Vivo U10 Review: All rounder or not?

Vivo U10 is the company's latest budget offering in India. It is also one of the first smartphones from the company to launch in its online exclusive U series. This means the U10 and other U series phones won't be available in the offline market. With this, the company aims to provide consumers with great performance at an affordable price like its Z series smartphones.

However, there is a lot of fierce competition in this market space, making a decent smartphone is not enough. The smartphone should be better than other smartphones in the same price bracket also, not only in terms of performance but in looks and various other factors. So let's find out how Good the Vivo U10 really is:

Vivo U10 Review

Vivo U10 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor paired with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of storage. There is a dual SIM card slot along with a separate microSD card slot.

The device sports a 6.35-inch (1544x720 pixels) 19:9 aspect ratio IPS LCD display with a waterdrop notch and a noticeably large chin. For optics, it features a 13-megapixel, f/2.2 PDAF aperture sensor on the back along with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For taking selfies, it has an 8-megapixel f/1.8 aperture sensor on the front. All of this is backed by a 5,000mAh non-removable battery. It runs Google’s Android 9.0 Pie operating system with the company's own Funtouch OS 9 skin on the top. The Android 10 update status is unclear as of now.

The phone sports a 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro-USB port. There is a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Vivo U10 Review: Design

As far as the design goes, Vivo U10 has managed to keep it together quite well. The front is a bit bland and looks like any other smartphone sporting a waterdrop notch. The back is where the company has shown its creativity. We had the Electric Blue variant for review and I have to say that it looks amazing. It has blackish sides along with a blueish purple gradient in the centre along with a weaving pattern, which glistens when any form of light hits the device. It looks quite eye-catching indeed.

The speaker grille is located just above the dot notch, which also houses the camera. It also has a fat chin at the bottom.

Vivo U10 sports a triple camera unit on the back paired with an LED flash aligned vertically on the top left. There is a fingerprint sensor in the usual position and Vivo branding at the bottom. The back is made out of plastic, which feels quite cheap.

The right edge consists of volume rockers and the power button. The left edge sports the SIM card tray, while the bottom edge has a micro-USB port along with the loudspeaker and the headphone jack.

The smartphone is a bit on the bulky side. However, I have to commend the company on getting the weight distribution right. But the device still feels quite bulky. The back is a fingerprint magnet, due to which the included clear case is appreciated, but it makes the smartphone even bulkier.

Vivo U10 Review: Software

Vivo U10 runs Google’s Android 9.0 Pie operating system with the company’s own Funtouch OS 9.1 skin on top. Funtouch OS is Vivo's own skin used in all of its smartphones. The UI looks iOS inspired along with colourful elements aimed at attracting the younger generation.

Things like a colourful smiley face for face unlock, extremely bright, multicolour icons and UI elements make the device seem as if it is screaming for attention. The iOS styled shortcut bar and notification bar is something I have never gotten used to.

Overall, Funtouch OS is not for the purists, but for people who don't mind a lot of colours mixed to capture attention. It doesn't offer a clean look like that in OxygenOS or Stock Android, due to which I don't like it that much.

Vivo U10 Review: Performance

Performance is a major area of concern on any device, the same goes for the Vivo U10. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor coupled with an Adreno 610 GPU. Our review unit came with 4GB RAM/64GB storage.

We ran our usual benchmark tests to evaluate how the device performs. On AnTuTu the device was able to score 172265, which is good enough considering the price and competition. In Geekbench 5, the device scored 316 in the single-core score and 1343 in the multicore score.

While playing light games such as Temple Run and Crossy Chicken, the phone runs flawlessly with the CPU usage hitting its highs. Heavy games like Asphalt 9: Legends, PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile become unplayable within 30 minutes of gameplay. The device also heats up quite a bit. Considering the price, this was expected.

Vivo U10 Review: Display

Vivo U10 sports a 6.35-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1544x720 pixels and comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9.

An LCD display is what you except when you consider the price of the smartphone. The brightness levels are able to get super low and bright enough to be used properly in outside with sunlight. The colour reproduction of the display is a little dull.

Vivo U10 Review: Camera

Vivo U10 features a 13-megapixel, f/2.2 PDAF aperture sensor on the back along with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For the selfies, it has an 8-megapixel f/1.8 aperture sensor. As we all know numbers tell only half of the story, so let's find out how the Vivo U10's camera performs in real life.

The images taken from the rear camera of the Vivo U10 look as if they consist of a white layer over them. The colours also look boosted and not natural.

The front camera has a different story. With the beauty mode on, the image just look brightened up. Without it, the photos turn out to be pretty good for the price.

Overall, the back camera of the Vivo U10 is a bit of a disappointment, whereas, the front camera is able to bring the phone back a bit.

Vivo U10 Review: Battery

Vivo U10 is backed by a 5,000mAh Li-Po battery, which easily lasted me around a day on a single charge, which is less than what I have come to expect. Charging time with the included charger is around 150-180 minutes, which is not fast, but acceptable considering the price.

Overall, with heavy usage, the average battery life is around nine hours. With mixed usage, the battery lasts around 16 hours, which is a good time.

Vivo U10 Review: Verdict

Vivo U10 starts at Rs. 8,490 and goes all the way up to Rs 10,990. The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage we got for our review cost Rs. 10,990. For that price, the Vivo U10 offers great looks, a good display, a big battery life and nothing more to be honest. Nowadays, all the devices look almost the same in this price segment, with the exception of a different pattern at the back.

However, in all the phones in this price range, we have seen a compromise on some aspects of the phone or another. Some have a bad camera, some cannot perform at all, However, the Vivo U10 is able to decently perform in a lot of areas. It is a decent phone for the price and you might like to take a look at it before you make a decision to purchase some other smartphone.