The past two weeks have been all about photos, photos, and more photos! Being called back to work onsite, I can’t help but bring out my smartphone for quick snaps of the city, selfies with friends, and back-to-office #OOTDs. Good thing the vivo Y3 that we’ve been testing specializes in creative photography both day and night. However, this smartphone goes beyond its cameras which we’ve featured in detail on a previous blog post. The vivo Y73 is also a decent work partner, so let me spill all the details:

(Full disclosure: The last vivo phone I used was the vivo V15 c/o PInoyTechBlog way back 2019.)

Let me start by saying how handy the accessories are. The vivo Y73 comes with wired earphones which has saved me during an important meeting. It’s a nice-to-have when your Bluetooth earphones give up on you and you can’t go on speakerphone. The jelly case also protects the Type-C port below, which would be helpful on rainy days.

DESIGN AND DISPLAY

I still stand by my opinion that the Roman Black design looks very professional; however, if you prefer trendy flamboyant variants, you can go for the Diamond Flare design which has a purple-blue diamond-cut look. The Roman Black color has this anti-glare surface with subtle vertical lines and a smooth luxe matte black design that helps minimize fingerprint smudging. While it cannot fully prevent smudges, it’s way more bearable vs other brands that we’ve recently tried. Anyway, I still think that it’s best to use it with the free jelly case to ensure that it won’t get scratches.

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Given its weight (170g) and slim dimensions (161.24 x 74.37 x 7.38mm), it’s easy to grip and hold for hours. It also doesn’t wobble when placed on a table because its camera module doesn’t protrude as much as recent smartphone releases.

At the back, you’ll find the cameras – a 64MP AI Rear Camera on top, 2MP Bokeh and 2MP Macro on the next row, and a rectangular flash at the bottom of the module. Volume rocker and lock/power button are on the right side, the triple card slot with rubber gaskets (stops water from entering the device) for two nano SIMs and a microSD card is on the left, the secondary microphone is on top, while the 3.5mm earphone jack, main microphone, USB Type-C port, and speaker grille are in its usual locations at the bottom. Even after a week of using the vivo Y73, I still forget that the volume rocker is on the right side. It has been helpful so far, though! I can play games like Shopee Shake without accidentally pressing buttons on the left side of the device. It’s also easier to put the vivo Y73 on a monopod/tripod due to the button positions.

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In front, you’ll find a 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with slim bezels, except for the bottom part which is slightly thicker, and a waterdrop notch at the top center portion below the earpiece. Display and color vibrance are okay, though it comes with a standard 60Hz refresh rate. It also ha an in-display fingerprint scanner which makes unlocking the device easier, especially when you’re wearing a mask.

CAMERA

According to representatives from vivo, the Y73 is, by far, the best camera phone in the vivo Y Series. It boasts of a 64MP AI rear camera, 2MP depth, and a 2MP macro lens; while in front, it has a 16MP selfie camera. Rear camera photos turn out clear and true-to-life under daylight and it makes night shots seem more alive. Indoor photos, especially when taken via front cam, can be a hit-or-miss so you’ll have to tinker with the focus and brightness for a better quality.

WITH BRIGHT LIGHTS

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INDOORS

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SELFIE CAMERA

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REGULAR PHOTO VS NIGHT MODE

My favorite part about vivo Y73’s camera, however, is its wide selection of filters and styles which I’ve previously shared. It comes with Night Styles, Portrait Styles with adjustable Beauty and Bokeh, Super Macro, Panorama Mode, and Documents scanner. Videos can also be taken with a Filter, Ultra Stabilization, Dual View, live beauty enhancement features, and up to 4K resolution. These are a must-have especially now that almost everyone is creating content for their social media platform of choice.

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For a detailed list of camera features, you can visit our previous post here:

For the Best Stories: How to make the most out of vivo Y73’s camera features

STORAGE AND PERFORMANCE

The vivo Y73 is powered by a MediaTek Helio G95 chipset and 8GB + 128GB storage, which is still expandable via microSD. It runs on Android 11 with Funtouch OS 11.1, delivering a decent performance. It’s capable of running multiple apps for both work and leisure, which comes in handy if you need to be on standby for work but you feel like playing games like Pokemon Unite or Mobile Legends. Note, however, that like any other smartphone, running heavy apps at the same time can cause lags.

My main concern when playing games would be its audio rather than the frame drops. The vivo Y73 comes with a Multi-Turbo Mode which helps deliver a more immersive gameplay even as you run apps in the background. The audio, however, cannot be adjusted to sound clearer. You’ll have to use earphones for that.

With a bottom-firing loudspeaker, I find it better to watch videos in portrait mode vs landscape, too. While not the best in class as vivo Y73 tend to make the audio sound canned, it can be solved by using earphones. Good thing it has a 3.5mm earphone jack and free earphones so I was able to binge-watch my favorite shows for hours.

It also comes with an Always On Display which you can customize to display the time, date, battery level, and four app notifications. There are currently six styles to choose from, but colors cannot be changed. This feature doesn’t drain the battery as much as I initially expected due to its display modes – move the phone slightly to display, scheduled display, and display all day. I go for the scheduled display to help conserve battery. After all, it will stop appearing if you reach 10%.

In terms of security, it comes with pin lock, facial and fingerprint recognition, and smart lock. Smart Lock keeps your phone unlocked when it’s with you (being carried or around trusted places). App encryption is still possible and you’ll have Google Play Protect.

BATTERY

The vivo Y73 has a 4,000mAh battery with 33W Fast Charging, which is pretty decent at this price point. Expect to wait more than an hour to get it up to 100%, though. If you’re picky about battery life, you can still optimize it via Battery Saver which enables Dark Mode and restricts background activity, visual effects, and not-so-important features. A Battery Manager is also automatically enabled to notify you when you when apps are draining your battery in the background.

SUMMARY

Overall, for the price of Php 14,999, I’d say that vivo Y73 remains a viable choice for career-oriented individuals who need a good balance of everything and for aspiring content creators who give more importance to camera features more than anything else. Its main strengths would be its cameras, AMOLED display, and fast charging; while the only downside would be the standard 60Hz refresh rate and absence of 5G connectivity.  Good value for an upper entry-level smartphone, though you can actually compare it with mid-range phones at this rate.

To view the full specs, you can visit this link.

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