vivo released another smartphone under the Y Series, but as with all Y Series phones, this isn’t for power users
The reality about vivo Y36 is simple: you’re buying this for its reliability and presentable design, not for its raw power. There are too many people in that price-to-specs sweet spot today, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Offerings from other brands blur the line between affordability and competent features and that’s alright – that’s what innovation is like.
More and more features that are only exclusive to higher-end models from 2-3 years ago are becoming staples to entry and mid-range levels, and that’s something to celebrate about.
But not in vivo. As you see, vivo is still clinging to their traditional way of building a smartphone: pricier than most brands, but you’ll get decent specifications, and solid software updates for years to come– “elegance” as many would assume.
The Y36 is another standard affair from vivo: an enigma of a device made with jigsaw puzzle pieces from past releases and the result is what you will expect from this BBK sub-brand.
Unboxing
A clean white box with a silver tinge reserved for the phone model naming graced the front area. The vivo name lurks behind like a shadow obscured by a misty surface with a prism effect. All the “important” features are listed on the back as well as other information.
Specs and official pricing here: https://unboxdiaries.com/phones/vivo-y36/
Opening the box, the phone is on top, encased on a translucent plastic protective sleeve. Lifting the plastic tray reveals the jelly case– nothing too fancy, as well as some paperwork (Quick Start Guide, Important Information/Warranty Card), a standard sim ejector pin, Type-A to Type-C charging cord, and a 44W charging brick which they market as a “FlashCharge”.
Nothing unique about it, just another marketing term to make it sound different– just like Apple’s ProMotion, Dynamic Island, TrueTone, Super Retina, and the list goes on.
Back design
vivo’s legacy in creating funky back patterns visits the Y36 as well: we have here on our Glitter Aqua unit (the others are Gold and Meteor Black without the effect), it looks like a hailstorm passing through a large prism, and it looks nice. The camera island houses two sensors together with an LED flash. The words “Aspherical Lens High Resolution” is there for some reason, but there you go. The vivo logo is located in the lower left corner.
The back and the frame are both made from plastic. The bottom part houses the single loudspeaker, the Type-C port, a microphone, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The top section has the SIM tray slot which can accommodate either two SIM cards or one SIM card and microSD card. There’s also a microphone as well. The volume rockers and power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner are located on the right side. There’s nothing on the left side. IP54 is certified here, which is enough for this kind of phone.
Display quality, brightness, audio and more
The display is a 6.64-inch, 1080p IPS LCD with 90Hz refresh rate. The bezels are acceptable with the bottom chin larger than the rest of its three sides. A punch hole for the camera is also present.
The colors are more saturated and vibrant than usual. Thankfully, you can adjust it in the settings and you can choose between the standard, pro, or bright. You can adjust the color temperature based on your preferred taste.
Scrolling and swiping is alright, with the 90Hz refresh rate aiding with the smoothness.
Watching videos in 4K via YouTube is alright: no HDR support of any kind and you’re locked in 1080p@60fps at max, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Given its price point, we expect better than that, as with other phones within this category offering a much better viewing experience.
Widevine certification is at L1 so you can experience Netflix and other streaming sites in Full HD quality.
Brightness is reported to be around 600 nits, and for that, it’s plenty for most situations, but might get you in trouble outdoors, since IPS LCD is more reflective than other screens like AMOLED for example.
Audio quality is nothing to write home about the single loudspeaker isn’t loud enough or full-bodied to give you the full sound experience. But for most cases, it’s plenty fine.
There’s some discoloration around the punch-hole display, and we don’t know if it’s a defect or just a byproduct.
Battery life and charging
The vivo Y36 packs a 5,000mAh battery cell inside. It is capable of charging up to 44W via its complimentary charger. We managed to fully charge it from 5-100% in just 56 minutes. We used it from 100% and we got 14% after 7 hours of continuous usage.
Performance and benchmarks
The vivo Y36 is powered by the brand’s favorite chipset in this price range: Snapdragon 680. This is by no means a bad processor, just lacks in performance in 2023 standards.
It scored 345,081 points on AnTuTu Benchmark version 10.0.4-OB4, which is kind of surprising and we’ll consider it only using the Lite version of 3D Bench as opposed to the full version. We’re not saying this is wrong, but the real test is on the actual usage itself.
Duterte Fighting Crime 2 (MAX SETTINGS): This classic from Tatay Games runs like a charm on the vivo Y36, every shot and grenade thrown is fast, quick, and responsive. We even managed to survive for a long time, only to be dominated by the boss, and after then we only see Nanay Dionisia swinging on a wrecking ball.
Call of Duty: Mobile (VERY HIGH GRAPHICS, MEDIUM FRAME RATE): Weird settings since you can’t toggle the High settings with the Very High graphics at the same time. The Multiplayer is smooth and has no problems in regards to stutters. Battle Royale is a whole different story, it experiences too many problems when there’s too much going on. Yes, it can be a gaming device, but can it play games with grace? We don’t think so.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (HIGH REFRESH RATE, ULTRA GRAPHICS): This is a Snapdragon chipset that is well-optimized and has no trouble playing at all. To execute that combo with no frills; victory is yours for many years.
Genshin Impact (LOW GRAPHICS): We did every tweak we needed to do to get it beyond low settings but in the end, the Snapdragon 680 struggles to run Genshin Impact other than low. Good try, though.
In conclusion, the Snapdragon 680 is still capable of running most games, but if you want the very best graphics, then you’ll know that the vivo Y36 isn’t that great of a gaming device, if that’s what you’re planning to do with it. There’s the help of GameTurbo, but in our experience, there’s not much improvement to it.
Camera and video quality
If we can sum up the vivo Y36’s cameras all in one word, we will say “reliable”. Given vivo’s camera tuning prowess, it’s no surprise that the camera quality in this device is great. It houses two rear cameras: one 50 MP, and one 2 MP for depth. There’s a triple camera variant with an additional 2 MP macro, but it is not available here in the Philippines. On the selfie section, a 16 MP snapper is included.
Standard rear photos produced good contrast, tasteful vibrance, balanced saturation, and clear separation from the subject. The trademark sharpened vivo look is toned down here a bit, but it is still very good.
Selfie photos are clean, with vivo’s beautification setting on by default (be sure to turn it off if you want a natural look). Low-light photos are commendable, vivo manages to highlight the subject in less-than-ideal settings.
Video quality on both rear and selfie cameras is good, though it has some minimal issues when capturing outdoor objects as it adjusts too often to harsh lighting. The audio quality is good, and it will not let you down when it comes to vlogging. Of course, the AI Beauty camera is also on by default on the selfie cam.
Both cameras are capable of shooting up to 1080p@30fps which is decent enough.
Android 13 with Funtouch 13
Ah yes, the vintage Funtouch OS. Clean, stylish, and light– that’s what this 13th iteration of their operating system is all about. Features such as Extended RAM (which you can extend the physical RAM by 8GB more is an option), Dynamic Effects, Ultra Game Mode, and Phone Clone are all here, in which it depends on whether it is helpful or not for you.
What we like about the vivo Y36
- 44W charger inside
- Punch-hole display
- Above average cameras
- Widevine L1 certified
- Great design
What we dislike about the vivo Y36
- Should have a much more powerful chipset for its price
- Loudspeaker only
- Video resolution can be higher within this range
Conclusion
Overall, the vivo Y36 is strictly for casual users who want a capable daily driver because of its reliable cameras, battery life, and gorgeous design – paired with a somewhat above-average price tag, this phone is good if you know its limitations.
