Vivo S19 Smartphone Review – If you want a decent camera experience at a relatively lower price tag, the Vivo S19 is the one for you. It launched on May 2024 in China and it started shipping the same day. Considering Vivo’s smartphone launches in the past, this smartphone should launch globally sometime in the next few months.
The design of the new smartphone is similar to its bigger brother: the Vivo S19 Pro. Vivo designed the Vivo S19 to impress its fans, so it comes with many of the latest and the most innovative technologies, including 5G connectivity. Let’s begin with a detailed review of the Vivo S19 smartphone and see if this smartphone is worth purchasing.
Table of Contents
Vivo S19 Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Vivo S19 has a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz high refresh rate support.
- The SoC inside the smartphone is the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 5G chipset, which is capable of reaching clock speeds of 1×2.63 GHz.
- The new smartphone comes with Android 14 and an OriginOS 4 user interface for better customization support.
- Vivo S19 has a 50MP dual rear camera system with a 50MP selfie camera.
- The Vivo S19 is powered by a Si/C 6000 mAh battery with 80W wired fast charging.
Design and Display
The Vivo S19 features a premium design that will impress a lot of people. The combination of a flat design with a beautifully crafted camera module provides a really good look for this phone. The entire rear panel is made of glass, which should feel very premium in the hand, but the side frame is made of plastic, which was done intentionally to keep its price down.
The edges of the phones are rounded and provide a better in-hand experience. The phone is available in Gray, Peach, and Light Blue color options. The Vivo S19 is protected against dust and water splashes with the IP64 certification, but there’s no protection for the display. Speaking of the display, the phone has a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate support, just like the Vivo S19 Pro.
The screen has a 1.5K resolution with support for up to 1 billion colors, so the viewing experience will be extremely great. The display can get plenty bright at 4500 nits, which delivers a flagship-level experience when using the smartphone outdoors under direct sunlight.
Memory and Internal
The Vivo S19 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 5G chipset, which is capable of delivering a clock speed of up to 1×2.63 GHz. This is an extremely powerful chipset in the mid-range category and it can run any apps and games smoothly without a hitch, thanks to the higher clock speed.
Speaking of games, it can play most games with smooth framerates, including Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, Summoners War, Black Desert Mobile, and CODm. But don’t choose max settings for graphically intensive games like the Genshin Impact, or else, these games may stutter. The chipset also supports 5G connectivity, which will deliver significantly lower latency needed for multiplayer games.
As for the software, the Vivo S19 is running on Android 14 with an OriginOS 4 user interface for better customization support. For RAM and storage, the smartphone can be purchased with up to 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB to 512 GB of storage. Sadly, the internal storage cannot be expanded, so it’s better to purchase the smartphone with a high-capacity storage option beforehand.
Camera
The Vivo S19 sports a 50MP dual rear camera system. The primary camera consists of a 50MP sensor with OIS and this sensor is capable of taking some incredible pictures with high detail levels and a natural color tone. Vivo smartphones usually have great cameras, so this was not surprising. It is truly an impressive camera and the pictures have a high dynamic range.
However, the same cannot be said for the second ultra-wide camera, which has an 8MP sensor. It is just average at best and its quality is far from the main sensor. It doesn’t even have OIS capability. The flash has a ring LED, which is brighter than normal LEDs and will help with low-light performance.
Speaking of low light, the smartphone can do really well in darker environments. It has a dedicated night mode that allows the camera to capture more light than usual and pictures look fantastic. For the selfie camera, it has a 50MP sensor as well. This sensor is capable of taking some great selfies with a natural color tone and high detail levels. As for video recording, the Vivo S19 can shoot at a maximum resolution of 4K@30FPS from both the rear and selfie cameras. However, the rear camera system has both OIS and gyro-EIS for video stabilization.
Battery and Others
The Vivo S19 has a Si/C 6000 mAh battery. The Silicon Carbon battery is a new type of battery technology and largely differs from the standard Lithium battery in terms of chemical composition. The new battery is denser than traditional Lithium-Ion batteries and that’s how Vivo was able to pack this phone with a 6000 mAh high-capacity battery.
It allows the Vivo S19 to provide 2 – 3 days of backup comfortably with light to moderate usage. However, if you play a lot of games, then the battery will drain faster and may only last a full day. It also supports the 80W wired fast charger, which can fully charge the smartphone in under 55 minutes. But there’s no support for wireless charging. Besides that, the phone also has dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, an under-display fingerprint scanner, NFC, GPS, and a USB Type-C port for charging. The Vivo S19 starts at $360 (Rs 29,990 in India) approx.
Vivo S19 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Vivo S19 smartphone.
| Specifications | Vivo S19 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | May 2024 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.44 x 2.98 x 0.28 inches |
| Weight | 193 g |
| Size | 6.78 inches |
| Display | AMOLED 1B colors 120Hz 4500 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~453 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | IP64, dust and water resistant |
| Resolution | 1260 x 2800 pixels |
| OS | Android 14, OriginOS 4 |
| Chipset | 4nm – Qualcomm SM7550-AB Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×2.63 GHz Cortex-A715 3×2.4 GHz Cortex-A715 4×1.8GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Adreno 720 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB, 16GB |
| Internal | 256GB, 512GB UFS 2.2 – 8GB RAM UFS 3.1 – 12/16GB RAM |
| Camera | 50 MP (wide), PDAF, OIS 8 MP (106Ëšultrawide) Ring-LED flash, panorama, HDR Max – 4K@30fps, gyro-EIS, OIS |
| Selfie | 50 MP (wide), AF Dual-LED flash, HDR Max – 4K@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 5.4, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive |
| GPS | GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, QZSS, BDS (B1I+B1c) |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Si/C 6000 mAh 80W wired, PD Reverse wired |
| Colors | Gray, Peach, Light Blue |
| Expected Price | $360 (Rs 29,990 in India) approx |
Conclusion
Vivo S19 smartphone has managed to deliver on its promise of providing a decent camera experience on a budget. Both the main rear camera and the selfie camera are decent in this price range, whether that’s in the daytime or night.
Apart from the camera, the Vivo S19 smartphone also has a great display that can get extremely bright outdoors. It also features a great chipset that can deliver the performance you need. The battery is the most innovative part, and it uses a new chemical composition to deliver better battery life. On top of all these, it also has 5G connectivity. Considering the specs it provides, the pricing is done right and the phone is worth the money you pay for.
However, if Vivo smartphones are not available in your location, there’s one more smartphone that you can check out. It’s the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, which delivers similar specs and performance at around the same price tag. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your requirements and needs.
