Today Vivo surprised everyone by launching the value for money smartphone U20 in India. It is a very interesting take on Realme’s and Redmi’s affordable devices since it offers amazing specifications at an incredibly affordable price. It comes right after the launch of the Realme 5s in the nation and a lot of people are already considering its specs sheet even better. Another device that is fighting to become the best-seller under €200 in India and all around the world is the Redmi Note 8. Which is currently the device with the highest value for money? This specs comparison will shed some light on such a hard question to answer.

Vivo U20 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs Oppo Realme 5s

Oppo Realme 5s Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Vivo U20
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 164.4 x 75.6 x 9.3 mm, 198 grams 158.3 x 75.3 x 8.4 mm, 190 grams 162.2 x 76.5 x 8.9 mm, 193 grams
DISPLAY 6.5 inches, 720 x 1600p (HD+), 269 ppi, IPS LCD 6.3 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 409 ppi, IPS LCD 6.53 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 395 ppi, IPS LCD
PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, octa-core 2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, octa-core 2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, octa-core 2 GHz
MEMORY 3 GB RAM, 32 GB – 4 GB RAM, 64 GB   – 4 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD dedicated slot 4 GB RAM, 64 GB  – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – micro SD slot
SOFTWARE Android 9 Pie, Color OS Android 9 Pie, MIUI Android 9 Pie, Funtouch OS
CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS  Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS
CAMERA Quad 48 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2, f/2.4 and f/2.4
13 MP f/2.0 front camera		 Quad 48 + 8 + 2 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2 and f/2.4
13 MP f/2.0 front camera		 Triple 16 + 8 + 2 MP f/1.8, f/2.2 and f/2.4
16 MP f/2.0 front camera
BATTERY 5000 mAh, fast charging 10W 4000 mAh, fast charging 18W 5000 mAh, fast charging 18W
ADDITIONAL FEATURES Dual SIM slot Hybrid Dual SIM slot Dual SIM slot

Design

The Redmi Note 8 clearly wins the design competition. First of all, it is the only which sports a glass back making the whole phone more elegant and refined (and protected by Gorilla Glass 5). Further, it is the most compact, the thinnest and the lightest phone of this trio. But despite the superiority of the Redmi Note 8, there is still to award the Vivo U20 which maintains a very thin and light body, even though it is equipped with a much bigger battery and a much wider display. Even the Realme 5s has a unique advantage: unlike its two rivals, it is splash resistant.

 

Display

Realme 5s loses the display comparison because it is equipped with a panel sporting a lower resolution. It is just HD+ and that is not the best for a wide 6.5-inch display as it does not provide a high definition level. On the other hand, the display is definitely one of the strong points of the Vivo U20, since it has a wide display diagonal (6.53 inches) and a high Full HD+ resolution. It even comes with the Widevine L1 certification which allows streaming content in high definition from the most known platform (such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video).

 

Specs & Software

While Redmi Note 8 and Realme 5s are fueled by the Snapdragon 665 chipset, Vivo decided to take a step forward by equipping the Vivo U20 with a more powerful Snapdragon 675, so you will most likely get higher speeds thanks to its higher CPU performance. Further, consider that Vivo U20 comes with 6 GB of RAM and a fast UFS 2.1 internal storage making its performance even higher than expected. Unfortunately, it does not have a 128 GB configuration, unlike the Redmi Note 8, but it sports a micro SD slot to expand the native storage. Android 9 Pie is installed out of the box on each phone but customized by different UIs (Funtouch OS, MIUI, and Color OS).

 

Camera

The cameras are the real weak point of the Vivo U20: indeed, while it sports a better display and hardware department, if you care about photo quality then you’d better go for the Redmi Note 8 or the Realme 5s. Both have a 48 MP quad camera, but currently, the MIUI seems to have a slightly better algorithm for imaging, at least from what I’ve seen by testing Realme and Redmi devices.

 

Battery

Realme 5s and Vivo U20 are the battery champions here: they come with a huge 5000 mAh battery, while Redmi Note 8 offers just a 4000 mAh unit. Between Realme 5s and Vivo U20, the former should last more since it has to manage a display with a lower resolution.

 

Price

Vivo U20 just debuted with a €151/$166 price tag (Rs. 11,990), while Redmi Note 8 starts from Rs. 9,999 (€126/$139) just like the Realme 5s. Due to its better display, huge battery and higher performance, Vivo U20 is the most interesting handset overall, but only if you do not care a lot about photo quality (in that case Redmi Note 8 is a better option, or Realme 5s if you need a bigger battery instead of an FHD+ display).

 

Vivo U20 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 vs Oppo Realme 5s: PROs and CONS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8

PROs

  • Affordable price
  • Nice cameras
  • Good display
  • Faster charging

CONS

  • Smaller battery

 

Oppo Realme 5s

PROs

  • Huge battery
  • Wide display
  • Good cameras
  • Splash resistant

CONS

  • HD display

 

Vivo U20

PROs

  • Nice display
  • Wide display
  • Nice front camera
  • Huge battery

CONS

  • Worse rear cameras

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