Vivo's S-series returns to India after years away. We put the Vivo S2's 7,050mAh battery, curved AMOLED display, and cameras to the test.
Here's our review of the new Vivo S2
The falling smartphone shipments globally have forced all OEMs to rethink their product strategies. With some continuing to focus on budget handsets, with the introduction of new entry-level models, like Realme, others like OnePlus have taken a very different approach by launching entirely new affordable lineups. In the midst of all the commotion, one brand has taken a completely different route. With the launch of the new Vivo S2 in India, the company has not decided to reinvent the wheel but revive an older, well-known brand name, a strategy that automakers have employed for generations.
Arriving as a sub-Rs. 50,000 smartphone, the Vivo S2 has a significantly higher price tag, making it a spiritual successor in the truest sense of the expression. It capitalises on the recall value of the Vivo S series, which was introduced in 2019. With its innovative design, a powerful MediaTek chipset, and a large enough battery, is it able to keep up with the realities of 2026?
Vivo has clearly paid a lot of attention to how it wants the new Vivo S2 to appear. The result is true eye candy, which clearly stands out in this price range. We have seen companies attempt the horizontal pill-shaped camera module in the past; the most iconic in recent memory is the iPhone Air in the premium range and the Realme 16 in the mass market segment. However, with its squircle-shaped camera lenses and an effective ring LED flash, the Vivo S2 makes it its own.
Vivo S2 features a plastic rear panel
The rear of the Vivo S2 sticks out like a sore thumb in public. However, it still catches eyes easily. The smartphone looks premium, thanks to its marble-like finish on the back with a wavy pattern visible when the light falls directly on it. The waves show hues of colours, something similar to how silver looks at higher temperatures.
Apart from this, the fresh curved rear panel and the curved 3D glass on the front carry a novelty factor in this particular price range in India, rather than just offering ergonomic comfort. In terms of in-hand feel, the Vivo S2 does feel a bit cheap, reiterating the fact that looks can be deceiving. This is primarily because of the plastic composite sheet used on the back.
Vivo S2 is one of the thinnest phones in its segment
Interestingly, despite its tapering edges, the middle frame of the Vivo S2 offers great grip. Throughout my usage, I never felt that the phone would slip out of my hand, something I have found to be the case with several of its competitors. Apart from adding to Vivo S2's visual appearance, the curved back and front also make the smartphone easy to hold for hours. Your fingers wrap around its body comfortably, offering immense confidence.
Measuring 75.25mm in width, the Vivo S2 is not the narrowest among the lot. However, despite its wide body, the curved design lets you easily grab the phone even if you have relatively small hands. An important part of a handset's design is ergonomics. While it does well in terms of in-hand comfort, the placement of the buttons could have been slightly better.
Vivo S2 features a unique rear camera island
The power button and volume controls are placed on the right side of the phone. My thumb naturally rests on the lower part of the volume controls, which means I have to bend my thumb every time I want to press the power button. However, it does make reaching the volume up button much easier, requiring almost no effort. Similarly, the in-display power button has been placed slightly lower than what I would have preferred. But you can definitely learn to live with these things.
On the other hand, the dual speakers have been placed perfectly on the Vivo S2. I never found myself blocking either of the two while watching videos or playing games in landscape mode. The handset is offered in three colour options, namely Regal Bronze, Sapphire Blue, and Silk White. I got to use the Silk White option, which in my opinion looks the most premium among the three.
Overall, the Vivo S2 has all the elements that objectively make it look premium. With its 199g weight and 8.1mm thickness, the smartphone will appeal to a large segment of users.
The display of the Vivo S2 is probably its best feature. Boasting a 6.83-inch Full-HD+ AMOLED display, the Vivo S2 brings the perfect recipe for long content watching sessions. The 3D curved glass on the smartphone not only looks unique from the front, but also significantly minimises the bezels, offering a more immersive experience. The display Full-HD+ panel, with 1,260 pixels laid horizontally and 2,800 pixels laid vertically, is extremely crisp.
