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| The Vivo Y17 is priced at Rs. 17,990 in India |
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- Vivo Y17 design
- Vivo Y17 specifications and software
- Vivo Y17 performance, battery life, and cameras
- Verdict
Vivo is well known in India thanks to its high-volume publicity campaigns featuring celebrities and its sponsorship of major sports tournaments.
The company hit the number three spot in India in terms of smartphone shipments for the first quarter of this year, doubling its figures compared to the same period last year.
That's despite not trying to disrupt the market with extremely low prices and high specifications like Xiaomi, Realme, and now Samsung does.
Vivo promotes its phones' camera capabilities heavily and has ridden many trends at the right time, releasing phones with high-quality selfie cameras, in-display fingerprint sensors, borderless screens, and colorful patterned bodies.
The company recently launched the Vivo Y17 ₹ 15,850, a sub-Rs. 20,000 phone that boasts of three rear cameras and a huge 5,000 mAh battery.
It looks slick and has quite a few features that will tempt buyers, especially those who aren't too fussed about specifications. Here's our full review.
Vivo Y17 design
Nothing is unique or new about the overall design of Vivo Y 17. It has a flat slab with circular edges and a water-screen-number for the front camera. |
| The Vivo Y17 has a 5000mAh battery and supports fast charging |
However, this phone has the character thanks to the choice of dark jewel-tone colors for the frame and rear panels.
You can choose between mineral blue and mystic purple, both are very unconventional. Both alternatives gradually end, with mineral blue are fading in very deep tones on the bottom, and milestone purple is doing the same but at the top.
If you look closely and tilt the phone, it catches the light, you will see a good pattern of diagonal lines. Vivo says that it is inspired by the interaction of water and light.
Our blue review unit had an eye-catching gold ring around the slightly raised triple camera module on the rear, while the purple option has only one matching the purple ring. The frame of the phone has the same gradient as the rear.
The material used for the rear panel is plastic, though it looks like it has a glass of depth. The better the finish of this phone, it raises the fingerprints and makes it very smooth.
There is a slightly unusual 19:3 aspect ratios in the Vivo Y17 display, though it does not have any practical differences for the usability.
Our blue review unit had an eye-catching gold ring around the slightly raised triple camera module on the rear, while the purple option has only one matching the purple ring. The frame of the phone has the same gradient as the rear.
The material used for the rear panel is plastic, though it looks like it has a glass of depth. The better the finish of this phone, it raises the fingerprints and makes it very smooth.
There is a slightly unusual 19:3 aspect ratios in the Vivo Y17 display, though it does not have any practical differences for the usability.
Curved side masks thicken the boundaries of the edges of the screen, but do not hide the thick chin. Vivo sent our review unit with us to a plastic screen protector, which was already stuck on it, and we found that the upper edge had a slight scratch against your ear.
The Power and Volume buttons are located less on the right to be within our thumb reach, but the fingerprint sensor at the rear was just a bit more of our choice.
The Power and Volume buttons are located less on the right to be within our thumb reach, but the fingerprint sensor at the rear was just a bit more of our choice.
There is a tray on the left with separate cutouts for two Nano-SIM and MicroSD cards. We are a bit disappointed to see a micro-USB port at the bottom. It also has a 3.5mm headset socket and a single speaker.
The Vivo Y17 is a fairly heavy phone at 190.5 g, and 8.92 mm thick, it is also not the most usable. That is the business Vivo has made to fit the 5000mAh larger battery, so many buyers will still be happy.
The Vivo Y17 is a fairly heavy phone at 190.5 g, and 8.92 mm thick, it is also not the most usable. That is the business Vivo has made to fit the 5000mAh larger battery, so many buyers will still be happy.
Thankfully, the rear panels are not slippery at all, so even though the use of one hand was weird, but we did not realize that Y17 could fall from our fists when we were pulling it with a thumb.
Vivo Y17 specifications and software
MediaTek Helio P35 processor is a bizarre alternative because it shows those phones whose price is much lower than the Vivo Y17, especially Oppo A5s ₹ 9,400 (review). |
| The Vivo Y17 has a Micro-USB port and 3.5mm headset socket on the bottom |
It is a mid-range processor in which eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores are all running at 2.3 GHz and an integrated PowerVR GE8380 GPU.
