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vivo

Vivo enters the affordable premium phone segment with the X50 series

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With smartphone camera sensors improving everyday what’s left to innovate other than megapixel count? Well, if you are Vivo, there’s a gimbal to integrate to take smartphone photography to another level. Presenting the Vivo X50 series with gimbal at the crux of the X50 Pro sales pitch. Vivo also announced the launch of their new TWS earphones: Neo at a price of Rs. 5,990. The X50 series will be on sale from 24th July, 2020.

Starting with the X50 series – which comprise of the X50 with 8GB RAM + 128GB (and 256GB) and the X50 Pro 5G with 8GB RAM + 256GB. Both smartphones are equipped with a 6.56” AMOLED HDR10+ display and offers a refresh rate of 90Hz. Although the X50 Pro offers a 3D Curved Ultra O screen whereas the X50 offers a flat one. Both are equipped with a 33W Flash Charge feature which enable quick charging.

While the X50 is powered by Snapdragon 730, the X50 Pro is powered by a Snapdragon 765G. The X50 sports a 4200mAh battery and the X50 Pro features a 4315mAh battery. The X50 series offers a Bluetooth v5.1 connectivity and dual-band Wi-Fi compatibility.

When it comes to photography, both the phones house a 32MP front camera. The X50 is equipped with a 48MP f/1.6 main lens, with a 8MP super-wide-angle lens, a 5MP Macro f/2.48 lens and a 13MP ‘Bokeh’ lens with 20x digital zoom.

The X50 Pro is equipped with a quad-camera setup in the rear with a 48MP f/1.6 Gimbal Camera system lens, an 8MP super-wide angle (120 degree) lens, a 13MP ‘Bokeh’ lens and a 8MP camera with 5X zoom and 60x Hyper zoom. Vivo mentions that the gimbal camera system allows users to take clear photos and videos while in motion. Like the name suggests, the gimbal camera system was modelled after a full-size professional gimbal.

In the X50 Pro, the inbuilt gimbal setup moves in the opposite direction of motion in order to stabilise the camera. There is also a ‘gimbal UI’ that replicates the movement of the gimbal when moved. This helps in understanding its functioning and lets users know when it’s stable.

The Vivo X50 smartphones run on Android 10 and the X50 is available in Frost Blue and Glaze Black colours, while the X50 Pro is available in the Alpha Grey colour. The Vivo X50 costs Rs. 34,990 for the 8GB+128GB, and Rs. 37,990 for the 8GB+256GB. The X50 Pro costs Rs. 49,990. Both the phones will be available on Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, Tata Cliq, other major online stores and vivo India’s e-store and interested buyers can pre-book to get a whole range of impressive offers.

Vivo’s new half in-ear TWS earphones, the Neo, features noise-cancelling capabilities for clearer phone calls and is also voice-activated for smarter control. The earphones are powered by Qualcomm’s 4th generation QCC3046 and the Neo also incorporates the aptX Adaptive Codec. Through a 27mAh battery, the Neo earphones offers a play-time of up to 4.5 hours whereas the charging case offers an a total of 22.5 hours through its 415mAh battery.

The Neo also offers some touch controls where users can change the volume and control the music. The Neo is IP54 rated and comes in two colours: Moonlight White and Starry Blue.

Vivo V19 hits the e-stores on May 15

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Making its way along with other smartphone releases is the new Vivo V19 which is going to be available on May 15 through vivo India’s e-store, Amazon and Flipkart. The Vivo V19 is available in two variants, basically just differing in their storage capacities – with a 8GB RAM + 128GB and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage carrying a price tag of Rs. 27,990 and Rs. 31,990 respectively. Vivo has made it clear that within its domain of mid-range value phones, it has pushed hard to give users best possible experiences through smartphone photography.

As Vivo prioritises camera systems in their phones, it’s only right to detail those specifications first. The Vivo V19 is equipped with a quad-camera setup in its rear with a 48MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP f/2.2 Ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2MP super macro camera and a 2MP f/2.4 portrait lens producing the highly sought-after bokeh effect. Vivo has also graciously added a dual front camera system with a 32MP f/2.08 main camera with an 8MP f/2.28 ‘super’ wide-angle camera, for pano-selfies and more. The front camera system definitely meets the demand of people and creators who are heavily into the TikTok/IGTV world.

When it comes to videos, the Vivo V19 can shoot 4K videos at 30fps and we expect the quality to be pretty good given the fact that it is supported by the EIS-backed ‘Ultra Stable Video Mode’. Creators will also like the ‘Art Portrait Video’ mode that blurs the background and the ‘AI Editor’ which helps edit videos rather quickly. The bokeh-frenzy produced by smartphone cameras can produce some great results when used correctly, but more often than not, it turns out to be a disaster and look unrealistic.

