Mid-Range Showdown: realme 7 vs vivo V19 Neo

Introduction

With the midrange segment saturated with so many devices, and with each brand claiming they are the ones to beat, consumers are often left with the question, “Which one should I get?”

Well, that’s why we’re here, to help you make that decision, or at least, narrow down your choices. Today, it’s going to be between the recently-launched realme 7 and vivo’s current headliner for its mid-range lineup, the V19 Neo.

Given that the latter received a price drop not so long ago, they’ve ended up being priced close to each other – PhP14,990 for the realme, and PhP15,999 for the vivo. Both brands also prefer their names to be written with the first letter in lower case.

Before we get on with the nitty-gritty, let’s take a look at the basic specifications.

Design and Build Quality

Design-wise, these two offer a lot of subtle differences. Starting with the punch-hole for the front camera, located on the left in the realme 7, and on the right for the V19 Neo, and just in case you’re curious, the former has the bigger hole.

V19 Neo uses a more typical setup for its buttons with the power button and volume rocker on the right and the SIM slot on the left. realme 7 went for something slightly different with its power button that also functions as a fingerprint scanner located on the left and the rest on the right.

For the camera module, both have a rectangle with rounded edges brushed with their own twist of branding. vivo opted for a similar color to the back panel, while realme went for a contrasting color.

realme also opted for a less glossy finish on its mid-range contender, while vivo stuck to a more usual glossy finish.

Both look premium in their own right, but I prefer the glossy look of the latter. Additionally, the V19 Neo’s back panel is less slippery, and being a slightly smaller device, this makes it even easier to hold and use the phone with one hand.

realme 7 and V19 Neo are both equipped with a USB-C port and also retain the headphone jack.

As for the display, realme claims that their LTPS panel is better than IPS, and I do agree. It certainly has more punch as far as colors are concerned. V19 Neo, on the other hand, uses a Super AMOLED display which delivers insanely lively and saturated colors, and apparently (and this is according to realme) a lot of people prefer that. Hence, the Pro.

So if we actually go with that, then the V19 Neo is the winner in this part. But wait, there’s a catch. realme 7’s display boasts a 90Hz refresh rate, which means you get smoother and more fluid animations, transition, and movement in supported titles.

If you’ve never used a phone with a high refresh rate display, chances are you’ll be amazed at the difference. In the end though, it’s down to what you prefer – beauty or performance.

Performance

Speaking of which, realme 7 is the very first smartphone to be powered by the new Helio G90 SoC by MediaTek. The V19 Neo, on the other hand, uses a Snapdragon 675 AIE SoC, which has been around for quite some time and has already been used by vivo for three generations of its V-series. Both devices have 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

This could mean a couple of things – either getting a newer SoC is just too expensive, or they’re still very confident about the SD675. Oh, and this goes for the realme 7 Pro too, which uses the same SoC as the 6 Pro.

Let’s head over to benchmarks.

Right off the bat, the newer MediaTek chip outperforms the Qualcomm chip in AnTuTu.

There’s also a marginal difference in single-core and multi-core performance. The SD675 still trails behind the G95, but the margins are much closer.

Of course, we need some actual gaming benchmarks to see how these numbers translate. We threw in three games – Mobile Legends, CoD Mobile, and Genshin Impact.

For all three titles, the realme 7 and V19 Neo are almost toe-to-toe. The odd thing is that the V19 Neo allowed for higher settings in-game compared to the realme 7.

In Mobile Legends, V19 Neo could go up to Ultra, but the realme 7 could only go Very High. In CoD Mobile, the former allows for Max Frame Rate setting, the latter only allows for High at most.

I could also attest that the gameplay in CoD Mobile was much smoother with the V19 Neo. In the case of the realme 7, my best guess is that the game itself still isn’t’ optimized for the new SoC.

Just in case you’re wondering, both devices support the Widevine L1 DRM system, which means you’ll be able to watch Netflix on HD quality or better with both.

Camera

Both devices offer basically the same flexibility when it comes to photography. Both can take ultra-wide, macro, and portrait shots. We took a few sample shots to compare the two.

In this photo of a pair of headphones with a bright background, both devices were able to deliver decent exposure to the grille part, but the photo taken by the realme 7 shows a bit of purple tint or glow in the middle section, which isn’t present on the photo taken by the V19 Neo.

In this photo of a leaf, the realme 7 definitely does a better job at exposure compared to the photo by the V19 Neo, which looks slightly overexposed.

Lastly, here’s a photo of some flowers in our mini-garden. Both devices exhibit command of the depth of field effect with pretty accurate edge detection and good separation. It’s more of personal preference, but I’ll with the realme 7 with this one, as the photo looks closer to what the actual lighting condition was that day.

Software

While down to personal preference, realme UI and Funtouch OS are good takes on Android (at least for me). Each offers a certain amount of options for customization. Both are also well-optimized and run well without major issues.

As far as features are concerned, both offer Dark Mode, and a ton of enhancements just to improve the gaming experience. Both have split-screen, app clone, and screen recording.

Now, for other features, both can throw punches at each other all day. For example, realme has digital wellbeing, which allows the user to control or monitor device usage. vivo on the other hand, lets you change the effects on the in-display fingerprint scanner. So on and so forth.

Both also offer the complete security suite of traditional unlock methods plus Fingerprint and Face Unlock.

In the end, it boils down to what features you prefer. But as far as the ones that at least I think you’ll use on a day-to-day basis, both will deliver a decent user experience.

Battery Life and Verdict

Using PCMark’s Work 2.0 benchmark which simulates data manipulation and video editing, realme 7 managed to score 13 hours and 46 minutes, while the vivo V19 Neo got 15 hours and 34 minutes.

Of course, that’s a win for the latter. But take note that the test was done with the realme 7’s refresh rate set to 90Hz, if that even affects the results.

Now, it’s not a sweep. While it trails behind in raw uptime, the realme 7 makes it up with its 30W UltraDart fast-charging compared to 18W on the V19 Neo. From zero to full, the former got to full charge in just 1 hour and 11 minutes, while the latter took around 2.5 hours.

Verdict

So Which One Should You Get?

Get the realme 7 if:

• If high refresh rates are your thing
• If you want the better gaming device, at least by the numbers
• If you prefer realme UI’s features
• If you want a phone that charges very fast
• If you want the more affordable option
• If you want a phone that’s less prone to smudges

Get the vivo V19 Neo if:

• You prefer a Super AMOLED screen and cannot afford the realme 7 Pro.
• You prefer a smoother gaming experience on CoD mobile
• You prefer Funtouch OS’ features
• You want the slightly more compact device

Emman Tortoza

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Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.