Vivo S1 – Review

Vivo has launched a new series of mobile: S Series. They have their Y series targeted at youth and V series for those who seek performance and the more premium segment Nex mobiles. The recently launched Z series has won a lot of heart at it was a mix of both performance and aesthetics. The S Series is again for the youth, but it is for those who need to make a style statement. But a mobile is more than a style statement to many. It is priced starting at Rs 17990 and here is my review to help you make that purchasing decision.

In the box

• Vivo S1
• TPU Back Case
• 18 W Dual Engine Charger
• Micro USB Cable
• Earphones
• Warranty and User Manual
• SIM Ejector Pin

Design

Vivo S1 looks stylish for sure. It looks different from the other mobiles available now in the market. It has a flat back design and the color options, Skyline Blue and Diamond Black, both appear pleasant and look stylish. As it is a plastic mobile, it is lightweight. It is shiny and attracts fingerprint, but the plastic body is also prone to scratches. It retains the 3.5 mm jack and has a dedicated button for Google assistant. Thre is a triple card slot for dual SIM card and SD card support. It has a micro USB port but supports 18W fast charging and fast data transfer. The mono speaker at the bottom is loud. It does not have a notification LED, but the AMOLED panel supports always-on display to display the notifications.

Display

Vivo S1 has AMOLED display supporting full HD+ resolution. The 6.38-inch screen supports 19.5:9 aspect ratio with a notch on the top. The display is clear, crisp and bright. It has good sunlight visibility and viewing angles. The AMOLED panels offer vivid color reproduction and deep contrast levels. Under the display is the fingerprint scanner, which is fast for an in-display scanner. With a hybrid face unlock mechanism, unlocking the mobile is quicker than expected.

Camera

The rear has a triple camera arrangement. The main sensor is a 16 MP Sony sensor. The 8 MP sensor has a wide-angle lens and the 2 MP sensor is a depth sensor. The front has a 32 MP quad pixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture. The camera UI has loads of features like HDR, Live Photos, PDAF, AI Super Wide-Angle, Portrait Mode, AI Portrait Framing, Doc Mode, Professional, AR Stickers, AI Face Beauty, Video, Video Face Beauty, Time-Lapse, Slo-Mo.

The primary camera can click impressive shots at many light conditions. Under low light, noise grains are visible. It does not have night mode or 4K video recording. The wide-angle lens gives a new perspective to your shots, but the images are soft at the edges. Portrait shots are good with natural bokeh and clean edge detection. Vivo is king of selfies and this mobile can click impressive selfies under all light conditions. The AI beauty mode does aggressive processing and I would recommend turning it off for natural-looking shots.

Performance

Vivo S1 is the first mobile to be powered by Mediatek Helio P65. This is a new processor and it must be considered as an upgrade to P60. It lies somewhere between the power of a Snapdragon 660 and 665. The mobile has 4GB / 6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of ROM. The processing power of this mobile is good for your daily apps and games. It has no overheating issue. The graphics quality is good and it can handle PUBG under medium graphics mode. It has all the required sensor. But still, this is a Mediatek processor. Though it has good real-world performance, it does not support wider technology like QC for fast charging. It does not have wide developer communtiy support like Snapdragon-powered mobiles. That apart, the Vivo S1, is a powerful mobile for most real-life use cases.

Software

It runs on Android 9 with FunTouch OS skinned on top of it. It has a bunch of useful features like Ultra Gaming Mode, Bike mode, dark mode, casting, etc.. But still the UI comes with loads of bloatware apps, among which a few can be uninstalled. Funtouch user experience has to be improved, but it offers better visual design compared to Color OS. It can handle your apps with no laps. Opening apps or multi-tasking is smooth on the Vivo S1.

Battery

Vivo S1 has a large 4500 mAh battery. It has an 18W proprietary dual-engine charger in the box. It takes about 100-110 minutes to charge the mobile from 0 to 100%. Once charge the mobile can last for 2 days of moderate usage and give you about 6-7 hours of screen on time. It can also reverse charge other devices when connected with an OTG cable.

Verdict

Vivo S1 is targeted at the youth who seek a stylish device. It is priced starting at Rs 17990. At this price, it is expensive than the popular Vivo Z1 pro. While Vivo Z1 Pro is what I would recommend over the S1 Pro, the offline channels will have the Vivo S1 in display and that would attract anyone who walks in. It is an attractive mobile and has a very practical design with good real-life performance.

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