The vivo T1 5G long-term experience - Better than expected!

To recall, vivo first introduced the PHP 16,999 T1 5G mid-range smartphone in the Philippines last May.

Still great after 2 months?

Targeting gamers, the handset became one of the company's most exciting releases of the year for the said price range.

In our gaming test, we said that it handled all of the games we threw at it quite well for a smartphone priced this low.

In our full review, we even called it a legit mid-range gaming contender.

In short, it is quite great for the price.

For this article, we will share with you what we think about it long term. Is it still that good after more than 2 months of use?

Read on.

vivo T1 5G after 2 months!

Actual gameplay

For gaming, the experience is the same. It is quite good for the price and we didn't experience that the quality degraded over time.

AnTuTu and Geekbench scores

The good mid-range gaming experience is thanks to its large screen, pretty fast 2.4GHz 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G octa-core processor, Adreno 642L GPU, 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 4GB Extended RAM (it helped run more apps in the background), 4,700mAh battery, fast charging, pretty good cooling system, and Z-axis linear motor + 4D gaming vibration.

Ultra Game mode for uninterrupted and smooth gaming

It also has software tricks like the Multi-Turbo 5.0 and the Ultra Game mode which helped optimize the phone for a better overall connectivity and gameplay experience.

Benchmark scores are high for the price and it resulted in fewer lags while playing games.

To see how it performed for gaming, you may watch this video here.

More than just a gaming phone

In our review, we also said that the vivo T1 5G is more than just a gaming phone as it is a good all-rounder in the mid-range segment as well.

Our thoughts are still the same. Why?

Premium-looking build

1. The build and design - The vivo T1 5G features one of the most gorgeous-looking back covers for us. 

It has nice curves making and an AG finish making it very comfortable to hold and preventing annoying fingerprint smudges. Even without a case, we also noticed that it isn't prone to fingerprint smudges.

In fact, I didn't use the case included in the box and my unit is still scratch-free (I'm a pretty careful user though).

This is also a pretty slim and lightweight phone at just 159.7 x 73.6 x 8.49 mm and 180.3 g. It is not fatiguing to hold.

My few comments are it has no mention of glass protection. The display has slim bezels, but it still has a notch.

AMOLED screen!

2. Display quality is GREAT - Even if it has a "not-that-modern-looking" notch style, the vivo T1 5G has a great display for watching movies, playing games, and viewing the images you took, among others.

Why? Its 6.44-inch AMOLED screen has a  90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate, FHD+ 2404 x 1080 resolution, 100 percent DCI-P3 colors, HDR10+ support, and a peak brightness of 1,300 nits, and SGS Eye Care Certification.

We explained in our review that it delivered a smooth viewing experience with crisp enough details, rich colors, great viewing angles, and 10 points of touch. This is still one of the better screens at this price point.

Oh, by the way, this also has a Loudspeaker Mode that increases its volume to 150 percent. This is great to use in noisy situations and you need to hear whatever you are playing on your smartphone clearer.

It is even Hi-Res Audio certified for both wired and wireless audio which allowed us to enjoy rich audio on our favorite wired and wireless audio devices.

Good cameras

3. It's a rare mid-range gaming phone with good cameras -  Most gaming-focused phones have "not-that-great" cameras. Thankfully, that is not the case with the vivo T1 5G.

To recall, it is using a 64MP f/1.7 main camera with PDAF, 8MP f/2.2 117-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2MP f/2.4 4cm macro shooter. It also has a Night mode with different "Styles" to choose from like Black & gold, Cyberpunk, Dreamy spotlight, Textured, Blue Ice, Green orange, Dark red, Blue orange, and Silver orange.

Of course, it has most of the modes you will find on modern mid-range smartphones from AI optimizations to Pro mode.

For selfies, it is using a 16MP f/2.0 camera with Screen Flash, HDR, filters, Portrait mode, and even the Night mode.

Daylight ultra-wide

Indoor main cam

Indoor close-up main cam 1

Indoor close-up main cam 2

DIM indoor shot auto

Indoor selfie with bokeh

In our tests, the vivo T1 5G impressed us with its daylight and indoor shots. Its ability to create a nice background blur even without using the Portrait mode is also great thanks to its large main camera sensor. It also delivered one of the cleanest Portrait modes around with nice edge detection.

We find the phone to be great for taking daylight snaps, close-up shots, and food shots.

For selfies, it is also quite good. Again, the bokeh from the Portrait mode ranks among the best we've seen for the price. Just lessen the beauty mode a little and you are in for a treat even in low light.

For more camera samples, visit this link.

5G speed test!

4. Other features - The other things that made the overall experience with this phone great are its stable 5G connectivity (if the signal is strong in the area, good battery life despite its slim profile, can be fully charged from 0 to 100 percent in just 40 minutes, and the fast and reliable In-Display fingerprint scanner.

vivo T1 5G Specs

Display: 6.44-inch 2.5D curved AMOLED screen w/ 90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate, HDR10+, FHD+ 2404 x 1080 resolution at 409 ppi

CPU: 2.4GHz 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno 642L

RAM: 8GB LPDDR4X

ROM: 128GB UFS 2.1

Back Camera: 64MP f/1.79 w/ PDAF + 8MP f/2.2 117-degree ultra-wide-angle + 2MP f/2.4 4cm macro + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.0

Battery: 4,700mAh w/ 66W FlashCharge

OS: Android 11 w/ FuntouchOS 12

Connectivity: WiFi 6, 5G SA/NSA, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, dual SIM (nano)

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, Hi-Res Audio (wired and wireless), dual mic, multiple cooling solutions, USB-C, Colors: Turbo Cyan, Turbo Black

Dimensions: 159.7 x 73.6 x 8.49 mm

Weight: 180.3 g

Price: PHP 16,999

Our thoughts

The vivo T1 5G is still superb for its PHP 16,999 price tag even after more than 2 months of use.

We didn't experience a degradation in performance or quality in all of the above-mentioned highlights. Its performance, battery life, camera quality, and other features remained as good as ever during our long-term test. It even received Android security updates consistently for your peace of mind.

As mentioned in the title, it is better than expected as it is more than just a gaming smartphone. This is a gaming-ready smartphone that doubles as a great all-rounder at this price point.

We highly recommend that you check out this handset if you are looking for a new smartphone and you have PHP 17K in your pocket.

Anyway, you may check its listing at the official vivo Philippines online store at this link.