Vivo launched an iPhone X-like smartphone at Rs 22,990

Vivo has launched another selfie-centric smartphone, the Vivo V9. However this time, there is more than just that a front-facing camera with high meapixel count. The company has adopted the mighty notch with its latest offering that got popular after the launch of iPhone X last year.

The Android ecosystem has witnessed an influx of smartphones with iPhone X-like notches. Though Essential Phone was the first one to sport it, Apple's iPhone made it trendy. The latest Android P operating system also comes with support for a notch for developers to build apps around it.

Vivo V9 will sell in India at a price of Rs 22,990 and will be available in a single variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The smartphone will be available on Flipkart, Amazon from April 2. One can even pre-book the device on both the websites. The device will also sell from brick and mortar stores across the country.

Coming back to the hardware of Vivo V9, the device features a massive 6.3-inch screen which has a taller-than-usual aspect ratio of 19:9 and comes with a notch that houses all the essential sensors and the front facing camera. The screen has a FullHD+ resolution (2280x1080 pixels) and Vivo claims the screen to body ratio is enhanced to 90 per cent.

Coming to the heart of the smartphone, Vivo V9 is powered by octa-core Snapdragon 626 clocked at 2.2GHz, assisted with 4GB DDR3 RAM. Additional 256GB memory can be added to the 64GB internal storage. The rear camera is dual-lens setup, one with a 16Megapixel sensor and the other with an 5Megapixel sensor. The bigger module comes with f/2.0 aperture and the second module has an aperture of f/2.4. The 24Megapixel placed in the notch has an aperture of f/2.0.

Vivo claims that the selfie camera has AI capabilities. The 24Megapixel front camera features AI-based Face Access for unlocking the phone. While adding AI to the mix improves the face unlock accuracy, the software-backed facial recognition system on Vivo V9 comes no where close to the hardware-based FaceID of iPhone X. No reason to worry though, as Vivo has provided a fingerprint sensor at the back of the phone.

For connectivity, the Vivo V9 comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.2, and microUSB 2.0. The phone runs Vivo's own Funtouch OS 4.0 custom skin which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo.