The fact is that a lot of cheap smartphones are been sold in the world as leading products. Everyone wants one of the bigger ones but is usually content with what their bank account allows. The Y91C Vivo, a 6.2-inch Android 8.1-based phone lives near the end of the cost scale and is a very affordable phone. I bought this phone from Philippines and it cost only Php7000 pesos or around $140 from a mobile network SMART.
First impressions of the Vivo Y91C
Pros
- A headphone jack on the bottom of the phone is always welcome.
- The Vivo Y91C is by no means the ugliest phone, and if you’re dealing with shades of blue, you’ll love its back panel.
- The Vivo includes a transparent case that is sturdy enough to protect the Y91 from drops and bumps, and the eyelet even covers the micro USB port when not in use. Good touch.
- The edge of the case also peels off a few millimeters from the screen, which means that placing the Vivo Y91C upside down should not damage the screen.
- Without the case, the phone is incredibly robust and is more premium than its price. There is an excellent “clink” on the back panel when you touch it with your fingernail.
- It’s probably the only phone I’ve used that has “Moto Mode”.
- Vivo’s default email application allows you to blacklist numbers, allowing the user to delete SMS spam all boring.
- Google and Play Store services are installed and available.
- The 6.22-inch screen is large enough without being bulky.
- The 13MP rear camera isn’t excellent, but there are a few better offers in its price range.
- Its price is extremely competitive at $283.
Ordinary
- I don’t want to call it the Vivo Y91C designer cookie cutter, but that’s the way it is.
- Put this phone next to any other mid-range phone or budget from 2019, and you won’t be able to tell it apart.
- MediaTek Inc. Helio P22 chipset may have eight cores, but It was slow to switch between apps or browse the web.
- I love the “Shake to turn on the lamp” feature, but it was so unreliable and slow to activate that I almost didn’t use it during unloading.
- The 4.030mAh battery is good, if not expected, adding to 2020 $283 phone.
Cons
- The lack of a physical fingerprint sensor in this price range sucks. Face unlock is good, but you can’t use it at night. Give me practical solutions instead of technology next year.
- There is no fingerprint unlock technology at all, unlock with only face or PIN/password/pattern.
- FunTouch OS, Vivo user interface on top of Android, very different from any other Android mask. Not positive. I found myself looking for menus that I would have no problem finding on other devices.
- You cannot access the Settings menu by dragging the screen to the home page. You know, the traditional way on Android? Instead, you need to swipe from the home button at the bottom of the screen.
- The Settings menu also does not have a search bar at the top of the page. You will have to research it manually to find what you are looking for.
- The year is 2020, and this phone comes out with Android 8.1 Oreo.
- TouchPal, a keyboard app whose developer is temporarily banned from the Play Store 2019, is the default keyboard.
- My phone literally wouldn’t let me use the Albums app until I gave it access to the location. Why does the Albums app need to access the site? Why don’t you let me see your pictures?
- You must grant access to the Themes application to your contacts and “make and manage calls”.
- Bloatware is minimal on the Vivo Y91C but is present. Facebook is installed by default, along with a host of Vivo apps.
Verdict
Most of the reviews like from phonewiza.com are not critical at all. If you just use this for watching Kdramas, Netflix and ordinary use then this phone is for you. That’s surely what you get when you buy a smartphone for less than $300. It will never function as a flagship; This is one of the few problems that does not come if you invest money in it (i.e. buy a better phone). The only real downside is FuntouchOS, which seems to slow down all the work. That said, we’ve seen both slower and more expensive smartphones. This year the problem would have been the performance of the middle class a few years ago. If you are not overly sensitive to your permissions and can handle a regular camera, the cheapest Vivo ticket will do the job you want. And it will even look good if you do unless you have an alternative that you need.
