Vivo Y28 4G Review: Is it a value-for-money smartphone?

Dhaka
July 10, 2024, 01:11 PM
by Shahriar Rabab

UNB News
Dhaka
Publish- July 10, 2024, 01:11 PM
Shahriar Rabab
Update- July 10, 2024, 01:25 PM

Vivo Y28 4G

Vivo recently announced their lower mid-range device Vivo Y28 4G for the Bangladeshi market. The device was on pre-booking from 4th to 9th July with official delivery starting on 10th July 2024. The Y28 brings an exciting new design among a host of other improvements. But is it enough to justify the price? Let’s find out.

Key Specs of Vivo Y28 4G

Design and Build Quality

The design of the Y28 is a complete overhaul of the traditional Y series. The device is made of plastic all around but the frosted composite plastic sheet on the back and the accented chromed frames give it a premium look. The rounded square camera housing and the ring light also add a premium feel to the device.

The dimension of the Y 28 comes in at 165.70 mm by 76.00 mm by 7.99 mm for the Agate Green variant and 165.70 mm by 76.00 mm by 8.09 mm for the Gleaming Orange option. The weight is clocked at 199 g.

Regarding ports and buttons, the Y28 includes all the essentials including the headphone jack and the micro SDXC slot. However, the lack of a secondary noise cancellation mic at this price point is disappointing.

The power button on the Y28 doubles as the fingerprint scanner. The device also has an IP64 water and dust rating for accidental splashes.

The Display

The display on the Y28 is a 6.68-inch IPS LCD panel with a 90 Hz refresh rate and 1000 nits of peak brightness. It’s a surprising choice to go with an LCD panel especially when most alternatives at this price come with an AMOLED panel.

The display has a 1608 by 720 pixels resolution with 264 ppi density. The display has an 83% NTSC color saturation for a vibrant and crisp contrast. It’s also TUV Rheinland certified for Low Blue Light technology. Stepless Dimming and Global DC Dimming features are also for ease of use in low light conditions.

In terms of performance, the display looks okay. It has good colors, great viewing angles, and a high refresh rate. However, the lower resolution might be a deal breaker for many especially considering the price.

The Camera

There’s a dual camera setup on the Y28. The main camera is a 50 MP f/1.8 shooter and the secondary one is a 2 MP f/2.4 sensor. The front camera is an 8 MP f/2.05 shooter.

The camera system on the Y28 is the same as the Y27 with some lateral developments. The performance of the camera can be best described as a mixed-bag experience.

Pictures taken in daylight had a neutral tone to them. It's different from the usual mid-range cameras where there is a pop of color and social-media-ready processing. Instead, the pictures are more suited for those who like to edit their pictures. Portrait pictures came out well on the Y28. However, the background blue may feel a bit artificial at times. The front and back cameras showed a hint of red tint in the images.

Night-time photography performed similarly. There were some exposure issues here and there. Other than that, the cameras produced decent results.

The videography on the Y28 is rated at 1080P at 30 fps. However, without any external stabilization, the videos are barely usable at best.

Processor and Performance

The processor on the Y28 is Helio G85 based on a 12 Nm architecture. The chip design consists of 2 x 2 GHz & 6 x 1.8 GHz processors. The G85 at this point is several years old and is more suited for a sub-15 K budget smartphone.

The RAM capacity ranges from 6 to 8 GB. Starting from 128GB the memory reaches up to 256GB featuring eMMC5.1 technology. The maximum limit of its expandable storage is 1TB.

In terms of performance, the processor can handle day-to-day tasks pretty well. But the gaming isn’t really on par here. In the test, games like PUBG and Free Fire stuttered in the highest settings. Even with reduced graphics, there were frame drops here and there.

What we liked is the 300% surround sound stereo speakers. It performed pretty well even in near-highest volume settings without any distortions.

Benchmark

Antutu V9: 217448
PCMark: 11655
Geekbench 5: 353 (single core); 1311 (multi-core).

Software

The software on Y28 is the Funtouch OS 14 based on Android 14. Funtouch hasn’t changed any of its design language from last year with the same animations and bloatware. Some of the bloatware can be uninstalled after the initial setup which might be helpful for a more minimal look.

Battery and Charge Time

The battery on the Vivo Y28 is 6000 mAh. The large battery capacity easily makes for a day's usage on a full charge. Vivo has also included 44W of fast charging with the device.

Pros and Cons of Vivo Y28

Pros:

- Stylish design
- Comes with a ring light
- 90 Hz high refresh rate
- LPDDR4X RAM
- eMMC 5.1 internal storage option
- 50 MP main sensor
- Up to 1 TB of expandable storage
- 300% volume
- 6000 mAh large capacity battery
- 44W fast charging.

Cons:

- No AMOLED display
- No gorilla glass protection
- HD+ resolution display
- Pictures came out with a washed-out neutral tone
- Sub-par processor
- No wireless and reverse charging Support.

Official Price of Vivo Y28 in Bangladesh

The official price of Vivo Y28 is 20,999 BDT for the 6/128 GB variant and 25,999 BDT for the 8/256 GB variant.

Verdict

The Vivo Y28 4G with its features doesn’t justify the price. It has a great design and a good battery life. But that’s about it when it comes to its strengths. The 720P display, entry-level processor, and camera don’t add much value. For instance, OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite 5G is offering an AMOLED screen at a similar price range.

As for the users, the Vivo Y28 4G is best suited for those looking for a daily device for regular use.