Kicking off the new year with one of the most awaited smartphones, we take a look at the Vivo S1 Pro today. The S-series classifies a completely redesigned breed of smartphones that complements a user lifestyle in all walks of life. After overseeing much success from its last year’s streak of high looking devices, the company has decided to up the ante with a new diamond-shaped quad-camera module that’s unlike anything we have seen before. Can the design alone be sufficient to push it across or does it signify a bombastic looking design, well let’s find out!
Design and Display
The moment you hold the S1 Pro, the one thing that is quite apparent is the quality of fit and finish. This new design language of the diamond-shaped rear hump, red accents on the power button and lightweight materials makes the S1 Pro seem a cut apart. No matter which colour option you choose, be it the Mystic Black, Jazzy Blue or the Dreamy White, all look the part for a unique sense of taste. On the other hand, the display seems a bit mundane or old-school owing to the U-shaped notch, but the aesthetics and rounded corners make up for it. The USB-C port is located on the bottom and the audio jack up top, besides a microSD card port on the side.
The display panel is a 6.39-inch FHD+ SUPER AMOLED one that is protected by Schott Xensation 3D glass protection. The display is rated for DRM L1 which accounts for HD content streaming over Netflix or Amazon Prime. It also houses an in-display fingerprint sensor that is both snappy and accurate at the same time. Outdoor visibility is adequate as the panel puts out a high level of brightness which makes it sunlight friendly.
Performance and Software
Coming to the performance, the Vivo S1 Pro employs a Qualcomm’s 11nm Snapdragon 665 octa-core chipset, that despite its reliable performance, falls way below the mark of what Realme and Xiaomi phones offer. Thankfully, Vivo has paired the smartphone with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage that handles everything that a user expects with ease. High-end games are playable for the most part with settings kept to a medium and with turbo boost on. Unless you are looking for a gaming beast, the S1 Pro renders proper performance levels that make the experience adequately sufficient. The FunTouch OS wasn’t the Vivo’s strongest suit, and it’s still isn’t. The software is something we have always thought is the most crucial aspect that governs a great smartphone. The OS on the S1 Pro is far from minimalistic with a lot of things and options that might make it seem a bit overarching at times.
Camera
In terms of camera quality, the Vivo S1 Pro offers a 48MP Samsung GM1 sensor, accompanied by an 8MP wide-angle camera, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP depth sensor. The app seems well laid out with a hoard lot of features to choose from around the user interface. The images captured using the GM1 sensor had crisp resolution and high dynamic range, however, the same cannot be said about the In-door quality. The quality deteriorates proportionally to the fall in ambient light to amount that the Super Night mode doesn’t seem to counter. Users must take this positively as it seemed out unit might be faulty and could benefit from the OTA updates in future.
What we liked more was that the wide-angle lens could shoot 108-degree images with a cinematic profile in an outdoor environment. Moreover, the macro option also performs quite well, as is evident in the pictures given below.
Lastly, the 32MP selfie is nothing unusual as it does its part for a decent shoot of images capable for Instagram.
Battery
As expected, the S1 Pro gets a 4500mAh battery with Vivo’s own 18W dual-engine fast charging technology that can charge the device with a couple of hours. We can attest to the stable battery performance as we found the phone to last an entire day or two on just a single charge during our testing.
Gizmo Verdict
The Vivo S1 Pro is one unique take on looks of a smartphone. It doesn’t awe the audience with its age-old processor, passable camera or mundane user experience, but what it does is something class apart. The looks and feel of this device made us wonder if a smartphone is just a piece of art or some thick slab of technology that helps us get work done.
The only thing we felt is that, had Vivo equipped the S1 Pro with a chipset that would complement the design and finish the company would have a winner on their hands. Nevertheless, at 20K, the smartphone is still a great product which won’t let you down.
