Vivo U20 Review

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Until last year, Vivo was more of an offline player, painting towns Blue with its large hoardings while online brands like Xiaomi and Realme that dominated the online segment had marginal presence offline. In 2019, there are no clear cut boundaries between online and offline brands. Online brands like Xiaomi have tasted success offline and the likes of Vivo and Oppo are increasing their online presence by offering powerful hardware at competitive prices. (Vivo U20 Review हिंदी में पढ़िए)

Vivo has done well with its gamer-centric ‘Z’ series and with is value-centric ‘U’ series, as is also corroborated by IDC number for the third quarter of 2019. As per IDC, Vivo in the last quarter stood at 15.2% against 10.5% in Q3 of 2018.

Vivo is now back with U20, an affordable phone that will lock horns with Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 8 and Realme’s 5s. The handset offers alluring features like Full HD+ display, massive battery, fast-charging, powerful chipset, high-quality UFS 2.1 storage & LPDDR4x RAM, and triple rear cameras for a very attractive starting price of Rs. 10,990. But, does the practical experience match up to these towering specs? Let’s find out in our Vivo U20 review!

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Vivo U20 Specifications

Model Vivo U20
Display 6.53-inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels with Water Drop Notch
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 AIE
RAM 4GB/6GB
Internal Storage 64GB
Software Android v9.0 Pie based FunTouch OS 9
Rear Camera 16MP+8MP+2MP
Front Camera 16MP
Dimension & Weight 162.15×76.47×8.89mm;193 grams
Battery 5000mAh with 18W fast charging support
Other Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, GLONASS, Rear Fingerprint Sensor, Accelerometer
Colors Racing Black and Blaze Blue color

Vivo U20 price and variants

The Vivo U20 price starts from Rs 10,990 for the 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant and the higher 6GB RAM/64GB storage option costs Rs. 11,990.

Vivo U20 Review: Design and Build Quality

The Vivo U20 makes some important design improvements over U10 (review). The glass-finish back is still polycarbonate, but the edges are now curved (unlike the flat glass back of U10) and the phone is resultantly much more comfortable to grip. Other details like the rear camera placement, fingerprint sensor placement, and the golden accent marking such highlights remain the same.

Like most other phones today, Vivo U20 has a gradient back. The Vivo U20 Blaze Blue variant that we have with us shimmers when light falls on it at angles. There’s also a black color variant of the phone which should work better for people who prefer a simplistic look.

There’s not much to talk about the fascia of the phone that’s mainly dominated by the screen. There’s a teardrop notch on top and Buttons on the right edge offer decent feedback. There are no flexes and in the body and phone is quite solidly built.

Vivo U20 Review: Display

Vivo has stretched out the display a bit and made it 6.5-inches in size as compared to the 6.35-inches on the U10. The display type is still IPS LCD which is also the case with almost every other phone available in this segment. The screen is a full HD+ displaying resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio.

The U20 display is a delight to look at especially when you compare it against the softer screens on Xaomi Mi A3 (review), and Realme 5s (review). Everything looks crisp and sharp on the screen. Colors are good, and it glows bright enough to be legible outdoors.

ALSO READ: Realme X2 Pro Review

Vivo U20 Review: Performance and Software

Let’s discuss the performance now. So, the Vivo U20 ships with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC at the heart couple with Adreno 612 CPU. The chipset is getting a bit long in the tooth but the combination of Snapdragon 675 chipset and Adreno 612 GPU has had a proven track record in terms of both performance and gaming. It’s still a better proposition than the Snapdragon 665 when it comes to gaming, and Vivo hammers the point by further adding UFS2.1 storage and oodles of high-quality LPDDR4x RAM to both options. 

Vivo U20 manages to handle all day-to-day activities like Gaming, browsing, Switching between apps and more without showing any signs of exhaustion. Gaming enthusiasts restricted by a budget should note that we were able to play hot favorite PUGB mobile with HD graphics and high frame rate which isn’t bad for a phone that costs less than 12,000 bucks.

FunTouch OS is still the big area where Vivo needs to reinvent itself. My biggest problem with the Funtouch OS is its quick settings menu. It’s frustrating to access, especially when you are using gestures for navigation. While the OS is feature-rich, it needs a hefty transformation in terms of UX.

The handset has DRM L1 certification and can stream HD content on Prime Videos and Netflix. Fingerprint sensor and Face Unlock are both fast and reliable, and we had absolutely no trouble unlocking our phone.

Vivo U20 Review: Camera

Optics have also received an upgrade with 16MP primary sensor is the show stopper at the rear front. The Vivo U20 rear cameras include a 16 MP (f/1.8) main sensor coupled with 8 MP ultrawide (f/2.2), 13mm (ultrawide) and a 2 MP (f/2.4) macro camera. Vivo redesigned its camera app with the V17 Pro (review)and uses the same layout on the U20.

The main rear camera sensor manages to click good pictures in daylight. The samples we shot have punchy colors and a good dynamic range. While details are decent, some of the images turned out a little underexposed.

The 5MP ultrawide sensor can’t match the primary sensor in terms of details and sharpness. It also registers handshakes easily. The 2MP macro lens isn’t different from other 2MP macro sensors that we have seen in recent times – which is fun to play with, but not of any real value when you blow up images on a bigger screen. 

Selfies are excellent in the daylight but the same can’t be said of low light selfies. Night mode is present but the end results have uneven exposure and look very mediocre. 

ALSO READ: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro Review

Vivo U20 Review: Battery

The 5,000mAh battery is a monster in terms of durability. It easily lasts for more than a day with heavy usage. My daily smartphone usage includes multiple social accounts surfing, videos, and music streaming, spending time on PUBG mobile and web surfing.

Interestingly, Vivo U20 ships with an 18W fast charger which is still rare in this price segment. A USB Type-C port for charging would have been the cherry on top, but its absence isn’t a deal-breaker. 

Vivo U20 review: Verdict

The Vivo U20 is a sensible upgrade over the last generation model and what helps the Vivo U20 stand apart is its performance. The Snapdragon 675 paired with good-quality RAM and storage makes U20 ideal for people interested in gaming. Besides, the big battery and sharp Full HD+ display are other legit advantages that you’d be hard-pressed to come across in the sub-12k segment. 

The Vivo U20 outperforms phones like Redmi Note 8 and Realme 5s in terms of raw specifications. And if specs matter, this is one segment where they matter the most.

Not all is hunky-dory, though. The camera performance is quite standard, and the software is one area that has room for improvement. A Type-C port, too, would have made more sense. Overall, the Vivo U20 turned exceeded our expectations and is an easy recommendation.

Pros

  • Sharp and vivid screen
  • Ergonomic design
  • Excellent battery
  • Reliable performance

Cons

  • Low light camera performance
  • Regular microUSB port
  • Clumsy UI

Vivo U20 & Realme 5s Comparison [in Hindi]

 

Deepak RajawatDeepak Rajawat
Experienced technology journalist with over 7-years of experience. Before embracing online journalism, he has worked with several legacy publications including print editions at Hindustan Times and The Statesman. He also has a keen interest in Sports, which he used to cover with equal enthusiasm in his early career.

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