Vivo Y83 and Y83 Pro smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

In 2018, Vivo released two similar models: the Y83 in the spring and the Y83 Pro in the fall. This review contains a description of the pros and cons of these models, comparing them with competitors. Let's figure out in what cases it is better to buy a smartphone model.

Differences between Vivo Y83 and Y83 Pro

The Y83 Pro is the new upgraded version of the Y83. Smartphones are very similar. They have the same screens, processor, amount of memory, front camera and battery.

Let's list the differences, i.e. advantages of the Pro model:

• dual rear camera 13 Mp + 2 Mp instead of single 13 Mp;
• added a fingerprint scanner (it was not there when the Y83 was released, but then it was also installed there);
• updated version of Bluetooth 5.0 instead of 4.2;
• used different colors.

Appearance

Vivo Y83 has a large 6.22-inch screen and a modern, almost frameless design. Only the bottom is a wider strip. Body materials - plastic, glass and aluminum. At the top of the screen is a fashionable monobrow with a front camera and sensors. It is not very large and looks neat. Not as striking as the healthy bangs in the Pixel 3XL, for example. At the bottom there is a micro USB jack and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is an absolute plus. There is a fingerprint sensor on the back of the Pro model. Unlocking works stably and fast enough.

Due to the small bezels, the screen occupies a high percentage of the total surface of the front panel - almost 83%. Despite the fact that the phone is large enough, it is comfortable in the hand and does not slip. Dimensions: 155.2 x 75.2 x 7.7 mm.

Smartphones have a lot of color options.

Y83:

• black (Black);
• white (Aurora White);
• red (Red);
• gold (Gold).

Y83 Pro:

• black (Black);
• gold (Gold);
• gradient purple (Nebula Purple).

Specifications

Main technical characteristics of smartphones Vivo Y83 and Y83 Pro

Screen

Despite the large diagonal, the display resolution is not so good by the standards of 2019, only 1520 by 720 pixels, and, accordingly, the density is not high, 270 dpi. The aspect ratio is 19: 9. Despite the low resolution, the screen is good for games, for watching videos and photos, as well as for Internet texts. The screen is bright enough, readable even in the sun. There is a protective Gorilla Glass.

operating system

The smartphones have Android 8.1 Oreo with the proprietary shell Funtouch OS 4.0. Android here is very much reworked and changed. The Chinese-style shell strongly resembles iOS.

The first thing that catches your eye is that all applications are on the desktop, there is no separate application menu. The only way to organize them is through folders. All the same is in the shells of other Chinese manufacturers Huawei, Xiaomi or ZTE. Similarly, like Xiaomi, the search is organized by the device (similar to Apple's Spotlight).

There is also a revamped notification curtain. If you pull the shutter from above, then only notifications will open without the main icons for managing device settings. All controls are pulled out from the bottom of the screen as it is done in iPhones. The icons here are small and not very responsive. They are also not very convenient to scroll through. Sometimes, instead of scrolling, a click occurs and a function is enabled or disabled. A strange decision that takes a lot of getting used to. From the same settings center, you can work with applications: close some, or, on the contrary, protect against automatic closing.

The navigation bar is software-based. You can start multitasking mode, switch between applications and close them. In this regard, everything is quite traditional. The buttons "back" and "home" are in place.

The animations are fluid and fast, applications launch smoothly and collapse quickly. The system behaves well.

System apps from Vivo are not quite ordinary. You will need to get used to them. The whole Funtouch OS revolves around the Vivo account, there is a vivo cloud, its own appstore.

There is a gesture control system. There are many gestures and they are very diverse.

In general, they tried to make the user interface similar to iOS, but, as is almost always the case, the copy turned out to be worse than the original. Funtouch is inferior in thoughtfulness, usability and design to iOS and, possibly, pure Android too. However, this is a matter of taste and habit.

Performance

Smartphones received a budget processor MediaTek Helio P22. This chip is manufactured using a "thin" 12 nm process. Eight Cortex-A53 cores operate at 2 GHz. 64-bit data is supported.

Previously, the Media Library was equipped with the Mali graphics accelerator, which was poorly suited for active games. It was significantly inferior to chips from Qualcomm. Here, the more productive PowerVR GE8320 is responsible for the graphics, which allows you to get rid of large-scale throttling.

