The latest Vivo smartphone for the Kenyan market has been officially unveiled. We’d already mentioned it’d be coming back in December. Now we have a price tag – which means we can compare it to competition.

My only issue with the device is that it still runs Android 9 Pie, and still comes with a Micro USB port. These two issues will be major setbacks for people looking to get the device. I personally wouldn’t get a device, any device, without USB type-C.

I haven’t seen any news on Vivo sending out Android 10. But I hope they do. Such a nicely spec’d phone shouldn’t miss out on new versions of Android.

The Vivo Y19 joins the Y- series which include the Y12, Y15 and Y17 currently retailing in stores country wide. It features a 6.53-inch FHD + Halo display with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, up to 90.3% screen-to-body ratio, dewdrop notch design, and has 3D curved edge gradient design at the back panel. Under the hood, it is powered with an Octa-core Mediatek’s Helio P65 (MT6768) processor with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which can be further expandable via microSD card. The phone also has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

On the camera front, Vivo Y19 is equipped with a triple rear camera setup with 16-megapixels as a primary sensor with f/1.78, an 8-megapixel wide-angle snapper with f/2.2 aperture, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the front, it employs a 16-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0, AI Face Beauty mode. The phone also carries support for face unlock.

The phone comes packed with a 5000mAh non-removable battery with support for 18W dual-engine fast charging. The phone also supports reverse charging and runs on Android 9.0 based on Funtouch OS 9.2. Connectivity features include VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, FM radio and micro USB port 2.0. The phone measures 162.15 × 76.47 × 8.89mm and weighs 193.0 grams.

Vivo Y19 Specifications:

PRICE	RRP. KES. 26,999
Display	6.53″ IPS LCD 1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio
Rear Camera	Triple: 16 MP, f/1.8, (wide), PDAF 8 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide) 2 MP, f/2.4, macro camera
Front Camera	Single: 16 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/3.1″, 1.0µm
Chipset	Mediatek MT6768 Helio P65 (12nm)
GPU	Mali-G52 MC2
RAM	4/8 GB RAM
Storage	128 GB Storage MicroSD Slot up to 256 GB
Operating System	Android 9.0 (Pie); Funtouch 9.2
Battery	Non-removable 5000 mAh battery 18W Fast Charging 5W Reverse Charging
Network	2G, 3G, 4G
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS FM Radio MicroUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go
Extra
Security	Rear Fingerprint Scanner
Colour options	Magnetic Black, Spring White