Vivo Y55s Review: Hit and Miss

The Vivo Y55s is a supposedly re-focused version of the Y55, which was a hit thanks to decent specs combined with a pocket friendly price tag.

Y55s promises to deliver better multi-tasking performance thanks to an additional 1GB of RAM. There’s also an upgraded rear camera, and a slightly beefed up battery. So is it worth buying this over the non-s variant? check out this review to find out.

Same Look, Same Build Quality

The Y55s is basically the Y55 in every aspect in terms of design. The button placement, to capacitive buttons, and the familiar lines and branding at the back, there’s really no hint of difference between the two, until you start looking at the spec sheet.

The back is still a scratch magnet, so you might want to make use of the clear case which fortunately, comes with it. The buttons still feel a bit wobbly, but yes, of course, you really can’t expect more at this price point.

And in case you’re wondering, there’s no notification light. Disappointing for basics.

The Same Cold Display

The Y55s sports a 5.2-inch HD display which has a seemingly cold vibe to it. Colors aren’t really popping out, but aren’t boring either. Text isn’t as sharp, but hardly noticeable.

If anything, this display is more gentle to the eyes. I personally would’ve liked it to be a bit warmer, but that’s a matter of personal preference.

Same Performance More or Less, Better Multi-Tasking

We all know that synthetic benchmarks can only say so much about peformance. And while the Snapdragon 425 in the Y55s yields a lower score than the 430 in the Y55, using it as a daily driver would say otherwise. If anything, it handles everyday tasks with the same ease as its older brother.

If anything, this device is more future-proof, thanks to 3GB of RAM compared to 2GB on the Y55. It gives you that bit of extra breathing room for multi-tasking as we tend to use more and more apps at the same time.

NBA 2K17 can be played on this device, though you’ll have to settle with low settings for a decent experience. Oh, and if you’re into Mobile Legends, it’ll run well. Just don’t expect eye-candy graphics.

Slightly Better at the Back, Siginificantly Better Up Front

The Y55s has a 13MP rear camera that performs slightly better than the 8MP shooter of the Y55. Colors are more accurate, and more detail can be seen. Graininess is still evident, and is a bit of a letdown.

It’s a different story with the front camera though, as selfies came out significantly sharper and more detailed compared to the ones taken with the Y55.

The camera interface is more or less the same, with a number of shooting modes for you to choose from, including a Professional mode for in-depth settings adjustment.

The Same Unique and Refreshing Take on Android

Funtouch OS is probably one of the few skins that I personally like. Mostly due to the huge room for customization that it provides. And as heavy as it may seem, it runs very smooth with no hint of lags or stutters, at least when navigating the UI and opening apps.

Sadly, you don’t get double-tap to sleep/wake here. But you do have nice clean looking app for Music, and Smart Split, which lets you view incoming messages while watching a video, etc.

Bigger Battery, Less Battery Life

With a 2,730mAh battery, you’d expect this device to yield more uptime than the Y55. But nope, it doesn’t. In fact, the Y55 beats it by almost 2 hours. Still, this will get through a day’s worth of average use with no problems.

Charging the device from zero to full takes 2.5 hours, which is quite a wait, but is expected at this price point.

Verdict

In a couple of ways, Y55s does have its older brother on the ropes. It’s got better cameras, and there’s more room to multi-task.

On the downside, it’s still plagued by the same design problem that the Y55 had, the lack of a notification light, which I think is very essential. The performance is more or less the same, and the battery life misses my expectations.

Vivo Y55s Specs

• 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 quad-core processor
• 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB)
• 5.2-inch HD display, 2.5D Glass
• 13MP rear camera
• 5MP front camera
• Funtouch OS 3.0 on top of Android Marshmallow
• 2,730mAh battery
• OTG
• Dual SIM, 4G/LTE
• Sensors: Proximity, Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Gyroscope

The Good

• Premium Looks
• General and Gaming Performance
• Better Cameras
• Refreshing Take on Android
• More Room for Multi-Tasking

The Not So Good

• Battery Life
• No Notification Light
• Price

Emman Tortoza

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Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.