Vivo U10 Review

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Vivo U10 is now official in India, just in time for the upcoming festival season. This is the second online exclusive series from Vivo and will compete at a lower entry-grade price than the popular Z-series. (Vivo U10 Review हिंदी में पढ़िए)

Unlike with their flagships and mid-range handsets, while catering to low-budget, brands can forgo fancy, but not the essentials. Gladly, the new phone from Vivo’s U series does adhere to such essentials. The key highlights are the underlying Snapdragon 665 chipset, 5000mAh battery, an 18W fast charger and AI triple cameras – all of which are offered at a sub-10k price.

Do these figures on paper translate into competent real-world usage? We went up close to the U10 for a closer inspection, and before we jump to our initial impressions, here’s a quick rundown of the Vivo U10 Price and Specs:

Page Contents:

Vivo U10 Price and Specs

Model Vivo U10
Display 6.35-inch HD+ (1544×720) display with a waterdrop notch
Software Android 9.0 Pie-based FunTouch OS
Processor Snapdragon 665
Battery 5000mAh with 18W fast charging
RAM 3/4GB RAM
Storage 32/64GB, expandable up to 256GB (dedicated)
Rear Camera 13MP (f/2.2)+ 8MP+ 2MP
Front Camera 8MP (f/1.8)
Other features Micro-USB, Dual SIM, Accelerometer, Light, Proximity, Magnetometer, Gyroscope, fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack
Indian Price
  • Rs. 8,990 (3GB+32GB)
  • Rs. 9,990 (3GB+64GB)
  • Rs. 10,990 (4GB+64GB)

Vivo U10 Review: Design and Build


On the design front, Vivo U10 feels very familiar as it’s very similar to other recent offerings from the brand. It goes for a gradient color science, and you get to pick between the quirky Electric Blue and subtler Thunder Black. We love the subtle light shimmering effect on its plastic back. At the back, you get a capacitive fingerprint reader, which is quick at unlocking the device. The same can be said about the face unlock feature.

Upfront, you get a waterdrop display, that we will discuss in a bit. Glancing over the peripherals, the right side has fairly tactile volume rockers and a power key. The left edge is blank except for a hybrid triple card slot. At the bottom, you get a 3.5mm audio jack, a micro-USB socket, and a solo speaker grill, which sounds muffled.

Perhaps due to a large battery inside, it has a wee bit bigger footprint than usual 6.3-inch display phone. This and slightly pronounced edges of the display makes it less comfy to hold.

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Vivo U10 Review: Display

On the U10, you have a Halo FullView HD+ display which stretches to 6.35 inches in size. The glass used is a 2.5D curved one. Vivo U10 vaunts an 89% screen-to-body ratio. Like any other budget phone, this one does have thick chin and noticeable bezels on other sides. There is a waterdrop notch up top housing the front camera.

It has got a decent color calibration which contributed to a pleasing Youtube experience at 720p quality. In our Widevine L1 testing, it shows DRM L1 compliance, which is a plus for Netflix & Chill in HD.

Vivo U10: Camera

Vivo U10 parades an AI triple cameras at the back, comprising a 13MP primary sensor, an 8-megapixel 120-degree ultra-wide sensor, and a 2-megapixel portrait sensor. Accordingly, within the camera app, you get options like AI beauty, HDR, Portrait Bokeh, and wide-angle mode.

The camera app feels a tad slow whilst switching between modes. However, the shutter speed is on the mark. It’s hard to expect much in terms of photo quality at this price range and we didn’t expect the U10 to be revolutionary in this regard. With that in mind, we decided to put the Vivo U10 optics into its paces and here are a few camera samples.

You get to snap an image at an elongated canvas, bringing in a broader perspective. However, in the wider frame, the photo lacks details and the dynamic range is also hit.

The photos came out relatively better in closeup shots, which is appreciated nonetheless.

The selfies come out decent, thanks to Vivo’s camera enhancements. The same caliber is missing in the portrait mode. Although the bokeh looks fine at the first instance, pixel peeping reveals a spotty edge detection. We also felt the focus was weirdly slow to catch up.

But again, hardly anyone examines at such a granular level. So, you may as well overlook this minutia.

ALSO READ: OnePlus 7 Pro Android 10 Quick Review

Vivo U10 Review: Hardware and Software

U10 ushers in Snapdragon 665 to the Vivo family. We have seen the chipset on a few other budget-oriented phones like Xiaomi Mi A3 (review) and Realme 5 (review). This is an octa-core chip clocked at 2.0GHz and is based on an 11nm architecture. We had a hassle-free experience on the aforementioned phones, and the U10 has been smooth during our review period.

FunTouch OS is jam-packed with features but its animations and user interface isn’t our cup of tea. For a new user, the gestures need some muscle memory to wrap their heads around it. However, if you’re cool with the UI, you would appreciate the new highlights such as a dedicated dark mode and an Ultra game mode. The latter barely meets the basics in terms of control options, contrary to the ultra moniker.

Overall, the experience has been snappy and even gaming titles such as Asphalt 9 and PUBG ran fine. Our review unit came with 4GB of RAM and 64GB disk space. It retails in 3GB plus 32 or 64gigs of storage as well. The expandable option via the dedicated slot is nice to have in case your consumption goes overboard.

We laud Vivo for including a whopping 5000mAh battery within this phone. We wouldn’t mind the bulk, as long as the phone ticks for a longer duration. Over the course of our usage, the phone sailed through the day without a hiccup. Our confidence was also banking on its 18W charger. And indeed, this is the strongest suit of this budget ranger.

Vivo U10 Review: Verdict with Pros and Cons

On paper and at first glance, U10 seems to bag every essential of a smartphone experience. Features like its massive battery, high-speed charging, expandable storage are all appreciated. The Snapdragon 665 does yield good performance and is a nice catch for this price range. FunTouch OS is a double-edged sword as its crammed with features. We feel the design isn’t exactly new for a Vivo phone but is surely apt for the price. We weren’t sold on the imaging front too. So, if you’re out for a good camera phone or a different software experience, there are better alternatives out there, which is something to be noted. If that’s not the case, Vivo U10 can be billed as a good entry-level phone.

Pros 

  • Battery life
  • Fast Charging
  • Modest looks

Cons

  • Poor speaker quality
  • Mediocre camera output
  • Bloated software

Vivo U10 Unboxing & Quick Overview [in Hindi]

Vasan G.S.Vasan G.S.
An inquisitive mind who spends a big chunk of the day keenly tracking every emerging detail and is responsible for quickly passing on important developments to Smartprix followers. He loves to stay in his bubble scripting his destiny involving amazing technology and people with good character, passion, and brilliance.

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3 Comments
User
Alberte Agerskov
Anonymous
4 years ago

The Vivo U10 has a triple-camera setup in 13MP+8MP+2MP configuration. The 13MP camera is the main sensor and it has a wide-angle lens, while the 8MP camera is the secondary sensor and it has an ultra-wide angle lens. The 2MP camera offers depth information to save images with a background blur effect.The camera UI offers AI filter, Backlight HDR, Portrait bokeh, AR stickers, time-lapse, and Ai Beauty modes. The 8MP front-facing camera comes with offers AI beauty and some neat light effects. This module also powers the device’s face-unlock feature.

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Hollis Madinger
Anonymous
4 years ago

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4 years ago

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