Like it or not, Apple is really the trendsetter in phone design. Whether or not are those designs desirable or not , is an entirely different story. Case in point: the AirPods and more recently, the infamous notch on the Apple iPhone X. When Essential Phone came with the notch, it did not draw as much attention because, it was rather subtle, really, but when Apple did, it became the talk of the town. Talks ranging from praises to disgusts. Notwithstanding the controversy of cutting into the display real estate in an awkward manner, several companies have follow suit since.
Now, as it seems, the starting-to-get innovative Chinese handset maker, Vivo, is also on the notch bandwagon and it has not one, not two, but three devices that flaunt the awkward notch. The models introduced include Vivo X21, Y85 and the destined-for-international-market V9. The latter has an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone X, right down to the vertical dual-camera and the wallpaper. In fact to say the V9 has an “uncanny resemblance” to the iPhone X is a gross understatement. That thing is practically a twin to the iPhone X! I am not even kidding! Here, have a look:
The X21, on the other hand, appears to be a flagship series and it is offered with and without under display fingerprint scanner. Oh, wait. In fact, all three touts the same vertical dual camera setup and similar colorful wallpaper. Hmmm. What’s going on here, really? I am not going to lie. I was kind of drawn to the X21 with under display fingerprint scanner because it has a cleaner look without the obtrusive physical fingerprint scanner on its back. If you ask me, it is one device to go with if you dig Apple’s design but loathe Apple’s autocratic control over its mobile OS.
BUT, but… in reality, I’d choose the upcoming “Apex” because of the incredible narrow bezel design that has no notch. Pricing-wise, V9 is unknown at this point. Neither is the availability. As for the X21 and Y85, they are available in China now starting at 2,898 yuan and 1,598 yuan, respectively (roughly US$460 and US$254). Keep going for the spec overview of the three devices.
Vivo X21 | Vivo Y85 | Vivo V9 |
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| OS | Android 8.1 Oreo | Android 8.1 Oreo | Android 8.1 Oreo with Funtouch OS 4.0 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 (SDM660AIE), octacore (2.2 GHz + 1.84 GHz Kryo 260) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 (SDM450), octacore up to 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 (MSM8953 Pro), octacore up to 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 |
| GPU | Adreno 512 | Adreno 506 600 MHz | Adreno 506 650 MHz |
| Display | 6.28-inch, FHD+ (2280 × 1080 pixels, 18:9) Pixel density at about 401 ppi (pixel per inch) Super AMOLED | 6.26-inch, FHD+ (2280 × 1080 pixels, 18:9) Pixel density at about 403 ppi (pixel per inch) IPS In-cell | 6.3-inch, FHD+ (2280 × 1080 pixels, 18:9) Pixel density at about 400 ppi (pixel per inch) IPS In-cell, 2.5D Glass |
| Memory | X21 RAM: 6GB/6GB ROM: 64GB/128GB, Extended memory: microSD up to 256GB X21 with Under Display Fingerprint Scanner RAM: 6GB ROM: 128GB, Extended memory: microSD up to 256GB | RAM: 4GB/4GB ROM: 32GB/64GB Extended memory: microSD up to 256GB | RAM: 4GB ROM: 64GB Extended memory: microSD up to 256GB |
| Network | 2G GSM：850/900/1800/1900MHz 2G CDMA：800MHz 3G CDMA EVDO：800MHz 3G TD-SCDMA：1880/2010MHz 3G WCDMA：850/900/1900/2100MHz 4G TDD-LTE：B34/B38/B39/B40/B41 4G FDD-LTE：B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B8 4G+ TDD-LTE：B38/B39/B40/B41/B39+B41 4G+ FDD-LTE：B1/B3/B1+B3 | 2G GSM：850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G WCDMA：B1/B5/B8 3G TD-SCDMA：B34/B39 3G CDMA：BC0 4G FDD-LTE：B1/B3/B5/B8 4G TDD-LTE：B34/B38/B39/B40/B41 4G FDD-LTE：B1/B3/B4/B5/B8 | 2G GSM: B3/5/8, 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G WCDMA: B1/5/8, 850/900/2100MHz 4G FDD-LTE: B1/3/5/7/8/20/28, 700/850/900/1800/2100/2600MHz 4G TDD-LTE: B38/40/41, 1900/2300/2535-2655/2570-2620MHz *Bands are country-specific. See the entire list HERE. |
| Camera | Rear: 24MP AF + 5MP dual cameras, ƒ/1.8,ƒ/2.4 Slow-mo, Live Photo, Portrait, Pro Mode, Time-lapse, Panorama, Beauty Mode, AR Stickers and more Front: 24MP ƒ/2.0 aperture HDR, Slow-mo, Live Photo, Portrait, Panorama, AI Face Beauty, AR Stickers and more | Rear: 13MP + 2MP dual cameras, ƒ/2.0, LED Flash Front: 16MP, ƒ/2.0 HDR, Pro Mode, Slow-mo, Time-lapse, Filter, Live Photo, AI Face Beauty, Front and back Panorama, Real-time beauty mode, Gender detection, Palm capture, AR stickers, 1080p videoing | Rear: 16MP + 5MP dual cameras, ƒ/2.0, Flash Front: 24MP, ƒ/2.0 Ultra HD, PPT, Pro Mode, Slow-mo, Time-Lapse, Filter, Live Photo, Bokeh, HDR, AI Face Beauty, Panorama, 4K video, Palm capture, Gender detection, Retina Flash, AR Stickers |
| Battery | 3,200 mAh | 3,260 mAh | 3,260 mAh |
| Connectivity | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz) with 2x2MIMO Bluetooth 5.0, USB 2.0 | WiFi/WAPI, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 | Dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, USB 2.0 |
| Sensors | Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Gravity sensor, Gyro sensor, Fingerprint sensor on the back (X21) and Under Display Fingerprint Scanner (X21 with Under Display Fingerprint Scanner) | Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Gravity sensor, Gyro sensor, Fingerprint sensor | Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, E-compass, Fingerprint sensor |
| Positioning | GPS | GPS | GPS, GLONASS |
| Audio/Video | HiFi AK4376A Audio supported formats: AAC/AMR/MIDI/OGG/FLAC/WMA/WAV/APE/MP3 Video supported formats: MP4/??? | Audio supported formats: AAC/AAC+/AMR/MIDI/OGG/FLAC/APE/MP3 Video supported formats: MP4/??? | Audio supported formats: WAV/MP3/MP2/AMR-NB/AMR-WB/MIDI/Vorbis/APE/FLAC Video supported formats: MP4/3GP/AVI |
| Dimension | 154.45 x 74.78 x 7.37mm, 156.2g | 154.81 x 75.03 x 7.89 mm, 150g | 154.81 x 75.03 x 7.89 mm, 150g |
| Others | Dual SIM, Face Wake, FM Radio | Dual SIM, Face Wake | Dual SIM, FM Radio |
Images: Vivo.