The Vivo Y17 comes in a single configuration with 4GB of RAM and relatively generous 128GB storage.
The resolution of 6.35 inches screen is 19 : 3 aspect ratio is 720x1544 and Vivo has used a standard LCD panel. Many other smartphones at this price level, including Samsung Galaxy M30 (review) and Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro (review) better full-HD panels.
One of the major selling points of this phone is its 5000 mAh battery, although curiosity does not release any battery life claim in reference to hours for Vivo references.
The resolution of 6.35 inches screen is 19 : 3 aspect ratio is 720x1544 and Vivo has used a standard LCD panel. Many other smartphones at this price level, including Samsung Galaxy M30 (review) and Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro (review) better full-HD panels.
One of the major selling points of this phone is its 5000 mAh battery, although curiosity does not release any battery life claim in reference to hours for Vivo references.
The Y17 comes with an 18W charger and the company says that this phone "dual engine" supports fast charging, which means there is also additional circuitry for speed along with speed.
Vibo says that the Y17 Dual-Band supports Wi-Fi, but it is not specified which version is there. You also get Bluetooth 5, GPS and FM radio.
Vibo says that the Y17 Dual-Band supports Wi-Fi, but it is not specified which version is there. You also get Bluetooth 5, GPS and FM radio.
With VoLTE, 4G supports both sims simultaneously. In addition to the standard ambient light and proximity sensor, there is an e-Compass and Virtual Gyroscope.
In the box, you get 18W charger, a micro-USB cable, a wired headset, a clear plastic case, a sim ejector device and some sheets. The headset looks like Apple Earpods Knockoff and does not have rubber tips.
In the box, you get 18W charger, a micro-USB cable, a wired headset, a clear plastic case, a sim ejector device and some sheets. The headset looks like Apple Earpods Knockoff and does not have rubber tips.
Stock Android has a vocal fanbase these days, but Vivo has gone deep into the end with customization in his 9th-fan based OS 9.
There's a lot to start from the lock screen, which shows random photos and stories from Vieu's own lock-screen poster service. Thankfully, there are no ads here yet.
The home screen is quite intriguing, and Vivo App Switcher has gone with an old style of Android navigation buttons, including long-featured menu button icons. You can switch to the current style or switch gestures from within the settings app.
All app icons are found here because there is no app drawer, and many of them are. Vivo has established a whole bunch of apps with its own V-AppStore, Vivo Browser, Vivo Cloud Data Backup Service, EasyShare File Sharing Tool, General Security and Maintenance Functions, and theme for UI optimization.
Then there are loads of redundant tools including an email client, photo gallery, and audio and video players. None of these can be removed.
The home screen is quite intriguing, and Vivo App Switcher has gone with an old style of Android navigation buttons, including long-featured menu button icons. You can switch to the current style or switch gestures from within the settings app.
All app icons are found here because there is no app drawer, and many of them are. Vivo has established a whole bunch of apps with its own V-AppStore, Vivo Browser, Vivo Cloud Data Backup Service, EasyShare File Sharing Tool, General Security and Maintenance Functions, and theme for UI optimization.
Then there are loads of redundant tools including an email client, photo gallery, and audio and video players. None of these can be removed.
You obviously get Google's default apps as well, in addition to third-party apps including Facebook, WhatsApp, Gaana, UC Browser, Amazon shopping, NewsPoint, PhonePe, Paytm, and WPS Office.
Vivo has redesigned everything from the notifications shade to the default apps. Quick toggles aren't in the shade; you have to swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen to pull up the iOS-style “Shortcut Center” which is also cluttered.
Vivo has redesigned everything from the notifications shade to the default apps. Quick toggles aren't in the shade; you have to swipe upwards from the bottom of the screen to pull up the iOS-style “Shortcut Center” which is also cluttered.
You can add quick tools as well as specific actions within apps such as Scan & Pay with Paytm, or Search Hotels with MakeMyTrip.
If you choose to enable gestures instead of buttons for UI navigation, you'll have to learn exactly where to swipe so you don't pull up the Shortcut Center inadvertently.
The Settings app is completely customized and not all controls are where you might expect to find them. Funtouch OS has some useful touches though.
If you choose to enable gestures instead of buttons for UI navigation, you'll have to learn exactly where to swipe so you don't pull up the Shortcut Center inadvertently.
