Regarding budget-friendly smartphones, the Vivo Y21 has been making waves. It promises a lot for its price, including decent performance, good battery life, and a sleek design. But is this phone worth your money? In this review, we’ll break down all its key features, performance, and whether it’s a smart choice for those on a budget.
Design and Build Quality
The first thing you’ll notice about the Vivo Y21 is its design. Despite being a budget phone, it has a sleek and stylish look. The phone is available in two colors: Diamond Glow and Midnight Blue. Both options give the phone a premium feel, and it looks more expensive than it is.
At just 8 mm thick and weighing 182 grams, the Vivo Y21 feels comfortable in the hand. The slim profile makes it easy to carry around, and the plastic back feels sturdy, although it can be slippery. It has a fingerprint sensor mounted on the side, a nice touch for quick and secure access.
While the build quality is solid, the phone lacks water and dust resistance, which is common at this price point. However, for everyday use, it holds up well.
Display Quality
The Vivo Y21 comes with a 6.51-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. The screen is decent for watching videos and casual browsing, but the resolution is lower than what you’d find on more expensive phones.
The colors on the display are vibrant, and the brightness levels are good enough for outdoor use. However, you might notice a lack of sharpness when viewing high-resolution content or reading small text. Still, for its price, the display gets the job done and is suitable for most tasks like social media, streaming videos, and browsing the web.
Performance
Under the hood, the Vivo Y21 is powered by a MediaTek Helio P35 chipset, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. This combination is sufficient for basic tasks like browsing, messaging, and using light apps. However, if you’re into gaming or heavy multitasking, you might notice some slowdowns.
The phone can handle simple games like Candy Crush or Subway Surfers without much trouble, but more demanding games like PUBG or Call of Duty Mobile will experience some lag and longer load times. This is typical for phones in this price range, so if gaming is a priority, you might want to look at slightly more expensive options.
In terms of day-to-day performance, the Vivo Y21 handles basic tasks well, and there are no major issues with lag during regular use. For those looking for a budget-friendly phone for light use, this phone should meet your needs.
Camera Performance
One of the key features of any smartphone is its camera, and the Vivo Y21 offers a dual-camera setup on the back. It has a 13MP main camera and a 2MP macro camera. For selfies, there’s an 8MP front-facing camera.
The camera quality is decent for casual photography. In good lighting conditions, the Vivo Y21 captures sharp and clear images with accurate colors. However, the camera struggles in low-light conditions, with photos appearing grainy and lacking detail.
The macro camera is more of a novelty feature, and while it works fine for close-up shots, the quality isn’t impressive. The front-facing camera performs well for selfies in good light, producing clear and detailed images. However, as with the rear camera, low-light selfies can be disappointing.
Overall, the camera on the Vivo Y21 is good enough for everyday photography, but it’s not something that will wow photography enthusiasts.
Battery Life
One of the standout features of the Vivo Y21 is its battery life. The phone is equipped with a massive 5000mAh battery, which easily lasts a full day of regular use. If you’re a light user, you can stretch it to two days on a single charge.
The Vivo Y21 also supports 18W fast charging, which is a nice addition to a budget phone. It takes around 2 hours to charge the phone from 0 to 100%. While this isn’t the fastest charging speed out there, it’s acceptable given the price range.
If battery life is a priority for you, the Vivo Y21 delivers in this department, making it ideal for those who need a phone that can last throughout the day without constantly reaching for a charger.
Software and User Interface
The Vivo Y21 runs on Funtouch OS 11.1, based on Android 11. The interface is clean and user-friendly, but like many budget smartphones, it comes with some pre-installed apps you may not need. Fortunately, most of these apps can be uninstalled.
One feature that stands out is the Ultra Game Mode, which optimizes the phone’s performance for gaming. While the Vivo Y21 isn’t a powerhouse for gaming, this mode does help reduce interruptions and improve gaming performance slightly.
Overall, the software experience is smooth, and the phone offers enough customization options for users to tweak the settings according to their preferences.
Storage and Expandability
The Vivo Y21 comes with 64GB of internal storage, which is quite standard for phones in this price range. For many users, this will be enough to store apps, photos, and videos. However, if you need more space, the phone has a dedicated microSD card slot, allowing you to expand the storage up to 1TB.
This is a big plus for those who like to store a lot of media or files on their phone. You won’t have to worry about running out of storage anytime soon, as long as you’re willing to invest in a microSD card.
Connectivity and Extras
The Vivo Y21 supports 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS. It also has a dual-SIM feature, which is useful if you need to use two phone numbers simultaneously. However, the phone lacks NFC, which means you won’t be able to use it for contactless payments.
It also includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is becoming rare in modern smartphones. This is great news for users who still prefer wired headphones over Bluetooth options.
Pros and Cons
Let’s summarize the pros and cons of the Vivo Y21 to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you:
Pros:
- Budget-friendly price
- Solid battery life
- Sleek design and lightweight
- Decent performance for basic tasks
- Expandable storage with a microSD card
- Fast fingerprint sensor
Cons:
- Low-resolution display
- Mediocre camera performance, especially in low light
- Limited gaming capabilities
- No NFC for contactless payments
- Slower charging compared to some competitors
Final Verdict: Is the Vivo Y21 Worth Your Money?
In conclusion, the Vivo Y21 is a solid budget-friendly phone that offers good value for its price. It has a stylish design, excellent battery life, and decent performance for everyday tasks. While it’s not the best choice for heavy gamers or photography enthusiasts, it’s a great option for those who need a reliable smartphone without breaking the bank.
If you’re in the market for an affordable phone with solid performance, the Vivo Y21 is worth considering. However, if you need more advanced features like a better camera or faster performance, you might want to explore higher-end options.
For most users on a budget, the Vivo Y21 strikes a good balance between price and performance, making it a worthy contender in the budget smartphone market.
