The vivo Y76 5G was launched globally in November of last year and it has finally arrived here in Singapore on 8 January 2022. In essence, the Y76 5G represents vivo’s attempt to bring 5G capabilities to a mid-range phone.
We were delighted when vivo sent us a set of the Y76 5G for review. Let’s take a closer look at the phone so you can decide if it’s a good enough mid-ranger for your needs.
vivo Y76 5G: Specifications
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G |
| Screen | 6.58-inch IPS, 2408 x 1080, 460nits |
| RAM | 8GB, 4GB Extended |
| OS | Android 11, FunTouch OS 12 |
| Rear Camera | 50MP f/1.8 Main, 2MP f/2.4 Macro, 2MP f/2.4 Depth |
| Front Camera | 16MP f/2.0 |
| Storage | 128GB, expandable via MicroSD |
| Network | Dual-SIM, 5G |
| Connectivity | Dual-Band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type-C |
| Battery | 4,100mAh, 44W Fast Charging |
| Others | Side-Mounted Fingerprint Scanner |
| Colors | Cosmic Aurora, Midnight Space |
vivo Y76 5G: What’s in the box
Open up the box and you’ll find:
- The Y76 5G itself
- USB Type-C cable
- 44W wall adapter
- Earphones
- Transparent silicone phone case
- Phone documentation
vivo Y76 5G: Design
The vivo Y76 5G sports a 2.8mm narrow frame and smooth, rounded corners. The chassis of the phone is made of plastic but it still manages to feel premium and good in the hands – owing in part to the phone’s rounded corners as well.
The Midnight Space option that we were sent came with a matte back that was rather reflective. vivo claims that the phone’s AG frosted back cover will prevent fingerprint smudges. While it wasn’t exactly a fingerprint magnet, the back of the phone was still prone to some smudges that become obvious under the light. But that’s not something a phone case won’t fix.
On the back is where you’ll find a rather large camera module. While there is a slight camera bump, we liked that it didn’t stick out too much and still manages to look sleek despite its size.
All of the phone’s buttons (volume and power buttons) are relegated to the right side of its body. The power button also doubles as a fingerprint scanner. On top, you’ll find a SIM tray that can hold two SIM cards or one SIM card and a MicroSD card.
At the bottom, you’ll find the phone’s bottom-firing speaker and microphone, a USB Type-C port for charging, and for those who like wired headsets, a 3.5mm audio jack.
Overall we liked that vivo kept things simple with the Y76 5G – no fancy hues or overly loud designs.
vivo Y76 5G: Screen
The vivo Y76 5G ships with a 6.58-inch 2408 x 1080 IPS display. While that sounds great for a mid-range phone, it’s unfortunate that the Y76 5G does away with the popular consumer “wants” like 90Hz refresh rate or an AMOLED panel.
The brand, however, claims that the phone supports high color saturation with a color gamut of 96% NTSC and 420 nits of brightness. We were pleasantly surprised that on our test, colors were plenty bright and well-produced.
The phone’s 90.6% screen-to-body ratio and simple teardrop notch front camera module also make gaming and full-screen video-watching on the phone enjoyable.
vivo Y76 5G: Audio
While we were pleasantly surprised by the display of the Y76 5G, we were left unimpressed by the device’s audio performance. For one, the device only relies upon bottom-firing speakers for external audio.
At maximum volume, sounds start to sound noisy and muddy. To be fair, vocals are decently clear when used for general entertainment – there’s just nothing much to celebrate about it.
vivo Y76 5G: Cameras
The camera module at the phone’s rear is home to three cameras: a 50MP f/1.8 main lens, a 2MP f/2.4 macro shooter, and 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor. Back at the front, you’ll find a 16MP selfie camera with a wide f/2,9 aperture that promises great selfies in low light conditions.
Photo, Video, Night Mode, Live Photo, Pro Mode, Double Exposure, Panorama, Time-Lapse, Documents, Slow Motion, AR Stickers, and Dual View are among the features available in the camera app.
Camera tests
Below are some of the shots taken with the main camera of the phone.
On the main camera, photos retain a good amount of detail during daytime and nighttime. Photos also appear natural and not “overly-edited”. The photos were less saturated than we hoped for, though.
As expected of a mid-range phone, the Y76 5G’s 2MP f/2.4 macro camera produced images that were average. Many details were lost and you’d pretty much be better off taking the photo with the main camera.
Selfies turn out decently well on the device. Skin tone looks natural and colors are accurate. The Y76 5G even has an AI Extreme Night feature that was created for nighttime selfies.
The phone‘s video mode lends support to both 720p and 1080p at 60 frames per second, but not 4K30fps. It does include stabilization, which does a nice job of keeping shots stable.
Overall, the cameras on the Y76 5G are just alright – if you’re after the best camera tech on a vivo phone, check out our review of the vivo X70 Pro.
vivo Y76 5G: General performance
The phone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 – a familiar chipset on mid-range devices. As expected of this chipset, we experienced minimal lag when using the device on normal to heavy usage.
Additionally, by default, vivo Y76 5G comes with Funtouch OS 12 which offers a different UI, new widgets, an option to extend RAM (virtually), and more. vivo’s Extendable RAM technology draws an extra 4GB from ROM to add to the phone’s 8GB of RAM to offer an overall smooth performance.
We also found that the device adequately supports multiple apps running in the background. We were not met with annoying lags when switching between apps.
vivo Y76 5G: Battery life
Packed with a 4,100 mAh battery, the vivo Y76 5G can comfortably last a day on normal to medium usage. The device’s USB Type-C port offers 44W Fast Charging. It took about 1.5 hours to charge the battery up from 0% to 100%.
vivo Y76 5G: Pricing and availability
The Vivo Y76 5G is available at a recommended retail price of SGD $429 at its official channels (Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee), consumer electronics, and IT stores, authorised retailers, and its Causeway Point flagship outlet.
vivo Y76 5G: The bottom-line
For SGD $429, the vivo Y76 5G sure brings with it a pretty nifty set of features. With sleek aesthetics, a relatively long battery life, a decent screen, a fuss-free set of cameras, and overall snappy performance, the device will make most shopping around for a mid-ranger happy.
Shop around longer, however, and you’ll realise that competition is rife in the mid-range smartphone market. For example, the phone’s lack of 90Hz refresh rate is jarring, seeing as how many phones within a similar price range have adopted this technology.
That said, however, there are some uniquely vivo features that the brand’s loyal fans swear by that make the phone remain a worthy contender in the mid-range smartphone market.
Just got my hands on the vivo Y76 5G and I have to say, the camera performance is truly impressive! The low-light shots are exceptionally good and the UI is pretty intuitive. How did you find the charging speed in your review? I noticed it takes a bit longer to charge than some other mid-range phones I’ve used.