Vivo T4 First Impressions

Vivo's T series of devices have always been targeted at the youth, aiming to offer an attractive set of features at a compelling price. The new Vivo T4 is no different. It's identical to the recently launched iQOO Z10 (also priced the same), and aims to attract buyers by offering a stylish design and good battery life. Given that this is a mid-range smartphone, design is always a priority, but what exactly has changed over the previous Vivo T3? Let's dive in!

Vivo's T4 is clearly inspired by the company's X200 series of devices launched late last year. We received the Phantom Grey unit for review and out of the box, it does appear premium with a satin-like finish for its rear panel, accompanied by curved edges and rounded corners. Its design is now IP65-rated for dust and water resistance, an improvement over the IP54 rating of the Vivo T3.

The Vivo T4's rear panel and frame are made from polycarbonate

More manufacturers have started using quad-curved displays in mid-range smartphones. Both the Realme P3 Pro (Review) and the iQOO Z10 also offer the same. Vivo's T4 offers a 6.7-inch, 120Hz AMOLED panel with thin borders. While such panels do not necessarily improve the quality of the viewing experience, the aggressively curved glass edges do make the phone appear slimmer than it actually is. That said, Vivo does deserve some credit for being able to pack a high-capacity battery into a design that's just 7.89mm at its thinnest point. And despite offering that massive battery upgrade, the phone's weight has barely increased from 188 grams (Vivo T3) to 199 grams.

The Vivo T4 has only one user-accessible rear-facing camera

That chunky-looking, cookie-sized, camera module, has only one user-accessible camera. There's a 50-megapixel Sony IMX882 (with OIS) primary camera accompanied by a 2-megapixel depth camera, which is used only for the Portrait mode. There is a circular LED flash above the two cameras and an infrared blaster, used for controlling appliances, placed below it. While the primary camera remains the same as on the Vivo T3, the selfie camera gets an upgrade, from a 16-megapixel camera to an 32-megapixel sensor.

We also expect better performance from the Vivo T4 this year. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 has been the processor of choice for many brands selling smartphones at this price point, and Vivo's T4, also makes use of the same. The phone offers a maximum 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 2.2 storage. There's no room for expandable storage, but there is space for two physical nano SIM cards in the SIM tray. And yes, the Vivo T4 offers a single speaker, a big downgrade compared to the Vivo T3's stereo speakers.

The phone is powered by Vivo's Funtouch OS 15, which is based on Android 15 and comes with several AI-enabled tools and features

While earlier mid-range smartphones were focussed on stylish designs, the new silicon-carbon battery technology also allows them to pack a higher-than-usual capacity in the same space. Vivo's T4 (like the iQOO Z10) packs a high-capacity 7,300mAh battery, which is a big upgrade over the Vivo T3's 5,000mAh battery. Charging speeds have increased as well, from 44W to 90W, which is a must-have given the higher capacity.

Overall, the Vivo T4 is a solid contender for the mid-range. It seems to offer enough value given the various upgrades it has received this year. These upgrades also give it an edge in the design and software department where it needs to compete with brands like Nothing and its Phone 3a (Review), which is aggressively priced this year given what it brings to the table. If you're planning to get a Vivo T4, wait for our detailed review before taking the leap; it will help you find out how it stacks up against the competition.