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Hi all! Today’s review will be dedicated to the Vivo V20SE smartphone, which is a more budget model of the Vivo V20 (my review of this smartphone can be read here). Although I called the smartphone a budget version, this is far from a basic device, because inside it is installed: Amoled display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, 8/128GB of memory, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), NFC and much more. What then is wrong with him, we will find out in the review.
Since the V20SE smartphone is a representative of the same line as the V20, it is natural that the packaging, equipment, etc. will have a minimum of differences.
In the kit with a smartphone, we are given: a silicone case, instructions and a warranty card (at the same time, Vivo has a built-in electronic warranty card right in the smartphone), a charger and a typeC cable, as well as wired headphones.
The charger is the same as in the Vivo V20 model and is a 33W power supply with support for the proprietary protocol FlashCharge 2.0 and Power Delivery 3.0. Available specifications: 5V2A, 9V2A, 11V3A (QC 3.0).
The capacity of the built-in battery is 4100mAh, which is not the best result by modern standards. Fast charging with a standard charger allows you to charge your smartphone by 60% in the first 30 minutes, while the total charge time is 58 minutes. Pretty bad result.
Specifications:
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 (4 x Kryo 260 Gold (Cortex-A73) 2000 MHz, 4 x Kryo 260 Silver (Cortex-A53) 1800 MHz, Adreno 610)
- Screen: 6.44′, 2400×1080 FHD+, 20:9, 409ppi, AMOLED, 60Hz
- RAM/ROM: 8/128 GB
- Platform: Android 10, Funtouch OS 11 shell
- Communication standards:
2G band: B2/3/5/8
3G band: B1/5/8
4G band: B1/3/5/7/8/18/19/20/26/28/38/40/41 - Main camera — 48 MP, autofocus + 2 MP, fixed-focus (macro) + 2 MP, fixed-focus (bokeh)
- Front camera — 16 MP
- Peripherals: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, NFC support, USB Type-C, USB host / OTG
- Sensors: In-Display Fingerprint Scanner, Face Recognition, FM Radio, G-Sensor, Gyroscope, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Digital Compass
- Speaker: mono
- Headphone output: 3.5
- Battery: built-in, 4100 mAh, fast charging FlashCharge 33w (11v-3a), USB Power Delivery 3.0 support
- Housing: plastic frame, matte plastic back
- Dimensions: 161 x 74.08 x 7.83 mm, 171 g
- Available Colors: Graphite Black, Clear Sky
What is noteworthy in terms of the case is the gradient back cover, which is not very prone to collecting fingerprints. The bezel has a standard lower chin keyhole cutout at the top.
The camera block has undergone changes, now there are 3 modules: the main 48MP, the macro fix-focus 2MP, the blur module 2MP. Unlike its older brother V20, the SE has lost its wide-angle module. It is not known which photomodules are installed.
You can also pay attention to the presence of a dual flash, but only the lower one is used in the work. With what it is connected, it is not clear.
As in the V20, SE boasts an on-screen fingerprint sensor, so the layout of all the faces of the smartphone has not changed dramatically, except that the sound has become mono and the combo tray for 2*nanoSIM and 1*microSD has been moved to the top.
The operation of the fingerprint scanner works with varying degrees of success, there can be 5 failures for ten readings. I checked on other fingers of the hand, the problem remained.
As for the screen, everything is similar to the older version V20 and is a 6.44 inch Amoled display with a resolution of 2400 * 1080 and an aspect ratio of 20:9 (409ppi density, 60 Hz refresh rate, Corning Gorilla Glass protection). The front camera window continues the waterdrop notch trend. By the way, although the camera received a lower resolution, it still has a decent supply of megapixels — 16 (32MP in versions for Asian countries).
There is no notification indicator, but instead there is an always-on AoD mode. The notification setting allows you to select only messages about missed calls or SMS.
In comparison with the “big brother”, you can observe minimal changes in the back cover (4 modules versus 3), while the front part does not have any differences at all.
The software is implemented on the basis of the Funtouch OS 11 proprietary shell based on Android 11. In order not to re-tell, below is an excerpt from my V20 review:
The first acquaintance is quite easy, all the items are intuitive and in their place, but the menu is a bit overloaded. The overall performance of the device pleases.
