Vivo U20 Full Detailed Review: Combination of Awesomeness

2019 has been a great year for smartphone brands, companies like Redmi, Realme, and Vivo have been offering some great devices under the sub 12K segment, and one of those devices from the companies being the Vivo U20 which was launched recently in India and is rivaling smartphones such as the Redmi Note 8 and the Realme 5S. This competition has led to the benefits of the consumers where companies launch new products to undercut the devices from other brands. Starting at just INR 10,990 Vivo has a new smartphone to offer with the launch of the Vivo U20, the Vivo U10 which had gained huge popularity at the time of its launch has a successor now and Let us find how good the successor is?. Here we will be offering you the complete review of the Vivo U20 including Camera Samples, Performance, display quality and everything you’ll need to know.

Vivo U20 Key Highlights:

• 6.53-inch FHD+ IPS LCD Display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 675
• 5,000mAH Battery
• 18W Fast Charger

Vivo U20 Review:

Box Contents:

Box Contents

• Vivo U20
• Quick Start Manual
• Sim Ejector Tool
• Clear TPU Case
• 18W Fast Charger
• USB-A to Micro-USB Cable.

Attractive Design:

The Vivo U20 features an attractive glossy looking back panel with curved edges and rounded corners, which makes the device comfortable to hold and provides a good in-hand feel, the device also has a gradient finished back panel which is made up of polycarbonate. While some users may feel that making the back panel of polycarbonate makes the device shatterproof compared to glass, some users prefer a glass back as it gives a more premium touch to the smartphone.

The back panel also houses the triple rear camera setup aligned at the top left corner, and a fingerprint sensor as well. The power button and the volume rockers are present on the right of the device, the sim tray is present on the left which houses the dual sim tray + a microSD card slot. The headphone jack, MicroUSB port, and the speaker grill are present on the bottom along with the microphone. Overall the design feels solid and premium considering the price tag of the device.

Display:

The Vivo U20 comes with a 6.53-inch IPS LCD Display, with the resolution of the display being FHD+. The colors on the device look good, the display has good contrast and brightness, we never faced any issues using it outdoors. This 6.53-inch display is covered by the unusual ‘Panda Glass MN228’ which Vivo claims that it is more stronger than the Gorilla Glass 3 or even the Gorilla Glass 5 which are used on other devices in this segment. The Vivo U20 comes with a small waterdrop notch and Vivo calls the display as ‘O-Type’ display which is another fancy name for a display with a water-drop notch. Overall the quality of the panel used on the device is good considering the price. The device also comes with support for Widevine L1 Certification by which users can stream HD content from online streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix.

Performance: Most Powerful Smartphone Under 11K?

The Vivo U10 was the cheapest device to come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 Chipset at the time of its launch, and the trend continues, the Vivo U20 is the cheapest smartphone to ship with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 Chipset and Adreno 612 GPU, we have seen this chipset perform previously in devices such as the Redmi Note 7 Pro, Vivo V15 Pro and more, the chipset is powerful enough to handle games such as PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Asphalt 9 or any other games easily.

We had a gaming session on this phone and we enjoyed playing games on this device, we didn’t notice any frame drops unless the device was pushed to its limits over extended periods of gaming sessions. Not only the chipset is important in determining the performance of the device, but the storage type also plays an important role. The Vivo U20 runs on the UFS 2.1 Storage which is considered to be a major upgrade over the EMMC storage devices in this price segment and helps in the smooth functioning of the device.

Triple Rear Cameras:

The only department where Vivo lacks in giving strong competition to other devices such as the Redmi Note 8 and the Realme 5’s is the camera’s, we aren’t saying that the camera’s on the devices are bad, but it cannot be compared to the other devices at this price. The Vivo U20 comes with a triple rear camera setup on the rear which includes a 16MP Sony IMX 499 Sensor with an aperture of f/1.8, an 8MP Ultra-Wide Angled Lens with an aperture of f/2.2 and a third Macro lens with an aperture of f/2.4.

The device is capable of capturing some good quality photo but the software processing lacks it down, also the device doesn’t support Camera2Api which could be used to install a ported version of google camera. On the front, the device comes with a 16MP Selfie shooter which captures skin tones well and the images produced look good. Overall the colors reproduced by the device are good and the overall camera quality can be termed ‘Average’. You can see the below-attached camera samples to know more.

