Today, we’re doing a spec by spec comparison between the realme Narzo 20 and the vivo Y20i. Both phones are in the sub-PhP10,000 price segment and are for those who want a premium user experience and decent specifications at an affordable price point.
Launched last November, the Narzo 20 was initially met with a bit of confusion in terms of its position in the market, with the brand already having the C-Series. realme clarified that the Narzo lineup is aimed at users who want powerful processors at more attainable price points apart from being an online-exclusive.
On the other hand, vivo continues to strengthen its Y-series with devices that look just as premium as some of its mid-range offerings, but with prices that won’t burn a big hole in your wallet.
With both brands seemingly aiming for more or less the same market, you’ll probably want to know which one stands out more, specs-wise. Let’s break things down.
Specifications
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Display
The Narzo 20’s and the Y20i’s displays have almost exactly the same size and pixel density. Both boast 720p+ resolution and utilize a notch for the front camera. Both are also able to attain a decent level of brightness and offer properly punchy colors with sharp text.
Processor
To better quantify the difference between the two processors, we’ll test both phones using benchmarking apps.
The AnTuTu benchmark scores show a clear lead for the Narzo 20, especially in the GPU department, where it was able to score almost double the Y20i’s.
In Geekbench 5, the scores are much closer, with the Narzo 20 still leading in both single and multi-core performance.
RAM and Storage
While both phones have 4GB of RAM, the Narzo 20 sports LPDDR4X Dual-Channel RAM vs LPDDR4X on the Y20i, which, at least in theory, should give it an edge in performance.
Storage-wise, however, the Y20i managed to outperform the Narzo 20 in almost all areas.
Camera
Since we’re not comparing camera performance by comparing sample shots, we’ll judge the phones based on how versatile they are in various shooting scenarios.
The Narzo 20 has a main + ultra-wide + macro configuration, while the Y20i uses a main + macro + depth setup.
With the numerous phones I’ve used in the past, I did find that an ultra-wide camera opens up a ton of possibilities for taking more creative photos and not just being able to put more in the frame. It’s not that a depth sensor does less, as it also helps create those impressive portrait shots.
At the end of the day though, it boils down to what you need.
Battery
Simple. Narzo 20 has a 6,000mAh unit, and the Y20i has a 5,000mAh battery. Both should give you more than a day’s worth of uptime, though chances are the former will yield more hours. Both are capable of 18W fast-charging, but the Narzo 20 uses a USB-C port, while the Y20i sticks to a micro USB port.
Remarks
If it’s simply a spec to spec battle, the realme Narzo 20 is the clear winner, mainly thanks to the Helio G85 which outperforms the competitor, especially in the graphics department, making the device more suited for those who plan to use it for gaming.
It also packs a bigger battery, and from my perspective, a more versatile set of cameras that should allow it to take good quality photos in more scenarios.
The Y20i, on the other hand, seems to be using faster storage, which will help a lot when you’re transferring lots of files. Unless that’s your main concern, the realme device is still the better option, and that’s despite its slightly higher price tag.
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.
