vivo V5 review: The Oddball

Performance

The vivo V5 is powered by the dated and mediocre MediaTek MT6750 chipset - it sits a step below the Helio P10, and it didn't even deserve a pet name that's easier to remember. It packs a true octa-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at 1.5GHz. The GPU is nothing special - the Mali-T860 MP2 (read: dual-core), but there are 4 gigs of RAM on board, so that's something.

The same MT6750 chip is the one behind the Meizu M5 and M3, and it has proven to be enough for those devices.

The processor performance is okay when Android operations are concerned, but it trails behind the competition once it comes to heavy duty tasks, which require all eight cores.

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  1546
• vivo V5 Plus
  846
• Huawei nova
  842
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  839
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  819
• Lenovo Moto M
  771
• Meizu M5 Note
  683
• Lenovo K6 Note
  635
• vivo V5
  621
• Meizu M5
  592

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  4456
• vivo V5 Plus
  3136
• Huawei nova
  3105
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3065
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3016
• Lenovo Moto M
  2921
• Meizu M5 Note
  2690
• Meizu M5
  2428
• vivo V5
  2427
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2027

The raw graphics performance provided by the weak Mali-T860 MP2 GPU is rather uninspiring. It's worth noting that the GPU at least supports the latest OpenGL ES 3.1. While the offscreen raw scores are nothing to talk about, the onscreen framerate are helped by the lower 720p resolution, and thus the V5 ends up better than most of its competitors.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  9.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  9
• Huawei nova
  6.3
• vivo V5 Plus
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.2
• Lenovo Moto M
  4.7
• Lenovo K6 Note
  4.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  4
• Meizu M5 Note
  3.6
• Meizu M5
  3.4
• vivo V5
  3.4
• Oppo F1s
  2.4

GFX 3.1 Car scene (offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  5.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  5.3
• Huawei nova
  3.5
• vivo V5 Plus
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2.5
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.5
• Meizu M5 Note
  1.9
• Meizu M5
  1.8
• vivo V5
  1.8

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  9.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  9
• Meizu M5
  7.9
• vivo V5
  7.8
• Huawei nova
  6.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  6.2
• vivo V5 Plus
  6.1
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.1
• Oppo F1s
  6
• Lenovo Moto M
  5.2
• Lenovo K6 Note
  4.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  3.9
• Meizu M5 Note
  3.6

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  5.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  5.4
• vivo V5
  3.7
• Meizu M5
  3.7
• Huawei nova
  3.7
• vivo V5 Plus
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Lenovo Moto M
  2.7
• Lenovo K6 Note
  2.4
• Meizu M5 Note
  1.9

Meizu M5 Note is powered by the Helio P10 chip, which has the same GPU but running at a higher frequency. You can see the performance gap between the V5 and the M5 Note in the BaseMark X test - when the GPU is that weak, even the tiniest upgrades matter.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  14717
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  13666
• vivo V5 Plus
  10542
• Huawei nova
  10511
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  10483
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  10424
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  8540
• Lenovo K6 Note
  7480
• Lenovo Moto M
  6732
• Meizu M5 Note
  5276
• vivo V5
  4996
• Meizu M5
  4767

Compound benchmarks such as AnTuTu and BaseMark OS II give us a better understanding of the overall performance. Here, the vivo V5 stands okay next to the competition even though it's still trailing behind. The MT6750 chip is the definition of mediocrity.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Helio X20)
  85162
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  76186
• Huawei nova
  65021
• vivo V5 Plus
  63812
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  62454
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  62316
• Lenovo Moto M
  51831
• Meizu M5 Note
  47806
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  45474
• Lenovo K6 Note
  44972
• vivo V5
  41702
• Meizu M5
  40831
• Oppo F1s
  30657

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  1914
• Huawei nova
  1473
• vivo V5 Plus
  1325
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  1296
• Lenovo Moto M
  1127
• Lenovo K6 Note
  967
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  956
• Meizu M5 Note
  944
• vivo V5
  938
• Oppo F1s
  888
• Meizu M5
  846

The benchmark tests show the vivo V5 is a below average performer. It may provide an acceptable user experience, but we expected a bit more - especially at this price point. And the competition is ready to give us that extra bit of oomph at the same or even lower price.