Vivo V30 Lite 4G review: Should you buy it under 35,000 rupees?

Just a while ago, I came up with the Vivo V30 5G review, which was quite on the positive side. After all, the phone was quite good for the price tag of 60,999 rupees, thanks to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and dual 50MP camera setup. And today, I'm here with the Vivo V30 Lite 4G review. As the name implies, this phone's specs get toned down to a Snapdragon 685 4G SoC and a generic 50MP + 2MP depth camera duo. And it retails at 33,999 rupees for the sole 8/256GB trim. So, does it justify the price tag like its big brother the V30 5G? Let's find that in my Vivo V30 Lite 4G review. Before heading in, let's have a look at the specs of this guy.

Vivo V30 Lite 4G Specifications:

• Design: Glass front, IP54-rating
• Dimensions: 163.2 x 75.8 x 7.8 mm
• Weight: 188 grams
• Display: 6.67-inch E4 AMOLED ,120Hz ,394ppi, 1,800 nits
• Resolution: FHD+ (1,080 x 2,400)
• Chipset: Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 (6nm)
• RAM: 8GB extendable
• ROM: 256GB UFS 2.2
• OS & UI: Funtouch OS 14 based on Android 14
• Rear Camera:
  • 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
• Front Camera: 8 MP, f/2.0, (wide)
• Battery: 5,000 mAh Lithium-ion cell with 80W super fast charging
• Color Options: Crystal Black and Crystal Green
• Price in Nepal: NPR 33,999 (8/256GB)
• Buy Vivo V30 Lite 4G here

Vivo V30 Lite 4G Review:

A good-looking design

• Glass Front, Plastic Back
• Plastic Middle Frame

It's a Vivo phone and there is no way, the company would slide a good-looking design away. The V30 Lite 4G flaunts a clean look with a protruding camera lens with a gold accent on the rear side. Sadly, this Crystal Black color I have doesn't boast a color changing back unlike the Crystal Green shade. I bet the latter one would look cool. But I must remind you guys, the build is plastic here for the rear and middle frame sides. But it doesn't look cheap, and that should count.

Display

• 6.67-inches AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate
• 2400 x 1080 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio
• Asahi Glass AGC DT-Star 2 Plus

Talking of the display, the V30 Lite 4G flaunts a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. And I found it to be just good for the price. Yes, you get those deeper blacks and high contrast here, which make it ideal for content watching. Vivo has also provided a stereo speaker setup here, which is just very average. Sharp output with not much bass in it. Besides that, there is not much to talk about it. It's a typical 120Hz AMOLED panel which has become very very common these days. You get three refresh rate options here: 60Hz, 60/120Hz and 120Hz. I would suggest you go for the middle one, as it dynamically adjusts the motion rate to 60Hz and 120Hz depending on the content on the screen. Thankfully, it doesn't lock the refresh rate at 90Hz even while setting it at 120Hz, which was the case on the V30 5G.

Performance is kinda meh!

Under the hood, the phone is powered by a basic Snapdragon 685 chipset. This 4G silicon is not new and we have already seen the SoC powering Redmi Note 12 4G, Note 13 4G, and so on. It is power efficient thanks to the 6nm fabrication process but the performance side of things is just very basic. I think Vivo should have gone for the Helio G99 chipset instead, if not for the Dimensity 6100+, given the latter one is a 5G chip and wouldn't fit the V30 Lite '4G' moniker tag. It's a 34,000 rupees phone and the SD 685 just doesn't make a lot of sense here. I know, it's a midrange phone and I shouldn't go too harsh for it. But I can't help it due to the boring FunTouch OS as well. The UI is not that appealing and minor lags are noticeable while app opening and app switching. Maybe the future updates shall improve things but, I'm still not the fan of FunTouch OS and Snapdragon 685 combo on this guy. And I did try some games here. The popular BR title, PUBG mobile is capped at 30fps only, which is meh! At least a 40fps support would have been welcoming. But you do get a proper gyroscope experience here. On the other hand, Call of Duty Mobile runs at a median of 58fps. After all, this game is known to be quite optimized even for budget devices. Besides that, you can latch on to simple games like Subway Surfers, Temple Run, and such for a casual gaming experience. So, performance-wise, the V30 Lite 4G is just average for the price. The Redmi Note 13 Pro 4G with Helio G99 and the Galaxy A15 with Dimensity 6100+ can provide better performance than the Snapdragon 685 used here.

Optics

• Dual-camera setup at the back
• 50MP main, 2MP depth, Flicker sensor
• 8MP selfie camera

Daylight

Okay so, I compared the Vivo V30 Lite 4G's camera to the Samsung Galaxy A15, and here's what I have found. The V30 Lite tends to go for a close-to-natural look while Samsung gives you vibrant colors. And for someone who is a fan of punchy colors, A15's outputs would be more appealing to you. But one thing I have to give to the V30 Lite for its closeup shots, which look nice!

Portraits

Looking at the portrait shots from both phones, I'm forced to lean on Samsung's side once again. No, it's not perfect by any means, but the V30 Lite's color science and skin tone are less favorable here.

Selfies

Getting to the selfies, Vivo finally makes a comeback. There is some beautification going on with a slightly pinking output. But, it looks better than Galaxy A15's oversharpened outputs.

Lowlight

When the sun goes down, the V30 Lite's night mode can take better-looking images than the Galaxy A15. You can notice the color tones and white balance differences on both devices. However, the main concern is that Samsung mostly produces noisy images here.

Videos

And finally the videos. It can shoot up to 1080p 60fps videos. But, Vivo sadly disappoints here with muted colors and average video quality. Samsung's color science and stabilization are way better!

Battery Life and Charging

As with every other phone in the segment, the V30 Lite gets a 5,000mAh battery which provides you a day full of battery life with ease. But I would suggest you to go for the dynamic refresh rate settings for that. Cause' the 120Hz-only mode can drain the batter slightly quicker. Apart from that, the 80W inbox charger is a superb addition here, the highest in this price range. It can charge this phone from 0-100% in 50 minutes. Also, Vivo claims an impressive 80% battery health even after using it for 4 years (1600 charge cycles). Well, testing it would literally take four darn years, so I'll just let this one slide!

Vivo V30 Lite 4G Review: Conclusion

Okay, moving to the conclusion, I really feel the Vivo V30 Lite to be in a confusing position. Its elder brother, the V30 5G was just priced right at the sweet spot with both impressive cameras and performance. But sadly, I couldn't say the same about this guy! I think the price tag is a bit on the expensive side. Because the performance here is just average, and so is the main camera for both stills and videos. (The selfie camera is fine though!) To be more precise, the Snapdragon 685 can cater well to normal users, but not to those seeking some performance and power. If only, Vivo had used a better chip as I've aforementioned, the Helio G99. Plus a more optimized main camera! That way the phone could have brought more of an appeal. But one thing with Vivo phones, you are not left behind when it comes to a good-looking design and good display. Which is the same case over here! The 80W inbox charger is also the fastest in the segment, which is really nice. And Vivo is also providing a Free Clipbuds TWS for a limited time. Which is a bone conduction earbud. But instead of that, Vivo could have priced it under 30K, I think. All in all, the V30 Lite 4G is not a bad offering at all, but good pricing is the key to staying relevant in the competition, isn't it?

Vivo V30 Lite 4G Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Nice-looking design
• Decent AMOLED panel
• 80W fast charging
• Good selfies

Cons

• The main camera needs optimization
• Average performance
• Average videos