In this day and age, the midrange segment of smartphones are becoming of the most competitive segments and added to that is now the Realme 5 Pro and the Vivo S1. Both smartphones come with their own pros and cons so let us take a look at a detailed comparison between both these phones. Realme 5 Pro vs Vivo S1. Let the battle begin.
- Built and Design
Both these smartphones have been places under the midrange segment due to their pricing and the chipsets inside but that is not so clear with the designs. Both smartphones have stepped up their design game as both come with plastic backs still however they have a glossy glass-like finish which makes it look a lot more premium. The one notable difference is the trademark diamond cut finish on the Realme 5 Pro.
The Vivo S1 has a slightly smaller camera bump compared to the Realme 5 Pro which causes it to wobble less when placed on a table. The Vivo S1 also has an in-display fingerprint scanner while the Realme 5 Pro still has a physical back mounted reader. Thankfully, both phones still come with a headphone jack.
- Display
Looking at the front of the phones, the Realme 5 Pro comes with a 6.3 inch 1080p IPS LCD display while the Vivo S1 is equipped with a slightly bigger 6.38 inch 1080p Super AMOLED display. This results in the Vivo S1 having a slight edge in screen quality as AMOLED displays are superior when compared to their IPS counterparts. Both phones have a small dew drop notch on the top which allows the phones to have great screen to body ratios.
- Camera
Now on to one of the most important parts of a smartphone, the cameras. The Realme 5 Pro comes with a 4 camera set up on the back as stated below:
- 48 megapixel f/1.8 lens
- 8 megapixel 13mm f/2.2 ultrawide angle lens
- 2 megapixel f/2.4 macro lens
- 2 megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor
The Vivo S1 on the other hand is only equipped with a 3 camera set up on the back as stated below:
- 16 megapixel f/18 lens
- 8 megapixel 13mm f/2.2 ultrawide angle lens
- 2 megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor
When comparing both cameras, the pictures on the Vivo S1 are a bit more saturated while the Realme 5 Pro provides more true to life images. The Realme 5 Pro also has a 5x zoom which is not available on the Vivo S1. Both phones come with a portrait mode but the portrait mode on the Realme 5 Pro has a faster focus, better dynamic range and more accurate colours compared to the Vivo S1. The Vivo S1 also does not have a night mode whereas the Realme 5 Pro comes equipped with a dedicated nightscape mode.
The Vivo S1 has a whopping 32 megapixel f/2.0 front facing camera which I personally thought would beat the 16 megapixel f/2.0 sensor on the Realme 5 Pro but I was wrong. The Realme 5 Pro provided more natural colours compared to the oversharpened shots on the Vivo S1.
The Realme 5 Pro has 4K 30fps video on the back camera and 1080p 30fps video on the front while the Vivo S1 has 1080p 30fps video on the back and front sensors. This added with the better stabilisation on the Realme 5 Pro gives the phone an edge in this section.
- Audio
Both phones have a single mono firing speaker at the bottom which is not the most ideal position for a speaker as it can be easily covered but overall, the Realme 5 Pro provides better audio quality at higher volumes compared to the Vivo S1.
- Battery
The Realme 5 Pro comes with a 4035 mAh battery which is respectable but no match for the 4500 mAh cell on the Vivo S1. I personally managed to get an impressive 8 hours and 5 minutes of screen on time from the Vivo S1, but only managed to get 4 hours and 47 minutes of screen on time from the Realme 5 Pro. However, the Realme 5 pro comes with VOOC Charge 3.0 via the USB C port on the phone while the Vivo S1 only comes with an 18W charger in the box via the micro USB port on the phone. Micro USB? In 2019?
- Software
When it comes to software, it mainly comes down to personal preference. Both phones come with their own skinned version of Android 9 Pie. The Realme 5 Pro comes with ColourOS 6 while the Vivo S1 comes with FunTouch OS 9. I faced no issues with either but personally I prefer stock android so I would advice you to use both phones in store before making the purchase to ensure you know which software suits you better.
- Gaming
Both phones are equipped with different chipsets which lead to different performances in gaming. The Realme 5 Pro has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 with the Adreno 616 GPU while the Vivo S1 has the MediaTek Helio Mali G-52 GPU on board. The Vivo S1 tends to get a little warmer compared to the Realme 5 Pro while gaming and even puts PUBG on medium settings upon the first boot of the game.
- Value
The Realme 5 Pro and Vivo S1 both start at a price of RM 1099 but the Vivo S1 starts with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage while the Realme 5 Pro starts with 8GB RAM and 128 GB storage which in my opinion is better value.
Both phones have their own pros and cons to consider before buying so I would highly suggest that you check out the phone in store before making a decision. Do remember to check out this full comparison on my channel linked below.
