Review: vivo Y20s [G] – Full Specs, Features and Camera Samples

Here is our review of the latest affordable entry-level smartphone from vivo Philippines under the Y series model the vivo Y20s [G].

Just a quick note, you might notice that there’s an additional letter [G] on its model name. Now don’t get confused as the [G] is not meant that the device supports 5G network. Initial confirmation with the team from vivo Philippines shared us that the letter [G] means Gaming. The vivo Y20s [G] is probably built to be the most affordable gaming smartphone from vivo and we will know its official price on April 9.

You can also check out our first look article of the vivo Y20s [G] here.

SPECIFICATIONS

Before we begin you can check the full specifications below of the vivo Y20s [G].

Price: Call For Prices
Color: Obsidian Black and Purist Blue
OS: Funtouch 11 based on Android 11
Display: 6.51-inch HD+ LCD
Resolution: 1600 x 720 pixels
Processor: Mediatek Helio G80
Graphics: Mali-G52 2EEMC2
Memory/Storag: 6GB RAM+128GB storage
Rear Camera: Triple Rear Cameras (13MP F2.2 main + 2MP F2.4 macro + 2MP F2.4 depth) with Rear Flash
Front Camera: 8MP front camera
Scene Modes: Portrait, Photo, Video, Panorama, Live Photo, Slo-mo, Time-Lapse, Professional, Documents
Video: 1080p / 720p
Network/SIM: 4G LTE / Dual-SIM Nano
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, GPS
Security: Fingerprint scanner
Charging Port: Micro USB
Battery: 5,000mAh with 18W fast charge
Dimensions: 164.4 x 76.3 x 8.4 mm
Weight: 192.3 grams
Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, E-compass
In The Box: vivo Y20s [G] unit, Protective Case, SIM Ejector, USB Power Adapter, USB Cable, Documentation (Quick Start Guide and Warranty), Protective Film (Applied)

DISPLAY, DESIGN AND BUILD

It weighs at 192.3 grams, the vivo Y20S G comes in a polycarbonate plastic body and metal for its frame. The phone doesn’t look cheap it’s elegant, shiny and offers a nice grip for better handling.

The vivo Y20s [G] offers a large 6.51-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1600×720 pixels. On top of the display it has a waterdrop notch for the front camera while the receiver and ambient light and proximity sensor (hidden hole) are located there as well. So far, the bezels surrounding the display are super thin except for the bottom on the display.

The color of our review unit is Purist Blue at the back you can see the vivo logo at the bottom left and on top of it a triple camera setup with a built-in rear flash module all housed in a rectangular shaped design. What so nice on the back cover is when you move the unit from any different angle it emits this ray-like metal effect. Additional color for the vivo Y20s [G] also comes in Obsidian Black.

Located on the right are the volume button and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor together with the power button. While on the left holds the SIM card tray and pin port. Lastly, at the bottom you have the speakers, USB charging port, 3.5 mm port for your headset and microphone.

The colors displayed on the Y20s [G] comes out vivid, exact and has a nice set of contrast. Even the details are looking so crisp and sharp. Under direct sunlight we are able to see the display very clearly and use the device at 100% brightness. If you’re saving battery, you can opt to put the brightness at around 60% – 50% to use it.

The massive size of the display panel makes it ideal to play games, browse your social media content and video-watching.

CAMERA AND VIDEO

The vivo Y20s [G] is equipped with a triple-camera setup comprising of a 13MP main camera, 2MP macro lens, 2MP depth lens and just below it an LED flash. You also have some available scene modes from Portrait, Photo, Video, Panorama, Live Photo, Slo-mo, Time-Lapse, Professional, and Documents. For your selfies, it has a built in 8MP with Face Beauty and Posture mode a recommended feature you can use to aid your selfies where an outline of your chosen pose are listed on the screen and for you to follow before taking the shot.

In a good lightning environment, the images we took from the vivo Y20s [G] are quite remarkable. There are some shots that looks very nice and sharp especially if you’re in HDR. Noise are less but are more visible when you’re shooting on dark condition or low-light as the device does not support a dedicated Night Mode for this.

Trying the portrait mode in your shots can also be good but again you get nice shots in a well-lighted environment. The bokeh sometimes have the right amount of blur and sometimes it doesn’t so I suggested you get more shots to get the desired and nice bokeh effect.

