Review Verdict: The vivo Y35 in this review is an attractive choice for many smartphone buyers in the Philippines since it manages to tick all the boxes for a price that won’t send you into homelessness. Some may say there are better options if you look into the stats – but this is a perfectly usable phone for everyday life. 

Pros

• Radiant rear finish
• Controlled bloatware
• Well-rounded package
• Good haptic feedback

Cons

• No ultrawide shooter
• V-Appstore could use more polish
• Mono-firing bottom speaker is outdated

vivo Y35 Specs

• Snapdragon 680 processor
• 8GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 256GB UFS 2.1 storage
• 6.58-inch Full HD+ IPS 90hz display
• 50-megapixel main camera w/ PDAF, 2-megapixel macro camera, 2-megapixel depth sensor
• 16-megapixel f/1.8 selfie camera
• 4G LTE connectivity
• WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, side-mounted fingerprint scanner
• 5000 mAh battery
• 44W fast charging
• Android 12, FunTouchOS 12

The vivo Y35 in this review has finally arrived as a budget midrange option in the Philippines. We all know this market space for smartphones is quite crowded and competitive, with the company’s own devices like the brilliant T1 5G acting as its rivals. It’s a pretty crowded space – does the vivo Y35 has what it takes to rise above?

Design

The first thing you’ll notice about the vivo Y35 is its reflective back panel. We received a unit in the Dawn Gold colorway and it’s stunning to look at from any angle. The way the colors change hue as you tilt it is nothing short of breathtaking. The included jelly case offers a bit of protection to the device but doesn’t mask its most attractive trait.

Much like other vivo devices in this segment, it is constructed with a 2.5D plastic that would pass as metallic to the uninitiated. This gives it a more premium feel in the hand as well as an unquestionable heft. The sides taper off into flat angles to make it easier to hold. One could easily mistake this for a flagship device at first glance if they didn’t know what it was.

On the upper left of the rear is a camera module, placed in the exact same spot as others before it. Two concentric circles are stacked on top of one another, with “50MP AI CAMERA” embossed on the right side as well as the LED flash. The vivo brand text is once again placed horizontally, only visible when angled sideways.

Up front is a typical design of smartphones in 2022. Bezels are minimal and the layout is clean. However, the presence of a notch instead of a hole cutout makes the phone feel a little bit dated.

Ports reside at the bottom of the device, marking the glorious return of the 3.5mm headphone jack. This is an ancient feature we’re still elated to see on smartphones these days.

The SIM tray rests at the top, while the sides house the power button and volume rockers, which are right next to each other.

Display

On the face of the vivo Y35 is a 6.58-inch Full HD+ IPS display with a refresh rate of 90Hz and the aforementioned waterdrop notch. The high resolution makes for enjoyable content consumption because you don’t see the individual pixels at this point.

The colors are what you would expect from an IPS display. The whites don’t have the yellowish tinge we see from AMOLED displays, but this screen also loses out a bit to AMOLED on how vivid the colors are and the way they pop out at you. We were more than satisfied with the screen on this device though, especially with its abundance of real estate for hassle-free content consumption. It also gets adequately bright for outdoor use, so no need to worry about not seeing the screen in daylight conditions.

Thankfully, scrolling between various windows is a reasonably fluid endeavor given the optimization of FunTouchOS 12 and the 90Hz panel.

Cameras

The vivo Y35 comes with a triple-camera setup led by a 50-megapixel main shooter, then supported by a 2-megapixel macro camera and 2-megapixel depth sensor.

As expected, performance in ideal lighting conditions passed with flying colors. There were only a few minor issues experienced with bluriness, focus, or color reproduction. Taking a snapshot of a brightly-colored plant right next to a dull background as seen in the sample photo manages to showcase the dynamic range of this sensor. The plant lost a bit of detail – but overall, it’s still a very usable shot. You just need to do a bit of adjusting, or else the light leaves the image as seen in some of the darker samples. The software processing doesn’t overdo it like we’ve seen in some devices before either. It’s simple but mostly effective, much like the camera UI.

In medium to low lighting conditions, the vivo Y35 still doesn’t falter. It doesn’t get grainy like other smartphone cameras do, which means that the software is properly augmenting the hardware.

The selfie shooter offers a variety of tweaks, including HDR, bokeh effects, and your typical facial filters. It does a good job of hiding those blemishes and exuding that TikTok look. The quality is also acceptable for most people and we wouldn’t mind taking some self-portraits or joining a video call with this device.

Internals and Battery Life

Under the hood of the vivo Y35 is the tried-and-tested Snapdragon 680. It’s not the first time we’ve dealt with this chipset but it’s definitely not old enough to be the last. At this price point, the use of this chipset might raise some eyebrows.

This processor isn’t the most powerful in the world, but it has enough to give in order to ensure smooth navigation. After all, a device does not survive on peak processing capability alone – it also needs software support, intelligent design, and well-managed thermals for consistency. vivo has done well to focus on all of these factors and delivers an experience that won’t leave you wanting for more.

Keeping the lights on is a 5000 mAh battery, just about the average for this size of smartphone. Bringing it down from full to 20% took us 19 hours and 20 minutes, which makes the vivo Y35 one of the top performers when it comes to this aspect. The efficiency of the Snapdragon 680 and effective battery management by vivo is on full display.

Once it conks out, you have a supplied 44W fast charger to nurse the dead battery back to health.

Wrap-up and Conclusions

The vivo Y35 in this review is an acceptable choice in a competitive mid-range field. It won’t burn the spec sheet with flaming-hot specs, but a combination of optimized software, overachieving cameras, and an accurate display make this a suitable everyday choice.

vivo Y35 Review Philippines Price

The Y35 is priced at Php 14,999 in the Philippines and will be available on vivo’s official stores in Shopee and Lazada, and on its web shop. Each purchase comes with a DITO SIM card and Voguard TWS earphones.

 

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