Vivo S2 sports a 3D curved glass display
Watching videos and reading text feels great, with impressive clarity around character edges. On top of this, the viewing angles of the screen are much better than the competition, allowing you to view it even from a 75-degree slant. The 449 ppi pixel density is one of the best in the segment, and it translates well in real-world usage, too. I read a few chapters of Neerja Chowdhury's ‘How Prime Ministers Decide' using the Kindle app on the Vivo S2.
The alphabet never appeared distorted or out of focus, maintaining its sharpness throughout. Performance was consistent when you switched to reading articles on websites. Another praiseworthy aspect is that the display reproduces pure white shades, unlike a few handsets in this price range, which either reproduce a yellow or a blue tint. However, it does get a dedicated Eye Comfort mode, which allows the phone to shift to warmer tones.
Watching movies and shows is as fun as reading. I watched season 2 of the Ravi Kishan-starrer ‘Mamla Legal Hai' and season 6 of the ‘Big Bang Theory' on Netflix. The display reproduced vivid visuals with impressive clarity. The experience was similar on YouTube, if not better, while watching Samay Raina's ‘India's Got Latent' season 2, particularly the episode featuring Karan Aujla.
Vivo S2 is great for content consumption
The adaptive 120Hz refresh rate offers a smooth scrolling and navigation experience. However, compared to competitors, some phones have moved on to a 144Hz refresh rate. But the difference between the two standards remains indistinguishable during casual use.
I would also like to point out that the in-display fingerprint sensor takes a significant amount of time to register the touch. However, the overall touch response of the screen remains snappy.
One of the most significant transitions from Vivo in recent years has been in terms of software. The move from FuntouchOS to ColorOS has been arguably the best move the company has made, offering Indian users the same premium experience it offers in its home market. The new Vivo S2 ships with the latest Android 16-based OriginOS 6, offering the same stutter-free experience as found on higher-end phones.
Vivo S2 ships with the latest OriginOS 6
Vivo's OriginOS 6 offers sufficient customisation options to really make the Vivo S2 your own. The software itself is extremely smooth, and the swift animations add to the whole experience. If you are already an Android user, you will be able to adjust to OriginOS 6 in hours, owing to its extremely intuitive layout. However, like most mid-range smartphones, the software of the Vivo S2 is not bloatware-free.
The ‘Block Blast!' game is present here as well, along with the V-Appstore and the Booking.com app. However, the game and most other apps can be uninstalled easily if you wish to remove them.
The Vivo S2 is definitely a capable smartphone. In day-to-day usage, the smartphone never throws up any issues that might put you off. However, in terms of price-to-performance ratio, the competition has definitely surpassed the smartphone. With the octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 7360-Turbo chipset, the peak clock speed of 2.50GHz does feel a bit underwhelming. However, the same does not translate into real-world scenarios.
Vivo S2 gets slightly warmer around the camera module
I was able to run over 10 apps simultaneously, and Vivo's RAM optimisation never disappointed me. To further push the phone's limits, I played a YouTube video in pop-up mode and started editing images, which the handset handled with ease.
However, the Vivo S2 suffers from heating issues that show up at unexpected moments. After playing a video for 15 minutes on YouTube, without the case on, the Vivo S2 started heating up, especially around the camera module. However, this was brief, and it returned to normal temperature after about 5 minutes. A similar situation arose while using Google Maps, where the handset became weirdly warm.
However, these overheating issues never affected the Vivo S2's performance, which means that there could have been only negligible or no CPU throttling. I ran the usual set of benchmark tests to put its performance in numbers and compare it with other smartphones. The results were unsurprisingly underwhelming.
