Vivo Y91C Review – The Right Entry Choice

Vivo Y91C Review

Vivo launched its budget smartphone Vivo Y91C last month in Pakistan and we had got this phone for quite while now and here is the full review.

The Y91C comes with very basic set of features, you might need to start using a smartphone. But the quality elements follow in this phone from the company. This phone costs PKR 18,999 PKR 19,999 in Pakistan, that’s around USD 143.

Update: The price of this phone has been increased during recent price hikes. The phone now costs PKR 19,999.

Related: Get a chance to win Vivo Y91C

Let’s have quick look at the specifications and features of the Vivo Y91C.

Quick Features and Specifications

Vivo Y91C
SoC Chip: MediaTek Helio P22 – MT6762R
CPU: 8x Cortex-A53 2.0GHz
GPU: PowerVR GE8320
Memory 2GB RAM + 32GB Storage
microSD card dedicated slot (up to 256GB)
OS / Software Android 8.1 Oreo / Funtouch OS 4.5
Display 6.22-inch IPS LCD – Full-incell
1520×720 HD+ resolution, 19:9,
Pixel density: ~271 ppi
Screen-to-body ratio: ~88%
Rear Camera 13MP, PDAF, f/2.2 lens aperture
LED flash, bokeh mode,
720p/1080p video recording at 30fps
Front Camera 5MP, f/1.8
Battery 4030 mAh
Charger included with retail package: 5V/1A
Size/Weight 155.11 x 75.09 x 8.28 mm / 163.5 grams
Sensors Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light, E-Compass, Virtual Gyroscope
Connectivity WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHz
WiFi Tethering, WiFi Direct, Personal Hotspot
Bluetooth: 5, GPS/AGPS, FM Radio,
USB 2.0 micro USB
Color Options Fusion Black,Ocean Blue,Sunset Red

There are three color options to choose from Fusion Black, Ocean Blue, Sunset Red. The red one is what we got here which really couldn’t be a choice for boys. In fact some girls may also prefer to choose the Blue or Black variants than the Red/Pink variant.

Vivo Y91C color options

As you know this phone comes with MediaTek’s Helio P22, the entry-level processor. There are two other variants Vivo had but didn’t bring to Pakistan. The one was initially launched with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 439, a fingerprint sensor, and some other memory configurations. The second was launched with the same Helio P22 chip but better memory configurations and a fingerprint sensor. The company launched a third variant with P22 without a fingerprint sensor.

So as you have noticed from the pictures above, the one we have here is the third one – without the fingerprint sensor.

Unboxing of Vivo Y91C

As Vivo doesn’t bother to ship earphones within the retail packaging of Y-series, the Y91C also lacks it. The phone ships with only a power charger and a micro USB cable. Let’s just count the factory-applied screen protector and an add-on silicone back cover.

Vivo V91C Unboxing

  • Vivo Y91C device
  • 5V~1A charger
  • micro USB cable
  • Add-on silicone back cover
  • Factory-applied screen protector
  • User guide
  • SIM Eject Tool.

Build and Design

Occupying a space in entry-level segment, the Vivo Y91C comes with full plastic body. As you know plastic is always prone to attract scratches far quicker if not covered with a back case. But why would you even think about that when you are buying a cheaper phone? You won’t get anything better in this price.

So what we can talk about a plastic material, is the build quality. How does the company makes a plastic phone and how good does it looks in hands. Apart from the red color, I liked the not-so-thicker profile of Y91C but it may have more compact if the company used a smaller display.

Vivo Y91C Review Design

The mid-frame is also plastic and joins right between the screen frame and the back panel. There is nothing on the back apart from the VIVO branding in the middle and a tiny camera on the corner with an LED flash.

Components and Ports

The Vivo Y91C has a common layout of components and ports as we usually see on other phones. micro USB port is on the bottom of the phone along with the speaker grill.

The audio jack is also on the bottom and the top side of the phone is completely plain. There isn’t even a secondary mic for noise cancellation.

The power button and the volume buttons are on the right side of the phone, while on the other side the SIM slot is available.

It’s not a hybrid SIM slot and you won’t need to worry about choosing between a SIM card or a memory card. Instead you can use all – a microSD card alongside two SIM slots.

Vivo Y91C Review Dual SIM microSD card

Weighing 164 grams, this phone doesn’t feel much heavy in hands. However the size of the phone may not be an appealing thing for many. Slim bezels have helped the phone stay quite within limits though.

