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The Vivo T-series smartphones have done pretty well in India. Earlier this year, the company launched the Vivo T1 Pro which impressed us, both with its sleek design and performance. And after its success, the company has ventured into the budget segment with the Vivo T1x. But unlike the former which belonged to the sub-Rs. 25,000 segment, this one is placed in a much more competitive sub-Rs. 15,000 range. This means Vivo does not have much wiggle-room to make the phone stand out from the existing devices in the market. Or, does it?

On paper, the device looks promising. At first glance, it appears to be a more premium smartphone than its price suggests. It flaunts an eye-catching design, a 50MP primary camera and a less powerful but serviceable Snapdragon 680 chipset. But that's just its spec-sheet and as we know, spec-sheets can often be deceptive. So, how exactly does the budget offering by Vivo perform in real life? We used the smartphone for more than 10 days and these are our findings. Read on for the full review.

Design is one of the two main highlights of Vivo T1x. Reminiscent of Vivo T1, it comes with a shiny polycarbonate back, a dual camera panel on top-left and a minimalist appeal to it. Even with a plastic build, the smartphone does not feel cheap and the build quality seems to be decent. It has a 8mm thin body and weighs about 182 grams, making it very comfortable to carry around. Even while using it, the 6.58-inch display is perfect for singlehanded usage. One downside is that the back is a fingerprint magnet and smudges can easily ruin the look of the phone.

The smartphone has a SIM tray on top and it comes with a dedicated dual SIM card slot along with a slot for micro SD cards. The power button on the right side doubles up as a fingerprint scanner and it works reliably and fast. The front comes with a notch display, which is something I'm not a fan of. The top and the sides have minimal bezels but it does come with a significant chin, which is not unusual for its price range.

Finally, coming to ports, it has a USB Type-C port for charging, a 3.5mm earphone jack and a single speaker at the bottom.

Overall, the smartphone gives off a sleek look and whether you are a fan of shiny backs or minimal designs, it will catch your attention. The smartphone is available in two colors — Gravity Black and Space Blue. Vivo T1x Display Share Via The Vivo T1x Display (Akash/HT Tech) The Vivo T1x Display (Akash/HT Tech)

Remember when we said design is one of the two main highlights of Vivo T1x? Well, display is the second. The smartphone offers a 6.58-inch FHD+ LCD display with a refresh rate of 90Hz. The display is vivid and sharp and the colors feel slightly saturated which I personally really liked. The smartphone is also bright enough to be easily used outdoors without any issues. You also get to play around with different color profiles in settings and choose the one that suits your eyes the best.

The 90Hz refresh rate makes social media scrolling and general smartphone usage a breeze. At its price range, there are very few other smartphones (like Realme 7i and Motorola Moto G30) who offer a similar refresh rate. The smartphone also has great viewing angles which is another plus.

However, if you are a fan of AMOLED displays, then you should look at Infinix Note 11 and Samsung Galaxy F22 which fall in the same segment. But do note, neither of the phones offer 90Hz refresh rate.

Overall, I found the Vivo T1x display to be perfect for long binge sessions and social media scrolling. A less prominent chin and a punch hole selfie camera instead of the notch are the only changes we would have asked for, and even then, we are simply nitpicking.

Vivo T1x is equipped with a Snapdragon 680 chipset. Considering the segment, the processor is pretty decent and can manage most everyday tasks easily. In my time spent with the smartphone, I found that app opening time was pretty fast and multitasking was also never an issue.

But there is a point I'd like to highlight. Vivo has marketed the smartphone as a gaming phone and while it can manage casual gaming easily, we would not recommend it for FPS based online games like COD Mobile. When I tried playing it, I could go as far as medium graphics and high frame rate but I noticed frame drops and frozen frames very occasionally. At lower settings, the game worked smoother but that comes at the cost of the gaming experience. If gaming is your priority, you'd be much better served with smartphones at a higher price range. However, for casual online games like Brawl Stars, Clash Royale and Rocket League Sideswipe work very well and the vivid display adds to the gaming experience.

The smartphone runs on FunTouch OS 12 which is based on Android 11. There are usual problems with bloatware and bombardment of notifications, and while you can get rid of most of these apps, a cleaner UI would have been better. The OS itself is decent. There are plenty of customization options and the smartphone is lag free. In the time that I used the smartphone, I did not come across any major issues.

Overall, the performance of the smartphone was satisfactory. As long as you can keep your expectations in check and do not try heavy gaming, the smartphone will not give you any trouble.

The Vivo T1x sports a dual rear camera with a 50MP primary camera and a 2MP macro lens. On the front, you get an 8MP selfie camera. Usually cameras in this price range can get the job done but do not add any special value to themselves and Vivo T1x is also no exception to that.

In daylight, the camera does a good job of capturing images with nice detailing. The dynamic range is decent and the colors tend to be a little on the warmer side and not exactly natural tone. But during night time, as the light decreases, so does the quality of the image. Even though the smartphone has a night mode, it does not help the image much and blurriness and noise regularly impact the image quality.

The 2MP macro camera has nothing worth writing home about and has a below average performance. The selfie camera, just like the main camera, does take some nice quality photos during daylight but in low light conditions, the images feel too processed.

Overall, the camera performance was average and even though it is in the budget segment, we would have preferred better image processing software, especially for low light photography and selfies. If photography is your priority, then you should be looking at either Realme 7i or Samsung Galaxy F22, both of which come with a quad rear camera, and have an 8MP ultrawide camera to give you more versatility.

Check the sample shots from the smartphone's camera here.

The Vivo T1x is backed by a 5,000 mAh battery. Because heavy gaming was not an option, most of my time on the smartphone was spent watching videos, going through social media, voice and video calls as well as some casual gaming. With moderate usage, the smartphone would still have some juice left at the end of the day. But I suspect that heavy users might have to plug in by the end of the day.

The smartphone supports 18W fast charging which takes almost 2 hours to go from 0 to 100. Considering the large battery size, the charging feels a little slow. Competing brands do offer faster charging than this.

We said in the beginning of the review that with the constraints of the budget segment, Vivo might struggle to come up with a smartphone that impresses the consumers. However, we believe that Vivo T1x has done a great job for being an entry level smartphone offering Snapdragon 680 processor, an eye-catching design and a great display.

But the flaws also cannot be overlooked. It lacks a versatile camera, a faster charging and is definitely not a gaming smartphone. So, if those are your priorities then look at the alternatives we have mentioned above.

The smartphone is targeted towards the Gen Z demographic and as long as your needs are not greater than regular smartphone usage like watching videos, social media scrolling and casual gaming, this phone will be a good fit for you.

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