Budget phones under 15k are usually boring with design. Many of them share an identical design pattern which doesn’t look that attractive. But Vivo Y02 stands as an exception here. The Y02 boasts an attractive back panel and a boxy form factor. Powered by an Helio P22 chip and a single camera, can this be the ideal phone for a budget? Let’s find that out in our Vivo Y02 review article with optics, UI, battery, and overall performance.
Vivo Y02 Specifications:
- Body: 163.99 × 75.63 × 8.49mm, 186gm
- Display: 6.51″ LCD panel, HD+ (1600 x 720), 60Hz refresh rate
- Chipset: MediaTek P22
- Memory: 2GB RAM, 32GB storage (expandable)
- Software: Funtouch OS 12 (Android 12)
- Rear Camera: 8MP, f/2.2
- Front Camera: 5MP, f/2.0 (waterdrop notch)
- Battery: 5000mAh, 10W charging
- Connectivity: Dual SIM slot, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, Micro USB 2.0
- Color Options: Orchid Blue, Cosmic Grey
- Price in Nepal: Rs. 12,499
Vivo Y02 Review:
Design
I found the Vivo Y02’s design to be eyecatching. The back panel although made of plastic is shiny and provides a premium tone to the design. It looks beautiful, to be honest. The single camera also looks clean with a circular module housed in a rectangular area. Moving on, it features a boxy form factor, which is great for this segment. All in all, Vivo Y02 has to be the best-looking phone under the 15k price bracket in Nepal.
Display
The Y02 sports a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel. The display calibration is set at a warmer tone by default. Thankfully, the calibration is adjustable and I could set the display tone as per my preference. Talking of its quality, the contents on the screen look vibrant and sharp with a warmer calibration.
The sunlight readability is also acceptable for its price. If you are someone who binge-watches TikTok, Reels, or Youtube Shorts, the Y02’s display does its job well. Hence, the multimedia experience is decent on its screen.
VoLTE Calls
The Vivo Y02 supports VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) on Nepal Telecom SIM. For those unaware, VoLTE primarily enhances the overall voice quality by using a 4G network for cellular calls. On my usage, I found the calls to be pretty loud and clear. I tried activating VoLTE for my Ncell SIM too but the private telco doesn’t support the Y02 as of now. To note, there are a bunch of Vivo phones on Ncell’s VoLTE support list already and this one will be also added soon, hopefully.
Performance and UI
Powering the phone is a vintage chipset from 2018, the Helio P22. This entry-level chip is definitely not for gaming. I tried playing some popular titles such as PUBG and CODM and the result was as expected–Super Choppy and Laggy with major FPS drop even at the lowest settings. The SoC is not meant for such games and I then moved to lite games for giving it a fair chance. The less graphics-intensive games like Temple Run, Subway Surfer, and Hill Climb Racing are playable.
The phone runs on FuntouchOS 12 based on Android 12 Go Edition. The UI looks clean and similar to stock Android but when it comes to performance, I found the experience to be quite laggy. App opening does take some time and multitasking can create stutters in the UI. This has to do with the age-old entry-level chip used in this device. It kind of ruins the experience most of the time.
Other than that, there are Go Edition apps from Google such as Gallery Go, Maps Go, Assistant Go, and so on. On top of that, Funtouch OS 12 offers basic customization such as charging animation, network speed, and so on.
Camera
Let’s get into the optics now. The phone houses a single 8MP camera on the back with no useless 2MP depth or macro unit.
Daylight Shots
The 8MP camera of the Y02 manages to capture decent-looking images under broad daylight. The color tone is on the warmer sides with higher saturation. For me, I prefer warm tones but the Y02’s output can be whelming sometimes.
Portraits
Coming to the portrait, the Y02’s results are good for the price. However, it’s not perfect and flaws can be seen around with edge detection.
Night
Let’s not expect much from an 8MP sensor for low-light images. The outputs struggle to maintain details and sharpness. I would call it average for the price tag it carries.
Front Camera
As Vivo is a selfie-centric company, even the 5MP front camera clicks decent selfies. Skin tone is usually good and the portraits are mostly social media-ready.
Battery
This guy is just 8.55mm thick but it houses a 5000mAh battery inside. Talking of its backup, it lasted for a day easily with average usage. It should even last more than a day for those lite users. However, it doesn’t support quick charging and the 10W charger takes around 3 hours to fill up the cell via its Micro USB port. No USB Type-C port here.
Vivo Y02 Review: Conclusion
Now, let’s move to the conclusion. The Vivo Y02 is a gorgeous-looking phone with an attractive design and boxy form factor. The design brings in a premium vibe in the budget segment. But the UI experience is a drawback. I know it’s a budget phone but the Helio P22 has catered to a laggy experience in both gaming and day-to-day usage scenario.
If only, Vivo used a better SoC here. Another thing to mention is its mono speaker on the top. It sounds a bit distorted when played at the max volume.
Besides that, the camera experience was pretty decent. You get good photos in daylight situations. And same goes for the selfies. The battery backup lasts for a day with moderate usage. Other than that, the phone is an ideal choice for those preferring looks over performance alongside a good camera experience.
Vivo Y02 Review: Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Eye-catching Design
- Decent Camera Performance for the Price
- Satisfactory HD+ Screen
- Good Battery Backup
Cons:
- Sub Par Performance of Helio P22
- Stuttery UI
- Distorted Audio at max volume
