vivo is on releasing spree with about four new smartphones in one month. Its latest offering, the vivo Y35 is a mid-range phone that flashes flagship-grade design and a decent set of internals. The Y35 is priced in the sub Php 15K segment with the popular Snapdragon 680 processor, 50MP main camera, 5000 mAh battery, and more.
We have used the Y35 for more than two weeks now; thus, join us in this review and see if this phone could be your next smartphone purchase.
vivo Y35 Review
The vivo Y35 is exquisitely designed to standout among its peers in terms of aesthetics. Our Dawn Gold review unit could definitely turn heads when seen on the wild. This smartphone is undoubtedly one of the good-looking ones in this price range. Though, I would've loved it even more if vivo matched the camera module's hue to the rest of the back panel. But I get why the company has gone with this route, they're trying to make the handset look different from the recently released Y16.
The overall handling of the handset is quite good. It's not that slippery, and the back panel negates most fingerprints; well, that excludes the camera module. When it comes to ports and buttons, everything is well-put-together. The power button is on the right side together with the volume rocker. The bottom side has the USB-C port, 3.5-mm audio jack, speaker grille, and the microphone. Lastly, the top side has the SIM tray.
Display
The vivo Y35 frames a 6.58-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD. This panel features 1080 x 2408p resolution and 401 ppi pixel density. When used outdoors, the panel could reach up to 580-nit of peak brightness. Everything falls into place except for the waterdrop notch; I feel like vivo could do a hole-punch design in this price segment.
Aside from that, I have no qualms against the display. The quality is quite satisfactory with good color accuracy and brightness. There's enough details in the panel as well as the viewing angles. The 90Hz refresh rate is also something to be lauded about, especially if you're playing supported games. Streaming with the vivo Y35 is also a worthwhile experience with the wide and punchy display.
Performance
The vivo Y35 is powered by the wildly popular mid-range chipset, the Snapdragon 680. Although vivo is branding the device to be in the entry-level segment, I think that it's safe to categorize it as a mid-range device. There's a ton of smartphones that uses the same chipset, majority of them falls way below vivo Y35's asking price.
However, if we talk about performance, I think the chipset could give just the right amount of power for the tasks this phone is intended to - mostly, it's fair to moderate usage. If you find yourself gaming with this smartphone, you could get away with medium graphics in Mobile Legends and Genshin Impact. The 8GB RAM complements the chipset very well; and should you need it, the Y35 allows you to access another 8GB of extended RAM.
The Y35 also has a decent single-firing speaker which complements the FHD+ display. Both features are essential for multimedia consumption. Thus, if you're planning to have lengthy periods of binge watching in this device, you'll be delighted. For the storage buffs, you can also take advantage of the 256GB on-board ROM; for someone who take many pictures and videos, this would be a convenient feature. In our Antutu Benchmark test, the vivo Y35 scored 292937 points.
Camera
There's a triple camera system at the back of the vivo Y35. Among the three, the 50MP f/1.8 wide is the primary camera; it has PDAF function and could shoot videos up to 1080p in 30fps. The two additional cameras both have 2MP f/2.4 sensors (macro and depth sensors). The front camera is a 16MP shooter that could shoot decent shots for social media selfies.
In our tests, the back camera captures decent photos especially when there's plenty of light in the environment. They come with decent amount of detail with good contrast and exposure. However, they seem to lack in dynamic range, and the camera struggles in low-light. Good thing, the camera app has a night mode which easily recovers some details and saturation in the frame; yet noise could still be prevalent.
The 2MP macro camera is also a convenient sensor to have for creative fixed-focus close up shots. You can invoke the Super Macro mode by tapping the flower icon on the top of your camera app's interface.
As mentioned the front-facing camera shoots decent selfies. It also has a portrait mode which effectively separates the subject from the background.
Check out our sample photos below:
Software and Battery Life
The vivo Y35 boots with FunTouchOS 12 based on Android 12. vivo's forked version of Android offers many additional features on the table like the Ultra Game Mode side bar and other in-game customizations. You can also monitor your phone's CPU and GPU performance and choose among different battery saving modes.
As expected, you'll also see a handful of bloatwares - most of them you can't uninstall. The overall interface of the FunTouchOS 12 is smooth and easy to use. Icons and toggles are simple; the Notification Shade also houses the quick toggles.
As for the battery, the handset could last the whole day and could even extend up to the next day. In our PCMark Work Life Battery test, the Y35 scored 22 hours and 22 minutes which is pretty impressive.
The smartphone also supports 44-watt fast charging technology; vivo claims that you can charge the phone up to 70% in just 34 minutes. In our charging test, we charged the phone from 0 to 50% battery in just 29 minutes and 0 to 100% in just one hour and 11 minutes.
The Wrap
The vivo Y35 is a capable smartphone that could do most of your essentials tasks. If you're looking for a well-rounded mid-range smartphone with good aesthetics, you could consider this one. However, if you want the best value for the sub Php 15K price, you may want to look elsewhere.
