Vivo Y55s – Review – with that 3rd card slot!

Vivo is constantly on the move to introduce mobiles at every price point. I think the aim here is to have a Vivo mobile at every heights of the shelf. The idea is to familiarize the users with the brand and their offerings. The Vivo Y55 and Y55L does not have much of a difference and yet they are priced a few thousands apart. Now the Y55s is a considerable upgrade that is available at around Rs 12.5k. But the Vivo V5 is also closely priced and with just a few more thousands, you can get the flagship V5. So why is the Vivo Y55s here? Let us dive into the review to find out.

In the Box

• Vivo Y55S
• Sim ejector pin
• Wall charger
• USB to micro USB cable
• Soft TPU back case
• Quick guide
• Warranty card

Design

The Y55s is made of a plastic body which looks and feels like metal. The mobile has a solid construction like any other Vivo mobile. The design is uninspiring and it looks a lot like Y55L, V5 or to an extend some of the Asus phones and oppo mobiles. The power and volume buttons are on the right. The dual sim tray is on the left. The bottom has the usb port, speaker grills and a mic. The top has the 3.5 mm audio jack and a dedicated SD card slot.

The display is 5.5 inch and the bezels are thin. Above the display is the 5 MP camera The proximity and ambient light sensors are also on the top, while the bottom has the back-lit navigation keys. The mobile does not have a fingerprint sensor. The back has the 13 MP camera with a single LED flash. The mobile is quite handy to hold and operate. The design is ergonomic and it feels quite comfortable in the hand. It does not have a unique design identity, and I think Vivo must come out of the comfort zone, get innovative with the design and create something new.

Display

The Y55s has a 720p display on a 5.2 inch screen. The brightness and contrast levels are good. The text is crisp and the colors are vivid but the white balance is a bit cold. Eye protection mode makes the display yellowish and it is good for reading, but not for media consumption. Display is protected by corning gorilla glass and also has a layer of tempered glass applied already. With what we have, the display does not excite, but it does the job.

Hardware and Performance

Y55s does not have impressive hardware specifications under the hood, but it is a considerable improvement over the Y55L. The Snapdragon 425 processor with 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage gives a decent performance. The mobile can push you through your daily task. I have loaded a bunch of apps on the mobile and it shows no signs of lag so far. The UI is fast, smooth and responsive. The hardware does not score high on the benchmark tests, but the UI is a light weight interface. It demands less resource and it keeps the resource free for your apps and games.

With respect to game play, the heavy games when pushed to max limits, starts dropping frames. Keeping the graphics at medium, ensures a smooth game play. It does not heat up easily even after 30 min of continuous game play. Considering that it is a mid-range mobile, the performance is satisfying.

Camera

The Y55s has a 13 MP primary camera it is a decent shooter. The images shot from it have the right amount of exposure, contrast and saturation. The images look natural and pleasant. The camera struggles to focus at times, especially when the light is really high or low. Also under low light the images have a lot of noise and is not bright enough. The mobile can shoot videos at 1080p 30fps. Adjusting the exposure based on the scene brightness is really fast. The footage is smooth and pleasant to watch. But it lack OIS or EIS, which can be forgiven, given that it is an entry level mobile.

The front 5 MP camera can take decent selfies with good skin details and color tones. But again, as the light drops, the quality also drops. It does not have a flash on the front, but the screen can light up, acting as a jugaad flash.

The Camera UI is very basic. The labels on action items are funny and it appears to be literal translation from Chinese. But as I said, the entire software needs an update. Hope the update fixes the labels and other use experience issues in it. It has pro mode and a few other modes like HDR and panorama.

Check out the camera samples below

Music

Vivo Y55s promises high-quality audio like any of its other mobiles. The phone’s mono speaker has an average output quality. But when connected with a headphone, the sound delivered is decent. The included headphones are of very poor quality and I suggest investing in a better pair of headphones, for a better experience. The mids and lows are separated. There is not enough bass to give you that thump, but the voice clarity and treble is distinct and rich. Vivo has re-branded themselves as “Vivo: Camera and Sound”. True to the new brand identity, Y55s has noteworthy sound clarity, considering the fact that this is a entry level mobile.

Software

Y55s runs on Android 6.0 with a proprietary shell Funtouch OS 2.6. I am not impressed about the visual design and text alignment of the Funtouch OS. The user experience and feature bouquet is good. It has a host of gesture controlled features. It supports one hand operation, dual screen, scrolling screenshot, screen recording and much more special features, that add to the user experience. The UI is also light weight. It demands less resource and it keep the memory free for other app. It is fast and responsive. I can overlook the lack of visual finesse for this reason.

Battery

It is powered by a 2730 mAh battery and does not support fast charging. It charges from 0 to 100% in less than 2 hours. I ran the PC Mark battery test and the device lasted for 5 hours and 05 min from 90 to 20 %. That is impressive. On my regular usage, it lasts for about a day and it has about 20-25% when I hit the bed.

Verdict

It is priced at Rs 12,480. The mobile has a dedicated SD card slot, which many mobiles in this price segment does not have. It has a rock solid construction but a boring design. The display is decent and the UI is fast, sensible and snappy. The camera is decent under ample light conditions and the mobile lasts for a day of regular usage. There are mobiles like the Redmi Note 4, Moto G4 Play, Honor 5c, Honor 6x, Lenovo K6 series and ZTE Blade A2 Plus in this price range. But all these mobiles are available only online. If you want to pick up a decent mobile from a brick and mortar store, then the Y55s is a good choice for about Rs 12k.