vivo Y20s [G] Review

vivo has officially launched its latest addition to its Y-series lineup, the Y20s [G]. It sports a 6.51-inch LCD, Mediatek Helio G80 chipset, and a massive 5,000mAh battery. In line with that, vivo claims it as a budget gaming smartphone, so now let’s see how this device performs and find out if this one is for you.

Design and Construction

First, let’s talk about the design. Looking at the vivo Y20s [G], there’s no doubt that it looks similar to the Y20i. It’s made out of a glossy polycarbonate body, and it creates this ray-like design when you move the device in a different direction. Our unit comes in Obsidian Black, but it is also available in a Purist Blue colorway.

We’ll also find its vertically stacked triple-rear cameras and the vivo branding here at the back.

Upfront, it has a slightly broad chin, but the other bezels surrounding the screen are quite slim. There’s a notch at the top of the screen where the front camera resides and above it, is the call speaker.

For buttons and ports, on the right side, we’ll find the volume rockers and a power button that also acts as a fingerprint scanner. They’re well-positioned even with the phone’s size, and you won’t have trouble reaching them.

On the left, there’s the dual SIM tray slot and the dedicated microSD card slot.

Nothing can be found up top, while at the bottom, we have the dated micro-USB port, the 3.5mm audio port, the speaker grille, and the primary microphone.

The Y20s [G] comes with quite a heft, but it still feels comfortable to hold. It would have been nice if the Y20s [G] had a USB Type-C port instead, since we are now in the era in which USB Type-C is the norm.

Display and Multimedia

For display, the vivo Y20s [G] sports a 6.51-inch IPS LCD. It has a maximum resolution of 720p, and the display is good and would suffice for casual use. Thanks to its sizable display, it makes it great for video-watching.

We’re also giving a point to the brightness as we were able to use it under direct sunlight even at just 50%. In the settings, users have the option to adjust the color temperature of the display to cool, default, or warm.

Audio quality is one where the phone screams budget as you only get a single downward-firing speaker, which is only good for voice calls, and music can easily get distorted at maximum volume.

Camera

Now for cameras, we have a triple-camera setup consisting of 13MP f/2.2 (wide), 2MP f/2.4 (macro), and 2MP f/2.4 (depth). There’s also an LED flash located below the rear cameras. While for selfies, we have an 8MP one.

Images produced from the vivo Y20s [G] are quite impressive, it’s not perfect, but getting good lighting they look pretty good. Photos with HDR make it look more good, especially if you’re having a problem with lighting conditions. Honestly, the portrait mode can be quite a hit and miss in separating the subject from the background.

The Y20s [G] is also capable of shooting macro but don’t expect good quality. Also, there’s no dedicated Night Mode here, so it’s advisable to avoid low-light shots with this device.

As for selfies, the images produced by the Y20s [G] look decent enough for social media posting. There’s a dedicated AI beauty mode, and switching the beauty mode to the maximum will make selfies look too processed, so we recommend the standard AI setting, as it makes the skin smooth for more natural-looking.

Video-wise, it can shoot up to 1080p at 30fps, and the quality is okay; however, it struggles sometimes to focus on the subject. It also doesn’t feature any stabilization.

OS, UI, and Apps

Running the Y20s [G] is Funtouch OS 11, based on Android 11. There’s an app drawer, and you have the option to use navigation keys or gestures.

It comes with a LOT of pre-installed apps like Gcash, Lazada, Likee, Facebook, Twitter, and proprietary apps from vivo such as Easy Share, Game center, and Vivocloud. Out of the 128GB storage, you get a usable 110GB storage, which you can further expand via microSD.

As for features, the Y20s [G] has an Ultra Game Mode wherein you can enhance your gaming experience; there’s an Esports Mode, Game picture-in-picture, and Accidental touch prevention.

The Y20s [G] is also equipped with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and face recognition. They’re both pretty fast and accurate.

Performance and Benchmarks

MediaTek Helio G80 powers up the Y20s [G], paired up with a Mali-G52 GPU, 6GB RAM, and 128GB storage. The device is excellent to use in basic tasks, such as browsing the internet, heavy social media use, and video-watching, although you might notice some lags when switching apps.

When it comes to gaming, playing light games is all good; however, we experience stutters when playing graphically intensive games like Asphalt 9 and Genshin Impact, despite activating the Ultra Game Mode.

• AnTuTu v8 – 181,658
• PCMark – 5,909 (Work 2.0)
• 3DMark – 689 (Wild Life)
• Geekbench – 374 (Single-core), 1,302 (Multi-core), 1,167 (OpenCL)
• AndroBench – 301.1 MB/s (Read), 152.06 MB/s (Write)

Connectivity and Battery

The Y20s [G] has modern connectivity features, including WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and it comes with an FM radio.

For battery, the smartphone has a massive 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support. Using the device lasts us a day or two on moderate usage. Charging, on the other hand, took nearly two hours from 0-100%.

In the PCMark battery test, the device yielded 18 hours and 4 minutes. Our standard video loop test (1080p movie on loop, 50% brightness, 50% volume with earphones, airplane mode on) got us 22 hours and 40 minutes worth of playback. The Y20s G’s battery life is enough for all-day usage. Even with an 18W fast charger, though, it took us around an hour and 30 minutes for the device to be fully charged.

Conclusion

The vivo Y20s [G] has its pros up its sleeve, such as its impressive battery life, bright display, good for casual gaming, and a pretty good set of cameras. Its performance is what you would expect for an entry-level phone, and for sure, it will be priced as such. However, we still find the micro USB port and the 720p video playback resolution to be a bummer. If you can live with its limitations, then we can say that Vivo Y20s [G] is still a great phone for you.

vivo Y20s [G] specs:
6.51-inch LCD (1600 x 720)
Mediatek Helio G80
Mali-G52 2EEMC2
6GB RAM
128GB storage
Triple rear cameras
• 13MP F2.2 (main)
• 2MP F2.4 (macro)
• 2MP F2.4 (depth)
8MP front camera
4G LTE
Dual-SIM (nano)
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 5.0
Fingerprint scanner
Funtouch 11 (Android 11)
Micro USB
5,000mAh battery w/ 18W fast charge
164.4 x 76.3 x 8.4 mm
192.3 grams
Obsidian Black and Purist Blue