Vivo has released a plethora of smartphones as of late, including their latest flagship, the Nex 3, just earlier this month.

But there’s also the V series of phones, and just earlier this year, they released the V15 and V15 Pro. That was probably around March, when I got my hands on the V15, and well, it was an okay phone. But the thing for me is that they literally just released the V15 lineup, and they’re already updated it with the V17 Pro series? Isn’t that a little too quick, or have I been living under a rock regarding Vivo’s release schedule.

It didn’t make much sense for me that the phone was already updated, even though they’ve come out with a device for the year. But then again, this is their newest update to their budget lineup, which has a focus on the cameras. The main differentiator is the amount of cameras on the devices. But anyway, let’s get down to what actually differentiates the two;

The Differences

Let’s start off with the screens. The V17 Pro has a 6.44″ FHD+ Super AMOLED display, while the V15 Pro has a 6.39″ FHD+ Super AMOLED display. The V17 Pro also has a 4100mAh battery with 18W fast charging (which isn’t really that fast), while the V15 Pro has a 3700mAh battery, and we don’t really know how fast their charging is for this phone.

But besides that, the major differentiator is the fact that they added two more cameras onto the V17 Pro. That being one on the front, and another on the back. The V17 Pro has a qu 48MP + 13MP telephoto cam with a 2x zoom + 8MP Super Winde-Angle cam, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, they still retain a pop up camera mechanism, but this time, there’s two, making it the first phone in the world to have a dual pop up camera setup. The front facing cameras come with a 32MP main selfie shooter and an 8MP wide-angle lens.

On the other hand, the V15 Pro has a triple rear camera setup with a 48MP primary shooter + 8MP wide-angle lens + and 5MP depth sensor. The front has a single pop up camera of 32MP, and when you compare it, less definitely not more.

These are the major differences of course. There are a few more, such as the V17 Pro having USB-C port compared to the V15 Pro’s micro-USB, as well as coming with Funtouch OS 9.1, rather than V15 Pro’s Funtouch OS 9.0. But to be honest, they don’t really change much. Except USB Type C, that was a definite change that had to come.

The Similarities

Now what exactly makes these phones similar? In the worst way of course, as the Vivo V17 Pro and V15 Pro both run on an Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC, and are both on Android 9 Pie. They both have an in-display fingerprint sensor, dual-sim support, and few other things. But in the end, I guess they’re not as similar as they could’ve been, which is good.

However, they should have updated the processor, and put in something more powerful in the V17 Pro, because that’s pretty much one of the only areas in which it’s lacking.

So, What’s The Point?

And that’s the problem. I don’t see what the point was for both devices coming out in the same year. While it is in the norm to add in updated features in a year to your devices, I feel like the difference was either too drastic, or not enough. Both phones, on paper, aren’t that different. There’s too many similarities, with one glaring change, and that’s in the camera setup. And I honestly don’t know if just that is enough to sway people from the V15 Pro. But then again, they’re practically the same price, as the V17 Pro goes for RM 1699, where as at launch, the V15 Pro was going for RM 1799. So, what’s the deal here?

I’m not sure what to think with this one, I’m just confused. Because I think if I had just bought the V15 Pro earlier this year, and saw the V17 Pro just a few months later, I wouldn’t be too happy. More cameras, and arguably better aesthetics? Oof. That’s the lesson here really. Don’t be too hasty with your purchase decisions, there’s always something better around the corner!