| Benchmark | Vivo S2 | Realme 16 Pro+ |
|---|---|---|
| Display Resolution | Full-HD+ | 1.5K |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 7360-Turbo (4nm) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
| AnTuTu v10/11 | 9,52,159 | 13,99,710 |
| PCMark Work Performance 3.0 | 10,621 | 15,226 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Single Core | 1027 | 1352 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Multi Core | 2888 | 3976 |
| Geekbench AI CPU (Quantized) | 1992 | 3063 |
| Geekbench AI GPU (Quantized) | 615 | 1233 |
| 3DM Wild Life | 3164 | 7728 |
| 3DM Wild Life Unlimited | 3148 | 7778 |
| 3DM Steel Nomad Light | 345 | NA |
To test its gaming performance, I started with lighter titles like Temple Run and Subway Surfers, which the Vivo S2 ran with ease. However, moving on to Asphalt Legends and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), the handset presented its limitations. I played both the games in default mid presets. There were notable frame drops while playing both the games. I played the two titles back-to-back for 35 to 40 minutes each. After a total gaming session of 1 hour 30 minutes, the Vivo S2 became quite warm, but never too hot to hold.
The only department in which the Vivo S2 slightly disappoints is the camera performance. It gets a dual rear camera unit, led by a 50-megapixel primary shooter, offering up to 10x digital zoom capabilities. The inconsistent camera performance literally creates a “day and night” difference, pun not intended, at different times of the day.
Vivo S2 daytime camera performance
During the daytime, the Vivo S2 captures significantly softer images. The photographs appear like an oil painting. Surprisingly, the images are not low on detail, which means it can produce better results. However, the colour reproduction does not do justice to the sensor's capabilities.
Vivo S2 camera performance in portrait mode
The lack of dedicated ultrawide and telephoto cameras is also felt. The primary camera digitally zooms into scenes, in other words, crops into the existing image. In the process, the results appear pixelated beyond 2.5x zoom.
Vivo S2 camera zoom performance
However, indoors things take a turn for the better. The capable 50-megapixel shooter captures shadows well, something that even higher-end phones fail to do. The reflections of light on shiny surfaces also look good.
Vivo S2 indoor camera performance
In portrait mode, the Vivo S2 also delivers inconsistent results. The camera can quickly recognise the subject that should be in focus. It also manages to create a clear separation between the subject and the background, with well-defined edges. However, the images still appear soft.
Vivo S2 night-time camera performance
However, the story changes at night. The 50-megapixel shooter on the Vivo S2 performs its best at night under artificial lighting. However, for better colour reproduction, users have to trade in the image details. I suggest against pixel peeping to avoid being left disappointed.
The 32-megapixel selfie camera of the Vivo S2 is certainly better. It gets the skin tones just right, without either overexposing or oversaturating images. However, the post-processing does remove the blemishes and irregularities from the subject's face, which makes it appear a little artificial.
To conclude, Vivo has done better with its V series and X lineup smartphones, which are certainly better for photography.
The 7,050mAh battery of the Vivo S2 easily lasts a full day, involving a few hours of scrolling Reels on Instagram, navigating on Google Maps, a couple of video recordings, and multiple YouTube videos. However, despite a large battery, the handset only managed to last 16 hours 58 minutes during PCMark's Work 3.1 battery life test, which is certainly lower than its competitors. However, I would like to highlight that the smartphone can last a substantial amount of time on 1 percent battery while playing a video on YouTube.
Vivo S2's battery can last a full day
On top of this, the Vivo S2 delivers impressive standby battery life. I noticed a drop of 1 percent battery in 8 hours without a SIM card and Wi-Fi connection, while dropping by 3 percent in the same amount of time with a 5G SIM card and a 5GHz Wi-Fi connection. The charging times are enough but a little underwhelming when compared to the competition. In 30 minutes, the phone charged from 0 to 34 percent, going to 68 percent in an hour. However, it took 1 hour and 36 minutes for the phone to charge fully.
The Vivo S2 relies heavily on its innovative design, user experience, and recall value, rather than raw performance numbers. While you might find it to be a mixed bag, the Vivo S2's no-nonsense approach appears to be the most practical in today's times, taking the RAM-flation into consideration. It is perfect for people who want their phone to offer reliable performance, decent photos and videos, and look good while doing it all.
However, if you prioritise pure benchmark numbers, there are a few handsets priced lower than the Vivo S2 which offer powerful chipsets and larger batteries. You can consider the Redmi Turbo 5, the OnePlus Nord 6, or the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+, which offer better performance, battery life, and camera performance, respectively.
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