Vivo has finally launched its much-awaited Vivo S1 smartphone in the country. We ran the device, played a few games and clicked some pictures to get a rough idea. The device seems sturdy, and does seem to have all the necessary elements to be a perfect midrange killer.
Vivo has been trying to expand its segments in the Indian market, S1 seems to be a perfect mix of performance and style.
While there are some other good smartphones available in the same range, Vivo has its own set of good stuff to stand out in the crowd. While Realme and Xiaomi continuous to focus on some good budget smartphones, Vivo is slowly climbing up the ladder to challenge the bestsellers.
Here’s our quick Vivo S1 review. Should you buy? Find out.
Contents
Design & Build: Style Matters!
There are people who only look for performance, while some prefer a mix of good performance and a perfect design on the out. This smartphone strikes the right chords here offering a seamless design backed by some great performance. The power button and volume rockers are on the right, while the dedicated SIM slot and smart key ducks on left.
Sadly, Vivo S1 is not made up of glass. But the device is sturdy, and has a body made out of good quality polycarbonate, made to look like glass.
It feels premium in hand, and we have nothing to complain about. Though, glass would have made it full premium. Many prefer polycarbonate over glass given the durability. It’s a gradient finish with options as Skyline Blue and Diamond Black.
Display: Super AMOLED!
Vivo S1 comes with a 6.39-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Halo FullView display with a notch on top. The display offers around 90 percent screen-to-body ratio with just 1.87mm narrow side bezels. The Super AMOLED display helps to offer the best of darks and is very vibrant.
The smartphone supports upto 98 percent DCI-P3 color gamut to offer very accurate colors.
The display is great, and you won’t be able to find any noticeable difference.
In terms of viewing experience and angles, the new Vivo smartphone does a fantastic job. We didn’t face any issue watching videos or playing games. The screen measures 6.39-inch, perfect for watching movies for long with the massive battery at the back.
Hardware & Storage: World’s First Smartphone With Helio P65 Chip
Vivo S1 is the first smartphone in the world to run on MediaTek Helio P65 chip. It’s a 12nm SoC that uses the combination of Cortex-A75 and Cortex-A55 cores, and ARM Mali-G52 GPU with up to 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM. Of all, the performance is very smooth on the device.
The smartphone comes with Multi Turbo which features Net Turbo, Center Turbo, AI Turbo and Cooling Turbo functions for better network, gaming, AI experience.
There’s a special option to bring down the overall temperature of the device internally for a seamless performance, even in extended gaming sessions.
In India, Vivo S1 will be available in three variants with 4GB RAM or 6GB RAM and 64GB or 128GB storage.
The memory can further be expanded upto 256GB with an additional microSD card. In terms of daily performance, the smartphone can run mid-end games with ease along with extensive multitasking. It can easily run memory-heavy apps and social media, offering an overall good experience.
Software: The Newly Improved UI
Vivo S1 runs on Android 9 Pie, but with Funtouch 9.0 UI on top. The UI comes loaded with features and bloatware, and delivers a clean performance as any other non-stock device. There’s bloatware and customisations, but it isn’t bad.
The company has added a ton of features in their latest edition of the software, and it does look fresh and sorted.
Triple Rear Camera: Does It’s Job Pretty Well
Vivo S1 features a rear triple camera system additionally featuring an ultra wide-angle camera in the mix. The device packs in a 16-megapixel primary sensor coupled with an 8-megapixel super-wide secondary sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensor.
Vivo S1 can take good detailed and sharp pictures in bright light with accurate colours. In poorly lit conditions, the device manages to click decent photos with almost accurate details and colours. Upfront, the smartphone comes with a 32MP super camera.
The dynamic range is good and it captures quite accurate details and produce good colours. The HDR works fine, and the ultra-wide lens is handy at times. The camera interface is quite minimal and it’s loaded with AI-powered modes to enhance the overall photography.
AI works on both sides to adjust to the particular lighting and adjust the filters. In all, all thee three do good and make use of their respective lenses to take up some great shots.
Battery: Does Good!
Vivo packs in a massive 4,500mAh battery with Vivo S1. The device supports 18W fast charging. It takes around 1 hour and 45 minutes to charge fully from 0 to 100 percent. Coming to how it performs, the Vivo S1 can easily last more than a day, and even a day and a half on heavy usage.
With continuous video playback, gaming and performing multi-tasking processes, the Vivo smartphone can shoot up for a whole day.
The company ships a fast charger inside the box, so you won’t have to buy a fast charger separately.
Pricing & Availability
Vivo S1 in India starts at Rs 17,990. The base model of the phone comes packed with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There are two models available. The mid-end variant comes with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage model starting at Rs 18,990.
The top-end model of the Vivo S1 comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage at Rs 19,990.
Vivo S1 will be available starting August 8 across all the Vivo retail stores in the country. The device will sell in two colour options in the country: Skyline Blue and Diamond Black.
Vivo S1 Verdict: Should You Buy?
Vivo S1 offers some excellent features onboard at a strategic price. In all, Vivo S1 does packs in a solid performance backed by a good processor, bigger display and a larger battery. The new Vivo smartphone has some good features if compared to its competitors.
Vivo S1 does offer some value for money proposition at this range.
Even if we consider the higher-priced Galaxy M40 or Moto One Vision, which also come with a similar punch-hole display, the Vivo S1 makes a better choice.
In all, Vivo S1 ticks all the boxes right, and packs in a solid performance backed by a really good processor, bigger display, triple camera system, larger battery and more to enjoy.