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I have to get this out of the way first, since I assume most of my readers are outside of China hence they use Google: Google Play Services work perfectly on the Xplay 6. This is huge because the Xplay 5 had a major software bug that didn't allow Google apps to install. I'm so, so glad Vivo fixed this, because while Google is banned in China, the rest of the world rely on Gmail and YouTube and Maps. (Note to other Chinese phonmakers: if you care about selling your phone outside of China, please make sure it allows Google to run without problems)
Anyway, back to the phone. The Xplay 6 is yet another dual-curved phone, and while its design won't win any points for originality, Vivo has managed to craft curves that don't sacrifice usability in favor of style. Yup, I'm talking about erroneous palm touches on the sides of the phone -- this is a problem that plagues the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and, to a lesser degree, the Xiaomi Mi Note 2, but here on the Vivo Xplay 6, it's virtually non-existent. Much props to Vivo's software engineers for writing a smart palm-rejection algorithm into Vivo's software, because this is the first dual-curved screen phone on which I can leave all apps on the bottom dock (on the S7 Edge and Mi Note 2, I can't put apps in the lower left most corner because my palm keeps accidentally tap on it when I grip the phone one-handed with my left hand).
The curves on the Xplay 6 are more drastic than in recent curved screen phones.
The curved AMOLED panel -- which is brilliant and as gorgeous to look at as any big name flagship out there -- slopes dramatically into a heavy-duty metal frame. At 178g, the Xplay 6 is a heavy, hefty phone, but in a good way. This feels less like a toy gadget than a powerful working machine.
Vivo's moved the fingerprint sensor to the front of the phone this time around (the Xplay 5 had it on the back), which doubles as a home button and flanked by two capacitive buttons. Vivo has assigned the back button on the right side (with the overview button on the left) with no option to swap them around. It's annoying to me, but I was able to download a third party app that let me swap back. Phonemakers, please give us the option to customize capacitive buttons.
The fingerprint sensor is really fast, though, and the home button can be activated by pressing or tapping (a great option also found in Xiaomi phones). Every button feels sturdy and 'premium', so aside from the placement of the back button, I have zero complaints about the build of this phone.
Oddly, the Xplay 6 still uses Micro-USB instead of USB-C, but that doesn't affect charging speed or data transfers. Vivo's quick charge (dubbed 'Dual-Engine Quick Charge') works fast enough, in that same 12-15% bump per 10 minutes of charge like in just about every other phone. The phone's got one speaker grill at the bottom, which is loud and clear, but stereo speakers would have been nice.
Moving to internals, as mentioned the phone is still on Snapdragon 820, which is sort of dated by now. The phone is by no means slow, but there's a slight pause whenever I open intensive apps like Facebook after a while. It's not going to get in the way of day-to-day use, just pointing out that there are faster phones on the market right now. Benchmarks back this up: the Xplay 6 scored a 1596 in single-core and 3813 in multi-core.
Vivo's own OS, FunTouch, is okay. It's not offensive like some other Chinese phones' software (like Gionee's Amigo OS), and it operates similar to iOS. For example, the quick toggles are triggered by swiping up from the bottom of the screen; the notification shade, then, is solely for notifications, which means it looks weirdly bare. Nonetheless, I slapped a Nova Launcher on it and called it a day. It's no offense at the software -- I just think Nova looks grea, and I like having an app drawer.
Next up: the camera, battery life, etc
In China, Vivo's known for its strong camera and audio capabilities and the Xplay 6 gets it right. The dual 12-megapixels on the back (yup, this phone has dual cameras) take amazing photos in low light thanks to its f/1.7 aperture. In side-by-side tests with the Huawei Mate 9 Pro and Xiaomi Mi Note 2 and LG V20, the Xplay 6's low light photos came out on top.
Here are two shots on my dark rooftop. The left is taken with the Vivo Xplay 6 and the right came from the Huawei Mate 9 Pro.
Notice there are less noise in Vivo's shot, especially when I blow the photos up to 100%. (Both photos did a great job though, considering my roof top was much darker to the human eye at the time)
These next shots were taken in my living room at night with no light on and a little bit of external lighting from the streets.
Here's the Xplay 6 (left) vs the LG V20 (middle) vs the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (right).
Colors come out very vibrant on the Xplay 6 with strong contrast. The camera is also smart at avoiding overexposure in point-and-shoot situations, a problem that plagues the LG V20's camera quite a bit.
Daylight shots are, well, great (every flagship phone from 2016, no matter what brand, on can take great daylight shots... so it's getting redundant testing photos in daylight really).