Pre-installed programs for the most part refers to the manufacturer itself, here is the branded application store, device store, and more. But you can’t do without a significant fly in the ointment, the shell contains applications that the system recommends downloading … And this is the first phone in which, in addition to the welcome screen during a “clean” start, they offer to install 2 dozen applications at once.
This smartphone supports contactless payments (NFC) and paint that this feature works silly. Therefore, in short, there are no problems with paying with Visa cards.
As for synthetic tests, everything is modest here and the main reason lies in the outdated Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, which will be 2 years old the other day.
- Antutu — 226 377
- 3D Mark Wild Life — 386 (Vulkan) —
- 3D Mark Sling Shot — Didn’t launch
- GeekBenchmarks — 386 and 317/1396
- GFXBenchmark — 281.3 Frames
- PCMark Work 2.0 — 6593
Vivo V20SE, like V20, has 8 GB LPDDR4x 1866 MHz RAM and 128GB UFS 2.1 permanent memory. The speed characteristics of the drive vary between 508MB/s for reading and 220MB/s for reading. Based on the tests, you can see that there are not so many differences in the iron component between the two models.
The same goes for the GPS and WiFi tests, which show identical results. The operation of the BT module (version 5.1 is used) does not cause inconvenience, most of the tested TWS headphones (OnePlus Buds Z, ZMI Purpods) were connected the first time and further work was stable.
I also liked the work of a regular microphone and speaker. The transmitted voice during conversations is clear, the interlocutor receives the signal without interference.
But the 4100mAh battery has a capacity of 100mAh more than in the older V20 model. But the battery life in the video looping test is a couple of hours shorter and generally scores quite low among the smartphones I’ve tested.
- Infinix Note 8 — 13 hours 47 minutes (5200 mAh)
- Vivo V20SE — 14 hours 25 minutes (4100 mAh)
- Poco M3 — 15 hours 26 minutes (6000 mAh)
- Infinix Zero 8 — 16 hours (4500 mAh)
- Vivo V20 — 16 hours 34 minutes (4000 mAh)
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 — 17 hours 27 minutes (5000 mAh)
- OnePlus N10 — 18 hours (4300 mAh)
What else surprised me was the noticeable slowdown of the smartphone during a long load. Therefore, it was decided to conduct a throttling test, after which everything was put in its place.
Based on the previous test, it can be understood that the gaming component is not the V20SE’s strongest strong point, therefore, in especially productive games, a noticeable decrease in performance can be observed. But in not the most demanding games, everything works well.
Battle of Titans (BoT):
Forza Street:
Asphalt Extreme:
The photo capabilities of the smartphone are implemented using 4 cameras:
- The main one is 12 (and 48MP with the help of Quad Bayer). Standard camera with correct color reproduction and good detail. When using 48MP, the saturation of the frame decreases
- Macro focus — 2MP. Fixed focal length without autofocus. The final picture does not shine with detail.
- Blur module — 2MP. Attempts of «smart» scene recognition are visible, but glitches occur periodically.
- Front — 16MP. In general, a nice camera with the possibility of software bokeh.
Examples of the cameras are shown below. Night shooting (good detail, average amount of noise):
Comparison of 12 and 48MP modes (as it was said, 48MP makes the frame less saturated):
Macro photo (when using digital zoom with 48MP, you can get identical pictures, or even better due to autofocus):
Blur module:
Other photos:
At the end, let’s sum up the pros and cons. Pros:
- ergonomic and lightweight
- fast internal storage (UFS 2.1)
- working mode AoD with settings
- FlashCharge 2.0 support (up to 33W)
- availability of NFC
- Regular call recording
- shoots well at night
Minuses:
- advertising in software
- CPU throttling
- different hardware depending on the market
- low autonomy
- slow RAM speed
- not the fastest fingerprint sensor
- weak sound (little bass)
- no DC dimming (was promised by the manufacturer)
- high starting price
Link to VIVO V20SE SMARTPHONE ON ALIEXPRESS and OFFICIAL ONLINE STORE.
In conclusion, I can say the following, Vivo V20SE turned out to be a controversial device for “overprice”. On the one hand, pretty good photo capabilities, a stylish case, fast charging at 33W, a large amount of RAM and permanent memory, and on the other hand, processor throttling, not the fastest RAM and low autonomy. I would also like to remind you that the Vivo V20SE smartphone is sold not only in our market and there are differences between the «Asian» models. For example, a 32MP front camera, another software package (a standard dialer without recording a conversation).
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