vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Beauty or the beast

Buying a smartphone isn’t really an easy choice anymore. With the sheer number of options available, it can be hard to cut the wheat from the chaffe. There are phones like the Pocophone F1 that prioritize all-out performance over everything else. Then there’s the vivo V15 Pro that melds a stunning design with good enough performance while taking aim at heavy social media users. We’re here to help you make a more informed decision. Follow along as we pit the phones against each other in our vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1 comparison.

vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Design

The vivo V15 Pro hits it out of the park with its dual color gradient. The design is eye-catching without looking garish. Combine that with the expansive display on the front and you’ve got a phone that looks positively stunning.

The POCOphone F1 is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s not a bad looking phone but it certainly won’t be winning any design awards. The back of the phone, in the higher end armored edition, has a Kevlar finish. It looks alright but catches scuffs easily. The more affordable plastic versions, though, look a bit cheap. The POCOphone was built to a cost and it really shows in the design. Functional but not exactly beautiful.

The front of the POCOphone F1 has a wide, dare I say, first-generation notch? The bezels too aren’t quite the slimmest. The vivo V15 Pro, on the other hand, sports a pop-up selfie camera that eschews the need for a notch or cut out and leaves you with a large, undisturbed canvas for media consumption or just everyday use.

Both the POCOphone F1 and the vivo V15 Pro sport headphone jacks at the top. The POCOphone F1 also has an infrared blaster up here that you can use to control your television, air conditioner or other consumer electronics.

Unfortunately, vivo thought it wise to stick to a microUSB port for charging. The vivo V15 Pro has a smaller 3,700mAh battery compared to the 4,000mAh battery on the POCOphone F1 but given the difference in internals, we found the vivo V15 Pro lasted just a bit longer.

Ergonomics on both phones are quite good but the smoother curves on the vivo V15 Pro makes it just a bit more comfortable to hold. Buttons on the POCOphone are a bit more clicky though and the V15 Pro’s nearly flush volume rocker might not be the easiest to press down on. Overall, things generally even out on both the devices.

The vivo V15 Pro has a 5th generation in-display fingerprint reader. Fast, accurate and generally reliable, there’s a lot to like about it. The touch area is, however, a bit too low on the display to be comfortable to use. The rear mounted fingerprint scanner on the POCOphone works just as you’d expect.

On its own, the POCOphone F1 might pass off as a decent enough looking phone but between the two, the vivo V15 Pro definitely wins out. vivo has done a great job with design and ergonomics.

vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Display

Comparing the displays on the vivo V15 Pro and the POCOphone F1, the former definitely wins out. The V15 Pro has a 6.39-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display. Meanwhile, the POCO F1 has a slightly smaller 6.18-inch LCD display.

The vivo V15 Pro’s display is exceptionally vibrant and the lack of a notch of any kind goes a long way in making it pleasing for media consumption. In our review, we found the display to be sufficiently bright for outdoor use.

The display on the POCOphone F1 lacks the sheer contrast ratio of the V15 Pro’s Super AMOLED panel. As such, blacks aren’t as deep and colors don’t really pop.

You can’t really ignore the wide notch on the POCOphone F1. Xiaomi has added an additional infrared camera in there for better face recognition. The vivo V15 Pro, on the other hand, brings back the pop-up selfie camera from the vivo NEX. Since the camera is hidden away behind the display, there is no need for a notch and the vivo V15 Pro manages a beautiful large notch-free display.

vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Performance

The POCOphone F1 was built on a simple premise. Top of the line internal specifications at a deceptively low price. The phone has a Snapdragon 845 processor and up to 8GB of RAM. If you find yourself gaming all day long and craving the maximum performance from your phone, the POCOphone F1 will definitely win out.

The vivo V15 Pro is, however, designed for a more average consumer. The Snapdragon 675 chipset inside is good enough for day to day use. General performance is satisfactory and the phone even manages a bit of gaming. The 6GB of RAM onboard is sufficient for multitasking and most users should be satisfied with the power on offer. Compared to the POCOphone F1 though, it most definitely loses out.

Test results back up our claim with the vivo V15 Pro scoring significantly worse scores in both the CPU centric AnTuTu and GPU centric 3D Mark benchmark.

3D Mark

vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Camera

The vivo V15 Pro and POCOphone F1 take a pretty different approach towards photography. The POCOphone F1 pairs a 12MP primary camera with a 5MP depth sensing sensor for portrait images. The vivo V15 Pro, on the other hand, joins the 48MP club. Not only does it have the 48MP Sony sensor that we first saw on the View 20, it also adds an 8MP super wide angle sensor and a 5MP depth sensor to the mix.

In terms of sheer camera sensors and focal length options, the vivo V15 Pro is the clear winner. However, as we all know, software has a much bigger role to play in smartphone photography. The V15 Pro defaults to shooting 12MP shots where 4 adjoining pixels from the 48MP sensor are combined to reduce noise and improve image quality.

You’ll observe that the image from the POCOphone F1 is ever so slightly over-exposed. Leaves appear slightly burnt out and generally, the image from the V15 Pro appears to have a bit more detail.

In the next image as well, the POCOphone’s tendency to overexpose is evident. On the other hand, the vivo V15 Pro’s AI enhancement bumps up the saturation making the flowers look more vibrant than they actually are. The V15 Pro’s images might not be a hundred percent accurate but they are visually appealing and ready to go on social media straight from the camera.

A big win for the vivo V15 Pro is the phone’s 8MP ultra-wide camera. It offers a lot of flexibility for creative shooting and lets you get a lot more of the scene in the frame.

vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Software

Both the POCOphone F1 and the vivo V15 pro run their own take on Android. Based on Android Pie, the vivo V15 Pro’s Funtouch OS takes cues from Apple’s iOS for the interface. Be it the missing app drawer or the way that the notifications shade and quick toggles are split across the interface, this is a rather huge departure from stock Android.

POCO Launcher on the POCOphone F1 is a fresh take on MIUI. While it keeps the familiarity of Xiaomi’s skin, POCO Launcher adds additional features and settings to please the more customization oriented crowd.

Both the skins are an acquired taste and there’s no obvious winner between the two. Of course, you can simply replace the default launcher to your preferred option and call it a day.

vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Specifications

vivo V15 Pro vs POCOphone F1: Price and availability

The POCOphone F1 starts at 19,999 rupees (~$280) for the base variant with 6GB RAM, 64GB of storage and goes all the way to 27,999 rupees (~$393) for the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage version. Meanwhile, the vivo V15 Pro is priced at 28,990 rupees (~$400) in India.

Both phones cater to very different audiences. If it is power you crave, the POCOphone F1 is your obvious choice. What you lose in design, the phone makes up in sheer power by giving you a top of the line processor. The vivo V15 Pro, on the other, emphasizes design and AI enhancements over all-out power. Depending on your smartphone usage, this might be enough.

What would you choose between the vivo V15 Pro and the POCOphone F1? Let us know in the comments.