It looks like vivo is focusing hard on its Y-series here in the Philippines, as it has recently launched another addition the lineup. The vivo Y73 boasts a nature-inspired design, and a mostly specs that one would expect for a 2022 mid-ranger – A proven and tested Helio G95 SoC, triple rear cameras, and a 1080p display.
vivo Y73 Specifications
| Display | 6.44″ FHD+ AMOLED |
| Processor | Helio G95 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Rear Camera | 64MP |
| 2MP (Bokeh) | |
| 2MP (Macro) | |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
| OS | Android 11 + Funtouch OS 11.1 |
| Battery | 4,000mAh + 33W fast-charging |
What’s in the box?
Design and Build Quality
This Roman Black variant of the vivo Y73 uses a striped pattern for its matte back panel, making for an elegant theme. The rear camera module protrudes, so expect some wobbling when the phone is on a flat surface. Speaking of which, the design looks similar to the X60 series, which I personally like.
While side-mounted fingerprint scanners have become a trend, vivo has chosen to stick with an in-display solution. Personally, I still prefer a rear-mounted one, but this is fine too, so long as it works well, and in this case, it does. The buttons wobble a bit but don’t feel cheap or poorly made.
At the bottom is a speaker grille, microphone, USB-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack – a delight to wired headphone users, including myself. Don’t get me wrong, Bluetooth headsets offer decent sound and a lot of convenience, but I would still like to have the option of plugging in my wired IEMs without having to use a dongle.
Display
vivo Y73 has a 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a standard refresh rate of 60Hz. If you’re coming from a phone with say a 120Hz refresh rate, you may find the less smooth and fluid animations underwhelming. In any case, you get the punchy colors that’s expected from an AMOLED display, and sharp text. The display is also more than usable under direct sunlight.
The phone has Widevine L1 security level, so you should be able to enjoy content from popular streaming sites like Netflix at HD quality or higher.
Processing Package
At the helm is a MediaTek Helio G95 SoC, a very familiar and popular chipset that’s used for a lot of other mid-range phones for its good balance of performance and efficiency. There’s also 8GB of RAM, which should be enough for some multi-tasking, 4G of Extended RAM, and 128GB of storage plus a microSD card slot.
We will save most of the benchmarks for later, but take note that settings for Call of Duty Mobile allowed for up to Very High quality and up to Max Frame Rate. For Mobile Legends, you should be able to play with HD and High Refresh Rate settings on without issues.
Camera Samples
At the back of the vivo Y73 is a 64MP main camera, along with two 2MP sensors for macro and bokeh shots. Again, I’m not a fan of the macro camera, and I would rather have an ultra-wide in its place.
In any case, sample shots from the rear camera shows good promise with plenty of detail and decent edge detection. If you hit the right focal point, HDR also works well in keeping dark areas illuminated. Video recording maxes out at 4K 30fps, with 1080p 60fps also available.
The device supports shooting in RAW+JPEG, which is good for those who do post processing, as well as H.265 compression standard, allowing you to preserve better video quality for a small file size. There is Pro mode for those who want granular control over their shots.
Software
At the time of writing, the device runs Funtouch OS 11.1 on top of Android 11. The UI runs smooth without any major issues. If you have used a recent smartphone from the brand, you will be greeted with the familiar rounded icons, plus familiar features like Ultra Game Mode for preventing notifications and calls from distracting you during gameplay.
There’s also Multi-Turbo which optimizes several aspects of the device to ensure that you get good performance for gaming while having thermals in check.
So far, I’m actually liking the experience with the vivo Y73. The design looks nice, the display looks gorgeous, performance as a daily driver is so far, hiccup free. For the cameras, I just really wish an ultra-wide was there instead of a macro camera, but the photos it takes are more than decent enough for your usual socmed posts.
We still have some gaming and battery tests to do before we can give this a full verdict.
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.
