Vivo Y17 First Impressions

Vivo has been steadily launching multiple smartphones at different price points in the Indian market. One of the recent models to launch is the Vivo Y17. The smartphone boasts of a new MediaTek Helio P35 SoC and offers 128GB of internal storage. It packs in a big 5000mAh battery and claims to offer good battery life. Just like some of the other smartphone manufacturers, Vivo too has opted for flashy colours for the Y17. For the asking price of Rs. 17,990 is this Vivo ready to face the competition? We spent some time with the Vivo Y17 and here are our first impressions of the device.

The Vivo Y17 is primarily made out of plastic, just like some of the other smartphones in the same series. It is available in two finishes, Mineral Blue and Mystic Purple. We got a Mineral Blue review unit that has a gradient finish on the back. While it looks like the back is made out of glass at first glance, it is made out of plastic. It is a fingerprint magnet and we had to keep wiping it often to keep it smudge free. In the past we have seen that a glossy plastic body picks up fine hairline scratches, so it'll be interesting to see how the Vivo Y17 fares when we review it. Vivo ships a case in the box which should help in this case.

At the front, the Y17 has a big 6.35-inch HD+ (720x1544) LCD display with a waterdrop notch. It has a 19.3:9 aspect ratio and claims an 89 percent screen-to-body ratio. We found the display to have decent viewing angles and adequate brightness. However, most other smartphones at this price point like the Redmi Note 7 Pro (Review) and the Oppo K1 (Review) sport full-HD+ display panels putting the Vivo Y17 on the back foot. The display has thin bezels all around but the bottom chin is comparatively thicker. Vivo has moved the earpiece grille towards the frame, which is made out of plastic. The frame houses the power and the volume buttons on the right while the SIM tray slot is on the left. We found that the buttons are well positioned and are easy to reach. The frame is slightly rounded that makes it comfortable to hold.

Vivo has positioned the 3.5mm headphone jack, microUSB port, primary microphone and the loudspeaker grille at the bottom while the top of the phone is completely blank. We found the Micro-USB port to be a little disappointing considering most other smartphones at this price point sport a USB Type-C port. At the back, the Vivo Y17 has an AI-based triple camera setup, a first in the Y series.

The camera module on the phone protrudes slightly and has a bronze coloured trim piece around it. This module houses the 13-megapixel primary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture, an 8-megapixel super wide-angle sensor with f/2.2 aperture and a 2-megapixel depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. At the front, the Y17 has a 20-megapixel selfie shooter with an f/2.0 aperture.

The capacitive fingerprint scanner is positioned at the back and is easily reachable. We found the scanner to be quick to scan and unlock the smartphone. It also has face unlock which can be used to unlock the smartphone but we will be testing it out when we review it.

Vivo has picked the new MediaTek Helio P35 SoC to power the Y17. It is an octa-core processor with eight Cortex-A53 cores. The choice of processor is a little surprising at this price since the competition offers powerful processors. We will put this Helio P35 through its paces soon in the full review to see if this hampers the prospects of the phone.

Vivo has launched only one variant of the Vivo Y17 in the country with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. There is a dedicated microSD card slot which allows storage expansion. The Y17 has a dual Nano SIM slots with support for 4G as well as VoLTE on both.

The AI-based triple camera setup on the Y17 next to the capacitive fingerprint scanner.

It has support for dual band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Galileo, and FM Radio among others. The Vivo Y17 packs in a big 5000mAh battery which should help the smartphone deliver good battery life. Vivo also ships an 18W fast charger in the box which should help the top the battery up quickly.

Software-wise the new Y17 runs Funtouch OS 9 based on the latest Android 9 Pie. The new version of Funtouch OS does not have an app drawer and all apps are available right at the home screen. The Y17 performed well while we were scrolling through the apps and menus and could multitask without slowing down.

We will be testing how Vivo's latest Y17 performs in our benchmark tests and in day-to-day use. We are also waiting to put the big 5000mAh battery and the AI-based triple camera setup to the test. Stay tuned to Gadgets 360 for our full review of the Vivo Y17, coming soon.