, has an expandable recommended apps category on the top (most commonly used ones), whereas using the vertical scroller on the right would highlight the apps beginning with the selected letter.

Recent apps • Recent apps • Notification shade • Quick toggles • App drawer

The notification shade is pretty familiar. Though for one reason or another, vivo is back to round toggles instead of the square ones that the V23 shipped with. The default accent color here is blue and can be controlled via the Android 12 AOSP color palletes interface. The theme engine is still just as powerful as always.

Themes

The rest of the UI got plenty of modifications too. In the Dynamic effects sub-menu, vivo has grouped a bunch of customization options for the home screen, lock screen and animation effects. There are even various charging and facial recognition animations.

The Ambient light effect is a bit lighter on options on the V25 than on some previous vivo phones. Certain options, like per-app light effects are absent.

Dynamic effects • Ambient light effect

The always-on display settings are in a different sub-menu, but the phone still gives you plenty of options to tinker with - a wide selection of animations, clock styles, colors, backgrounds.

Always-on display

vivo used to have an annoying issue with the fingerprint reader only activating when the phone detects movement. That was cleared up a while ago, though and as expected, simply waking the display on the V25 also brings up the fingerprint reader. However, we are still not particularly happy that the double-tap-to-wake function is buried in the Smart motion menu.

The Sound menu holds a few pleasant surprises. Just like Samsung, vivo takes care ofpeople with hearing problems, and you can calibrate the sound to be heard by elderly people or those with impaired hearing. Additionally, notifications and calls get separate volume sliders. The vibration intensity can be adjusted for calls and notifications independently. No system-wide equalizer is available for the loudspeaker, though, which could be either a negative and a positive, depending on how you look at it. An Audio Super Resolution toggle is thrown into the mix, though.

Sound options

The previously mentioned Smart motion menu holds a handful of familiar screen-on and screen-off gestures along with some new additions. One of those requires you to wave in front of the screen during an incoming call to answer hands-free - useful if you're cooking, for example.

Smart motion menu

Holding the volume down key can be used to launch an app or do a certain task, although the list is limited to the camera app, turning on/off the torch or starting recording audio and opening Facebook for some odd reason. The so-called Quick action feature doesn't work when playing music for obvious reasons. Why isn't there a double-press option for Quick action, though?

Shortcuts and accessibility • Quick action • S-capture • Screen-split • Easy Touch

Having all of these customizable gestures, actions and additional features around is cool, but we can't help but wish that vivo could have organized them a bit better. As things currently stand, it is hard to find certain options, even when you know for a fact that they exist and consequently, discovering new things is even harder.

Lastly, there's a little something for the gamers. A dedicated Ultra Game Mode is available, and it has it all. Most of the features are about mitigating disturbance during gameplay or preventing certain apps from displaying notifications. One of the most intriguing features that have been around on vivo phones for a while is the ability to turn off the screen and keep the game running in the background. Especially useful for turn-based games or those requiring some sort of "farming" and "grinding". The V25 is missing Game Surround sound and Eagle eye, though, which used to be a thing on the V23 Pro.

Ultra Game mode

Overall, Funtouch OS 12 is great when it comes to fluidity and snappy operation. vivo even gives you the option to speed up transitions further, which is another option to add to the myriad of customizations available. If you are into that, then you will definitely enjoy the experience. However, those that want to use Android as Google intended might not be okay with the colorful iconography and the highly customized system menus and animations.

There is the odd absent feature here and there on the vivo V25, but nothing that will be sorely missed. What we still haven't seen is a major reorganization on vivo's end. Most options are still scattered and buried in various sub-menus and nearly impossible to find unless the user knows what to look for.

Synthetic benchmarks

The vivo V25 is based on the MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset. A fairly-modern chip from last year that might not be overly popular but is still a decent mid-range choice. Made on an efficient 6nm mode it offers modern connectivity options, such as SA/NSA dual-SIM 5G and Bluetooth 5.2 with LE.

An interesting thing to note about vivo's choice of chipset is the fact that technically the V25 constitutes a downgrade in this department compared to the previous generation vivo V23 5G and its Dimensity 920 chipset. The difference isn't huge, though - the Dimensity 900 has its two "big" Cortex-A78 cores clocked slightly lower at 2.4 GHz.

Beyond that, both chips have six Cortex-A55 cores, working at up to 2.0 GHz. Both also share the same quad-core Mali-G68 GPU, though the Dimensity 920 has it clocked higher at 950 Mhz, whereas the Dimensity 900 has it capped at 900 Mhz. In any case, we can't quite understand why vivo decided to downgrade the chipset this generation.

For the sake of thoroughness, we should mention that our vivo V25 unit, as tested, has 256GB of storage and 8GB of physical RAM, plus 8GB of extended virtual RAM on top of that.

