Vivo Y83

Vivo launched the Vivo Y83 in India in May 2018. The smartphone features a 6.22-inch IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 720×1520 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9. It runs on Vivo’s custom Funtouch OS 4.0 based on Android v8.1 (Oreo) and uses an octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 processor clocked at 2GHz. A 3,260mAh battery powers it. 

The phone has 4GB RAM and 32GB internal memory, expandable up to 256GB via microSD card. It sports a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP camera at the front. Sensors in the phone include Ambient Light Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, E-compass, and Gyroscope. It also supports Face Unlock. 

There are four colour variants for the Vivo Y83 – Polar Black, Aurora White, Charm Red, and Gold. In India, it costs around Rs. 10,098.

The design of the Vivo Y83 is one of the main selling points of the phone. Both the front display and the rear panel are crafted to ooze elegance and class. At the front, you get a 6.22-inch FullView display having an 88% screen-to-body ratio for an immersive viewing experience. A 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protects it. There’s a notch on top that houses the selfie camera, an earpiece, and a Proximity Sensor. Apart from a noticeable chin at the bottom, the phone is bezel-less. 

The back panel is made of high-quality polycarbonate. It is super glossy and elegant; the rounded corners offer a better grip. However, the back cover is a fingerprint magnet. On the top left corner, there’s a camera with an LED flash aligned horizontally. As for the Fingerprint Sensor, it is placed conveniently in the top-middle portion of the back panel. On the right side lie the power and volume buttons, whereas the dual-SIM tray and the microSD card slot lies on the left. The bottom part of the phone houses a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro USB port, and a speaker grille. 

The phone sports a 6.22-inch FullView HD+ display with a screen resolution of 720×1520 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9. The display has a pixel density of 270 PPI. According to Vivo, the Vivo Y83 screen “gives you 15.5% more viewing area than standard 16:9 phones. The display has a notch and a small chin, while the sides are bezel-less. The 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protection comes as a welcome addition. 

Overall, the minimalist bezels and notch-display offer an immersive viewing experience. The screen has good colour reproduction and decent viewing angles. Although the pixel density could have been more at this price, you will not be totally disappointed while watching videos and browsing content on the phone.

The Vivo Y83 uses an octa-core MediaTek MT6762 Helio P22 SoC to power its core. Combined with 4GB RAM, the processor is supposed to deliver a lag-free and smooth performance. However, in the real-world scenario, the processor seems to be incapable of offering a seamless experience. While the phone can handle everyday tasks pretty decently, sometimes navigating between the apps and multitasking becomes a headache – there are noticeable lags and sluggishness. You may be able to play lightweight games on the phone, but definitely not graphics-intensive games like Asphalt, Tekken, and PUBG. This is quite a letdown, considering that the market is flooded with phones belonging to the same price bracket that offer much better performance.

The Vivo Y83 features a 13MP camera (f/2.2 aperture) on the rear with an LED flash. The rear camera is loaded with useful features like HDR imaging, AI Face Beauty, Portrait Mode, Time Lapse, Slow Motion, Panorama, Live Photos, and Phase Detection Autofocus. At the front, there’s an 8MP selfie camera (f/2.2 aperture).

The cameras are decent, but they are not the best you will find. In daylight conditions, the rear camera can capture some good shots with a fair share of details and decent colour reproduction. However, the performance tends to be inconsistent. Sometimes the camera takes time to lock focus and capture detailed images. Thus, even in favourable light settings as well, the photos tend to get grainy. Coming to low-light conditions, the camera struggles to perform. Mostly, the captured images display a lot of noise and end up looking blurry.

As for the 8MP front camera, the performance is more or less the same as the rear camera. It can take good shots in favourable lighting conditions but fails to deliver in low-light settings. The Face Beauty feature tends to enhance the selfies to such an extent that it looks artificial.

The phone has a 3,260mAh battery. Considering the phone processor and screen size, the battery seems to be insufficient. For normal-to-medium usage, including routine tasks such as calling, texting, video browsing, etc., the phone can last a day. Those who are into extensive gaming or video streaming might find the battery performance to be disappointing as the battery percentage starts to drop faster than usual. There’s no fast-charging support on the phone.

Connectivity options in the phone include Wi-Fi 802.11, b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth v5.0, micro USB port, dual-SIM, FM Radio, GPS with A-GPS and Glonass, and 2G/3G/4G support.

In conclusion, as an entry-level phone, the Vivo Y83 falls behind its competitors like the Oppo A5, Xiaomi Pocophone F1, Redmi Note 5 Pro, and Samsung J8. The phone could have incorporated a better processor and a bigger battery – in that scenario, it could become a reliable daily driver.