Vivo has been lately found working on devices with good gaming performance at the mid-range segment. After the recently launched Vivo S1 and Vivo Z1 Pro, it is back, yet again with the Vivo Z1x. This time with more upgraded features and especially, the USB Type-C, can the Vivo Z1x top the competition in the mid-range price segment? We, here at Install Or Not have tested this device for a good amount of time without coming up with the Vivo Z1x review as is.
Design and Display
The Vivo Z1x has a huge 6.38-inch display upfront with smooth rounded corners. You get a good hold of the device and it has that premium feel to it when holding. On the front, above the display is the earpiece on the edge and inside the waterdrop notch is the selfie camera along with the sensors, an in-display fingerprint sensor and a thick chin at the bottom for the comfy holding of the device. On the back, it has the triple-lens camera set up in a vertical position along with the LED flashlight and at the bottom-middle is the Vivo branding.
The right panel has the power button along with the volume rockers and on the left panel, we have the SIM card tray and the Smart assistant button. On the top panel, we have the secondary noise cancellation mic and on the bottom is the not-so-mid-range-Vivo-like USB Type-C port along with the speaker grill, microphone, and 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Vivo Z1x sports a 6.38-inch 19.5:9 Super AMOLED FHD+ display with 2340 × 1080 pixels at 4.3ppi. The display is bright, good in colors having the 60000:1 contrast ratio and 103% NTSC Color Gamut. In place fo protection, Vivo used a SCHOTT Xensation Glass protection which the company says is 8.15% better than the competition.
With the AMOLED display, you have your perks as saving battery, always-on display with different styles of clocks. As the pixels in the dark area get turned off, it really is noteworthy. The build quality is also good enough and the device feels sturdy enough. Overall, the display is a good get for a device of this price.
Software and Performance
The Vivo Z1x runs on Android 9.0 with Funtouch OS 9 on top of it, out of the box. With Android security patch for July 2019, Vivo does try to keep up in the updates race but we still can’t be sure about the Android 10 update for either of their devices. With iPhone like gestures, it has its own customization options in the settings you can check out. Apart from the Google Apps, the device has some pre-installed apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Gaana, UC Browser, Amazon, Dailyhunt, PhonePe, and Paytm which can be uninstalled if not necessary.
Out in the performance section, the Vivo Z1x is powered by the Snapdragon 712 SoC coupled with Adreno 616 GPU. This combined with 6GB of RAM builds up the performance unit of this device. On a day to day life, you will be satisfied with the performance as we did tests with multiple apps running in the background and still multi-tasking, and the device did not disappoint much.
On the gaming side too, we did carry out the ritual of playing PUBG Mobile and have to say that the device gave a good outcome. But yes, with multiple apps running and still playing intensive games, the performance did backlash a bit with certain frame drops. Thanks to the Multi Turbo feature which the company says improves anti frame drop by 78% while playing games. The Ultra Game mode also offers voice modulation, 4D vibrations, DND mode, the game countdown for PUBG and more.
Cameras: Vivo Z1x Review
The Vivo Z1x has a 48MP primary rear camera with Sony IMX582 sensor with f/1.79 aperture, 8MP 120-degree wide-angle camera with f/2.2 aperture along with a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 32MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture.
Out from the rear camera, the images come out decently great through the primary sensor. The daylight shots are great and it has the auto HDR which will turn on HDR mode based on the scene you are taking a photo in. Macro shots are good up to an extent with a decent amount of blur in the background. The 8MP wide-angle lens on the other side does not give out the good quality of photos. The photos taken with the wide-angle lens give good view but lack in colors and details.
Coming to the stock camera app, Vivo has put it up just like any of their devices. It has a simple UI with toggles for flash, HDR, Portrait mode, and live photos on the top bar. In the settings, you have various settings you can modify and on the usual screen, you can find the option to switch between camera modes that include DOC to scan documents, Pro mode with manual settings to adjust exposure, ISO, shutter speed, panorama, night mode, AR stickers, and more. Although the camera app supports Camera2 API by default for editing photos, it does not support RAW capture.
When in lowlight conditions, the images come out low in details and more noise. However, with the night mode coming to the rescue, the images are better than that of what we have seen in the Vivo Z1 Pro. The portrait mode though, with the 2MP depth sensor, could have done better with the edge detection, at least, that’s what we think.
The 32MP selfie camera does produce good quality selfies with sharp details. For the portraits, it uses software to blur the background which is decent enough. Apart from that, the front camera also has HDR and AI beautifications through which people can up their selfie game. Check out the camera samples below.
Battery and Miscellaneous
The Vivo Z1x houses a 4500mAh battery which will last a day or so picking out from the numbers. In our tests too, the device did last us a day with most of the usage coming from browsing, social media, gaming, YouTube & other streaming, and calls. Along with the power saving mode, there is also a Super Power saving mode which just enables contacts, phone, messages, and clock.
With the in-box support in the form of 22.5W Vivo Flash Charge adapter, it takes up to 90 minutes to fully charge from 0 to 100%. Also, it supports reverse charging through which you can charge other devices with the USB OTG cable. Considering how Vivo is fond of giving MicroUSB ports to its devices, even with the Vivo Z1 Pro, there is a change of plans here with the USB Type-C which is a good deal.
Coming to the other fields of interest, the speakers are loud enough to be heard in a medium-sized room and the audio through the earphones is also defined well. The device also supports Widevine L1 which means you can stream video content at HD in streaming services. Apart from that, the connectivity levels are great with VoLTE dual SIM and Bluetooth 5.0.
Verdict: Vivo Z1x Review
Priced starting at Rs. 16990, for the offerings that it has, the Vivo Z1x strives to be the best giver in its segment. With a Super AMOLED display, in-display fingerprint sensor, 48MP primary sensor, good gaming performance, and a 4500 mAh battery along with fast charging support, the Vivo Z1x is a good bet for the people seeking a well-performing device in the mid-range segment. If you want a good experience in terms of UI, you would not want to have this device, but rather go with a stock Android device.
The Good
- Super AMOLED display
- Good gaming performance
- 48MP rear primary camera sensor
- Humongous Battery
The Bad
- Funtouch OS lacks smoothness
- Wide-angle lens camera not up to the mark
