vivo T1 5G Review | Geek Lifestyle

vivo Philippines recently launched the T1 5G in the country, and it is a mid-range smartphone that’s designed primarily for gaming.

Priced at well below PHP 20k, the T1 5G promises great gaming performance and long battery life thanks to its combo of having a Snapdragon 778G processor and 4,700mAh battery. On top of this, the phone packs a 6.44-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, meaning games should look great and feel much smoother to play (when playing titles with high FPS support).

Along with the promised performance, the T1 5G also packs an interesting set of cameras, as well as an eye-catching design.

All of this is great, but those are all specs/features on paper. So, how does the newest mid-ranger from vivo actually perform? Find out here in our review!

Geek-sthetic

First off, let’s take a look at the phone’s design. The vivo T1 5G features a sleek and stylish look from the back, especially in its Turbo Cyan colorway. There’s also a black version that looks more subtle, though we prefer the more eye-catching look of the cyan colored-model.

Color aside, the T1 5G has a distinct camera module design, as well as a shiny finish that surprisingly isn’t a fingerprint magnet. It even provides a good grip without a case — great news for those who prefer to use a phone without a case. Though if you do want the extra protection, the T1 5G comes with a clear case inside the box.

Moving to the front, we have the T1 5G’s 6.44-inch display with slim side bezels and a small waterdrop notch at the top. While it may not be the biggest display out there for a mid-range device, the T1 5G’s screen should still be fine for most users when it comes to size. The smaller size also helps the phone easier to grip horizontally for gaming or vertically for daily use.

Overall, the T1 5G is a good phone when it comes to design. It looks and feels quite premium, all while being practically designed for the most part.

Binge Watching Factor

As mentioned above, the vivo T1 5G features a 6.44-inch AMOLED display, and it features a FHD+ (1080p) resolution. Thanks to the AMOLED panel, the T1 5G’s screen displays vibrant colors and deep blacks, making for a great binge-watching experience. So, if you like watching movies and shows on your phone, you likely won’t be disappointed with this vivo mid-ranger.

For audio, the T1 5G has a single, bottom-firing speaker with surprisingly good audio quality for a mid-range device. While a stereo speaker would’ve been nice, the audio quality should be good enough for video-watching. But for a better experience, headphones or external speakers are recommended. Though you’ll need a wireless audio device as the T1 5G does not have a headphone jack.

Gaming Prowess

The T1 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 778G 5G processor that’s paired with 8GB of RAM. On paper, this is a good combo for gaming. And in our test, the T1 5G delivered great gaming performance.

For example, if you play today’s popular games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang of League of Legends: Wild Rift, the phone can easily play these smoothly and at the higher settings. More demanding games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 are also smooth and run well on the T1 5G. Finally, even the most demanding games such as Genshin Impact are playable on the T1 5G when you use more conservative graphics settings.

When gaming, the T1 5G also has a nifty Ultra Game Mode feature which optimizes performance. You can also swipe from the left side to bring up a menu with a bevy of useful features, including the ability to mute notifications, record the screen, take a screenshot, and more.

For a more in-depth look at the phone’s gaming capabilities, check out our gaming test of the T1 5G here:

Geek Photoshoot Capabilities

For its cameras, the T1 5G packs a 64MP main + 8MP ultra-wide + 2MP macro triple rear camera setup, along with a 16MP selfie shooter.

On the specs sheet, the T1 5G’s cameras are quite promising, and in our tests, they did not disappoint.

For shots taken outdoors in the daytime, the T1 5G’s 64MP main camera is able to capture high quality images with good colors and detail. Indoor photos are also of good quality if there’s ample indoor lighting.

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

At night, the 64MP main camera produces good quality images even in Auto Mode. You can also opt to use the camera app’s Night Mode for brighter shots, though we noticed that Night Mode photos tend to be a bit too bright or unnaturally bright in some areas. So for low light photography, you may want to use Auto Mode first.

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

: Auto Mode

: Night Mode

The 8MP ultrawide camera is able to capture quality images in daytime, with only a small dip in quality indoors. At night, the ultrawide shooter can take decent photos, but this time, we recommend using Night Mode as the results for this camera are a bit better.

The 2MP macro camera performs around what you would expect it to, with shots being decent to good depending on how much light you have.

Finally, selfies with the 16MP front camera should be social media ready and should be good enough for most users.

Everyday Reliability

Given the phone’s good gaming performance, it should come as no surprise that the T1 5G is also great for everyday use. Whether you use the phone for typical social media browsing, working on documents/presentations, or checking emails, the T1 5G is smooth and runs well without any slowdown.

As for its OS, the T1 5G runs on Funtouch OS 12 on top of Android 12. In terms of usability, Funtouch OS should be fine for most users. Though do take note that there are several pre-installed apps that you may not really use. On top of this, the T1 5G tends to give lots of notifications that I didn’t really find useful. Thankfully, you can turn these off if you find them annoying.

When it comes to battery life, the T1 5G is able to last for a day of medium to heavy use. In my lighter usage, the phone was even able to last for around a day and a half thanks to the fairly large 4,700mAh battery. If you do need to top up, the T1 5G has 66W fast charge support, meaning you can charge from 1% to 50% in under 20 minutes.

Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict

After some time with the phone, the new vivo T1 5G proved to be a great gaming smartphone. For its price of PHP 16,999, it’s well worth considering for users who prefer to have a powerful smartphone for today’s popular mobile games, all while still enjoying long battery life, good cameras, and a great display.

Vivo T1 5G specs: