vivo just unveiled the Y3s. It’s not to be confused with the Y33s from earlier this year or with the Y3s from last year. Not to mention the Y3 from the year before. They are quite similar though not identical. Long story short, the vivo Y3s (2021) is already available in India at a sub INR 10,000 price. For now at least, the online vivo store is kicking things off with a 20% discount on the MSRP, so the final price is INR 9,500 (US$ 125/€ 110). There are no memory options to choose from, you can only pick between the color options: Starry Blue, Mint Green and Pearl White.
This means that you get a Helio P35 with 2
GB of RAM and 32 GB storage – perhaps this is the place to mention that this
runs Android 11 Go Edition (unlike the Y3, Y3s and other versions).
Specifically, this is the FunTouch 11 version of the OS. At least you get a
dedicated spot for a microSD card, right next to two nano-SIMs.
Other than the Go edition software, what
sets this Y3s from the previous models is the slightly larger screen – it now
measures 6.51” (up from 6.35”). It is still a 720p+ IPS LCD. Well, okay, the
cameras are different too. The notched selfie camera got a 5 MP sensor this
year, instead of the 8 or 16 MP sensors seen previously. The main camera keeps
its 13 MP sensor, however there is no ultra wide camera here. There isn’t even
a depth sensor, just a main camera with a 27 mm f/2.2 lens and an LED flash.
There’s no fingerprint reader on board either, but you can use face unlock.
One thing we wish vivo changed from the
older models is the micro-USB port. USB-C is the port of choice now and it
could enable some fast charging for the relatively large 5,000 mAh battery. As
it is, charging speed is not mentioned at all. We only saw battery life
numbers: over 16 hours of HD video streaming or nearly 9 hours of
“resource-intensive gameplay”.
As resource-intensive as the 12 nm chipset
can handle. It has eight Cortex-A53 cores and a PowerVR GE8320 GPU. For what
it’s worth, the Helio P35 has basically the same hardware and clock speeds as
the G35, which is still used in affordable phones. Anyway, the 3.5 mm headphone
jack can offer some free entertainment with FM radio support. If you want to go
wireless, there is Bluetooth 5.0. Also, Wi-Fi (dual band) and LTE for Internet
connectivity. The retail package of the vivo Y3s (2021) includes a preapplied
screen protector, a phone case, plus a power adapter and micro-USB cable. You
can grab one today from the official store.