The Settings app is completely customized and not all controls are where you might expect to find them. Funtouch OS has some useful touches though.
You can do lots of things with just one tap, like take scrolling screenshots, clone compatible messenger apps right from the home screen, and turn on USB file sharing from the notifications shade.
There's a built-in screen video recorder and loads of system-wide shortcuts to trigger actions or run apps of your choosing.
There's a built-in screen video recorder and loads of system-wide shortcuts to trigger actions or run apps of your choosing.
The ability to set the exact corner roundness of app icons is a whimsical little touch. However, Android 9's convenient app icon menus with notifications and action shortcuts are missing.
Vivo has its own basic smart assistant called Jovi, and it's found throughout Funtouch OS. You can quickly call up a Paytm or QR code scanner from the pull-down search tool.
Vivo has its own basic smart assistant called Jovi, and it's found throughout Funtouch OS. You can quickly call up a Paytm or QR code scanner from the pull-down search tool.
The screen to the left of the first home screen is called Jovi Smart Scene, and it shows cards for things like sports scores, the weather, to-dos, and a system-wide reading list that you can save articles or screenshots to from any app.
It's supposed to be able to show reminders for upcoming events and sports matches, show weather warnings, and help you track online purchases, but these scenarios didn't come up during our review period.
Vivo Y17 performance, battery life, and cameras
The price of Vivo Y17 cannot be the most powerful hardware in the bracket, but it works well for us during our review. We were worried that the Fantastic OS could be bloated and slow, but it was not so. |
| The Vivo Y17 has two Nano-SIM slots and a dedicated microSD card slot |
The phone was reasonably responsive and the UI animations were smooth. Both fingerprint and face recognition did a good job and we had no complaints.
The screen is a little underweight, in which there are faded colors and icons and some thick edges around the text. However, the viewing angles are great and it can be very bright.
We found it easy to use this phone in strong sun. You get only Widevine L3 certification which limits video streaming to sub-HD resolution for some services, but the screen is not full-HD anyway.
The bottom single speaker was quite bad, in which only grating, the hard sound was producing. The bundled headset has a very open, hollow sound and cannot actually handle bass frequencies, but it is not bad to hear accidental.
Performance in Benchmark tests was as weak as we had expected on the basis of the processor Vieu chose for this phone. Y17 scored a score of 87,048 in AnTuTu, and Geekbench gave us 769 and 4,106 points respectively in single and multi-core tests.
The bottom single speaker was quite bad, in which only grating, the hard sound was producing. The bundled headset has a very open, hollow sound and cannot actually handle bass frequencies, but it is not bad to hear accidental.
Performance in Benchmark tests was as weak as we had expected on the basis of the processor Vieu chose for this phone. Y17 scored a score of 87,048 in AnTuTu, and Geekbench gave us 769 and 4,106 points respectively in single and multi-core tests.
We also got 798 and 9,356 points in 3DMark's slingshot and Ice Storm Extreme Test. The phone only manages 29fps in GFXBench's T-Rex view and 12fps in Manhattan 3.1 view.
CPU scores are worse than the Samsung Galaxy M30, but graphics scores are better. Low-priced Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro, Realme 3 Pro 99 16499, and Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 Pro 9,999 gave better scores around.
By showing this we are worried about how the game will run. We removed PUBG Mobile and it became the default in Low-quality setting, but still, there was a nervousness in motion and we had to deal with the frequent freeze, which kept us from getting shot.
CPU scores are worse than the Samsung Galaxy M30, but graphics scores are better. Low-priced Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro, Realme 3 Pro 99 16499, and Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 Pro 9,999 gave better scores around.
By showing this we are worried about how the game will run. We removed PUBG Mobile and it became the default in Low-quality setting, but still, there was a nervousness in motion and we had to deal with the frequent freeze, which kept us from getting shot.
Asphalt 9: Legends took a long time to load and even the UI was also sluggish, but we were able to run some races. The good news is that this phone is just too hot, and when we were gaming, the battery level did not go down too much.
Speaking of batteries, this is an area in which Vivo Y17 has performed well for itself. Our HD Video Loop Test lasted 18 hours, 57 minutes, which is very impressive.
Speaking of batteries, this is an area in which Vivo Y17 has performed well for itself. Our HD Video Loop Test lasted 18 hours, 57 minutes, which is very impressive.