Let's kick things off with some CPU loads and GeekBench. Generally speaking, the vivo V25 offers no surprises when it comes to performance and generally scores around what we would expect out of its Dimensity 900 chipset.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Poco F4
  3190
• Google Pixel 6a
  2876
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  2790
• vivo V25 Pro
  2521
• Realme 9 Pro+
  2335
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  2225
• Infinix Zero 5G
  2169
• vivo V23 5g
  2140
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  2063
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  2063
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  2037
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  2030
• vivo V25
  2023
• Realme 9 Pro
  2020
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  1964
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  1945
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  1900
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  1891
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  1873
• Poco M4 Pro
  1836
• Poco M5s
  1831
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  1729
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  1662
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  1632
• Realme 9
  1601
• Nokia G21
  1193
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  588

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  1047
• Poco F4
  975
• vivo V25 Pro
  858
• Realme 9 Pro+
  814
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  743
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  742
• vivo V23 5g
  739
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  736
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  730
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  723
• vivo V25
  716
• Infinix Zero 5G
  706
• Realme 9 Pro
  694
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  688
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  687
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  676
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  670
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  526
• Poco M4 Pro
  523
• Poco M5s
  516
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  511
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  491
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  380
• Realme 9
  380
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  376
• Nokia G21
  311
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  153

AnTuTu paints a similarly solid performance picture for the V25, which generally means that vivo has done a good job implementing and optimizing the chip.

AnTuTu 9

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  712092
• vivo V25 Pro
  704090
• Poco F4
  698586
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  604467
• Infinix Zero 5G
  487639
• vivo V23 5g
  476058
• vivo V25
  461428
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  448813
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  437872
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  436197
• Realme 9 Pro+
  416031
• Realme 9 Pro
  401894
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  394918
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  384646
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  382902
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  380818
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  380672
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  379313
• Poco M5s
  360681
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  319093
• Poco M4 Pro
  318444
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  308741
• Realme 9
  290097
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  273554
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  244526
• Nokia G21
  171299
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  136286

Graphical performance isn't exactly something the vivo V25 excels in. You can get better GPU performance out of competitors in the same price range. Even so, the V25 holds its own well.

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  47
• vivo V25 Pro
  33
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  31
• Realme 9 Pro+
  17
• vivo V25
  16
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  16
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average (1080p)
  16
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  15
• Infinix Zero 5G
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  12
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  12
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  12
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  12
• vivo V23 5g
  11
• Realme 9 Pro
  11
• Poco M4 Pro
  8.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  8.3
• Nokia G21
  6
• Realme 9
  5
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  4.7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  4.6
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  3.3

GFX Aztek ES 3.1 High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  29
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  22
• vivo V25 Pro
  21
• vivo V23 5g
  16
• vivo V25
  11
• Realme 9 Pro+
  11
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  11
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  10
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  10
• Infinix Zero 5G
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  7.8
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  7.8
• Realme 9 Pro
  7.8
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  7.8
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  7.8
• Poco M4 Pro
  5.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  5.5
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  3.2
• Realme 9
  3.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  3.1
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  2.2
• Nokia G21
  1.9

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  39
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  29
• vivo V25 Pro
  28
• Realme 9 Pro+
  16
• vivo V25
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  15
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  15
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average (1080p)
  15
• Infinix Zero 5G
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  12
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  12
• Realme 9 Pro
  12
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  12
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  12
• vivo V23 5g
  10
• Poco M4 Pro
  7.7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  7.7
• Nokia G21
  5.6
• Realme 9
  4.9
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  4.8
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  4.6
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  3.4

GFX Aztek Vulkan High (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  32
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  20
• vivo V25 Pro
  19
• vivo V23 5g
  15
• vivo V25
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  10
• Realme 9 Pro+
  10
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  10
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  9.8
• Infinix Zero 5G
  9.5
• Realme 9 Pro
  8.2
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  8.2
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  8.2
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  8.1
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  8
• Poco M4 Pro
  5.1
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  5.1
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  3.2
• Realme 9
  3.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  3.1
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  2.3
• Nokia G21
  1.8

If you are specifically trying to min-max your gaming performance, you can find something like a Dimensity 1300 without breaking the bank. Not necessarily in the same overall slick package as the vivo V25 offers, though.

