Vivo’s latest offering in the Indian smartphone market targets performance seekers who need their devices to be at the top of their game and be less pricier than a second-hand sports bike. The Vivo T3 Ultra is here to make its mark in the sub-40,000 segment with a wide gamut of features.
The following are the unboxing and first impressions of the Vivo T3 Ultra 5G. Here goes.
The Vivo T3 Ultra comes along with a USB type C to type C charging cable, a travel adapter, a SIM tool, a transparent phone case and some paperwork.
In the box –
Vivo seems to have cracked the code when it comes to making smartphones look debonaire. One close look at the Vivo T3 Ultra and you feel as if the smartphone is wearing an Italian silk suit. Coming from a person who is neutral about Vivo smartphones, this is huge.
The phone has a clean and sleek build, it is lightweight and it exudes a very classy vibe. The 6.78-inch display is huge and ample for content streaming, multi-tasking, working and entertainment. The AMOLED panel offers a 1.5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is curved, though, which is completely in line with what mid-range smartphones are doing these days. The display can achieve a peak brightness of 4,500 nits.
The reason I’m bringing the camera before the performance section is because that is a core part of the T3 Ultra’s USP. The 50MP Sony IMX921 sensor is an excellent choice for a sub-40,000 mid-range smartphone. One thing to note here is that this is not a Zeiss-engineered camera unit. It is what it is.
The T3 Ultra dons a dual rear camera set up with a primary 50MP sensor with OIS and autofocus and an 8MP sensor with an ultrawide lens. Not only this, there is a 50MP camera on the front as well.
Well, performance is the whole foundation of the Vivo T3 Ultra. This smartphone’s identity revolves around being a performance monger. The MediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipset is a powerhouse and quite frankly, an overkill for a sub-30,000 smartphone. It makes you wonder what was going on in the minds of Vivo’s product team when they were deciding on the processor.
The Dimensity 9200 SoC crosses 1,600,000 on AnTuTu benchmark which puts it on par with entry-level flagship smartphones. This, along with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.
To keep up with the chipset and maintain steady performance, the T3 Ultra also gets a 4,200mm square cooling system to efficiently dissipate heat.
The phone gets 5G, as abundantly evident from its name, Bluetooth v5.3, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a Type C port. On the battery front, the gets a 5,500mAh lithium-ion battery that claims to offer a runtime of around 65 hours. With 80W fast charging, the phone also promises quick charging speeds.
It seems Vivo is serious about the Ultra monicker. The smartphone is superbly built and gives off a very polished first impression. This is not an afterthought of a product like a few of the mid-range smartphone launches we have seen this year. The smartphone not only impresses with its dashing looks but also displays finesse when it comes to its performance.
Initial usage showed no lag and frame drops. A little bit of gaming did show us that the phone heats up during extreme gaming sessions. The camera is another plus point for the T3 Ultra. The 50MP sensor packs a powerful punch. The handful of images we took proved that the images are clear and the colour science used is decent. To be honest, I could not tell the difference between the V40 Pro and the T3 Ultra when I looked at the results on the Ultra. Sorry not sorry, V40 Pro owners.
I did not test the battery during the first impressions because that part is for the full review. However, I will mention that it does look promising. After clicking photos in the back alleys of Noida and playing some graphics-intensive games, the T3 Ultra did not show signs of slowing down.
If there is one thing that did bring the energy down, it was the Funtouch OS. There’s something about the UI that just doesn’t work for me. That being said, the 1.5K 120Hz AMOLED display is good and helps make up for the UI.
8GB + 128GB - Rs 31,999
8GB + 256GB - Rs 33,999
12GB + 256GB - Rs 35,999
The full review will be up soon. Stay tuned.
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