Vivo S1 Design
Vivo smartphone Generally they are very sleek and beautiful in design. New phones are also part of this league. Vivo S1 It has a 6.38-inch display and a dewdrop notch at the top. Vivo has given AMOLED panel in this phone. Vivo S1 comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor. The borders of the display are very thin. But the border of the part is a little wide.
Vivo S1 has been made available in two colors – Diamond Black and Skyline Blue. We have reviewed the Diamond Black unit. Its back is laminated, and has a diamond pattern design and gradient color finish. Depending on the light falling on it, a diamond pattern appears on the back, which is very beautiful to look at.
However, we didn’t like the material used on the backpanel of the Vivo S1. It gets scratch marks easily. Here the company redmi note 7 pro ,review) should have provided Corning Gorilla Glass. Vivo S1 comes with triple rear camera setup. The camera module is convex. But the metal rim on the edge provides protection from scratches.
Vivo has relied on a plastic frame which is curved at the edges. For this reason the grip of the phone remains good. The backpanel does not meet the frame smoothly. Vivo has given the volume button along with the power button on the right side of the handset. These are easily accessible. Like Vivo Z1 Pro, Vivo S1 also has a separate button for Google Assistant.
We were disappointed to see a Micro-USB port on the Vivo S1. Because at this price companies have started providing USB Type-C port. The microUSB port is placed at the bottom along with the loudspeaker and 3.5mm headphone jack. While the SIM tray is on the left side.
Vivo S1 specifications and software
Vivo S1 is the first smartphone in India to come with MediaTek Helio P65 processor. The Helio P65 is a mid-range processor built on a 12 nm process. Mali G52 is integrated in the phone for graphics.
Vivo has launched three variants of Vivo S1 in India. The initial variant is with 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. The second variant is equipped with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. The most premium variant has 128 GB storage with 6 GB RAM. The price of these variants is Rs 17,990, Rs 18,990 and Rs 19,990 respectively. We have reviewed the top variants of the phone. Out of the box we got 100 GB storage. Looking at the price, it can be said that Vivo S1 will be a direct hit in the market. realme x ,review) And oppo k3 ,review) will be challenged.
Vivo S1 is a dual-SIM device. It has a slot for two nano-SIMs. There is also a separate slot for microSD card. Connectivity features of Vivo S1 include Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi, GPS, FM radio, dual 4G VoLTE and common sensors. The battery of Vivo S1 is 4500 mAh. Apart from this, 18 watt fast charger will be available in the retail box.
Vivo S1 runs on Funtouch OS based on Android 9 Pie. That means the UI of the phone is completely customized. If you have never used a Vivo smartphone before then it will not be easy to understand the device. There is no app drawer. All app icons are on the home screen. FunTouch has an iOS-like command center.
Vivo phones already have many unwanted apps. Like Dailyhunt, Helo, Facebook, Gaana, Amazon Shopping, PhonePe, Paytm, and many more. The good thing is that we did not face notification spam in the phone like Oppo A9 (Review).
Vivo S1 performance, battery life and cameras
The MediaTek Helio P65 used in Vivo S1 performs well in general use. You will never complain. The smartphone launches apps quickly. You can play any game or use any app available on Google Play Store. We didn’t have to wait long for any app to open. The Vivo S1 also has excellent control over battery consumption, especially when the phone is not in use. Due to using 6 GB RAM variant, there was no problem in multitasking. We did not need to close any app in the background.
The AMOLED panel of Vivo S1 comes with excellent viewing angles. There was not much problem in reading on the phone even outside. However, the speaker at the bottom does not produce very loud sound. Because of this, media entertainment on Vivo S1 is not that fun. We tested face recognition with the in-display fingerprint sensor on the device. The in-display scanner quickly unlocks the phone by scanning your finger. Even though face unlock is not the most secure way to unlock a smartphone. But it is very fast and convenient.
PUBG Mobile runs on Medium preset on Vivo S1. Graphics were set to balanced and frame rate to medium. We played this game on the phone for about 20 minutes. During this time the handset got hot and the battery consumption was 5 percent.
Vivo S1 will be known for its excellent battery life. It easily lasted for about a day and a half. During this time we did benchmark testing. Took some pictures. During this time, WhatsApp account was also active on the device. In our HD video loop test, the smartphone took 16 hours 38 minutes. The charger provided with it charged the phone’s battery 34 percent in 30 minutes and 65 percent within an hour.
Vivo has given three cameras on the back of the phone. There is a 16-megapixel primary camera with F/1.78 aperture, 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with F/2.2 aperture, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. A 32-megapixel selfie camera with F/2.0 aperture is provided on the front panel.
Tap to see full-size Vivo S1 camera samples
The camera app is the same as Vivo Z1 Pro. You have many modes. There are quick toggles for HDR, Live Photo, filters and aperture modes. There’s a quick toggle to switch between the regular and wide angle lens.
Considering the price, we would say that the photos taken with the Vivo S1 camera were weaker than average. The phone focused quickly in daylight. But we found that the photos were underexposed. The details were satisfactory. Could go to read distant texts. If the same scene is captured with an ultra-wide-angle sensor, then the scene has better exposure. But in this situation the details become less.
Close up shots were good. The Vivo S1 locked focus quickly. The exposure was also accurate. However, the colors did not always come out accurate. Portrait mode comes with different lightning effects. Which you can use before tapping the shutter button. The output had good edge detection.
Vivo has a separate aperture mode which is used for taking Bokeh shots. While taking portrait shots in this mode, we found that the blur effect was not consistent. Edge detection was also nothing special in this mode.
The camera has an AI portrait framing feature that helps you frame a scene perfectly. Vivo S1 automatically takes the shot once you set the frame.
The camera performance of the Vivo S1 is average even in low light, as the phone was not successful in capturing details. We didn’t find any night mode in the camera app. Probably this mode would have improved the performance of the phone’s camera in low light. There are details in selfies but Vivo S1 overexposes the scene. You can also take portrait shots in selfie mode. In our experience the phone was accurate in terms of edge detection.
You will be able to record videos of maximum 1080 pixels with the primary and selfie cameras. We found that the Vivo S1 did not have video stabilization. This was surprising information considering the price.
our decision
Vivo S1 is another smartphone from the Vivo brand under Rs 20,000. Its design is captivating and it comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor. The new MediaTek Helio P65 processor has been used in the phone, which is slightly better than the MediaTek Helio P70 in some benchmark tests. Talking about processor capacity, the performance of Vivo S1 was around that of a handset with Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor, which today will be available for about Rs 10,000 less than its price.
Battery life of Vivo S1 is good. But its camera performance disappointed us. Considering the budget of Rs 19,990, you have strong options like Realme X (Review) or Oppo K3 (Review). Redmi K20 can be purchased by spending a little more.