The design of these devices appears to be less important to manufacturers when creating smartphones that are more reasonably priced. It also makes sense because those with a lower budget would likely be more interested in the functionality of the phone than its aesthetics. With the vivo Y35, the situation is different. This phone is a combination of beauty and power.

One thing that piques our curiosity is that it offers flagship-level 44W fast charging speeds, ending the budget segment’s nightmare of protracted slow charging. This is really great for those who are always on the go.

Will this feature, nevertheless, be able to survive the vivo Y35’s fierce market competition? Let’s find out from this full review.

Unboxing/Accessories

The vivo Y35 comes in the familiar white vivo box with the “Y35” in metallic silver font and the vivo branding. They also added the key features of the device at the bottom part of the box. Inside the box, you will find the vivo Y35 handset, 44W FlashCharge, USB Type-A to USB Type-C data/charging cable, TPU dark translucent case for protection, paper documentation, and the SIM ejector tool.

Unfortunately, the vivo Y35 doesn’t have earphones in the box; you have to buy them separately.

Build Quality/Design

It’s trendy and we love it!

The looks of entry-level phones have become fairly familiar to us. We can confidently assert that this one stands out a lot. The vivo Y35 offers a trendy and youthful design. With a 2.5D curvature and a right-angled frame, it’s sleek to look at and comfortable to hold.

The Dawn Gold colorway is really absolutely gorgeous to look at, as you can see in these pictures. The design is reminiscent of the iPhone SE from 2017.

When we were using this phone at recent events we attended, we already saw some folks gazing at it. It’s a certified head turner. That is.

The matte glittering finish isn’t at all a smudge magnet, and the back has a slight feel that feels somewhat like touching fine crystals. This, combined with a metal frame with curved edges, gives us a phone that not only feels expensive but also one of which you can be proud when taking it with you.

vivo Y35 - volume rocker and the power button — on the left side holds the volume rocker and the power button.

Diving into some specifics, the volume rocker is placed on the left side, above it is the SIM tray that supports 2x nano SIM and 1x microSD card slot.

Display

We applaud that Vivo did not compromise the Y35’s display in order to reduce the price. The phone is ideal for watching films and using apps because it offers a 6.58-inch, FullHD+, IPS LCD, 90Hz display, and even Hi-Res Audio. You can clearly notice how sharp the images are being displayed.

We have confirmed that this phone is Widevine L1 certified, so you may enjoy Netflix binge-watching at the highest possible resolution.

Camera

50MP Large Sensor on the budget

The vivo Y35 has a 50MP main camera, a 2MP bokeh camera, and a 2MP macro camera to capture your most unforgettable moments.

The main 50MP f/1.8 lens produces respectable outdoor images that aren’t oversaturated or washed out. There are a few images that turn out okay in low light with proper lighting, but that’s about it; you can’t shoot any ultrawide shots because the two other 2MP lenses are really just for display.

The camera’s dynamic range and framing did, however, show some flaws in some of the pictures we took. It tends to overexpose some portions of some images, producing an image that is either too bright or too dark.

The Y35s’ night photography falls short of expectations. Even with our best efforts to remain still, it was incredibly challenging to capture footage that was usable using the dedicated Night Camera. A software update can definitely fix this.

The performance of the 16-megapixel selfie camera is decent. It creates colors that are fairly close to those of its main camera, which is great, especially if you often post stuff on social media.

I’d also want to praise the look and feel of the camera UI. I can quickly spot smartphones with poor camera user interfaces because I used to be a fashion photographer. It is plausible that the Y35 utilizes the same camera UI as their higher-end models. That being said, we can use the Pro mode on the Y35 which allows us to manually adjust exposure and gives us more freedom in our shots.

Here are some of my sample shots from my recent trip to the province of Quezon, Philippines:

sample photos that was taken using the new vivo Y35

Overall, the camera met our expectations.

