Sales of Vivo smartphones of the new V21 series have started. One phone more abruptly and more expensive is Vivo V21. Its review is already on the site. The second one is Vivo V21e, it costs less, but its characteristics are a bit simpler.
There is a significant difference in price between the V21 and V21e: for the older model, they ask $390 and $330 for the younger ones. Pay more or save? I think that many will choose the Vivo V21e. It looks perfect. It has a solid camera, decent battery life, and generally attractive specs. I’ll tell you more about the smartphone.
Design
The phone has a thin body. The smartphone is completely plastic: there is a glossy frame on the sides, and the back is decorated with an intricate pattern. I don’t know how Vivo came up with such a beautiful idea, but the surface looks unusual. If you look at it from an angle, then there is a sense of volume, as if flat plates are stacked on top of each other.
The matte back of the case does not get dirty, and there are no scratches on it either. Included with the smartphone, we get a basic transparent silicone case, but it is not necessary to use it. I walked with the phone for about two weeks. Despite being in the same pocket as the keys, there were no scratches or marks on the surface.
The phone has a protruding block with cameras. If you put it on the table with the screen up, it will wiggle on the surface. If you run along the sides, you can see a 3.5 mm port for wired headphones at the bottom end, not in the older Vivo V21. A USB Type-C connector is used for charging, and on the right side, there is a triple card tray. You can immediately install two SIM cards and one microSD.
Beautiful picture
On the one hand, Vivo tried to make the smartphone thin and light, but at the same time, some design features remained unchanged against the background of older models. For example, the cutout for the front camera remains in place. It is located in the center of the screen. The “chin” below has also been preserved.
The display itself is large, with a bright and pleasant image, the fonts are clear, the picture is excellent. Among the features of the AMOLED screen, there are several ready-made color profiles, manual white balance adjustment, Always On mode and many settings for animation of notifications or charge. There is also DC Dimming to make your eyes less tired.
What is inside the box?
Let’s move on to the filling. The smartphone has a Snapdragon 720G processor, just like last year’s Vivo V20. There is also 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. If necessary, you can install a memory card.
In terms of power, 720G can be called a sufficient solution: there are no ultra-high indicators in games, but for a mid-range smartphone, the results are good both in benchmarks and practice. Applications work stably. You can chop in PUBG with medium graphics settings. The throttling tests of the Vivo V21e also go well: it does not overheat, there are no sharp drops in performance.
Nice shots
The front camera is superb: it has a very high resolution and excellent image quality. Pictures are clear, rich. Self-portraits are memorable even without post-processing with the built-in enhancer tool. Moreover, Vivo took care of the quality of night photos and added modes for shooting portraits in low light, but there is no dual flash, like in the older model Vivo V21.
The phone has a modest 2-megapixel macro module of mediocre quality.
There is also an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle, but it does not have autofocus, so photographing small objects close up is problematic. The camera does not shine with quality: noise, drop in sharpness at the edges, not the greatest dynamic range.
The main camera with 64 megapixels. Here four pixels merge into one, so we get 16 megapixels by default. If you need the maximum resolution, you can switch to manual settings.
The quality is at a decent level. During the day, the picture is generally juicy and lively but moderately natural and not oversaturated. In portrait mode, the camera handles the background well and makes almost no mistakes, and in night mode, you can make beautiful landscapes if you fix the phone well and avoid shaking.
A little about everything
In the kit, we get wired headphones – now this is already a rarity. Therefore, if you want, by connecting them, you can listen to FM radio, although in the era of Spotify you will hardly want to. The mono speaker at the bottom is of normal quality. I would like, of course, a more sonorous stereo.
You can use both faces to unlock through the front camera and use a fingerprint scanner to protect data. The optical sensor responds quickly and accurately and is a pleasure to use. Unless, in rare cases, when you touch with wet fingers, there may be mistakes.
The interface of Vivo is peculiar: a kind of cross between “naked” Android and their own vision of the system, including Jovi Home instead of the more familiar “Google News.” But if you want, you can turn it off by pressing one button, then the very “Google News” will appear, conveniently. Traditionally, we get many customization settings: keys are reassigned, themes, and a bunch of installed programs.
Battery does not fail.
In the kit, we get a 33 W power supply with support for fast charging. From 0 to 100%, Vivo V21e will be charged in a little over an hour and up to 60% in general in half an hour. The speed is good. The 4100 mAh battery is average by today’s standards. Nevertheless, we get about 5-6 hours of active screen. This is a day or even a day and a half of active use of the device.
It feels like Vivo went this way: they took last year’s Vivo V20 and turned it into a V21e. The same dimensions, the same screen, battery, and processor, only changed the cameras.
And what else.
For Vivo V21e they ask $330. What will competitors offer? Alternatively, Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite also has a skinny body. The dimensions are what you need. At the same time, a 90 Hz screen, a fresh Snapdragon 732G processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of internal memory. But it costs more, $350.
There is an option in the face of Realme 6 Pro. It has the same as Vivo, Snapdragon 720G, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of internal memory, but the body is significantly thicker, and the weight is more. In addition, it does not have AMOLED but an IPS screen. True, with support for 90 Hz. But the price is nice – $330.
Fresh OPPO Reno 5 with a 90Hz AMOLED screen and Snapdragon 720G. But it has a slightly higher battery capacity of 4310 mAh and a mighty 50W charger included.
The selection would look odd without Samsung, so I’ll add a Galaxy A52 with a similar Snapdragon 720G. But he has 4 GB of RAM, but there is a rare in the class moisture protection. Stereo speakers will also add to the pluses. But Samsung costs more than $350.
Opinion
It is interesting to study the capabilities of middle-class smartphones: there are many functions, everything works well, the performance may not be the flagship, but such devices are not very expensive either.
In the case of Vivo V21e, we get a thin case with an interesting pattern while not at the expense of autonomy. Performance “with a margin,” a very high-quality selfie camera, a solid main one, which is suitable for all occasions. Well, a full set of joys like NFC, a customizable shell, and an adequate price for such characteristics.
Specifications
- OS: Android 11, Funtouch OS 11;
- Display: 6.44 ″, 2400 × 1080, AMOLED;
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G;
- Memory: 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of built-in, microSD memory card;
- Cameras: main 64 MP (f / 1.89), wide-angle 8 MP (f / 2.2), macro 2 MP (f / 2.4), front 44 MP (f / 2.0);
- Communications: Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1, USB Type-C, NFC, FM radio, two SIM cards;
- Battery: 4000 mAh, fast charging 33 W;
- Dimensions: 161.24 x 74.37 x 7.38mm;
- Weight: 171 g.