vivo has launched the V80 in India. The price we couldn’t give you in our preview last month is now official. The V80 costs INR 62,999, or about KES 85,000, for the version with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The 256GB model costs about KES 94,000, and the 512GB model costs about KES 108,000. Pre-booking opened on launch day, and sales start on 13th October through vivo’s own store, Flipkart, Amazon and partner shops in India.
The leaked figure in our preview said the V80 would cost more than INR 60,000. It does, by INR 2,999. That’s a lot for a V-series phone, the mid-range line that sits below vivo’s X-series flagships. The V70, which the V80 replaces, launched in India in February at about KES 62,000, and that bought 8GB of RAM with 256GB of storage. The cheapest V80 costs about KES 22,900 more, and comes with half the storage.
| vivo V80 | vivo V70 | |
|---|---|---|
| India launch price | INR 62,999 (8GB + 128GB), INR 69,999 (8GB + 256GB), INR 79,999 (8GB + 512GB) | INR 45,999 (8GB + 256GB), INR 49,999 (12GB + 256GB) |
| RAM type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5X |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 4.1 |
| Processor | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
| Battery | 7,200mAh, 90W charging | 6,500mAh, 90W charging |
| Screen | 6.59 inches, 2750 x 1260, up to 144Hz | 6.59 inches, 2750 x 1260, up to 120Hz |
| Thickness and weight | 7.69mm, 203g | 7.59mm, 194g |
| Rear cameras | 50MP main, 50MP 3x telephoto, 8MP ultrawide | 50MP main, 50MP 3x telephoto, 8MP ultrawide |
| Software at launch | OriginOS 7, Android 17 | OriginOS 6, Android 16 |
| Update promise | 6 years of security updates | 4 Android upgrades, 6 years of security updates |
The memory is a step back
vivo’s release doesn’t say what kind of memory the V80 uses. Every phone has two kinds: RAM, the working memory that open apps run in, and storage, where your photos, videos and apps are kept. Both come in generations, and newer ones move data faster.
The V70 used LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, the newer types. The V80’s spec page lists LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, the generation before, and it gives the same storage type for all three models. RAM is also capped at 8GB on every V80, where the V70 offered 12GB.
vivo pitches the V80 at creators, and 4K video at 60 frames per second makes big files. Older storage is slower to copy those clips and load them into an editor, and older RAM moves data to the processor more slowly. So a V70 owner moving to the V80 gets a bigger battery and a smoother screen, but opens apps and files from hardware that’s a generation older.
vivo hasn’t said why it made the change. The likely reason is cost. Memory makers have been moving production to the high-bandwidth memory that AI data centres buy, so less is left for phones and laptops, and the price of what’s left has gone up sharply this year. Earlier this month we covered Samsung adding USD 100 to the Galaxy S26 range in the US for the same reason, and last month vivo’s own X500 flagships launched at higher prices as memory costs rose. The V70 has been repriced too. vivo’s Indian store now lists the 12GB and 256GB V70 at INR 64,999, about KES 88,000, up from INR 49,999 at launch. Against that price, the 8GB and 256GB V80 costs INR 5,000 more, about KES 6,700, and has less RAM of an older type.
What’s new on the V80
The bigger battery is the clearest upgrade. At 7,200mAh it’s 700mAh more than the V70’s 6,500mAh cell, about 11% more, and vivo says it’s the largest in any V-series phone it has launched in India. The phone is 0.1mm thicker and 9g heavier for it. Charging stays at 90W.
The screen is the same size and sharpness as the V70’s, but it refreshes up to 144 times a second, up from 120. A higher refresh rate makes scrolling look smoother. vivo says only selected apps run at 144Hz, so how much you notice depends on the apps you use.
The cameras have the same resolutions as the V70’s, including the 50MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom and stabilisation. The additions are in the camera software, with a 4K Cinematic Video mode that applies one of three film-style colour looks while you record and AI editing tools that relight and restyle photos after you take them. The V80 is also water and dust resistant to IP68 and IP69, and it runs OriginOS 7, which we covered this week, on Android 17.
vivo gave the V70 four Android upgrades and six years of security updates. For the V80, the release promises six years of security updates and gives no number for Android upgrades. Its own footnote says those security updates “do not include upgrades to major or minor OS versions”.
When it reaches Kenya
There’s no V80 on vivo Kenya’s website yet, and vivo hasn’t announced a Kenyan launch. The V70 went on sale here on 7th April at KES 84,999, 47 days after its Indian launch on 19th February. If the V80 follows the same path, we’d expect it in Kenyan shops in late November. The KES figures above are straight conversions of the Indian prices, and vivo sets Kenyan prices separately, so the price here will differ.
The V80 costs more than any V70 did at launch and runs on memory a generation behind the phone it replaces. If you can find a V70 near its Kenyan launch price, it’s the better-specified phone for most people. If battery life is what you care about most, the V80 is the one to wait for.
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