Friends+Design
- Stunning, beautiful design, that's a treat to the eyes - Vivo S1 is easily among the most well-designed smartphones to launch this year
- There is a mesmerising dual tone finish on the metal frame, and a unique 'diamond lattice' design back, that reflects colors in the most interesting ways - this is the kind of smartphone that will definitely get you a lot of Wows from everyone around
- It not only looks great but also feels great to hold and use thanks to the 2.5D design
- Fast in-display fingerprint sensor
- Dedicated Google Assistant button
Display
- Very good 6.38-inch AMOLED display - you will get deep blacks and punchy colors
Software
- Funtouch OS UI looks very similar to iOS, and is pretty feature packed, including a good gesture navigation system, and an 'Ultra Game' mode
- It's on the cluttered side though, and does have some bloatware - so the experience is not as clean and simple as stock Android
Performance
- Daily performance is smooth all-round with a Helio P65 processor (similar to the Helio P70, and Snapdragon 660), and most games run well too
- More complex games like PUBG though are not smooth at high graphics settings - and here the phone loses out to the best performing phones of this price bracket that pack the likes of Snapdragon 675, and Snapdragon 710
Camera
- Decent set of triple rear cameras - 16MP primary + 8MP ultra-wide + 2MP depth
- The primary camera captures images with fairly good details
- The depth camera helps with some decent portraits
- The 32MP selfie camera is decent too, and does especially well with details (though the image softening algorithm is a bit too aggressive)
- The ultra-wide camera provides for versatility in shot framing, but the quality is average - details are low, and the overall image is muted
- Low light performance is average too
- Overall, the cameras are decent for the price bracket, but not really comparable to the top camera phones of this price bracket, like Redmi Note 7 Pro, Realme 3 Pro, Realme X, and even the Vivo Z1 Pro
Connectivity
- Uses the old microUSB port, instead of the modern USB-C port
Battery
- Outstanding battery life with a large 4500mAh battery paired with a low-power MediaTek Helio P65 SoC - you will comfortably clock 2 days of use
- Bundled 18W fast charger
Verdict
- On it's own the Vivo S1 is a pretty good device, but it faces some real tough competition at the moment - the camera and the performance are not the best for the price bracket, though if your main priorities are a best-in-class design, and excellent battery life, it could still make a lot of sense
