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Vivo X21 Initial Impressions: First smartphone with in-display fingerprint sensor

Vivo has launched the Vivo X21 smartphone in India and it is the first smartphone which comes with a fingerprint sensor built right into the display. The smartphone comes with good build and design with a notch on the top of the display for a better screen to body ratio. The smartphone features the Snapdragon 660 processor with AI features.

The Vivo X21 comes in only one variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB Storage. The price of the Vivo X21 is Rs 35,990 in India and it goes on sale starting from today via Flipkart and Vivo Online Store. Check out our first impressions about this smartphone to find out is the under display fingerprint sensor worth it?

Build and Design

The Vivo X21 design is inspired by all the previous designs of Vivo smartphones, the smartphone is built just like the Vivo V9 from the back except the fingerprint sensor. The smartphone comes with  a3D curved glass back panel and metal frame to give it a premium look.

The front panel of the smartphone features a 6.28 inches Super AMOLED display with notch design, the screen to body ratio is 90.3 percent. The smartphone comes with volume rocker and power button on the right side and the SIM card tray slot is on the bottom side.

Camera

The Vivo X21 comes with a dual camera setup on the rear, consisting of a 12MP sensor with a 5MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture size and LED flash. The front-facing camera is a 12MP camera with f/2.0 aperture and it is capable of shooting 1080p full HD videos.

The smartphone uses the AI core from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 and captures amazing selfies with AI Beauty mode. The dual pixel sensor in the front facing camera captures every detail in the picture with vivid colors and natural light conditions.

Display

The Vivo X21 comes with a 6.28 inches full view display with a notch on the top and rounded corners. The display panel is Super AMOLED which provides better contrast and natural colors in every media content. The display comes with full HD+ (1080 x 2280) resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio which eliminates the notch part when looking at some wide content.

The smartphone comes with 90.3 percent screen to body ratio which makes it a beautiful device with thin bezels around it. The fingerprint sensor is placed at the bottom part of the display. The smartphone uses a Super AMOLED panel and has an Always-on display just like in flagship smartphones.

Performance

The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor which comes with an AI core for better performance and battery backup. The smartphone features 6GB RAM and 128GB internal memory which is expandable up to 256GB using a dedicated microSD card slot.

The smartphone uses the AI core from the Snapdragon 660 to power the AI game mode, AI Face Beauty mode, smart battery mode and more to make the user experience even better. It also allows the smartphone to recognize the user’s face and unlock the smartphone in no time.

Under display fingerprint sensor

The smartphone comes with the fingerprint sensor placed under the display. There is a spot on the display right under which the fingerprint sensor is placed. The whole area illuminates when placing the finger on the spot giving enough light for the sensor to read the fingerprint, hence unlocks the smartphone.

The performance of the fingerprint sensor is not as fast as a traditional fingerprint sensor on other smartphones. We saw some hiccups when unlocking the smartphone with the fingerprint sensor but after registering the same finger more times, the issue was resolved.

Conclusion

The Vivo X21 is a solid smartphone when it comes to the design, build and the latest features. The in-display fingerprint scanner, dual rear cameras, and notch display make it stand out from other phones. Also, the hardware of the smartphone is very powerful and comes with AI features. Overall, the Vivo X21 is a great smartphone and for Rs. 35,990, it looks like a good deal.

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Abhishek Bhatnagar

Abhishek Bhatnagar, a known technology blogger & YouTuber from India. A Software Engineer by qualification, now he works as the editor-In-Chief, Webmaster, & Managing Director at Gadgets To Use. He runs a number of other technology websites as well.