First impression

I love the colour on this thing. Light metallic blue frame and pearlescent, glossy back with neatly arrange quad cam setup on the left. Of course, the frame is plastic as is the back so scratches will be imminent unless you sue the clear protector supplied.

Display and power specs

The 6.53 display is an LCD unit in these days of AMOLED or OLED magic. You don't get the colour saturation of the other two fancier displays but the whites are, well, whiter. Everything looks sharp though at 403ppi density. The flat display covers the entire front with a small punch-hole for the front camera. Despite the plastic construction it is surprisingly chunky and weighs a few grams more than flagships like an all glass Samsung S10+.

Power comes from a Snapdragon 665 chipset which is a refreshing change form Vivo's usual reliance on Mediatek chipsets. There's plenty support from the 8GB Ram and the Adreno 610 GPU. If you are looking for an affordable gaming phone this does tick the marks on paper. In practice though it can suffer a little frame rate loss on PUBG. It won't hurt your game and get you killed but reducing the setting just a little will be good enough for you to power through for a few hours. Most other games are super smooth. If you like racing, Asphalt 9 runs without a hiccup. I've handed the phone to a couple of 10-year olds in my house and they loved it. Their gaming sessions continued almost two hours before it being confiscated at nearly the end of the charge.

The OS experience

It comes with Android 10 with Funtouch 10.0 over it. How much fun? Well, the

OS additions are non-intrusive and fluid. No lag so far and fuss-free while giving you a few additional safety features in parent control and bike mode. 

Does it shoot well?

A 13 MP, f/2.2, an 8 MP, f/2.2 for ultra-wide shots, a 2 MP, f/2.4 for macro and a 2 MP, f/2.4 depth sensor that helps with portraits. Focusing is quick and images display a bright, neutral colour. I love the detail on the 'super macro' mode. You can go upto 2cm from an object and get sharp details like the tiny badges and logos on my model cars. Focus is quick and snappy. So far so good.

Regular shots including the ultra-wide have plenty detail but they have one flaw typical of most Vivo phones I've tried. The algorithm goes for a heavy dose of smoothing to remove all grain. Contrasting edges remain sharp such as leaves against a sky. But details within get smoothed over and receive a slight watercolour effect.

People come out with lovely smooth skin and are slightly fairer. Could it be gimmick for the Indian and Bangladeshi market where fair is still considered cool? The same is true for the selfie 16 MP, f/2.0 camera. If you like artificial fairness, then this is great. But I would have preferred preserving detail and less smoothing.

As for video, you do get 1080p@30fps. Same colour treatment as before.

Verdict

Despite the plastic back, many will like the heft making it feel like a higher tier phone. It does have excellent battery support lasting well over a day and a half on regular usage. The Snapdragon chipsets are a welcome change. Not quite the gaming machine but it will handle all the current games to some degree.

Good:

Long lasting battery

Smooth UX

Sharp macro shots

Bad:

Excessive image smoothing

Quick specs:

Weight  197 g (6.95 oz)                  

Display: IPS LCD 6.53 inches, 20:9 ratio (403 ppi density)                               

OS: Android 10, Funtouch 10.0                  

Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 (11 nm) Octa-core (4x2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver),

GPU: Adreno 610                            

Memory: 8GB RAM, 128GB storage                         

Camera: 13 MP f/2.2, (wide), PDAF, 8 MP f/2.2 (ultrawide), 2 MP f/2.4 (macro), 2 MP f/2.4 (depth)

Video: 1080p@30fps                      

Selfie: 16 MP, f/2.0                         

Video    1080p@30fps

Dual SIM, 3.5mm jack, Bluetooth 5.0, A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO                               

FM radio, Type-C connector, fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted)

Battery: 5000 mAh, Fast charging 15W                  

Price: 22,990 taka

Discount Price : 20,990

(Until further notice)

Photos: E Raza Ronny