Summery of Review
Rating 3.5/5
Realme and Redmi have the largest share of the sub-Rs 20K smartphone sector in India, but that might change shortly. I say this because the Chinese electronics company Vivo has introduced a completely new smartphone line designed to entice budget-conscious shoppers. The Vivo T series portfolio prioritises performance and aims to compete with the top mid-rangers in the cheap sector. The Vivo T1 5G is the flagship of the company's newest lineup, and it has features like as a 120Hz screen, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 695 SoC, and the works. So, let's take a closer look at the phone to determine if it's a good investment.
VEDICT
The T1 5G, Vivo's T series rookie, does a few things right and delivers a gorgeous look as well as dependable performance. Having said that, despite the company's admirable effort, the smartphone has a lot of room for development and would have benefited from a brighter screen and a more diversified camera stack.
DESIGN
The Vivo T1 5G is a striking device, especially in the Rainbow Fantasy colorway that was supplied to me for evaluation. As the name implies, the phone has a colourful gradient that changes colours of blue and orange depending on how light hits the back of the phone. Furthermore, the smartphone has a boxy form with a flat frame and a levelled back. The device's squared-off camera module makes it stand out even more, and all in all, Vivo has done a good job with the design of its latest challenger.
Surprisingly, the smartphone's plastic design is not immediately obvious, which speaks much about how the T1 5G feels in the hand. The phone's back has a smooth, velvety feel, and the handset's blocky frame provides a secure in-hand hold. So much so that I didn't feel the need to pamper the phone and used it without a cover during my evaluation time. I'd also want to point out that, unlike the majority of phones in this price range, the T1 5G has a matte surface and, as a result, the rear of the phone resists smudges rather well.
In fact, I would have like to see the smartphone's display blend smoothly into its frame. Currently, the gadget comes with a black casing that protrudes from the phone's rails to keep the screen in place. Aside from that, the Vivo T1 5G's design is flawless in my opinion. Moving on, let's take a closer look at the smartphone's I/O, which has a capacitive fingerprint sensor placed beneath the power button.
During my time with the phone, the sensor performed excellently, thus I have no issues. However, if you aren't used to utilising a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, you can also use face recognition to unlock the phone, which works just as well. The smartphone has a USB Type-C connector at the bottom, wedged between a 3.5mm audio socket and a single speaker grill.
Much to my chagrin, the speaker's audio output was subpar. For one thing, when using the phone in landscape position while streaming movies or playing games, you can't comfortably cup the grill. Furthermore, there is no stereo distinction in the audio from the phone. You should also be aware that the haptics of the T1 5G leave a lot to be desired, and the feedback is extremely mushy. Aside from that, the gadget has a SIM tray on top and a clicky volume button on its right-hand spine.
DISPLAY
The Vivo T1 5G comes standard with a 6.58-inch FHD+ In-cell LCD display. With a refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 240Hz, the panel is smooth and responsive enough to play high-octane games on the run. I appreciate how Vivo allows consumers to choose the display refresh rate between 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz, letting you to prolong your battery backup even further if you're running low on charge. Having said that, the display is surrounded by quite large bezels. In fact, the frame that holds the display makes the bezels appear a little more prominent. To make matters worse, the panel has a waterdrop notch that takes up more area than its punch hole siblings.
On the plus side, if you start using the phone every day, you won't notice these flaws. Having said that, I wish the firm had included a brighter default with the phone. As it is, the T1 5G's screen has a maximum brightness of 460 nits, which is insufficient when seeing the panel in direct sunlight. Furthermore, despite having Widevine L1 certification, the phone cannot transmit HDR material from OTT services such as Netflix.
CAMERAS
The Vivo T1 5G comes with a triple camera arrangement on the rear, including a 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP depth lens. The gadget has a 16MP selfie camera on the front for taking selfies.
