Vivo is expanding its Y Series in India with the introduction of the mid-range Vivo Y55s, following the release of the Vivo V5 earlier in January. The Vivo Y55s will be available for purchase in the region from February 26, when prospective buyers will have the option of choosing between a couple of color options, specifically Space Grey and Crown Gold. The smartphone will be priced at 12,490 Indian rupees, which translates to approximately $187.
The Vivo Y55s is for all intents and purposes a mid-range smartphone designed to compete in the affordable market segment. With that in mind, the Vivo Y55s appears to be somewhat similar to the Vivo Y55L released in the second half of 2016, however, the Vivo Y55s sports more RAM, a higher-resolution primary camera, and an updated version of Funtouch OS. In terms of specs, the Vivo Y55s is equipped with a 5.2-inch IPS display featuring a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels, and its panel is protected by a sheet of 2.5D glass wrapped around the edges. The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 System-on-Chip (SoC) housing four ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.4GHz, an Adreno 308 graphics chip, and 3GB of RAM. Furthermore, the Vivo Y55s offers 16GB of internal memory expandable via a microSD card slot, and boasts Dual SIM capabilities as well as 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. The smartphone’s back panel accommodates a 13-megapixel camera coupled with an LED flash, whereas selfie enthusiasts have a 5-megapixel front-facing unit at their disposal. The internal components rely on a 2,730mAh non-removable battery.
Last but not least, the smartphone runs Funtouch OS 3.0 based on Android Marshmallow. It’s worth noting that the operating system offers a handful of interesting tools, including split-screen functionality which allows two apps to run at the same time, as well as a blue light filter which can be turned on to avoid eyestrain when using the device in the dark. Vivo India CEO Kent Cheng commented on the smartphone’s release by saying that the company is adamant to stay ahead of the competition by consistently launching devices that offer a lot of value for money like the Vivo Y55s does.