Here in the US, people frown upon Chinese products. According to them, a phone made by a Chinese company means it’s quality is terrible. But these people don’t realize most of the products we use here in the US are made in China. Even the iPhone is manufactured in china. A Chinese company makes world-class DJI products. So, the quality depends on who makes the product.
Nowadays, VIVO makes good quality phones. X50e 5G is one of them. Here are the full specifications of VIVO X50e 5G:
| VIVO X50e Feature | Specs |
|---|---|
| Network Support | 5G / LTE / GSM / HSPA |
| Display size | 6.44 inch. |
| Screen Resolution | 60 Hz 1080 x 2400 pixels (409 PPI) AMOLED screen. |
| Rear Camera | 48 MP wide, 13 MP telephoto, 8 MP ultrawide, 2 MP macro. |
| Front Camera | 32 MP wide. |
| Processor | Octacore Snapdragon 765G. |
| GPU | Adreno 620 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| USB technology | Type-C 2.0 |
| FM Radio | Yes. |
| OTG Support? | Yes. |
| Waterproof? | No. |
| SIM | Dual Nano-SIM. |
| Internal Storage Capacity | 128 GB. |
| External storage support? | Yes, shared with the SIM slot, microSD expandable up to 512 GB. |
| 3.5 mm headphone jack? | Yes. |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 4350 mAh. |
| Fast charging? | Yes, 33 W. |
| Wireless charging? | No. |
| Fingerprint Sensor? | Yes. |
| OS | Android 10. Skin Funtouch 10. |
| Price | ~ 410 EUR. |
VIVO X50e 5G box content:
- X50e phone.
- 3.5mm XE710 headset.
- USB cable.
- 33W fast charger.
- SIM tray ejector pin.
- Clear phone cover.
- Pre-installed screen protector.
- User Manual.
Should you buy VIVO X50e or not? Learning about the pros and cons of X50e is the perfect way to make a purchase decision. This way, instead of relying on others’ reviews, you be the judge and decide on your future buying decision.
Pros of VIVO X50e 5G:
These are the pros of X50e.
Price:
The VIVO X50e comes with great specs, but the price is not that high. The X50e and Galaxy S20 FE have similar hardware, but the X50e costs $300 less.
Display:
The VIVO X50e has a 6.6 inch AMOLED screen, and its resolution is 1080 x 2400 pixels (409 PPI density). The screen resolution is so high that you won’t be able to distinguish individual pixels. AMOLED infinity U screens provide vivid colors, and it is far superior to an LCD screen. Here, “U” denotes that this screen has a U shape cutout for the front camera.
X50e has a better camera than the Galaxy S20 series:
We have tested and found that the X50e has a better camera than the Galaxy S20 series cameras. Even you can test this out. If you have a Galaxy S20 phone, start recording a video while you walk or run. The video shakes a lot. However, record the same video with the VIVO X50e. You will be amazed to see that the video quality recorded in X50e is way better than the S20 recorded video.
Snapdragon Processor:
The VIVO X50e has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor. Now, compare this to a Samsung phone. Every phone that Samsung ships outside of the US have an Exynos processor. From various tests, we have found that Snapdragon is a superior processor to an Exynos process. Therefore, if you buy a VIVO X50e, you are getting a better processor than a Samsung phone.
Sometimes, the Exynos processor gets a better benchmark score than the Snapdragon processor. But the benchmark score is not everything. For example, it is a common issue that those phones which use the Exynos processor become hot. However, a Snapdragon processor does not have this issue.
Fast Charging:
The VIVO X50e has 33W fast charging technology. As a result, charging this phone does not take too much time.
Expandable Storage:
The VIVO X50e comes with 128 GB memory (only 105 GB is available). Moreover, the X50e has an expandable memory slot, where you can insert a microSD card up to 512 GB. It is very convenient because you don’t have to shell out hundreds of dollars for memory upgrades like Apple’s iPhone.
Here’s an example. The 128 GB iPhone 12 Pro costs $999, and the next storage version, 256 GB, costs $1099. There’s no difference between these two phones except the internal storage capacity. So, Apple is charging you $100 for 128GB memory. Now check the price of this 128 GB Samsung microSD card on Amazon. This is significantly cheaper than Apple’s storage expansion asking price. It is insane that Apple’s storage option is 400% expensive than the average market price. By now, we hope you do realize the benefit of expandable storage space.
Optical On-screen Fingerprint Sensor:
It is better to have something than none. The VIVO X50e has an on-screen fingerprint sensor. It is not an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, which is better than this X50e optical on-screen fingerprint sensor. The optical sensor is slower and inaccurate. You have to precisely place your finger; otherwise, the fingerprint sensor would not recognize your fingerprint, which is frustrating.
Dual SIM:
Another great feature of VIVO X50e is dual Nano-SIM support. Therefore we can use two SIM at the same time. It’s beneficial because while conducting business, we can use a personal SIM and a business SIM. Therefore, we don’t need to carry two different phones.
MHL to HDMI Support:
Most of the Android phones, including the VIVO X50e, support MHL. MHL is a fantastic piece of technology that many do not know. MHL stands for Mobile High Definition Link. Using the MHL to HDMI cable, you can mirror your phone screen to any projector or TV. This feature helps you to give a presentation from the phone or watch a movie on the projector.
On Amazon, if you search “MHL to HDMI,” you will get thousands of results. This cable will help you transfer your phone screens display signal to an HDMI port. Before you buy your MHL to HDMI cable, please make sure which USB your phone supports, whether it is a micro USB, mini USB, or USB type C.
Buy a USB Type C MHL to HDMI cable for your VIVO X50e, for example, similar to this one https://amzn.to/2GRwFHp.
