vivo Y16 Full Review
Part of vivo’s “Memory is Priceless” campaign which harps on the importance of keeping and creating more memories, the new vivo Y16 gives Filipinos access to premium smartphone features at an affordable price point with its massive storage capacity, long-lasting battery power, which comes in an ergonomic and trendy design.
Since we are done with the unboxing and first impression of the vivo Y16, this review shall explore its capabilities to help you decide whether this smartphone is the one you are looking for.
Design and Walk Around
For the design, the vivo Y16 comes in a polycarbonate body and frame with a glass-like texture. I like this kind of finish because it is less susceptible to fingerprint smudges and scratches.
The vivo Y16 is available in two colors: Drizzling Gold and Stellar Black. My unit comes in Drizzling Gold color that looks like it basked in the warmth of glorious golden rays.
On the front, the vivo Y16 is equipped with a 6.51-inch HD+ (720 x 1600) IPS display. At the top, there’s a waterdrop design notch that houses the front-facing camera and the earpiece. Like most smartphones in this segment, the side bezels are relatively slim but with a pretty thick chin. Also, there is a pre-installed screen protector.
Found at the back are two circular camera modules that house a dual-camera set-up along with a single LED flash. The two cameras are the 13MP main and the 2MP macro.
Found on the right side are your standard volume rocker button and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button.
The 3-card slot for two nano-SIM cards and a dedicated slot for a microSD card, which is handy for users who want to further improve storage capacity, are located at the top.
You can find the following at the bottom: USB Type-C charging port, downward-firing speaker, microphone, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
In addition to its design, the vivo Y16 weighs 183g and has a thickness of 8.19mm. With its 2.5D curvature and right-angled frame, the vivo Y16 can also easily fit in one’s pocket (handy), especially for people who are always on the go.
Display and Multimedia
The vivo Y16 comes with a 6.51-inch HD+ (720 x 1600) IPS LCD screen with an 82.5% screen-to-body ratio. It also has a smart brightness adjustment which filters harmful blue light and minimizes eye strain.
The IPS display panel produces great colors; viewing angles are also decent and the screen can be bright but could use a bit more boost so you can still use it outdoors comfortably. At 270ppi, the display looks sharp even though the display comes with an HD+ resolution.
The audio quality of the loudspeaker is like your typical smartphone. It can get loud but no bass. There’s also some distortion when you maximize the volume. I recommend using headphones or an external speaker for better audio quality.
Camera
Rear Cameras
As for the camera, the vivo Y16 boasts a dual-camera set-up—consisting of the 13MP F2.2 primary camera with Phase Detection autofocus (PDAF). There's also a 2MP F2.4 macro lens with a 4cm shooting distance.
Quality from the rear cameras under bright lighting conditions is pretty good with accurate colors and sharp detail, though dynamic range can be better. However, the 2MP macro camera, as expected, produces low-quality images.
For low light, the vivo Y16 doesn’t have night mode and is generally a poor performer.
Front Selfie Camera
The front camera houses the lone 5MP F2.2 selfie camera and is powered by the Aura Screen Light, a selfie soft light feature that allows users to shine and capture even in low-light conditions.
For selfies, it produces good photos, especially in bright conditions. Background blurring for portrait selfies isn’t that perfect but it is already good enough.
Video
For video, the vivo Y16 captures videos up to 1080p@30fps with its main and front-facing camera. Yet, there is no 4K mode, Slow-mo, and electronic image stabilization (EIS).
The recorded video from the main camera is already good and usable for casual social media postings.
Funtouch OS, Apps, and Security
The vivo Y16 runs on Funtouch OS 12, based on Android 12 out of the box. Funtouch OS 12 is a seamless, clean, and pretty UI that is easy to navigate. Pre-installed are the standard vivo and Google suite of apps, as well as some bloatware apps.
In terms of security, the vivo Y16 is equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is embedded in the power button. It is also equipped with facial recognition for unlocking the device.
Both work well---the side-mounted sensor is pretty fast and with high accuracy. However, the face unlock feature can slow down in situations where there isn’t much light.
