Vivo S12 Review – Vivo S12 was released in China on December 22, 2021, alongside its older brother S12 Pro. Both of these smartphones have many similar features such as the same design, camera, and battery. Still, they differ drastically from each other in terms of performance.
The S12 Pro comes with a better chipset and has a curved screen with a curved side bezel. The lite version of Vivo S12 also supports 5g at an affordable price, which might confuse you between Pro and non-Pro models. The phone is currently available in China, but for a global launch, we need to wait a little longer. Without further ado, let’s start the detailed review of the Vivo S12 smartphone.
Table of Contents
Vivo S12 Review
Highlights
- Vivo S12 features a 6.44-inches Full HD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate.
- It is powered by the 6nm Mediatek Dimensity 1100 5G processor gives 4x 2.6 GHz speed.
- It has Android 11 OS with Vivo’s new Origin OS Ocean skin on top.
- The main sensor of the rear camera is 108MP, just like its older brother S12 Pro and 44MP selfie camera.
- The battery inside the smartphone is a non-removable Li-Po 4200 mAh with 44W fast charging support.
Design and Display
One might mistake the design of the Vivo S12 smartphone that resemblance the Vivo V23. The incredible flat metallic edges, antenna lines, and yellow color variant look just like an iPhone, except for the camera bump, which is different. If the camera bump were also similar, you’d have a hard time differentiating one from the other. Many smartphone companies tend to copy Apple-like designs, removing the headphone jack or charger.
A lot of people will really like the design of the Vivo S12 smartphone, the back of the phone is made with a matte finish and can be found in three colors, black, yellow gold, and blue. The 6.44 inches screen comes with AMOLED Full HD+ resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate. The screen is also certified with HDR10+ certification and a 20:9 screen to body ratio makes it easy to hold.
Memory and Internal
Inside the Vivo S12 smartphone is the 6 nm Mediatek Dimensity 1100 SoC, which is slightly different from the Mediatek SoC of its big brother S12 Pro. Built on a 6nm node, this processor can reach up to 4x 2.6 GHz on powerful Cortex A78 cores.
It also features the Mali-G77 MC9 GPU, so gaming and multitasking are not an issue. The MC9 in the name indicates that the GPU has 9 cores. Furthermore, the G77 in the name indicates that it is based on the Valhal architecture, which promises 305 improved graphics performance and reduces power consumption by 30%. You will play higher graphics games while consuming less battery with this processor. The smartphone comes in two variants, the base variant comes equipped with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage, but you can also get the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage with the top model.
The device is running on Android 11 OS with Vivo’s newest Origin OS Ocean skin on top. While Vivo hasn’t been very forthcoming about how many Android updates the device will receive in its lifetime, judging by the companies’ past track record, you should expect at least 1 major Android update along with 2 years of Android security updates. Also, there is a fingerprint sensor under the screen to securely lock the smartphone.
Camera
Talking about the camera section the main rear camera is a 108MP sensor that can capture properly detailed images with natural color. Images are bright and have a high dynamic range during daytime shooting. But night shots can get a little grainy, and that’s where the dedicated night mode comes in, as it manages to restore some of the previously lost detail. The second camera is an 8MP ultra-wide sensor with a 120-degree field of view and there is also a 2MP macro camera present.
The camera’s main sensor can record up to 4K at 30 fps and the gyro-EIS makes up for the lack of OIS. The selfie camera system has two lenses, a 44MP wide sensor, and an 8MP ultra-wide sensor. The 44MP wide sensor takes very detailed images and can record at 4k video as well, and the ultra-wide sensor can take decent shots for group selfies. Enabling AI can significantly improve the overall image quality of the ultrawide selfie camera.
Battery and Others
The Vivo S12 smartphone is powered by Li-Po 4200 mAh battery with 44W fast charging and the company claims it can charge your phone from 1 to 60% in just 30 minutes. The charging port is a USB Type-C and it also supports OTG. Furthermore, the phone is equipped with 5G and NFC support. The price of the S12 smartphone starts at $440 (Rs 32,999 in India) approx for the base variant, while the top 12GB and 256GB variant is priced a little more.
Vivo S12 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Vivo S12 smartphone.
| Specifications | Vivo S12 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | December 2021 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 157.2 x 72.4 x 7.4 or 7.6 mm |
| Weight | 179 grams or 181 grams |
| Size | 6.44 inches |
| Display | AMOLED 90Hz HDR10+ 20:9 ratio ~409 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 11, Origin OS Ocean |
| Chipset | 6nm – MediaTek MT6891Z Dimensity 1100 5G |
| CPU | Octa-core 4×2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G77 MC9 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| Internal | 256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Camera | 108 MP (wide), PDAF 8 MP ( 120˚ultrawide) 2 MP (macro) Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 4K@30fps, gyro-EIS |
| Selfie | 44 MP (wide), AF 8 MP (105˚ ultrawide) Dual-LED flash, HDR Max – 4K@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | No 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Under-display fingerprint, optical sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 4200 mAh Fast charging 44W |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Yellow |
| Expected Price | $440 (Rs 32,999 in India) Approx. |
Conclusion
If you like the iPhone screen design, you might want to buy the Vivo S12 smartphone. The main attraction of the S12 smartphone is AMOLED display, Rear camera, dual selfie camera, and 5G support. If you like Vivo you can definitely go for the Vivo S12 as you will get decent specs for playing high-end games and multitasking. But if you live outside of mainland China, you’ll have to wait a little longer for the global launch.
As the price is a bit high compared to the specs and there are many other options available in the market with better specs. In case you are interested in an alternative option, you can definitely check out the Meizu 18x phone in your free time.
