I’ve evaluated the top camera phone available for $400.

      Vivo has a legacy of producing outstanding camera phones. The X series, particularly my favorite, the Vivo X200 Pro, is known for yielding images that closely resemble those taken with professional cameras. Over time, these features have been incorporated into the sub-flagship series and have now made their way to a more budget-friendly device within Vivo's lineup. I've been testing the Vivo V50, a $400 Android phone boasting impressive specifications, including a 120Hz curved AMOLED display, 90-watt fast charging, an IP68 and IP69 rating, and a uniquely designed glass back that gives the illusion of peering through a portal in the space-time continuum.

      What truly stands out about the Vivo V50 is its camera, which greatly takes inspiration from the flagship X series. As I will demonstrate below, it captures some astonishingly good and almost magical photographs that I haven't encountered on any other non-Vivo devices. Its features seem to far exceed its price range, and the picture quality leads me to believe that it possibly has the best cameras I've ever used on a mid-range phone.

      Here’s why I consider the Vivo V50 superior to its competitors and why it surpasses any other phone in this price category.

      Vivo’s partnership with Zeiss is beneficial

      Tushar Mehta / Digital Trends

      For the past six generations of its flagship X series phones, Vivo has partnered with the optics company Zeiss, which has proven advantageous for both parties. On the hardware side, Zeiss assists Vivo in designing higher-quality lenses that reduce color distortion and glare. On the software side, Vivo has adopted Zeiss’ color profiles and emulated bokeh styles inspired by well-known Zeiss camera lenses.

      For the mid-range V series, these enhancements are relatively new, having only been available for the last two generations—V50 being the third. Interestingly, the Zeiss improvements have traditionally been confined to the Pro variants of the series, making the Vivo V50 the first non-Pro model to feature a Zeiss label and the associated enhancements.

      For the Vivo V50, most of these upgrades are software-based, but the company has utilized its strengths to ensure this phone performs exceptionally well compared to others, as evidenced by the examples in the following sections.

      Portraits outclass any other $400 phone

      Tushar Mehta / Digital Trends

      While the Vivo V50 does not include a dedicated telephoto camera, Vivo is assured that the 50MP primary camera is more than adequate for portrait photography. This confidence is evident in the phone's images, which show no signs of the absence of a dedicated portrait lens. Additionally, the Zeiss-inspired bokeh styles create distinct and unique portraits (unless compared against another Vivo flagship), a feature not matched by any other phone in this segment.

      For instance, look at this series of daylight portraits, all taken at 2X zoom. The Vivo V50 skillfully captured the details around my face and hair, blending seamlessly into the background and achieving a natural-looking bokeh.

      The camera effectively replicates bokeh effects from various Zeiss lenses, such as B-Speed, Biotar, Planar, and Sonnar. Each case sees the light dots filtering through the trees behind me transformed into specific shapes, which, in the original Zeiss lenses, are produced with physically shaped lens shutters. In the Vivo V50, all these effects are digitally rendered.

      It's impressive to see the Vivo V50 achieve this feat without a dedicated long-focal-length camera. Moreover, it’s difficult to identify any instances where the bokeh appears artificially placed.

      Portraits taken indoors also recreate the Zeiss bokeh effects, despite the subdued lighting from a chandelier in the background. While details around my friend's face might be diminished as the phone attempts to employ HDR to brighten it, the bokeh remains just as compelling as in daylight images.

      While all the preceding portraits were captured at 2X zoom, this mode isn't restricted to just one camera.

      Equally impressive for all cameras

      Tushar Mehta / Digital Trends

      Special portrait effects are available for all cameras on the Vivo V50, including the ultrawide-angle and front cameras. Since the primary camera handles images at both 1X and 2X, this results in three distinct zoom levels for portrait mode.

      Instead of using multipliers for zoom, Vivo employs focal length steps, suggesting approximate values for the simulated images. Consequently, the portrait mode can operate at 23mm, 35mm, and 50mm—the higher the number, the further the camera zooms.

      Here’s how the same scene is presented at three varying zoom levels by the phone.

      Even with images taken at different zoom levels, the V50 effectively creates a shallow depth of field in the background. The depth of bokeh also changes with the focal length as the phone tries to mimic the effect using solely software.

      Admittedly, daylight enhances the clarity of the results, maintaining a distinct separation between the