Vivo Y95 Review: A Mix of Style and Substance

The new Vivo Y95 is out in Pakistan and comes as yet another affordable option for smartphone users to check out. The phone is priced at PKR 34,999 at the time of launch and packs a whole ton of features.

Vivo Y95 is the first phone to come with Snapdragon 439. Other than that, the Y95 has dual cameras on the back and shows off a gradient design that comes in Starry Black and Aurora Red.

Let’s dive into the real-life review of the smartphone to give you a better idea of how it will perform for you.

Vivo Y95 specs

  • Display: 6.22 inches IPS LCD
  • OS: Android 8.1 (Oreo), Funtouch 4.5
  • Chipset: Snapdragon 439
  • RAM/ROM: 4GB/64GB
  • Camera (rear): 13MP + 2MP
  • Camera (front): 20MP
  • Battery: 4030 mAh

Design and Display

Vivo Y95 has certainly borrowed some design elements from its expensive sibling, V11 Pro, as you can see the same two-tone colors, the placement of rear cameras and the water-drop notch in the newly launched phone.

The phone is made out of plastic, which is elegantly built to give a premium look; however, you will have to keep the protective case on the phone at all times as it catches fingerprint smudges and is prone to scratches.

The power key and volume rocker are on the usual right side of the phone. On the left, you get a dual SIM tray with a dedicated slot for a micro SD card. The dual camera is placed vertically on the top left side of the back, and the fingerprint scanner is placed in the middle.

We think that the phone is quite a well-built and sturdy device that adheres to the latest trends of bezel-less design and a gradient look.

Vivo Y95 packs a 6.22-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels and a 19:9 aspect ratio, all of which sums up to 82.9% screen to body ratio. The display houses a waterdrop notch like many other midrange phones that we have recently seen, including the newly launched Oppo A7.

Though colors are accurate and vibrant on display, it could be really a deal-breaker for those who are especially fond of watching high-resolution content as this screen as the phone only provides a 720p display at its highest.

The brightness is also excellent, and the phone can be used comfortably under direct sunlight. Even with almost 70% brightness, it could use browse through the phone and do my daily tasks under direct sunlight; however, watching videos in such light is not recommended.

OS

On top of Android Oreo 8.1, the phone comes with Funtouch OS 4.5. Vivo’s custom software takes a bit of getting used to if you have not used any Vivo phone before. While Funtouch may not be our favorite overlay but honestly, skins from all the Chinese phones pretty much resemble each other in many aspects.

Vivo has also included some useful features in their software like the Motorbike mode, which allows you to handle incoming calls while driving a motorbike. This feature is still exclusive to Funtouch. You can also auto-reject calls and respond via SMS using this feature.

Motorbike Mode in Funtouch

Sadly Funtouch misses the creativity element in its design and borrows a lot from the iOS. The control center appears if swiped from the bottom, just like in any iPhone. The status bar displays only notifications, and the toggles are there in the control center.

Vivo Y95 software

Additionally, Vivo Y95 comes with a dedicated Game Mode, as we have earlier seen in the EMUI of Huawei phones. With this mode, you can block incoming calls, mute notifications, and enable picture-in-picture view while gaming so you don’t have to switch apps to chat with your friends.

There are a lot of pre-installed apps on the phone, including the  V-Appstore, iMusic, iTheme, iManager, vivoCloud, EasyShare, vivo.com, kids mode, WPS Office, Lazada, Feedback, Facebook, and the usual Google applications. That’s a lot of bloatware for a guy like me who wants clean software.

Performance and battery

The Vivo Y95 is powered by a Snapdragon 439 that is coupled with Adreno 505 GPU. A RAM of 4GB drives the phone through daily tasks along with an internal storage of 64GB.

Simple tasks such as social media browsing, transferring data, streaming videos, and navigating through the phone weren’t a problem. The phone performed great in our light usage test. Here are the benchmark results of the device.

When using the phone for heavy gaming and multitasking, we noticed a great deal of insignificant performance. Keep in mind that playing PUBG on basic graphics settings won’t be a problem for the device, but playing games like the Asphalt 9 would lead to frame drops in the game, ultimately producing a laggy experience.

The phone also gets warm in heavy usage but not to a point where it gets uncomfortable to hold anymore. However, you naturally would not expect an entry-level processor to provide a mid-range performance, let alone the flagship experience.

Vivo Y95 Battery test

Vivo Y95 Packs a 4030 mAh battery is quite the performer in terms of battery. We usually test our phones’ battery rigorously with the brightness on full, and a 4G LTE enabled the connection. The same was done with Y95, and the results were terrific.

On light usage, which includes calling, texting, file sharing, navigating through the phone, and social media browsing, the device consumed just 12% battery in one hour with the above-stated parameters.

On heavy usage, we managed to juice out 18% of the battery from the device in one hour, which included heavy gaming, multitasking, and running resource-intensive apps.

Camera

Vivo Y95 dual camera setup on the back with 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel lenses that can produce decent enough photos provided that you have adequate lighting conditions. The front of the device hosts a 20MP selfie shooter that is housed inside the tiny notch.

The pictures come out good in decent light. Still, the camera on the Y95 sometimes overexposes and oversaturates the shots, so you might want to lower down the exposure manually to get your desired results. The HDR works well in brightening up the dark images.

Building Picture with Auto Mode on Vivo Y95
Auto Mode
Building Picture with HDR Mode on Vivo Y95
HDR Mode
With Auto Mode on Vivo Y95
Auto Mode
With HDR Mode on Vivo Y95
HDR Mode

Though the AI capabilities of the camera are a help, undoubtedly, that doesn’t change the fact that Y95 is not capable of immaculate low light photography. Even then, the phone performs well in low-light shots.

Image with Auto mode on Vivo Y95
Auto Mode
Image with HDR Mode on Vivo Y95
HDR Mode
Pots Picture with Auto mode on Vivo Y95
Auto Mode
Picture at Night with Auto mode on Vivo Y95
Auto mode
Dancing Fountain Picture with Auto mode at night with vivo y95
Auto Mode

The portrait mode works quite well. Though a crisp line in the background blur effect and the subject in the foreground is not visibly clear and it also tends to soften the edges out a bit while blurring the background, the camera plays its part well. It would be unjust to demand more of it.

Picture with Bokeh Mode on Vivo Y95
Bokeh Mode
Selfie with Vivo Y95

The 20MP front shooter does its job well even in low light and manages to grab a good selfie where it does not tone down the skin too much to the point where the picture looks artificial.

Verdict

Vivo Y95 certainly presents itself as the style statement. With its gradient color and an excellent grip on top of a good design language, the phone is quite attractive for consumers of every age.

The display is also satisfactory, if not the best, with only one downside of being a 720P display, which refrains it from playing higher graphics content. The battery on the phone is no doubt amazing, and can easily last two days with light usage.

The chipset is, however, entry-level, and does not justify the price. Personally, I would go for the Nokia 6.1 Plus in this price range because of better build quality and higher chipset.

3 thoughts on “Vivo Y95 Review: A Mix of Style and Substance”

  1. Battery looks very good and other specs are okay too. But under this price Nokia 6.1 plus would be a better choice as it has more to offer than vivo y95

Leave a Reply to Ghazanfar Ali Riaz Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top