Review verdict: While it is by no means a flagship killer, the vivo T1 5G has enough bells and whistles to remain competitive within a crowded mid-range segment in the Philippines. Its biggest selling points are the metallic-feeling build (amongst a sea of glass/tic phones) and superb gaming capabilities. 

Pros

• Superb build quality
• Workable gaming performance
• EIS reduces shakiness quite well for video

Cons

• Average speakers
• No wireless charging

vivo T1 5G Philippines Specs

• Snapdragon 778G processor
• 8GB RAM
• 128GB internal storage
• 6.44-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display
• 64-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with PDAF, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, 2-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera
• 16-megapixel f/2.0 selfie camera
• 4G, 5G
• WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1, in-display fingerprint scanner
• 4700mAh battery
• 66w fast charging
• Android 12, FunTouchOS

The vivo T1 5G is the poster boy for their new campaign: Get, Set, Turbo. Its primary goal is to develop a smartphone with all features turned up to 11, save for the affordable price tag. Has the company delivered on its promise? Read on to find out.

Design

We immediately kick off with one of the vivo T1 5G’s strong points. It features a metallic finish on the rear that reminds us of aluminum-built phones back in the day. It provides a feeling of toughness that you just don’t get with glass or shiny plastic, which was a huge reason for its popularity in the 2015/16 era. Unfortunately, brands made the switch to glass for their most premium devices due to restrictions on antennas, wireless charging, and thermals.

The material used, as we discovered, is 3D plastic. Technology has gone far enough that plastic no longer feels like what we had in the early 2010s, nor does it emulate the rubber on older Nexus devices. This could be the best of both worlds as plastic is known to be extremely resilient in drop tests.

Sure, this finish here will likely dent and scratch, but it won’t shatter as glass does after a bad drop. It looks absolutely classy and accents the minimalistic vivo logo in a tasteful manner.

The rear camera module is sizeable with two identical circular lenses modeled after an aircraft’s engines. The flash is placed on a small, glossy portion on the edge of the module. Its shine provides a bit of personality to the otherwise monochromatic rear panel.

On the sides of the device are the expected volume rockers, power button, USB Type-C port, speaker, and SIM tray.

 

Display and Sound

We’ll get this out of the way – viewing content on the vivo T1 5G’s display is a treat. It features a 6.44-inch AMOLED display with a Full HD resolution. The pixel density is packed enough for non-pixel pinchers while still consuming far less power than a Quad HD screen. Colors pop out vividly bringing content to life due to the AMOLED panel used in this device. Pair resolution with color and you get a crisp experience every time you take a look.

Scrolling through pages and apps adds to the enjoyment. The screen’s 90Hz refresh rate is also a big plus since it ensures fluidity while navigating the device’s menus. You won’t be left wanting a higher refresh rate here. Full HD and 90Hz may seem like compromises at first, but these quality-of-life upgrades won’t gobble up processor resources or battery life as carelessly.

Under the display is a fingerprint scanner which didn’t bug out during our test period with the device. It was quick and reliable, something you need from a security mechanism you’ll be using dozens of times in a single day.

When it comes to the speakers, they’re still perfectly audible. Vivo has preinstalled audio booster software to ensure that there is minimal distortion at the highest volume levels. The onboard loudspeakers don’t get extremely loud, but they output clear sound which is more than enough for most people.

Cameras

This is another department wherein the vivo T1 5G performed admirably during our review time in the Philippines. Just to get the numbers out there, it carries a 64-megapixel main shooter supported by an 8-megapixel ultrawide and 2-megapixel macro to complete the rear trifecta. The front, meanwhile, shelters a 16-megapixel selfie sensor.

Photos taken by the rear module are superb in ideal lighting. Colors have a more natural tone to them, which is a far cry from other brands who love to oversaturate their images. Those who prefer true-to-life images will be pleased here, especially outdoors. Indoor shots in well-lit settings also remain detailed.

Take away the light a bit and expectedly the amount of detail is first to go. However, it doesn’t show nearly as much grain as other smartphone cameras, if any. It remains perfectly usable and we wouldn’t mind taking some low-light images with this device for uploading on our personal social media pages.

The front camera takes selfies in stride. Facial features are recognizable which is par for the course in 2022, but more minute details like sweat drops from an afternoon jog and the type of shirt fabric are captured in the shot as well. There also appears to be no issues distinguishing the subject in focus from the background, although none are too blurred out anyway.

As for video recording, vivo proudly boasts that the T1 5G is capable of 4K capture. We’ve already seen this before but were more impressed by the stabilization offered here.  Even with the most extreme Ultra Stabilization mode disabled, jitters and unnecessary motions when walking were negated by the camera. The supporting software was more obvious with the feature activated. Click here for a sample with normal stabilization and Ultra.

The only issue was overexposure in default settings, but some tinkering with the camera software options should do the trick.

Internals and Battery Life

Powering the T1 5G is the Snapdragon 778G, which is an upper mid-range processor and one of Qualcomm’s better chips. It can also be found in highly-successful devices like the realme GT Master Edition, a smartphone whose performance we praised in our review last year.

We used the GT to play Genshin Impact, a title notorious for bringing even the highest-end hardware to its knees after extended sessions, and overall performance is impressive even at high graphics.

We benchmarked the vivo T1 5G against competitors within the same price bracket, namely the OnePlus Nord CE 2 and realme 9 Pro. As you can see, the device placed led for most of the tests above and even went as far as dominating the 3DMark Wild Life metric.

In the spirit of the turbo theme, we tested the T1 5G with demanding racing games like Assoluto Racing and Real Racing 3. It ran perfectly on both devices with no hiccups and lags in sight. We were also anticipating that the phone would get hot to the touch due to the metallic build, but nothing of the sort occurred. The marketed ultra-large vapor chamber cooling system did its job by managing thermals and preventing any sort of throttling.

The software end was covered as well. Opening a game automatically triggered the Multi Turbo 5.0 feature which optimizes the device’s resources to play games at full capacity. An “easy access” menu keeps shortcuts within reach, perfect for both casual and competitive gamers. Multitasking was a breeze with 8GB of RAM, so the device never gave us anything to worry about on the performance side of things.

Keeping the lights on here is a 4700 mAh battery pack. While it’s not the largest battery out there, but the vivo T1 5G maintains efficiency by keeping its thermals to within reasonable levels. The aforementioned Full HD display and 90Hz refresh rate also work to the battery life’s benefit.

A 66W fast charger comes bundled in the box which speedily brought the phone from 0-65% in just 30 minutes. Unfortunately, wireless charging is not available – although this may be a non-factor to some.

Wrap Up and Conclusions

Our review of the vivo T1 5G in the Philippines shows that its a worthy contender within the space. It has the necessary tools to propel itself to one of our top midrange recommendations for the year due to strong processor performance, unique build, a capable camera system, and no visible weaknesses you’d consider dealbreakers.

If vivo commits to support this device on the software side of things and promises to provide updates in the future, then you have a no-brainer right here.

 

vivo T1 5G Review Philippines Price

The vivo T1 5G will be available at a retail price of PHP 16,999. Those buying the phone will get freebies such as a DITO SIM card and a 2-in-1 clock speaker. It will be available at vivo’s official Shopee and Lazada stores.