Vivo doesn't play up the dual-camera set-up here as much as other phone companies have with theirs, but how it works here is very similar to Huawei's implementation. I assume the second lens help take in more lights (hence the great low light shots) and also pull off trick shots like the 'bokeh' effect (when the background surrounding a focus point is blurred to simulate a depth-of-field effect).
The camera software is basic and to the point. Some of the menus and settings are a a bit out of the way, however. Here is the bokeh mode in action. You can adjust the level of blur and even change focus points post-photo.
In all, the Vivo Xplay 6 is a very strong camera and among one of the best ones I've tried.
Now moving on to the music part. The DAC in the phone is solid and does the job, and audio output through loud speakers is good for bottom-facing single firing grills.
Elsewhere, Vivo has jammed in a bunch of features that you may have heard of elsewhere, like an Always-On Display, gestures to launch apps from a sleeping phone, and a edge panel that can be activated by swiping the sides of the screen.
Swipe gestures activated by swiping on the edge of the phone, yes just like a certain other phone (left); you have a selection of Always-On Display clocks to choose from (middle); the phone has a bunch of gesture options.
A lot of these gestures are better in theory than actual use, like being able to zoom in a photo by holding a finger on the screen and tilting the phone towards you (it sounds cool but as you tilt the phone the viewing angle is so weird you'll have to move your head along with it), but there are some very useful ones, like the ability to wake and lock the screen via double tap (this feature originated in LG, and I wish other phone companies would take this idea, because it's so useful. Having to physically reach for a power button every single time to lock a screen is not practical).
Battery life on this is great, as is the case with every Chinese phone. Like I've written before, I haven't need to whip out the portable battery pack during a day out in more than half a year. Every new phone I've tested can last me a full day out (save for maybe the Note 7 ... but let's not go into the battery there). For example, today I started my day at 11am with 100% charge, and right now at 11:54pm as I'm writing this, I still have 47% battery (which is crazy, that means the phone can probably last me until sunrise if I happen to be out all night), and this is after a full day out taking lots of photos and videos and social media. Vivo's software doesn't let me check screen on time, but I'm estimating it's in the five hour range. That Vivo managed to put a 4,080 mAh battery in a body that's only 8.4mm thick is impressive.
Priced at about $4,500 yuan, HK$4,650, or US$600, the Xplay 6 isn't a cheap if compared to most other Chinese phonemakers not named Huawei. But if you compare it to the Apples, Samsungs, LGs and Huaweis, this is a very good phone without a single major deal breaker. My only nitpick is the color, really -- if this thing ain't pink, if it was all black instead, I'd make this my permanent daily driver right away.
HomePhonesOthersVivo XPlay 6 Official- Specs & Price Review
The Vivo XPlay 6 can be termed as the surprise packaged and delivered among surprises. The XPlay 6 comes with a more studded specs line up and flagship looks than the X9 and X9 Plus launched along with it. The device is, by the way, a slightly upgraded version of the previous gen Vivo XPlay 5.
Specification – Vivo XPlay 6
The Vivo XPlay 6 sports a dual curved display with a 5.46-inch display size having an awesome 2K resolution. The device comes with an ultra-slim build, with a thickness of just 5.2mm despite cramming a big battery. The XPlay 6 is powered by a flagship Snapdragon 820 Quad-core chipset instead of the faster Snapdragon 821 which is also the latest on ground.
The processor is supported by a whopping 6GB of AM onboard and there is a large 128GB storage space on the device. The XPlay 6 also packs a large battery capacity which comes in at 4080mAh as well as has fast charging support.
Talking about the camera, the flagship device does not disappoint, packing a powerful sensor at the front as well at the back. On the front end, the XPlay 6 packs a reliable 16MP selfie sensor with soft lights. At the rear, the device features a vertically aligned dual camera setup made up of a 12MP Sony IMX362 sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. The rear camera comes packing 4-axis OIS, large f/1.7 aperture, 1.2 micro pixels, 0.03s autofocus and depth of field or bokeh effect.
In addition, the Vivo XPlay 6 features a well tested Hi-Fi audio system, something Vivo is well known for. The Hi-Fi system uses the ES9038 + 3xOPA1622 audio chip which guarantees top quality audio output. on the software end, the XPlay 6 also runs Funtouch OS 3.0 and in addition features dual SIM/dual standby support.
Vivo XPlay 6 Price in US, China, Nigeria, India, Kenya
We don’t expect a smartphone with such specs to come cheap and indeed the Vivo XPlay 6 doesn’t. Vivo has set a price tag of 4498 Yuan (around $655, N209,000 in Nigeria, Ksh. 67753 in Kenya, 45,103 Rupees in India). The flagship phone will go on sale from December 12 via offline and online sales channels.