The phone is only 0.2mm thicker than Huawei Y7 Prime 2019, but Y91C has narrow overall profile with thinner bezels around.

Display

Vivo Y91C follows the 2018’s most trendy feature. Yet tiny, but it still comes with a display notch. It’s dew-drop style notch that only house a front facing camera in it. Vivo calls it a Halo FullView display.

Vivo Y91C Review Display

It’s 6.22-inch large screen with FullView bezel-less experience. The front still has a bit larger chin. The display resolution keeps at 720p which is an ideal resolution for lower-end phone with low performing processor. While delivering content at pixel density of 217ppi, the phone has a screen-to-body ratio of 88.6% approximately, according to official document.

IPS display is better with Full-incell technology. it’s vivid but not sharp due to low-resolution on a large display. That’s the second reason I’d love to recommend any smartphone that has a 720p resolution but also has a screen size of at most 5.8-inch. That would give you a compact profile as well as a sharp content.

But just keep it real, these phones now don’t come with any thing lesser than 6-inch. Probably because you (the people) love to have larger screens no matter what on what resolution. Do you? let us know in the comments below.

Software and UI

Vivo Y91C runs Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box with the proprietary Funtouch OS 4.5 software layer on top. This interface doesn’t have any app drawer but an only home screens as app launcher.

Vivo Y91C Software UI

Like previous iterations, Funtouch 4.5 keeps its resemblance with iOS. All the apps are there on home screen however you can organize them into folders. A static bottom row of apps is also present. You can pull up a control center with a swipe-up gesture on the bottom edge. It brings a row of frequent apps icons, the brightness and media volume controller, and the quick switches/toggles. The drop-down panel from top status bar only brings notifications.

In addition to standard Android navigation, Vivo Y91C offers gesture based navigation too. Those gestures are exactly we have seen in iPhone X. It’s easy to understand and keep in mind just like shown in the screens below.

Performance and Battery Life

The Vivo Y91C is powered by the MediaTek Helio P22 chipset. It packs an octa-core ARM CPU with eight cores of Cortex-A53 – all clocked at 2.0GHz. It comes with PowerVR GE8320 and 2GB of RAM.

The processor itself is comparable to Snapdragon 450 for more regular performance of the phone. In fact it’s somewhat better as long as benchmark numbers suggest. Just take Rs. 26k Huawei’s Y7 Prime 2019 for example. The 20k Vivo Y91C can outperform both

AnTuTu v7: 76,059

Vivo Y91C Benchmark AnTuTu

Geekbench Multi-core: 3328

Vivo Y91C Benchmark Geekbench Multi Core

Geekbench Single-core: 832

Vivo Y91C Benchmark Geekbench SIngle Core

But you shouldn’t really expect some heavy gaming from this phone. As the PowerVR GPU is not so good to play some graphics hefty games. However you can still play games like PUBG which offer different levels of graphics configuration. Means it will limit the system resources to let you play smoothly but with not-so-cool graphics quality.

Camera Test

The camera user experience is just same as we have seen in other Vivo smartphones previously with Funtouch OS 4.5, including V11. But due to the price category, Y91C comes with very limited set of options.

There simple a few viewfinder modes with Photo, Video, Face Beauty, Professional and Document read mode. The phone doesn’t even support panorama mode. Professional mode is for the name sake as you can’t really get out of it. You can record up to 1080p videos at 30fps but no EIS is added with any lower resolution too.

Image Quality

Vivo Y91C captures nice shots in bright day light. Image detail seems fine from an entry level smartphone but still the distant objects looses detail specially the foliage and grass is all smudged out. Colors are accurate and looks nice. Noise handling was also good in some situations but can be spotted in dark gradient shades.

There is no HDR feature with the camera but the camera can handle dynamic range at some extent. The camera is not that good in low-light as heavy noise mostly occurs with higher ISO usage.

Daylight/Outdoor Samples

Low-light/Indoor Samples

Conclusion and Verdict

Vivo Y91C Hands-On

Vivo Y91C is a good buy in this price range. The other option is the Realme C1 with Snapdragon 450 which is much common in this price range. However I told that the Y91C is better performer with Helio P22 than Realme C1 or even little expensive Huawei Y7 Prime. But why I won’t recommend Realme C1 is because its 16GB storage is not the best option to go for.

Sure the Vivo Y91C comes out with more numbers, if you ask me. But again it depends, what do you prefer more. Whether you want only a bit better gaming performance on one side, or double the storage on the other side with everything better in regular performance. Make your choice.