Vivo launched its one-of-its-kind Vivo X21 phone in India on Tuesday at a price of Rs 35,990. The Vivo X21, although it comes with what you can mid-tier hardware, belongs to the first wave of smartphones to feature an in-display fingerprint scanner. This means, there’s no dedicated physical home button with a fingerprint scanner up-top, on the X21. Instead the whole of the screen — a dedicated part of it actually — will serve as a fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication. The technology has been sourced from Synaptics.
The X21 (referred to as the X21 UD in China) is notably Vivo’s second phone to feature an in-screen fingerprint scanner — not counting the concept Apex here — after the X20 UD. In India, the X21 will compete directly with the likes of the OnePlus 6 as well as the Honor 10: both fabulous phones under Rs 40,000.
Vivo X21 specs and features
The Vivo X21, apart from its futuristic in-screen fingerprint scanner, comes with rather mid-tier specs. It comes with a 6.28-inch near bezel-less screen — with a notch — with a 19:9 aspect ratio albeit with a full-HD+ resolution. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage which is also expandable via a hybrid micro-SD card slot.
The dual-SIM phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo-based Funtouch OS.
Interestingly, the Vivo X21 is one of the select few third-party devices to be eligible for Google’s Android P Beta program, along side the Pixel phones. This means you can download and install Android P Beta on the Vivo X21 much like the Pixel phones.
On the optics side, the X21 comes with a dual camera system on the rear consisting of one 12-megapixel camera with f/1.8 aperture and another 5-megapixel camera for depth sensing. The dual camera system is assisted by PDAF and LED flash. On the front, the X21 comes with a 12-megapixel camera.
The X21 is further backed by a 3,200mAh battery with support for fast charging although Vivo is using a standard micro-USB port here.
Vivo X21 price and availability
The Vivo X21 has been launched in India at a price of Rs 35,990. It will be available for buying from Flipkart, Vivo’s own e-store and physical retail stores. Flipkart, to recall, has already been letting potential buyers pre-order the X21.
Flipkart will be offering an extra Rs 3,000 off over the regular value exchange price with the Vivo X21, it has announced. SBI credit card holders can meanwhile get extra 5 per cent off. Other credit card holders can also get the phone at no cost EMI for up to 12 months.