Hardware and Performance
The vivo Y16 comes with a Mediatek Helio P35 (MT6765) octa-core processor. This processor is made using a 12nm process and is equipped with four Cortex-A53 cores of up to 2.35GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores of up to 1.8GHz, along with PowerVR GE8320 GPU.
The vivo Y16 also comes with Ultra Game Mode and Multi-Turbo 5.5 which prevents lags and stuttering in games through smart allocation and prioritization of CPU and memory even with multiple applications running.
The performance of vivo Y16 isn’t the snappiest or the most responsive; there are slight delays when interacting with the phone. The gaming experience in graphics-intensive games is playable and tolerable with slight stutters and lags, even with the use of the lowest available settings. Take note that this isn’t a gaming-focused smartphone so don’t expect too much.
The vivo Y16 also supports Extended RAM 2.0 technology that lets you expand your phone's RAM virtually by using the phone's internal storage. Vivo Y16 can make use of 1GB of its internal storage, giving it up to 5GB of total RAM.
The vivo Y16 is available in the Philippines in two variants - 4GB RAM plus 64GB or 128GB storage. If you need additional storage, you can further expand the storage up to 1TB via its dedicated microSD card slot.
Below are the benchmark scores from this device:
- AnTuTu v9.4.4 – 121,610
- AnTuTu Storage Test v9.4.4 – 9,857 (286.6 MB/s Seq. Read, 217.2 MB/s Seq. Write)
- Geekbench 5.4.4 – 175 (Single-core), 943 (Multi-core)
- PCMark – 4,647 (Work 3.0)
- 3DMark – 352 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 656 (SSE – Vulkan)
Battery Life, Charging, and Connectivity
In addition to its massive storage, the vivo Y16 has a 5,000mAh battery capacity that can easily last you a whole day without an additional charge. The vivo Y16 will last you up to 18 hours of HD YouTube streaming, 7 hours of heavy gaming, and 22 hours of non-stop music playback. In the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life Test, the unit yielded a score of around 14 hours and 51 minutes.
The vivo Y16 comes with 18W fast charging and has a 5V/1A reverse charging feature which makes it possible for the device to act as a power bank.
Aside from the battery and charger, the vivo Y16 has your usual connectivity features, including dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by), 4G LTE, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, a 3.5mm audio jack, and USB Type-C.
vivo Y16 Specifications
6.51-inch HD+ (720 x 1600) IPS display, 270ppi
MediaTek Helio P35 (MT6765) processor, 12nm
PowerVR GE8320 GPU
4GB RAM
64GB/ 128GB of internal storage (eMMC)
microSD up to 1TB (dedicated slot)
Dual-rear cameras (13MP F2.2 main + 2MP F2.4 macro)
5MP F2.2 front camera
Dual-SIM (nano) / 4G LTE
WiFi 5 / Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, A-GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS
USB Type-C / 3.5mm audio jack
Fingerprint scanner (side-mounted)
Funtouch OS 12 (Android 12)
5,000mAh Battery w/ 18W Fast Charging
163.95 × 75.55 × 8.19mm (dimension)
183g (weight)
Colors: Drizzling Gold and Stellar Black
What’s inside the box
If you haven't seen the unboxing of the vivo Y16 yet, the box contained the vivo Y16, SIM card ejector tool, quick start guide, important information (including the Warranty Card), 18W USB power adapter, and USB type-C to USB-A charging cable.
Price and Availability
vivo Y16 is now officially available for Php8,499 for the 4GB+128GB variant and Php7,999 for the 4GB+64GB variant. The vivo Y16 can be purchased via vivo’s official website, Lazada, Shopee, TikTok shop and through vivo’s offline stores and kiosks nationwide starting September 17, 2022.
Verdict
Is this the smartphone you are looking for? Given its price and various competition, it’s a tough sell. But if you’re a casual user looking for a smartphone as your daily grind, you can shortlist this one.
The vivo Y16 is a good and reliable smartphone with its massive internal storage and 5,000mAh battery capacity that comes with 18W fast charging feature. However, it lacks the following key features: a powerful processor, a 1080p display, and a better camera.
No comments: