Real life Vivo X21 review: I used it for a week and here are my thoughts

Some of you may have seen our post on the Vivo X21 Smartphone launch recently. Well, I got the chance to try out the phone for a week and here are some of my thoughts on the X21!

All photos in this post were taken with the X21 unless otherwise stated.

The phone comes in a simple box with earphones, a charger cable, and an instructions booklet.

It is moderately light with a weight of 156.2g and has a large screen with a 90.3% screen-to-body ratio.

Camera

The phone’s front camera comes with Live Photo, AI Face Beauty, AI HDR, Portrait Mode and AI Stickers while the rear camera includes other unique features like Slow Motion, Professional Mode, Time Lapse and Backlight.

I mostly explored the camera feature in this phone and was pleasantly surprised with the way the camera technology reacts to different lightings and subjects.

For example, I tried to shoot an evening sunset scene with the phone and was amazed by the intensity of the colours that were captured. In the picture above, the red hues of the sunset are clearly contrasted against the buildings and the fast focusing effect can be compared to that of a camera!

I also tried to take a photo of a cheese tart to show the phone camera automatically identifying the subject as food under the AI modes. The final result is a bright, beautiful image that is extremely sharp and focused.

I was most impressed with the phone’s ability to even out indoor and outdoor lighting to create the perfect photo. The two images above were taken in the Marina Bay Sands Theatre where lighting is harsh and strong. However, the phone was able to capture the interior of the theatre perfectly!

Outdoors, I felt that the camera is great at balancing backlight and ensures that the picture is not overexposed.

Earphones

I utilized the given earphones to listen to music as well as to watch shows online and I can confirm that they are of excellent sound quality. These are definitely high-quality earphones that make buying expensive external ones unnecessary! 

Features that I Love

While playing with the phone’s features, some stood out to me and I wanted them share them with you!

Firstly, I loved the thoughtful details under the keyboard section where one could choose to easily resize the length and width of the keyboard for easier typing. This is extremely helpful due to the fact that the phone is rather large and makes one-handed typing hard if you have smaller hands. This feature then solves this issue immediately.

I also love how you can change the fonts and themes in the phone, under the Vivo Themes application. The phone comes with some preloaded themes and there are several others that you can download and use.

Last but not least, I had a lot of fun experimenting with the password options. Apart from the built-in fingerprint scanning technology covered in our previous article, there is also facial recognition that can be used for easy access to the phone.

Conclusion 

For a smartphone, the 3200mAh battery also lasts decently long – especially with the features Low Power Mode and Super Saving Mode. I placed the phone in Low Power Mode and was able to use it to take photos and audio recordings throughout the day, with the phone occasionally connected to wifi (which drains battery life).

Take note however, that this estimation was done without a sim card attached to the phone hence it does not consider usages such as texting or calling.

I also think the storage space of 128GB ROM (and the added option of inserting a microSD Card of up to 256GB) is satisfactory and enough for an average phone user, where one will not have to worry about running out of space or having to clear applications over time.

Design-wise, I definitely think that the sleek, 3D glass cover makes the phone look modern and beautiful. It is also extremely thin (only 3.1mm thick!) and can easily be slipped into your purse or pockets.

The general screen display is also sharp and clear as the Vivo X21 uses P3 display colour management technology and supports a P3 wide colour gamut to ensure accurate and saturated colours.

For a retail price of $799, this phone is, in my opinion, definitely worth it! You get to enjoy premium sound quality with the earphones and a phone with amazing features! You can visit Vivo’s website to view specifications of the phone and you can purchase it at M1, Starhub and authorized dealers including Challenger and Newstead Technologies. To find an exact shop where you can purchase the X21, click here!

Not into smartphones anymore? How about the Nokia banana phone?