Camera Samples:

The Vivo U20 produces some well-exposed shots, the colors seem decent and the detail level is considered to be ‘OK’ while compared to devices such as the Redmi Note 8 or the Realme 5’s. The dynamic range also seems to be pretty good for this price. The Ultra-Wide Angled lens could be used to get shots from a different perspective but the colors seem to be a bit disturbed while lacking details. The Macro lens functions well and allows you to get very close to your subject while losing quality as it just features a 2MP sensor.

The ultra-wide-angle lens on the Vivo U20 also shoots some good shots, there are color shifts in some cases, the detail levels are not as good as the primary sensor but the images are usable, you can check out the below sample shots for more information.

The third sensor that Vivo has included instead of going with a depth sensor, Vivo has chosen a macro lens and helps you to get closer to the subject, the image quality is compromised but is fairly usable.

The Selfie’s taken on the Vivo U20 comes out to be decent looking, rich in skin tones for which Vivo has been generally known for, and has ample details, overall the 16MP Selfie shooter does a great job. You can find the sample shots attached below.

On the video side, users can shoot videos in 4K 30FPS or 1080p 30FPS, Vivo hasn’t provided the option for the users to shoot video in 4K 60FPS or even 1080P 60FPS. The stabilization on the device is pretty average and could be used for videography in general occasions. Users can also shoot videos via the Ultra-Wide Angled Lens as well, good to see Vivo including an option to do so.

Speakers:

The phone comes with a single bottom-firing speaker which produces decently loud sound, the sound quality is good, the vocals are good and we personally felt that the bass level was a bit less, in all other senses, the Vivo U20 produces good quality audio, not to forget the Vivo U20 also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and the audio quality from it is good as well. We tested multiple earphones with it and faced no issues.

Battery Life:

One of the strongest points considering the Vivo U20 is the battery capacity as this device features a massive 5,000mAH battery. Combining the massive battery capacity of the device with Vivo’s battery optimized Funtouch OS that means users should be able to get pretty good battery life. We were able to get 1.5 days of battery life on a single charge on the Vivo U20. The phone also ships with an 18W Fast Charger which can be used to refill the battery quickly in case you run out of charge.

Software:

Vivo has been generally lacking behind with its funky iOS styled User Interface named FuntouchOS, and nothing is different from the case of the Vivo U20 as well, it runs on FuntouchOS 9.2 based on Android 9.0 Pie. First-time smartphone users won’t find it much difficult to adapt to this UI, but users coming from devices running Stock Android/OxygenOS will take time to get used to it.

The icons and animations look funky, and the control center instead of coming down from a top to bottom swipe comes up by pulling it from the bottom. But with the usage of Snapdragon 675 and UFS 2.1 storage, the device feels fast and responsive. Users can also setup face-unlock which is quite fast as well, other than the fingerprint scanner as biometric protection.

Aggressive Pricing:

Vivo has finally decided to take on Redmi and Realme with their aggressive pricing of the Vivo U20, the base variant of the Vivo U20 comes with 4GB of RAM + 64GB Internal Storage and is priced at Rs. 10,990, while the top-end variant of the Vivo U20 consists of 6GB of RAM + 64GB internal storage and is priced at Rs. 11,990 making this an must watch deal for smartphone buyers. The phone comes in two colors namely Racing Black and Blaze Blue and will be sold via Amazon.

Specifications:

Verdict: Should You Buy the Vivo U20?

If you want the best camera’s available on the smartphone market currently under the sub 12k segment or a clean UI, we would recommend you not to opt for the Vivo U20, instead, you can choose options like the Redmi Note 8 or the Realme 5’s. But if you want the best performance available currently in this price bracket, or you want to play games like PUBG at high settings, or you need a smartphone with good battery life, which comes with an 18W Fast Charger in the box, and FHD+ Display we would recommend you the Vivo U20. The only downsides of the phone being that it comes with a polycarbonate back and lacks the USB-Type C Port.Overall the Vivo U20 is a great budget device ideal for most of the smartphone users.

That was pretty much it, This was our Vivo U20 Review, what do you guys think about the camera samples and other specifications of Vivo U20, make sure that you comment down below.

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