Vivo Y20s [G] Hands-on Review

Vivo Philippines officially launched its latest in the Y-series, the Vivo Y20s [G] a budget gaming smartphone that packs a 6.51-inch HD+ IPS display, Helio G80 mobile gaming platform, and a massive 5000mAh battery.

The [G] on the Vivo Y20s [G] could mean this smartphone is designed for gaming, which comes with an affordable price tag. Vivo Philippines send us a unit for test and here's our hands-on review.

Vivo Y20s [G] Specs

Android 10, Funtouch 11
6.51-inch HD+ IPS display, 1600 x 720 pixel resolution, 269ppi
2.0GHz MediaTek Helio G80 octa-core processor
Mali-G52 MC2 GPU
6GB RAM / 128GB eMMC 5.1 internal storage
Expandable via microSD
13MP f/1.8 + 2MP macro + 2MP depth sensor rear cameras, LED flash
8MP selfie camera
Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
Face unlock
Dual SIM, dual standby
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, BDS, GLONASS, Galileo
micro-USB
5,000mAh battery, 18W fast charger
Colors: Obsidian Black, Purist Blue
192.3g

Also read VIVO Y20S [G] UNBOXING AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS!

Design
Personally, we love how Vivo designed thier smartphones, it has a 2.5D premium look with a glossy finish, it's light, ergonomic, and easy to hold. 

The Y20s [G] has a really nice design and is built with smooth rounded corners. Upfront is a 6.51-inch HD+ IPS display with 720 x 1600 pixels resolution.

There's a triple camera at the back encased with a really thick bulge, good thing it comes with a free protective case, otherwise, the glass on the camera might suffer scratches when it's placed on the table on its back. the rest of the back is clean and smooth with the Vivo branding just below the camera.

The fingerprint sensor is placed on the right side that works as fast as 0.22s to unlock the phone, it also functions as the on/off button, and above it is the volume rocker. On the left side is the SIM slot with a triple tray that supports two nano-SIM (4G ready), and one microSD card for extra storage.

For the connectivity port, at the bottom it has a micro-USB port which is a bit downer, we really wish that Vivo should start using a type-C port in all of thier future releases since it offers more features. There's also the audio jack, speaker grille, and microphone.

Display
It has a 16.55cm (6.51-inch) Halo fullView display with a notch where the 8-megapixel selfie camera is placed. It features a 20:9 aspect ratio with HD+ 1600 x 720 pixel resolution, at 270 PPI.

The screen has an 81.6% screen-to-body ratio which is not bad, the bezels are noticeable especially at the bottom part, still, it's a good screen size.

It has the latest In-cell technology, which makes the display more colorful with crystal clear detail that is ideal for playing games and watching videos. It also has Eye Protection Mode that filters out harmful blue light, to protect eyesight throughout the day.

Performance
Under the hood, it got the MediaTek Helio G80 mobile platform which incorporates a pair of powerful Arm Cortex-A75 CPUs operating up to 2GHz, plus six Cortex-A55 processors in a single, octa-core cluster.



Its paired with a Mali-G52 graphics processor that can boost up to 950MHz for improved peak performance. It also comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. With these specs, it's an ideal device for everyday mobile gamers.

On the AnTuTu v8.5.7 benchmark app the Y20s [G] score 193689, in PCMark Work 2.0 performance it scores 6187, while 3DMark it scores 1,343 on Slingshot Extreme and 693 on Wid Life Vulkan.

For everyday gaming, we installed our favorite shooting game Call of Duty of Y20s [G], on default settings it runs well without any shutter or noticeable frame drops, we also tried adjusting the graphics to medium and frame rate to high settings and we still experience good gameplay.

Genshin Impact also runs well on Y20s [G] with the default settings, although some cut scenes seem to suffer from frame drops, the gameplay is still enjoyable.

For casual online like Stumble Guys, we enjoyed playing this game with smooth gameplay and the controls are easy and responsive.

It features Multi-Turbo 3.0 that predicts and resolves system abnormalities often caused by third-party apps before they happen. It also has improved Ultra Game Mode with a brand-new Esports Mode to optimize the CPU for smooth gameplay performance.

For everyday use, such as browsing the web, updating and catching up with friends on social media apps,s and watching videos online the Y20s [G] can handle multitasking easily. Switching between apps may not be as quick, but it's fast enough to keep us keep using it as our main device.

Funtouch 11
It runs on Android 10 with Funtouch 11 on top out of the box, there is no update available when we last checked, but we are hoping that Y20s [G] will also get the Android 11 and the latest Funtouch version just like any latest Vivo smartphone.

In terms of aesthetics, it has responsive and cool-looking icons, it reminded us a bit of what iOS looks like on Android. It comes with ready-to-install apps once it's connected to the internet, but we opted not to install them.

Camera
Unlike most smartphones today, the Y20s [G] only sports a triple camera system at the back with a 13-megapixel, f/2.2 wide lens, a 2-megapixel, and an f/2.4 macro sensor, and a 2-megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor. While the selfie camera has an 8-megapixel sensor.

The camera is supported by a wide range of features, including Face Beauty, Portrait Light Effects, and Selfie Filters. With a main 13-megapixel camera with PDAF technology, pictures come with a lot of details.

It does have a good bokeh effect when using the portrait mode, the blur looks nice, and the edges on the subject are smooth. It also supports super macro, and it's fun using this mode in taking close-up small subjects.

Because of limited movement since we are still in Quarantine, we had some limited time to use the camera. Pictures we took to look good with a lot of details and colors are plenty, it's already Instagram ready.

Battery
This smartphone is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery and includes an 18W fast charger. On the PC Benchmark app battery test, the Y20s [G] were able to get an impressive 20 hours and 17-mins.

On our time with the Y20s [G] we're able to get a whole day of screen time starting from 7 am until 11 pm and it still got some battery left with it and when we wake up the next day it still has 5% battery life left, now that is long battery life.

Charging the battery is a bit tad slow using the included 18W charger, it takes more than 3 hours to get the battery fill-up. It does support reverse charging, but good luck in finding a micro USB to micro USB cable to be able to use this feature.

Pros
Premium look and design
Lightweight
Good performance
Impressive camera for its price range
Long-lasting battery

Cons
Plastic body
Thick camera bump
Still use the Old micro USB port

Verdict
If you are looking for a good gaming smartphone that comes at an affordable price, the Vivo Y20s [G] might be the one for you, it offers a good gaming experience with its capable chipset, and large storage capacity, which you can install almost any games you want. It also has a nice screen with a 20:9 aspect ratio great for landscape gaming. Not only that, the cameras are capable of taking quality pictures and recording 4K videos. All of that pack in a premium-looking design that you can flaunt everytime you using it.

For more tech news and gadget reviews, please follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/Adobotech), YouTube (Adobotech TechBlog) and Twitter (@adobotech).