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  51
• Poco F4
  49
• vivo V25 Pro
  42
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  40
• Realme 9 Pro+
  23
• vivo V23 5g
  22
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  22
• vivo V25
  21
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  21
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average (1080p)
  21
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  20
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  19
• Infinix Zero 5G
  19
• Poco M5s
  18
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  17
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  17
• Realme 9 Pro
  16
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  16
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  16
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  12
• Poco M4 Pro
  12
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  12
• Nokia G21
  8.9
• Realme 9
  7.3
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  6.8
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  6.7
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  5.2

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  66
• Poco F4
  59
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  50
• vivo V25 Pro
  48
• vivo V23 5g
  27
• Realme 9 Pro+
  27
• vivo V25
  26
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  26
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  26
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  25
• Infinix Zero 5G
  25
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  23
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  23
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  20
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  20
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  20
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  19
• Poco M5s
  19
• Realme 9 Pro
  19
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  14
• Poco M4 Pro
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  14
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  8.3
• Realme 9
  8.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  8
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  6.2
• Nokia G21
  5.2

Looking at the GPU scores, we can't help but notice the last-gen vivo V23 5G is doing slightly better than its successor thanks to the small GPU frequency bump. While the difference is slim and won't really translate much into real-world performance, it's never great to see generational downgrades like this.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Poco F4
  84
• vivo V25 Pro
  67
• Google Pixel 6a
  60
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  56
• Realme 9 Pro+
  41
• vivo V23 5g
  40
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  38
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  38
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average (1080p)
  38
• vivo V25
  37
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  35
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  35
• Infinix Zero 5G
  35
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  30
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  30
• Realme 9 Pro
  29
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  29
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  29
• Poco M5s
  28
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  22
• Poco M4 Pro
  21
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  21
• Nokia G21
  17
• Realme 9
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  12
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  12
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  8.3

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  116
• Poco F4
  96
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  80
• vivo V25 Pro
  70
• vivo V23 5g
  45
• Realme 9 Pro+
  45
• vivo V25
  43
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  43
• Infinix Zero 5G
  43
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  43
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  42
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  38
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  38
• Realme 9 Pro
  35
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  35
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  35
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  34
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  34
• Poco M5s
  32
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  24
• Poco M4 Pro
  24
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  24
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  15
• Realme 9
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  9.4
• Nokia G21
  8.5

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Poco F4
  114
• vivo V25 Pro
  96
• vivo V23 5g
  63
• Google Pixel 6a
  60
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  60
• vivo V25
  58
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  57
• Infinix Zero 5G
  57
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average (1080p)
  57
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  56
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  56
• Realme 9 Pro+
  56
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  55
• Poco M5s
  49
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  43
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  42
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  42
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  41
• Realme 9 Pro
  41
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  34
• Poco M4 Pro
  33
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  32
• Nokia G21
  24
• Realme 9
  20
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  18
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  18
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  14

GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  167
• Poco F4
  137
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  127
• vivo V25 Pro
  98
• vivo V23 5g
  68
• Realme 9 Pro+
  68
• vivo V25
  66
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  65
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  64
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  64
• Infinix Zero 5G
  64
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  60
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  60
• Poco M5s
  53
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  48
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  47
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  47
• Realme 9 Pro
  47
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  47
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  37
• Poco M4 Pro
  37
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  37
• Realme 9
  22
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  21
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  20
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  16
• Nokia G21
  14

3DMark is quite favorable towards the vivo V25. Its Dimensity 900 chipset is broadly comparable to Samsung's Exynos 1280 in GPU tasks as well.

3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  8808
• vivo V23 5g
  4170
• vivo V25
  3879
• Infinix Zero 5G
  3845
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  3631
• Realme 9 Pro
  2946
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  2921
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  2917
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  1940
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  1320
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  1316
• Nokia G21
  962
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  886

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• vivo V23 5g
  4040
• vivo V25
  3734
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  3570
• Infinix Zero 5G
  3558
• Realme 9 Pro
  2773
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  2747
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  2744
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  1867
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  1267
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  1261
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  931
• Nokia G21
  930

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• Google Pixel 6a
  6066
• OnePlus Nord 2T
  4577
• vivo V25 Pro
  4497
• Poco F4
  4357
• vivo V23 5g
  2315
• Realme 9 Pro+
  2296
• Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
  2292
• Samsung Galaxy A33 5G
  2260
• Samsung Galaxy M53
  2203
• MediaTek Dimensity 900 average
  2188
• vivo V25
  2173
• Infinix Zero 5G
  2035
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
  2014
• Poco X4 Pro 5G
  1211
• Realme 9 Pro
  1211
• OnePlus Nord N20 5G
  1205
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
  1204
• Motorola Edge 30 Neo
  1201
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
  1101
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S
  1101
• Poco M4 Pro
  1099
• Samsung Galaxy A13
  510
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
  439
• Samsung Galaxy A23
  429
• Nokia G21
  403

The vivo V25 is a solid mid-ranger with good performance for its class. The MediaTek Dimensity 900 is a modern chip with plenty of bells and whistles when it comes to features and connectivity. It has enough power to run through everyday tasks, and casual gaming is no issue either. Funtouch OS 12 runs smoothly with no noticeable hiccups.

The only real problem we have with vivo's choice of hardware here is the fact that the V25 is technically downgraded compared to its V23 Pro predecessor, and that's not something we like to see, even if it doesn't make much of an actual difference in practice.