The Vivo X21 is the first phone with an in-display fingerprint sensor. After being showcased at CES 2018 earlier this year, it has made its way to India at a price of Rs 35,990. The X21 is Vivo's flagship phone for India and it features an edgeless display, but with a notch on top. The phone treads in the territory of the OnePlus 6 while the Honor 10 and the Nokia 7 Plus breathes heavily on its back. Vivo is hoping the future-forward tech is enough to carry the phone through, but there are other premium features as well. We give you a rundown of how the Vivo X21 looks and the phone's features with the help of photos.
Here are the hardware specs of the Vivo X21:
Display: 6.28-inch AMOLED display, 1080 x 2280 pixels, 19:9 aspect
Dimensions: 154.5 x 74.8 x 7.4 mm
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
RAM: 6GB
Storage: 128GB
Rear Camera: 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel (f/1.8, 1/2.5", 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF)
Front Camera: 12-megapixel (f/2.0, 1080p)
Battery: 3,200mAh
What's unique about the Vivo X21 is the in-display fingerprint sensor. It's the first smartphone to sport the technology. The fingerprint sensor is embedded near the bottom of the display and to unlock, you have to press down on that part of the screen with some pressure.
The in-display fingerprint sensor on the Vivo X21 relies on the technology by Synaptics that uses an optical sensor to detect the fingerprint sensor. There's a CMOS sensor underneath that uses light to understand the ridges and patterns of the fingerprint to authenticate.
As you guess, there is a notch on top the Vivo X21. The notch houses the front camera, the earpiece and an IR sensor to allow for more secure face unlock.
Does the fingerprint work as well as its physical counterpart? Not really. It's visibly slower than the mainstram capacitive fingerprint sensors, and it sometimes needs two-three tries before getting it right. It also requires the user to exert some pressure on the display. Furthermore, the tech works only on OLED displays.
Like most high-end phones launched in 2018, there's a vertically aligned dual camera unit at the back as well. The primary sensor has a resolution of 12-megapixel along with a 5-megapixel secondary sensor for depth sensing. The camera uses dual pixel PDAF to focus faster and improve the low light prowess.
The Vivo X21 also features a glass back with a matte finish that feels quite in the hand. At its thinnest, the Vivo X21 measures just 7.4mm and the back curves to fit the shape of your palm. Quite ergonomic, quite premium.
The rear panel of the Vivo X21 curves gently to meet the edges and there's a reflective sheen to the edges. This is perhaps the most premium phone Vivo has launched in India.
The Vivo X21 is offered in a black colour variant and comes at a price of Rs 35,990. The phone will be available on Vivo's e-commerce portal and Flipkart from May 29th.