During the day, the T1 5G's main camera takes high-quality photographs with plenty of information in the frame. However, the camera's colour science favours bright, colourful tones, so the photos are rarely a faithful portrayal of the reality. Fortunately, the gadget does a good job of bringing out the shadows in the photo, and the sensor locks on to the focus swiftly. However, at night, the photo quality plummets, and even using the designated night mode, I observed the shots were riddled with noise.
Unfortunately, the Vivo T1 5G lacks an ultrawide angle or telephoto sensor. Instead, the phone has a 2MP macro sensor that allows users to take extreme closeups of subjects. In terms of video, the phone can capture clips in up to 1080p quality at 30 or 60 frames per second. The smartphone's video recording skills aren't the finest in the sector, and it brings a lot of jitteriness into the frame. As a result, if you want to capture videos using your phone, I recommend using a portable tripod to stabilise the movies.
Performance , Battery life and Software
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 CPU powers the Vivo T1 5G, together with UFS 2.2 storage and LPDDR4x memory. Now, I've previously gone into great detail on the Vivo T1 5G's performance in a comparative piece where I placed the SoC against the Dimensity 810 and Snapdragon 680 chipsets, so go ahead and read that. However, for the sake of this review, you should be aware that the T1 5G is a strong performer, and purchasers seeking for a dependable daily driver will find little to complain about.
On the other hand, the SoC isn't as powerful as, say, the Snapdragon 765G or Snapdragon 768G mobile platforms featured in similarly priced smartphones such as the iQOO Z3 (review). To put it another way, while I didn't find the SD695's CPU to be inadequate, the GPU can't quite push demanding games to equivalent graphics and FPS levels. Consider BGMI, which is limited to HD and High graphics and frame rate settings. On the other hand, the iQOO Z3 allows you to adjust the visuals and frame rate all the way up to HDR and Ultra. To summarise, while the Vivo T1 5G performs decently, it isn't the quickest Android phone around Rs 20K.
The smartphone runs a modified skin of FunTouch OS v12 on top of Android 12. Although most of the preinstalled apps can be deleted, the UI is littered with bloatware. Aside from that, the UI has a clean aesthetic and a plethora of customization capabilities, such as a built-in theme shop and a boatload of homescreen and lock screen modifications. However, the smartphone does not accept third-party icon packs, which is a disappointment. Aside from that, the smartphone includes the majority, if not all, of the standard Android features, such as Google's Digital Wellbeing suite, a built-in screen recorder, a dedicated gaming mode, and the option to encrypt applications loaded on the phone.
On the battery aspect, the Vivo T1 5G comes with a 5,000mAh cell that easily got me to the end of a long work day. Unfortunately, the phone comes with an 18W fast charger that takes a long time to totally recharge the battery pack — 1 hour and 40 minutes, to be exact. That's a little disappointing, given that comparable phones come with quicker charging 33W bricks. You will, without a doubt, win some and lose some in the battery sector.
FINAL VERDICT
The Vivo T1 5G begins at Rs 15,990 for the 4GB RAM model and does a lot of things well for the price. The smartphone receives high reviews for design, and it is also a strong performer. In addition, I had no qualms regarding the phone's battery backup. However, the T1 5G's display isn't without flaws, and the smartphone's audio arrangement isn't very impressive. Furthermore, while the phone can shoot good-looking images during the day, the quality of the shots plummets at night.
Similarly, while I applaud Vivo for launching a new smartphone series, the T1 5G has a lot of potential for development. Having said that, if you're looking for a sleek phone with a terrific selfie camera, the T1 5G is a must-consider. For everyone else, there are plenty of other well-rounded gadgets on the market.
Advantages Stylish design
- competent performer
- Battery backup that is long-lasting
- Android 12 is pre-installed.
Cons
- There are no dual speakers.
- The peak brightness of the display might be increased.
- There are no ultrawide or telephoto sensors.
Specifications
- 4 GB RAM for Vivo T1
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor
- Front Camera 16 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP Rear Camera 50 MP + 2 MP + 2 MP
- 5000 mAh battery
- 6.58-inch display