The Vivo V19 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 712, which is not the latest and as powerful as an 8-series processor but still fast. The Vivo V19 runs on the Funtouch OS 10, built on Android 10. The 6.44-inch LIV Super AMOLED FHD+ display offers an aspect ratio of 20:9 along with a dated refresh rate of 60Hz. It also supports the HDR 10 standard, and through the iView display, brightness levels are auto-adjusted based on ambient light, which is again a feature in most phones. The screen can go up to brightness levels of 800 nits with and Vivo claims that “some parts of the screen can go up to 1200 nits.”

Vivo V19 weighs just around 186 grams and it also has a premium feel to it due to it’s ergonomically designed 3D curved back panel. It is also powered by a 4500mAh battery which is complemented by the 33W Vivo FlashCharge 2.0 technology. The Vivo V19 is available in Piano Black and Mystic Silver and Vivo is also offering numerous deals on their phones with 10% cashback with HDFC and ICICI cards being the highlight. Interested customers should head over to Amazon, Flipkart and the vivo India E-store site to find out more, as the sale begins on May 15, 2020.

Vivo brings its stylish S1 phone to India

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Vivo today expanded its mid-range lineup with the all new S1. The phone sits just above its recently announced the Z1 Pro with improved features like an in-screen fingerprint scanner, a smart button and more.

Available in two colour options – Skyline Blue and Diamond Black, the Vivo S1 looks attractive complemented with the 2.5D design. On the hardware side, the Vivo S1 is powered by MediaTek’s Helio P65 chip and comes with options of 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Internal storage starts from 64GB that goes up to 128GB and can be expanded further via the microSD card slot to up to 256GB.

The 6.38-inch is a Super AMOLED display supporting Full HD+ resolution and features an in-screen fingerprint scanner. Moreover, there’s a 4500mAh battery and supports 18W Dual-Engine Fast Charging technology.

If we talk about the camera, there’s a 32MP snapper on the front along with triple camera setup at the back with 16MP, 8MP and 2MP.

The 4GB+128GB and 6GB+64GB variants will go on sale from tomorrow for Rs. 17,990 and Rs. 18,990 respectively. The 6GB+128GB variant is priced at Rs. 19,990 which will go on sale next month.

Vivo X21 with in-display fingerprint sensor debuts in India

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Vivo X21 has been out in the wild for a while now but only today has it officially reached Indian shores. It is the first smartphone available in the country with an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

The X21 sports a 6.28″ Super AMOLED display with 19:9 aspect ratio and a notch housing the proximity sensor and front camera. Running on FunTouch OS 4.0 based on Android 8.1 Oreo, Vivo will be making the Android P Beta available for download soon. On the rear is a dual camera setup consisting of a 12MP Samsung S5K2L8 sensor with f/1.8 aperture along with Dual Pixel technology and a 5MP secondary camera. The front camera is identical to the primary camera found on the rear but with f/2.0 aperture. It is capable of AI enabled features like Face Beauty, HDR and others like Live Photo, AR stickers, Portrait and Bokeh for single camera. AKM AK4376A Hi-Fi chipset has been embedded to output high quality audio.

Priced at Rs.35,999, Vivo x21 is out now on Flipkart and select retail stores. An extra Rs.3,000 will be offered over the regular exchange price of the smartphone. SBI credit card holders can get an extra 5% off while other credit card holders can avail of no cost EMI upto 12 months. Prior to the launch, pre-bookings had already started.

Check out a demo of the in-display fingerprint sensor here.

Vivo x21 Specifications:
Display: 6.28″ Super AMOLED (1080x2280p)
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
GPU: Adreno 512
Memory: 6GB RAM
Storage: 128 GB
Operating System:
Colour: Black
Size: 154.5×74.8×7.4mm
Weight: 156g
Camera: Dual rear 12MP + 5MP, 12MP front
Battery: 3200mAh

MWC 2018: Vivo Apex pop-up camera means true bezel-free display that makes iPhone X look ugly

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The Vivo Apex could be the most exciting thing at the Mobile World Congress show this year, including the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Sony Xperia XZ2. The stunning Vivo Apex features the world’s first truly edge-to-edge bezel-free display – thanks to a pop up camera.

The Vivo Apex display is all screen, meaning a meagre 1.8mm bezel at the top and 4.3mm at the bottom. That means there is no space for a front-facing camera, speaker or fingerprint sensor. But rather than plonking in an ugly notch like on Apple’s iPhone X, Vivo has managed to keep everything hidden.

Under the Vivo Apex display is a fingerprint sensor that works through the glass, meaning you can pace a finger on the screen and it will read your unique signature to unlock the device. One of the best parts is here is that this works for about half of the display so you don’t even need to be accurate in finger placement.

Also hidden in the screen is speaker technology that uses the screen’s glass to resonate as a speaker when your ear is to the phone. Finally, the front-facing camera – this has been put in a pop-up unit that appears when the phone is put into selfie mode. Genius. This is an 8-megapixel snapper which pops up in just 0.8 seconds.

The catch to all this? The Vivo Apex is currently a concept phone shown off at MWC 2018, so we’ll have to hope it gets mass produced for all to own in the near future.