The price of this smartphone is Rs 12,490 which puts it in a very competitive segment. We have reviewed Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (Review), Honor 6X and Moto G4 Plus (Review) in this price range. Talking about specifications, Vivo Y55s disappoints compared to these three smartphones. Let’s find out in the review.
Vivo Y55s design and build quality
The Y55s sports a simple candybar design with 2.5D curved edge-glass on the front. The phone has a soft gold finish on the rear. The phone looks like an iPhone which is nothing new for Chinese manufacturers. The phone measures 7.5mm thick and weighs 147.9 grams. The small size of the phone makes it easy to hold in the hand and all the buttons are also within reach. The phone has a separate microSD card slot near the headphone jack. The phone comes with dual-SIM support. The rear of the phone looks like metal while it is made of plastic.
The 5.2-inch HD display comes with a decently high pixel density, which makes icons and text look sharp. Colour reproduction is pretty good and we didn’t face any issues with viewing angles or using the phone in sunlight. The Y55s comes with a pre-applied screen protector.
The capacitive navigation buttons at the bottom are not backlit and there is no notification LED on the phone. But you can use the rear LED flash to flag incoming calls, messages and reminders when the screen is off. The lack of a fingerprint sensor on the phone is disappointing.
Overall, we don’t have much to complain about the build and design of the phone but it doesn’t really impress us. The design of the phone is nothing new. Vivo has bundled a standard 5 watt power adapter, a data cable, a headset, a silicone case and a SIM ejector tool with the phone.
Vivo Y55s Specifications and Features
The smartphone is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor clocked at 1.4GHz, which is a strange choice considering the octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor that powers the Y55L. The phone packs 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. The phone supports Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi b/g/n, 4G VoLTE, USB OTG, FM radio, and GPS. Along with the standard sensors, the phone also features a virtual gyroscope.
On the software front, the phone runs Funtouch OS 3.0 based on Android Marshmallow. There have been no changes since we reviewed the Vivo V5 Plus. If you haven’t used a Vivo phone, you’ll have to learn a few changes to all the controls. The brightness, volume slider, and quick toggles all require a swipe up on the display, while the notification shade can only be used for notifications.
The phone’s Settings app has options to enable custom features like motion and touch gestures, one-handed mode, Super Screenshot and Smart Click. While the screen is off, holding down the volume buttons can perform several functions. Smart Split lets you split the screen in half while watching a video to send a message or use WhatsApp without leaving the player. Stock apps include Vivo Cloud for backup, UC Browser, WPS Office, Amazon, WhatsApp and a theme store.
Vivo Y55s performance
The general UI performance is good and we did not face any issues with the phone during day to day use. Multitasking is a breeze. However, the choice of an entry level processor is not the best for running large apps and games. The benchmark figures from the phone are decent. You can install and play 3D games on the phone but many large games will slow down the phone. 16GB of storage is not enough and downloading music and videos will drain the storage very quickly.
The Y55S plays 1080p videos with ease. And high bit-rate video test files also played fine. The sound and clarity coming from the speakers is not very good. And the sound quality is good only for alerts. The headset that comes with the phone is not an in-ear type, so don’t expect too much quality.
The phone has a 13-megapixel rear camera with aperture f/2.2. The phone can take great landscape photos and macro shots in daylight. However, there is a lack of detail when zooming in and closeup shots lack sharpness. Autofocus is fast even though there is no PDAF. Photos are a bit noisy in low light and photos are a bit better when the night mode is turned on.
The phone also has shooting modes like Face Beauty, Panorama, Professional, Slow-motion video, Time-lapse and Ultra HD. The phone’s interface is easy to navigate and all the functions are easy to perform. For taking selfies, there is a 5-megapixel front camera with aperture f / 2.2, which takes selfies with great detail in good light. However, the screen flash is a bit weak. The phone’s rear camera can record videos up to 1080 pixels and the quality is very good.
The phone’s 2730mAh battery performance surprised us. In our HD video loop test, we got 12 hours and 12 minutes of playback, which isn’t too bad. With normal usage, we were able to use the phone for a full day. However, the phone took a few hours to charge.
Our verdict
The Vivo Y55s is a great entry-level smartphone but it is not able to compete with its rivals. The Redmi Note 4, Moto G4 Plus and Honor 6X are better options at this price. The Y55s has good battery life, a separate microSD card slot and 4G VoLTE support. But it lacks a more powerful processor, a high resolution display, fingerprint sensor and better cameras.
If the price of this phone was around Rs 7,000, then it could have been recommended for purchase. But there are many other better options available for Rs 12,490.
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