Standing on the sidelines of the V70 launch in New Delhi, the air wasn’t just filled with the usual product hype, it felt like a course correction. For years, the vivo V-series was the supermodel of smartphones: stunning to look at, but often they focused more on cameras than hardcore performance. That era ended.
Paigham Danish, Head of Product and GTM, vivo India, looked at the new V70 Elite and gave me a perspective that specs alone don’t capture: “Pretty is no longer the baseline; elevation is.” The V70 Elite isn’t just a new phone; it’s a philosophical shift that finally puts flagship Snapdragon 8-series silicon into a chassis that doesn’t feel like a brick in your pocket.
The V70 “Elite” Shift: Performance Finally Meets Style
For years, V-series users had to settle for processors that were good for everyday tasks but not ideal for gamers. The V70 Elite breaks that trend by using the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3.
While the Elite hits a staggering ~1.89 million on AnTuTu, Danish emphasizes that this wasn’t just about chasing benchmarks. “It’s not just about the processor… it’s about how we can enable a very, very strong performance-driven support system to elevate these kinds of expectations,” he noted.
Our real-world testing at Smartprix backs this up. The Elite model handles demanding titles like Genshin Impact at a clean 60FPS a feat previous V-series models struggled with due to thermal throttling. This is bolstered by the move to UFS 4.1 storage and LPDDR5X RAM across both models, ensuring that app launches feel genuinely faster from the previous generation.
Read: vivo V70 review | vivo V70 Elite review
Design Logic: The Return of the “Golden Grip”
While the industry continues its march toward 6.7-inch slabs that strain the average thumb, vivo is retreating to what Danish calls the “Golden Grip”—a 6.59-inch form factor. This isn’t a cost-cutting measure; it’s a reaction to the 2026 lifestyle.
“We need to take out our smartphones more frequently now—think of the dozens of times you tap for a UPI payment,” Danish told me. He’s right. The recent survey that we conducted with offline buyers locally (in Noida) shows that pocketability is a rising consumer sentiment. By balancing an immersive 1.5K AMOLED display with a body that actually fits a human hand, vivo is gambling that comfort will beat sheer screen size in the long run.
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ZEISS Optics & The War on “Unreal” AI
Photography remains the V-series’ soul, now bolstered by ZEISS-tuned 50MP triple-camera systems. However, a common critique of modern AI photography is that it looks “AI proccessed.” When I asked how vivo is maintaining authenticity, Danish was direct:
“I will not say over-process, I will say it’s an optimization of photos with different kinds of technologies… we have created very good algorithms with ZEISS, even in terms of addressing the low-light challenge.”
This “localized thinking” extends to the new AI Holi Portrait feature, an India-exclusive mode designed to handle the vibrant, unpredictable colors of the festival without losing skin texture—a prime example of vivo’s “human-first” engineering.
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Market Standing: Why vivo is Winning the 2026 Race
vivo has held the number one brand position in India for two years now, even as competitors lose market share. When asked about the secret to sustaining this lead, Danish summarized it in two words: “Understanding consumers.”
The brand is seeing a unique “Leap Effect” in 2026. Users aren’t just moving one step up the ladder; they are leaping from budget series phones directly into the V70 Elite or even the flagship X-series. “It is not just about one level… people are moving from step one to step three also,” Danish observed, noting that brand loyalty in India is becoming increasingly tied to perceived premiumness rather than just price.
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