The smartphone brand that has made the biggest leap in the camera department this year is Vivo. Each of its phones has made photography hassle free but at a reasonable pricing. Vivo V21 5G is not an exception.

Camera is on point

Unless a brand goofs up — like an Android brand did this year — cameras have become capable, turning in bright, clear pictures and at the same time, has the same one or two niggling issues. The winning feature in the camera department is OIS or optical image stabilisation, which helps compensate real-time shaking or vibrating while shooting and is particularly handy in the video department. It’s not an inexpensive technology, so many phones don’t offer it.

Vivo has practically thrown in everything it can at the phone’s ‘price point’ — two words you keep hearing about while reading about phones. The amount of details it can capture is impressive, be it portrait or night shots. But I don’t have the foggiest why as to why the company isn’t focussing more on interface. For example, say I am shooting a picture on the main lens but suddenly want to move into ultra-wide. The interface doesn’t let me pinch and change gears, instead a tiny icon has to be clicked, which has three more options.... It’s cumbersome and the moment gets missed.

Next thing is colour saturation. I like what the camera does because ultimately most of us use a photo editing tool to add more colour and contrast to photos. The only quibble is a slight colour shift while changing from the main lens to portrait mode.

The USP lies in the 44MP selfie cam, which offers both OIS and auto focus. It translates into a lot of freedom for vloggers, who move around while shooting videos. And two more winning features. While taking selfies at night if the lighting is very poor, there is an “extreme night” option that comes on automatically. If the situation needs extra lighting, tap on the spotlight feature under flash.

The other things

It may sound weird but yes, we are clubbing everything else here. As much as I like the MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor, a lot of phones are using it, so the performance is as good as any of those other devices, the only exception being the three extra GB of virtual RAM. The 6.44-inch AMOLED display performs well during streaming and it helps to have 90Hz refresh rate. And keeping it all in one place is a clean design philosophy that’s now being seen across Vivo phones. But the same cannot be said when it comes to the software, which has unnecessary apps. As for the 4,000mAh battery, it easily lasts a day.

Overall, what helps Vivo V21 5G find a spot in a cluttered market is its smooth camera performance and design.

More about the smartphone

A sample shot taken using the phone The Telegraph

Device: Vivo V21 5G

Price: Rs 29,990

High notes

• OIS on the main and selfie camera

• It has the best selfie camera

• Sleek design

Muffled notes

• Software and UI need improvement