With prices of premium phones now well at $1000 and beyond, many Android smartphone buyers will be glad to know the budget segment is getting even better. In India, phones such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, Realme 1, Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1, Honor 9N and many others have made this segment very competitive, both in terms of specs and features as well as pricing.
In fact, this class is so competitive that other companies are finding it difficult to eclipse established players like Xiaomi and Huawei, but with the new Vivo Y81, the Chinese smartphone vendor is aiming to disrupt the progress these players have been making in the second largest smartphone market in the world.
So, will the Vivo Y81 actually manage to undercut the already established budget smartphone vendors in India? Let’s find out.
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Vivo Y81 specs
- 6.22-inch 19:9 HD+ LCD display
- MediaTek Helio P22 chipset
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB expandable storage
- 13MP main camera
- 5MP front camera
- 3260mAh battery
- Android 8.1 Oreo
A look at the above specs doesn’t leave the impression that Vivo is about to cause a major upset in the budget midrange segment. Even more disappointing is the fact that the supposed Vivo Y71 In this price range, there are phones with better specs and features than the Vivo Y81 and while this statement might not be true for all markets the Y81 has launched since June 2018, those in India will agree more.
Like the Xiaomi Redmi 6, the Vivo Y81 is powered by a new chipset in MediaTek Helio P22 mated with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. While the fact that the Helio P22 is a product of a 12nm process means the chipset is more efficient than the 14nm Snapdragon 625, the same cannot be said about the latest Snapdragon 636 that powers the Redmi Note 5 and ZenFone Max Pro M1 or even the Snapdragon 630 from last year. What’s even more interesting is that Xiaomi’s Realme 1 has a more superior chipset in MediaTek Helio P60, yet it’s way cheaper than the Vivo Y81.
Fans of huge notched display screens have another reason to rejoice as this is what you get on the Vivo Y81, however, the fact that it only manages an HD resolution means you won’t have the best picture quality. Once again, the competition has way better offerings in this aspect at cheaper price tags.
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Vivo Y81 price and availability
Speaking of price tags, this is perhaps the major deal breaker of the Vivo Y81. With what’s on offer, valuing the phone at INR 12,990 won’t make life any easier for the company. As noted earlier, this price range already has devices like the Redmi Note 5/Note Pro, Realme 1, Redmi Y2, ZenFone Max Pro M1, Honor 9 Lite, and Honor 9N, all of which offer better value for money than the Vivo Y81. It’ll indeed be interesting to see how things fair on.
As for the availability, the Vivo Y81 can be purchased via Vivo’s online store, Flipkart or Amazon India right away.
→ Buy Vivo Y81: Vivo online store | Amazon India | Flipkart