With everyday usage, with little photography, streaming one or two hours of video, and a lot of time-consuming to use different apps, we need to be able to run this phone for a day and a half before the need to recharge Were.
The included 18W charger is a bit heavy but charging the phone quickly.
Vivo Y17 has a 13-megapixel f / 2.2 primary rear camera, with a secondary 8-megapixel f / 2.2 wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel f / 2.4-depth sensor for portrait shots.
Vivo Y17 has a 13-megapixel f / 2.2 primary rear camera, with a secondary 8-megapixel f / 2.2 wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel f / 2.4-depth sensor for portrait shots.
This is not particularly effective, especially the high aperture which indicates that low-light performance cannot be done to this mark that other phones have been set at this price level. Vivo has instead focused on the front camera, which has 20-megapixel resolution and f / 2.0 aperture.
There are some oddities in the camera app. For example, while using a front camera, a portrait effect is toggled, but while using the rear camera, there is a different aperture toggle in a different place. Beautification is completely a different mode, but there is no picture mode.
The switching button between the main and wide angle lenses is easily missed; Nested in a row with the timer and filter button. The settings menu is placed oddly with several selection options in some rows.
The Jovi assistant pops up here too. One of the filters is an ‘AI' option that claims to choose the best one depending on the scene, but these are usually a subjective choice based on the effect a user wants to create so its effectiveness is questionable.
The Jovi assistant pops up here too. One of the filters is an ‘AI' option that claims to choose the best one depending on the scene, but these are usually a subjective choice based on the effect a user wants to create so its effectiveness is questionable.
There's also ‘AI' beautification (for the front camera only) which is supposed to work based on the gender and age of the person taking a selfie.
The shots we took in the daytime weren't too bad, but the focus didn't always lock perfectly and the Vivo Y17 seemed to struggle with subtle contrasts.
The shots we took in the daytime weren't too bad, but the focus didn't always lock perfectly and the Vivo Y17 seemed to struggle with subtle contrasts.
We could never quite be certain that photos would be sharp when we zoomed in to 100 percent, and some photos that looked fine on the phone's screen were quite blurry when opened out at full size. That said, colors were punchy and vibrant, and macros generally turned out better.
When switching to the wide-angle camera, quality definitely took a big hit and colors were much less accurate. Textures looked fake and overprocessed, and distortion was noticeable.
When switching to the wide-angle camera, quality definitely took a big hit and colors were much less accurate. Textures looked fake and overprocessed, and distortion was noticeable.
At night, the Vivo Y17's cameras definitely struggled. The focus was soft, objects in the foreground were grainy, and details were murky in most of our samples.
Close-ups were somewhat usable, but shots of objects at a distance weren't much good. The wide-angle camera delivered poor results again.
The front camera took good shots in the daytime but we had to contend with some blurring caused by our hand not being perfectly still when shooting outdoors at night.
The front camera took good shots in the daytime but we had to contend with some blurring caused by our hand not being perfectly still when shooting outdoors at night.
Beautification actually helps when it's at its lowest settings.
The default video resolution is 1280x720 for some reason, and there's no stabilization so our recordings were quite shaky. The quality of the video, both under sunlight and at night, was disappointing.
The default video resolution is 1280x720 for some reason, and there's no stabilization so our recordings were quite shaky. The quality of the video, both under sunlight and at night, was disappointing.
Verdict
The Vivo Y17 looks good and has impressive battery life as well as quick charging. It has loads of storage space and the front camera is pretty decent.
You might be happy with it in day-to-day use if you stick to common social media and messaging apps. Sadly, that's where the appeal ends.
This phone is quite simply outclassed by other models available at its price, and even by several that cost a lot less.
This phone is quite simply outclassed by other models available at its price, and even by several that cost a lot less.
The processor, display, and cameras are not impressive enough given how hard Vivo's competitors are pushing right now.
This phone isn't well suited for high-quality gaming, it can't take great photos or record good video, and the software is awkward to live with despite there being some good ideas in there.
Vivo seems to have designed this phone for people with very simple needs, but we don't see any reason to spend so much money on this level of features and performance.
Vivo seems to have designed this phone for people with very simple needs, but we don't see any reason to spend so much money on this level of features and performance.
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