Quality of the 8MP selfie camera is fair enough to give you that decent shots for your note worthy social media posts.

Here are our sample photos:

Main Camera

Selfie – Portrait Mode

Macro Shots

For video, you can choose both the rear and front camera to shoot either in 1080p or 720p resolution. Quality is so far good and the sound recorded in the video are clear. Focus may sometimes a little bit challenging but we advise you to either use a tripod or steady your hands as it does not have any stabilization feature.

Check out our video samples:

USER INTERFACE, APPS AND PERFORMANCE

The OS for the vivo Y20s [G] uses the FunTouch OS 11 which is based on Android 11. It already has some pre-installed apps such as GCash,iQIY, Lazada, Likee, Facebook, and Twitter. From the 128GB storage the system including its apps already consumed around 17GB but still you get a vast amount of storage. If that’s not enough then you can expand more storage by inserting a microSD card.

On the inside, the vivo Y20S G is equipped with the latest powerful Octa-core MediaTek Helio G80 processor, Mali G52 GPU for its graphics, accompanied with a hefty 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage for you to save more pictures, videos and other mobile applications.

We installed games on this device like Asphalt 9, Call of Duty Mobile, and Mobile Legends: Bang-Bang. All games were playing smoothly and no lags so far during our gameplay, but what we encountered was the device is slightly getting warmer especially after playing it for 15 minutes which is for us normal.

We also liked the quality of the display even at HD+ the vivo Y20s [G] shows how vivid and sharp the graphics and colors of the games.

Screenshot_20210407_174032_dac78dbb8b9d35e2ecbeaf4ec6ecff5b

The Game Sidebar can be seen on the left corner of your screen

GAMING FEATURES

With the latest Mediatek processor, the vivo Y20S G integrates the latest HyperEngine Game Technology that help speeds up the game loading time while providing a seamless gaming experience.

With the Ultra Game Mode feature you have an array of helpful tools to enhance your gaming experience with the vivo Y20s [G]. Here are the some of the notable features that comes with it:

Game Assistant Pop-Up – Shows optimized status for the current game when launching it.
Game Sidebar – Swipe sideways to bring up this shortcut and choose your setting during gameplay.
Esports Mode – High performance configurations used by esports player.
Autoplay with Screen Off – Let the games play automatically with the screen turned off in order to conserve battery.
Game Sound Quality and Sound Effects, Game Picture-in-Picture, Accidental Touch Prevention and Mute Call and Notifications

It also has the Multi-Turbo 3.0 the industry’s first VPG (vivo Process Guardian) technology. The Multi-Turbo 3.0 feature is a string of boosters for the software and hardware to provide a better gaming experience.

It allows the Center Turbo to schedule core system resources for maximum speed and AI Turbo to make intelligent judgments. It can predict system abnormalities caused by third-party apps in advance therefore locating and solving problems before they occur.

Screenshot_20210407_173958_dac78dbb8b9d35e2ecbeaf4ec6ecff5b

BATTERY AND CONNECTIVITY

For connectivity, the device has a Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, OTG, GPS and a handy FM Radio as well.

To do all the required tasks from gaming to watching your videos, the vivo Y20s [G] has a big 5,000mAh battery capacity with 18W fast charging. Charging the device, we experienced after 5 minutes from 0% it has a 7% increase, then after 15 minutes we got 18% and after 1 hour we already had a 57% on the battery. It took us almost 2 hours to get a 100% full charge on the device.

Using the vivo Y20s [G] such as daily calls, task, web browsing and checking your social media can last a day or probably two days. While for gaming, with a 100% charge, it can max out the fun the whole day.

FINAL THOUGHTS

With the built in specs, we believe that the vivo Y20s [G] an entry-level smartphone will be a perfect device for users who are into gaming. Especially with the Ultra Game mode it can aid you into your gameplay and equipped you the necessary settings to have a smooth and lag free gaming experience.

It also has its advantages from the large display, impressive battery capacity, user interface, and a decent set of cameras in its disposal. Don’t expect more as we all know this is an entry-level phone but vivo Philippines has managed to put in some more power into this device.

However, we were hoping that the charging port maybe in the next models to come it will now support USB Type-C plus an additional upgrade into its camera such as 4K video and stabilization.

Then if you’re not picky and looking for an affordable phone with decent set of features then this might be the phone for you.

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