Performance

Powerful and efficient for daily use

The 8GB of RAM in the vivo Y35, which is more than enough for gaming and multitasking, is paired with a power-efficient Snapdragon 680 (6nm) chipset. This enables the Y35 to run several apps simultaneously without experiencing noticeable lags. If that’s still not enough, vivo’s Extended RAM 3.0 feature offers an additional 8GB.

Virtual RAM is essentially extra storage space for demanding tasks like keeping apps available in the background. Without the usual load times, apps will operate with just one tap.

Here’s the result of our synthetic tests of the vivo Y35 performance:

vivo Y35 keeps all your favorite things

Another surprising feature is the huge storage capacity of the Vivo Y35. The massive 256GB of memory means you no longer have to worry about your phone’s storage becoming full. If that is still not enough, you can additionally include a compatible MicroSD card with a maximum capacity of 1 TB. With such a large quantity of storage, we can install a lot of apps and games on this phone without worrying about how much space we still have.

vivo Y35 is your gaming best friend

The Multi-Turbo 5.5, which optimizes the phone’s CPU, GPU, RAM, and other components to eliminate lag and enhance overall smoothness and stability, is useful for gamers.

The Y35’s incredibly fast 44W charging speed, which is often found in high-end smartphones, is its best feature. We put it to the test, and it charged us 70% in just 30 minutes!

There are several settings available in the Ultra Game Mode that can enhance the overall game experience. By swiping from the left in-game, you can open the Game Sidebar. This makes it possible to switch between performance profiles, take screenshots, turn off notifications, and record your screen so you can quickly share pivotal moments.

And based on our stress test of Call of Duty: Mobile on the vivo Y35, we are confident that this will not let you down.

Battery

No more battery worries!

The vivo Y35 has great battery life, which shouldn’t be surprising given that it has a 5000mAh battery and is powered by the power-efficient Snapdragon 680 processor with 6-nanometer architecture. In actual use, we were able to watch the Power Rangers movie on Netflix, play some games like Call of Duty Mobile, take photos and videos, and post stuff on social media.

The Y35 achieves a score of 23 hours and 55 minutes, indicating that the phone can handle a full day of regular use. The outcome of our synthetic benchmark testing validates Vivo’s battery life claim.

Here’s the result from the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life:

vivo Y35 - PCMark score battery life — PCMark score battery life

44W FlashCharge is extremely fast

The Y35’s incredibly fast 44W charging speed, which is often found in high-end smartphones, is its best feature. We put it to the test, and it charged us 70% in just 30 minutes.

For young professionals, students, and even content creators who seek an all-rounder smartphone without spending more money, the vivo Y35 is ideal.
Editor’s View

Final Thoughts

With the Y35, vivo has raised the bar for what a budget smartphone should be, and we believe that this is a great achievement. However, there are several improvements that could have been made, such as adding 5G connectivity and improving camera performance.

Given its low price, the vivo Y35 is difficult to match. With a 90Hz refresh rate screen, a super fast 44W Flash Charge, a very generous 256GB of storage, a power-efficient Snapdragon 680 CPU, and a stylish design, the vivo Y35 is a phone that we highly recommend.

For young professionals, students, and even content creators who seek an all-rounder smartphone without spending more money, the vivo Y35 is ideal.

vivo Y35 Specs

Display: 6.58-inch 2.5D curved LCD screen w/ 90Hz refresh rate, FHD+ 2408 x 1080 resolution at 401 ppi
CPU: 2.4GHz 6nm Snapdragon 680 octa-core processor
GPU: Adreno 610
RAM: 8GB
ROM: 256GB expandable storage via microSD card slot up to 1TB
Back Camera: 50MP f/1.8 + 2MP f/2.4 macro + 2MP f/2.4 depth + LED flash
Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.0
Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 44W Fast Charging
OS: Android 12 w/ Funtouch OS 12
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, IP54 water, and dust resistance, Hi-Res Audio, USB-C, Colors: Agate Black, Dawn Gold
Dimensions: 164.3 x 76.1 x 8.28 mm
Weight: 182 g
Price: 14,999