The price of this smartphone is Rs 12,490 which makes this smartphone included in the most competitive segment. We have reviewed Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Review), Honor 6X and Moto G4 Plus (Review) in this price range. Talking about specifications, Vivo Y55S is disappointing compared to these three smartphones. Let’s find out in the review
Vivo Y55s design and build
The Y55s sports a simple candybar design with 2.5D curved edge-glass on the front. The phone has a soft gold finish on the rear. This phone looks like an iPhone which is nothing new for Chinese manufacturers. The thickness of the phone is 7.5 mm and weight is 147.9 grams. The small size of the phone makes it easy to hold in the hand and all the buttons are easily accessible. The phone has a separate microSD card slot near the headphone jack. This phone comes with dual-SIM support. The rear of the phone seems to be made of metal whereas it is made of plastic.
The 5.2-inch HD display comes with decently high pixel density, making icons and text look clear. Color reproduction is quite good and we did not face any problem in viewing angles or using the phone in sunlight. The Y55s already comes with a screen protector.
The capacitive navigation buttons at the bottom of the phone are not backlit nor does the phone have a notification LED. But you can use the rear LED flash for incoming calls, messages and reminders when the screen is off. The absence of a fingerprint sensor in the phone is disappointing.
Overall, we do not have much complaint with the build and design of the phone but it did not attract us. The design of the phone is not new. Vivo has provided a standard 5 Watt power adapter, a data cable, a headset, a silicone case and a SIM ejector tool in the phone.
Vivo Y55s specification and feature
The smartphone is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor clocked at 1.4 GHz. Which can be called a strange choice considering the octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor given in the Y55L. The phone has 3 GB RAM and 16 GB storage which can be expanded up to 256 GB via microSD card. The phone has features like Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi b/g/n, 4G VoLTE, USB OTG, FM radio and GPS. Along with the standard sensors, the phone also has a virtual gyroscope.
Talking about software, the phone has Android Marshmallow based Funtouch OS 3.0. There has been no change in it since the review of Vivo V5 Plus. If you have not used a Vivo phone, you will have to learn some changes for all the controls. Brightness, volume sliders and quick toggles require swiping up on the display while the notification shade can be used only for notifications.
The phone’s Settings app offers the option of custom features like motion and touch gestures, one handed mode, super screenshot and smart click. While the screen is off, several functions can be performed by holding down the volume button. Smart Split lets you split the screen in half while watching a video to send messages or use WhatsApp without leaving the player. The stock apps include Vivo Cloud for backup, UC Browser WPS Office, Amazon, WhatsApp and a theme store.
Vivo Y55s performance
General UI performance is good and we did not face any problems with the phone during everyday use. Multitasking happens easily in the phone. However, the choice of entry level processor for big apps and games in the phone did not seem the best. The benchmark figures from the phone were decent. You can install and play 3D games on the phone but many big games will slow down the phone. 16 GB storage is not enough and the storage gets exhausted quickly when downloading music and videos.
1080 pixel video plays smoothly in Y55S. And high bit-rate video test files also played smoothly. The sound and clarity coming from the speaker is not very good. And the sound quality is good only for alerts. The headset that comes with the phone is not in-ear type, so don’t expect too much from the quality.
The phone has a 13-megapixel rear camera which comes with aperture F/2.2. The phone can capture stunning landscape photos and macro shots in daylight. However, when zoomed in, there is a lack of detailing and close-up shots lack sharpness. Autofocus is fast even without PDAF. In low light, pictures are a bit noisy and with Night Mode on, the pictures are slightly better.
The phone also has shooting modes like Face Beauty, Panorama, Professional, Slow-motion Video, Time-lapse and Ultra HD. The phone’s interface is easy to navigate and all functions are easy to perform. For taking selfies, there is a 5-megapixel front camera with aperture F/2.2, which produces selfies with excellent detailing in good lighting. However, the screen flash is a bit weak. Video recording can be done up to 1080 pixels from the rear camera of the phone and the quality is very good.
The phone’s 2730 mAh battery performance surprised us. In our HD video loop test, we got 12 hours and 12 minutes of playback, which isn’t too bad. During normal use, we could use the phone for a whole day. At the same time, the phone took a few hours to charge.
our decision
Vivo Y55s is a great entry-level smartphone but it is not able to compete with its rivals. Redmi Note 4, Moto G4 Plus and Honor 6X are better options at this price. The Y55s has good battery life, a dedicated microSD card slot, and 4G VoLTE support. But it lacks a more powerful processor, a higher resolution display, a fingerprint sensor, and a better camera.
If the price of this phone was around Rs 7,000, it would have been advisable to buy it. But there are many other better options available for Rs 12,490.