Vivo has brought its S series back to life after 7 years. The Vivo S2 gets the brand’s new horizontal camera bar design, which we’ve also seen on the Vivo T5 and its iQOO counterpart, the Z11 (our review here). The smartphone rocks the MediaTek Dimensity 7360 Turbo chipset under its hood. It has a curved AMOLED display, an IP68/IP69 rating, and a big 7,050mAh battery pack. The ongoing global RAM shortage has forced Vivo’s hand to price the smartphone higher than usual. When it crossed the Gadget Bridge last month, we decided to use it for a week to find out what Rs 40,000 gets you in today’s market from Vivo. With that in mind, let’s dive into our review of the Vivo S2.
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In This Article
Vivo S2 Review: Design and Display
Box Contents
- Smartphone
- 44W power adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- Clear plastic cover
- SIM ejector
- User guide
- Warranty card
The Vivo S2 follows the broad design language of the Vivo T5. Its sleek and stylish camera bar on its back panel is inspired by the one on the Google Pixel. There are two individual cutouts for the main camera and auxiliary lens on this bar. The LED ring flash is placed next to the two lenses. The plastic back panel curves gently into the frame.
The plastic frame houses the volume rocker and the side button on its right edge. At the bottom lie the SIM tray, primary microphone, USB-C port, and primary speaker grille. The secondary speaker grille is placed at the top of the phone, alongside the noise-cancelling microphone. The S2 is rated IP68/IP69 for dust and water resistance. On top of that, it is compliant with MIL-STD-810H durability standards.
The 6.83-inch curved AMOLED display has a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. The panel gets bright enough to overcome surrounding light. Even in bright outdoor conditions, it is able to maintain optimal legibility. The touch response is smooth. The curved edges do not lead to excessive accidental touches. The under-display optical fingerprint sensor is snappy and accurate.
The 1,260 x 2,800p AMOLED panel also puts up a fine display while streaming content online. The visuals are rich, detailed, and popping with vibrant colours. The deep blacks lend the images a tasteful contrast. The dual speaker setup produces a loud and well-rounded audio output.
Vivo S2 Review: Performance and Cameras
Vivo S2 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7360 ‘Turbo’ chipset. It is equipped with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM. There are 2 UFS 3.1 storage options on offer:
- 128GB: Rs 39,999
- 256GB: Rs 44,999
We ran a couple of benchmark tests on the smartphone. Here are the numbers.
- AnTuTu 3D Lite: 918,544
- Geekbench 7: 792 (single-core) | 2,916 (multi-core)
Routine tasks like calling, texting, web browsing, media streaming, and navigation were handled expertly by our Vivo S2 review unit. The phone didn’t throw any lag or stutter our way, even when we overwhelmed it by launching a bunch of apps at once. While a 12GB RAM option would have been nice, the 8GB model does the job on regular usage. Our only small gripe lies with the haptic motor, which produces rather blunt feedback.
The Vivo S2 does a good job of running gaming titles like BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile. We were able to enjoy smooth, lag-free gameplay after limiting the graphics and frame rate to medium settings. Of course, if you’re a serious gamer who needs 120fps gaming, you will have to set your sights on a more powerful chipset. The S2 did a decent job of managing its internal temperature. The back panel started warming up around the 20-minute mark.
Software duties on this phone are handled by Android 16 skinned with OriginOS 6. Right off the bat, you will notice a good amount of bloatware apps on the device. Thankfully, these apps can be completely uninstalled. Vivo has promised 3 major OS updates and 5 years of security patches for this phone.
Once you remove all the bloatware apps, OriginOS 6 feels lively, fun, and smooth. It has intuitive gesture controls that can be further customised from settings. There are plenty of customisation options for the lock screen, home page, AOD, and app drawer as well. The flashlight on the camera bar lights up when you receive a call or message, which is a nice touch. You also get useful AI tools like AI Transcript Assist, AI Retouch (for images), and Google’s Circle to Search and Gemini Assistant.
The 7,050mAh battery pack comfortably lasts a day on a full charge. Those with battery anxiety don’t have to worry about reaching for the charger in the middle of the day. If you limit yourself to moderate usage, you can push the battery life to 1.5 days. The 44W charger provided in the box takes just over an hour to fully charge the phone.
The rear camera bar houses a 50MP primary shooter and a 2MP Bokeh lens. The only glaring omission here is an ultrawide lens. For a smartphone priced at Rs 40,000, an ultrawide sensor should be a part of the camera array. The punch-hole cutout on the display houses a 32MP selfie lens.
The 50MP primary shooter captures good images in outdoor daylight conditions. The pictures look sharp and vibrant. There is a balanced, natural vibe to the images instead of an overprocessed feel. In low-light conditions, Night Mode takes over to reduce grain and artificially illuminate the subject. The results are vibrant, but noisy.
The Camera app offers 3 focal length options in Portrait Mode – 28mm, 42mm, and 56mm. While the portraits are lively and well-focused, the subject’s edges get blurred a little too often. The Bokeh effect leaves more to be desired, especially when you consider there’s a dedicated 2MP Bokeh lens in the camera array. The front-facing 32MP selfie camera captures bright and clear selfies with lots of details. The two cameras on this phone can record 4K videos at 30fps.
Read Also: iQOO Z11xa 5G with 7,200mAh battery and Dimensity 7400 Turbo SoC launched
Verdict
The Vivo S2 is a smartphone that will best be enjoyed by users who prioritise design and display above everything else. While it has a respectable chipset under its hood, the phone’s design and curved display are the two big highlights for us. The camera bar on the back panel looks very chic. The curved AMOLED display is great for watching content. The viewing experience is further elevated by a pleasant audio output produced by the dual-speaker setup. The lack of an ultrawide lens is the only big miss on this device, but if you can get past that, the S2 is a good buy at Rs 40,000.
Pros
- Looks stylish
- Bright display
- Well-rounded audio output
- Big battery
Cons
- No ultrawide lens
- Lots of bloatware apps