4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage are installed on board, which is very good considering that the models are inexpensive. It is possible to install additional SD memory with a capacity of up to 256 GB, and a separate slot is allocated for this, which is very good.

In general, the smartphone turned out to be quite smart, although of course it is far from performance records.

Autonomy

Smartphones are equipped with 3,260 mAh Li-Ion batteries. Nothing fancy, but the battery will last for a day. Fast charging supported.

Cameras

Let's see how a smartphone from Vivo takes pictures and how to video.

Main camera

The Y83 has a 13MP f / 2.2 main camera and one.The Pro model has an additional 2 megapixel camera with an f / 2.4 aperture. This allows for good blurring effect in portrait mode. Autofocus works quite stable. Sharpness and detailing during the day are quite decent. If you look at how the device takes pictures at night, then detail is immediately lost, noise appears, sharpness drops. However, almost all budget models suffer from this.

Videos are recorded in FULL HD mode at 30 frames. You can record in both fast and slow motion. Video and sound are recorded in average quality, which is quite common in such phones.

Selfie camera

The front camera for both models is the same - 8 megapixels with an aperture of f / 2.2. Artificial Intelligence helps transform photos with Enhanced Selfie Mode. The result is not always natural. There is a "live photo" mode, when a small video is obtained based on a sequence of quick frames.

Wireless interfaces

Smartphones support all frequencies used by domestic telecom operators, Wi Fi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.2 in the "classic" version and 5.0 in the Pro version. There is support for GPS, Glonass, Dual Sim. There is an FM radio. As is often the case, Vivo does not have NFC support.

Comparison with other popular models

Let's compare other popular models that are comparable in price to the Y83 Pro. We will compare the Pro model as a newer and better one. The best Chinese manufacturers participate in the competition. The presented models have already won their place in the market and received good reviews.

Comparison with Oppo A5

First of all, a comparison with the Oppo A5, a relative of the BBK concern, begs. And they look like twin brothers. They have the same functionality, modern frameless design, screens almost the same in size and resolution. Also the same cameras with the Pro model.

These models differ in the installed chipset. Oppo is using the well-proven Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 with Adreno 506. Although its clock speed is lower, 1.8 GHz versus Vivo's 2 GHz, it is not a fact that in real conditions it will run slower than MediaTek.

Oppo has a much more powerful battery 4 230 mAh versus 3 260 mAh. Vivo and Oppo also use different proprietary shells - Funtouch OS and Color OS, respectively. Here, who is used to what.

With very similar specifications, Oppo wins in autonomy, but Vivo has more external memory of 64 GB versus 32 GB. The popularity of models is strongly influenced by how much one or another device costs. Oppo's average price is slightly higher here.

Comparison with ZTE Blade V9

The ZTE Blade V9, like Oppo, is equipped with the Snapdragon 450. Therefore, everything said above about the comparison of the performance of the Vivo and Oppo chipset applies to it. Vivo has more RAM - 4 GB, ZTE - 3 GB. Vivo has a larger screen of 6.22 inches versus 5.7 for ZTE, but the V9 has a much better display at 2160 x 1080 pixels.

The V9 is one of the top quality cameras in the budget segment, which is not the case with the Vivo, which has mediocre cameras. Another undoubted advantage of ZTE is the presence of an NFC module.

What are the selection criteria here? Vivo wins in terms of RAM and screen size. If the quality of the display is more important, the ability to get decent photos, or contactless payments are needed, then the ZTE model should be chosen.

Comparison with ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1

Max Pro M1 leads the rating of quality budget devices in many respects. It surpasses the Vivo Y83 in almost all characteristics. It has a better Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 + Adreno 509 chipset, a better Full HD + display, and a much more powerful 5000 mAh battery.

Here it is clear which company model is better in terms of characteristics. But Vivo has a much more modern and attractive appearance. How to choose from these smartphones? If design is important, then it is better to choose a Vivo device, if autonomy, performance and screen quality are important, then your choice is Max Pro M1.

Bottom line: advantages and disadvantages of Vivo Y83 and Y83 Pro

• modern frameless design;
• 4 GB of RAM;
• additional memory expansion slot.

• low resolution screen;
• mediocre cameras;
• no NFC.

The official release of Vivo Y83 on the domestic market is not planned. Where it is profitable to buy this model from us is not clear yet.They are only available in China. This phone is aimed at those looking for a beautiful, reliable phone from a good manufacturer with a large display and good performance.