Note: This article was originally posted on ValueQ, where may offer you an impressive discount. Make sure you check ValueQ before you make the purchase.
Vivo X21 is a new budget device from Vivo with a Fingerprint scanner built right under the display. Apart from that, it has a nice and bright OLED screen which make media consumption much better when compared to an LCD panel. The X21 also supports fast charging and expandable memory. Interesting right? Let’s jump in and take a closer look at the Vivo X21 review.
Vivo X21 : Design
The Vivo X21 does look and feels good in the hand but the design isn’t something unique. Honestly, almost every budget device with a notch have almost a similar design. Nonetheless, the build quality on the X21 is great with an aluminum frame and a Glass back. The back panel is shiny but doesn’t catch fingerprint easily. There are three color options in which you can buy the Vivo X21and they are Black, Aurora White, and Ruby Red.
Holding the device in hand, you will notice that the X21 is quite thin and light. With just 7.4 mm thickness and curved edges, the X21 is comfortable to hold and use. The X21 is just 156 grams in weight which means it is easy to use even for extended durations. However, without any cover or skin, the device is slippery which can lead to accidental slip-offs.
When we said there is nothing new about the design of the Vivo X21, we meant that it has the same common notch design with small bezels and a chin. The notch upfront is small and houses an earpiece, camera, proximity, and ambient light sensor. The left side of the X21 is completely barren while at the right, there is the volume rocker and power key. Up top, there is a 3.5 mm audio connector along with the secondary mic. Down at the bottom is the Micro USB port along with the SIM tray, primary mic and a speaker. At the back, there is a Dual camera setup placed vertically in the top left and a flash just below it. The Vivo X21 isn’t waterproof, doesn’t support Wireless charging and uses an old Micro USB port for charging. Though, the build quality is great and the design is good but common in 2018.
Big Screen with a Small Notch
With big bezel-less display, comes a notch as a companion. Yup, it’s true. Almost all the smartphones which are trying to be bezel-less comes with a notch on top of the display and the Vivo X21 is no exception here. It comes with a pretty big 6.28 inch display which has a resolution of 1080x2280 and a pixel density of 402 pixels-per-inch. The screen is AMOLED which is positive for the X21 as very few phones in this price range come with an OLED screen.
Without a doubt, the screen quality on the Vivo X21 is great. The colors are punchy and vibrant, the blacks are inky and the viewing angles are solid too. Even the sunlight visibility is pretty great for the price. The bezels around the display are thin but the chin isn’t. Also, the notch on top isn’t too big and doesn’t interfere much during media consumption. However, there is no option in the setting to disable the notch so no matter if you love it or hate it, it’s gonna be there.
Also, there is an Always-On-Display option just like on the Samsung phones which shows time and notifications like messages, missed call etc. The Fingerprint scanner resided below the display and the functionality of it may get disturbed if a third party screen protector is used. Overall, it’s a great screen for the price with a futuristic under-display Fingerprint scanner.
Vivo X21 Performance and Software
We have already reviewed many devices with Snapdragon 660 onboard and they all performed really well in our performance test. Same goes for the Vivo X21 as it is powered by the same Octa-core processor Snapdragon 660 processor along with the Adreno 512 GPU.
One of the easiest ways to test the performance on any smartphone is by playing heavy games on it and we did the same. We played PUBG on the X21 for around an hour and a half and the performance was really nice. The game played well in medium graphics settings and we didn’t notice any frame drops throughout the gameplay. Although, the phone did get a little warm but that’s just found after such a long gaming session.
With that being said, the basic apps and tasks also run smoothly without any frame drops. Multitasking on the Vivo X21 is also smooth and responsive due to the fact that it comes with 6GB of RAM which helps in keeping the apps in the memory for long. The X21 comes with 128GB onboard storage and has a Micro SD card slot for memory expansion up to 256GB.
The Vivo X21 runs on a custom OS by Vivo called the Funtouch OS. It is quite similar to many other Chinese ROMs but it resembles strongly to iOS in terms of design. It also has a Control center like feature which pops-up when you swipe up from the bottom and contains toggles for options like WIFI, Bluetooth, GPS, Brightness etc. There is no app drawer and the X21 comes with plenty of apps pre-installed. However, most of them can be uninstalled right away. Gesture for navigation is also supported but aren’t turned on by default. The Funtouch OS is heavily themed and you will barely find any similarity with the stock Android. However, the Vivo X21 is one of the devices eligible for Android 9.0 Pie Beta which means it will surely receive Android Pie sooner or later.
Camera and Battery Life
At the back, the Vivo X21 sports a Dual camera setup which comprises of a 12 Megapixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture and a 5 Megapixel depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. Upfront, there is a 12 Megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture for perfect selfies as said by Vivo ads. The camera app on the X21 is pretty basic actually but has the necessary options like HDR, Panorama, Beauty, Portrait etc. There is also a professional mode which lets you change the shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and focus.
The images captured by the rear module turns out to be impressive. No matter if it’s indoors or outdoors, the images contains high amount of details and the colors look natural as well. The portrait mode shots are nice but the edge detection is below average. However, if it manages to figure out the edges of the subject, the image turns out to be great. Night time shots are below average and the subject lack details. The primary camera is capable of recording 4K videos but there is no stabilization above 1080p.
Selfies captured by the front camera are good but overexposed sometimes. Although, the quality is great with high details and good dynamic range. Beauty Mode is available which smoothens the subject and enhances the beauty and Yes, there is an option to turn it off. Overall the cameras on the Vivo X21 are capable of capturing great photos.
The X21 packs a 3,200 mAh battery which is non-removable. It is big enough to last an entire day with medium usage but the results are totally subjective. In our results, we found that with medium usage starting the day at 8 A.M., the battery lasted till 8 P.M before we ran for the charger. The good thing is the support for Fast charging and a Fast charger which comes in the box. The X21 can charge from 0% to 50% is just half an hour. However, what we disliked is the availability of a Micro USB charging port rather than a Type-C one. Also, there is no support for wireless charging.
More Features on Vivo X21
The Vivo X21 supports Dual SIM with Dual Standby and VoLTE. Memory is expandable using a Micro SD card up to 256 GB but you have to trade off second SIM for it. Other connectivity options include WIFI, Bluetooth and AGPS, pretty common features available on almost every smartphone. The list of sensors on the X21 includes Fingerprint (under display), accelerometer, proximity, compass, ambient light sensor.
Talking about the fingerprint scanner, it is built under the display which means you can place your finger on the fingerprint icon to unlock the device. Since the tech is pretty new, the unlocking speed isn’t as fast as a traditional fingerprint scanner. You will notice a weird animation when you place your finger on the display. What it does is max out the brightness of the area so that the scanner can read your fingerprint. It’s good but not super fast or reliable. There is a Face Unlock feature too which can unlock the device pretty quickly.
…197 words left.
Thanks for your reading! If you want to know the remaining, please check ValueQ.
评论
发表评论