Connect one end of the MHL cable to your phone, connect the other HDMI end to a TV or projector. After configuring your TV or projector to HDMI input, your phone screen will show up on your TV or projector. Now, enjoy movies, gameplay on your TV or projector. Moreover, you can give a presentation on office settings with your X50e without laptops or computers. Isn’t it great?
3.5mm headphone jack:
Nowadays, most of the phone comes without a headphone jack and has stopped providing a headphone in the box. However, The VIVO X50e 5G has a 3.5mm headphone jack and comes with a headphone in the box.
Therefore, you don’t need to buy a wireless headphone. It’s because those phones that do not have a 3.5mm headphone jack have only one USB port; therefore, you can’t recharge and listen to music simultaneously unless you have a wireless headphone.
FM Radio:
The VIVO X50e has a built-in FM radio. The 3.5mm headphone cable works as the FM radio antenna.
VIVO X50e has “Always On Display”:
The X50e has a useful feature – “Always On Display.” Using this feature, you can control music, watch time and date, view the calendar, view battery percentage, etc. even when the screen is turned off.
Does Always-On Display drain the battery? The answer is no. The Always-On Display does not drain battery because, in an LED, OLED, or Super AMOLED display, the display driver only turns on those pixels (LED) required to show text, image, or graphics related to AOD, while all other pixels (LED) turned off. Hence, It uses very little energy, and in our experiment, on our VIVO X50e, we found that it only uses 1% battery energy per hour.
Screen protector:
Every X50e has a pre-installed screen protector.
Phone cover:
VIVO ships a phone cover with each X50e in the box.
Ethernet Cable Connection:
You can use a USB C to Ethernet adapter (for example, like this one https://amzn.to/3lFgDz8) to connect the X50e to an ethernet network. This way, you can get the internet on your X50e phone without WiFi.
More USB C Accessories Support:
The VIVO X50e has a USB Type C port. This type of port has many functionalities and various kinds of accessories available on the market.
Flash Drive:
You can buy a flash drive to use with your phone, for example, https://amzn.to/3dmYm6X.
Mouse:
Look at this mouse https://amzn.to/3dlQTF7. You can connect this mouse with your phone and control your phone with it.
Keyboard:
Here is a USB C keyboard https://amzn.to/374ejxT. If you need to type a lot on your phone, this type of keyboard can help.
Game Controller:
If you want to play a lot of games on your VIVO X50e, you need a joystick or game controller like this one: https://amzn.to/30Y14Lb. It is excellent hardware you can use to play games.
External Harddrive:
Do you know that you can connect a USB Type C SSD with your X50e? You can connect up to 2TB of SSD with your phone as external storage. Here is an example of SSD: https://amzn.to/2GU1laO
Cons of VIVO X50e 5G:
These are the drawbacks of the X50e 5G phone.
Problems with AMOLED Display:
At the start of this article, we said that VIVO X50e has an AMOLED screen and praised it. However, the AMOLED screen has two drawbacks.
One, AMOLED display loses its sharpness, crispiness, and vividness after a few years. The screen would look dull compared to a newly purchased X50e phone’s screen.
Second, the AMOLED display has a screen burn issue. It arises when someone uses a single app extensively — such as Google Maps — for a long time. This extended usage would leave a ghost watermark of the used app imprinted on the screen permanently.
X50e is not waterproof:
The VIVO X50e is not waterproof or dustproof. Nowadays, most of the midrange phone is IP68 rated. However, this phone is not. Therefore, please be careful before you take this phone to the beach or pool area. The water and dust will damage this phone.
Shared MicroSD card slot:
The VIVO X50e does not have a dedicated SD card slot. The SD card shares a space with the Nano-SIM. Therefore, if we install an SD card, we can’t use it as a Dual SIM phone.
No software update:
One of the critical drawbacks of VIVO phones is its software support. After a phone release, VIVO does not release any OS update. Therefore, we don’t expect to get an Android 11 OS update for this X50e phone.
VIVO phones lag and hangs:
A newly purchased phone always performs smoothly and faster. But whether a phone is good or bad depends on how it performs after several months.
Though VIVO X50e has the right hardware, their software is not that great. Though it runs Android, VIVO’s Funtouch OS is not optimized correctly. Due to this lack of software optimization, VIVO phones lag and hang.
Plastic Back:
This X50e has a plastic back. So, it does not feel premium at all. Moreover, a plastic back will chip its paint after a few years. At that point, this phone will look very ugly. However, if you use a phone case, you can avoid this issue.
VIVO phones have a low resale value:
We know that no one sells their used phone. However, just in case you need to sell your phone, iPhones have a better resale value than VIVO phones.
No wireless charging:
The VIVO X50e does not have wireless charging functionality.
Phones 4K video is awful:
The VIVO X50e has good cameras and can record 4k video. However, a 4k video recorded on phones is inferior in quality than 4k videos recorded in a DSLR camera.
Non-removable battery:
The VIVO X50e has a non-removable battery. It is a disadvantage because the removable battery is useful in many scenarios. An old phone loses its battery capacity. So, it charges slowly but discharges rapidly, making the phone unusable for a practical purpose.
Moreover, if Funtouch OS detects the battery has become weak, it will slow down the processor to protect the battery from further deterioration. The slow processor will make a VIVO phone laggy. It is why an old VIVO phone lags and hangs. Replacing the old battery with a new one will solve all these problems. But, the X50e battery is non-removable. So, when your VIVO X50e phone gets old and becomes slow, you have to replace the phone itself.
In short, VIVO X50e’s pros and cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Display | Not waterproof or dust resistant |
| Better Camera than Galaxy S20 Series | No dedicated microSD card slot |
| Has Snapdragon processor | No extended software update |
| Expandable storage | No wireless charging |
| Fast charger | Plastic Back |
| Fingerprint sensor | Non-removable battery |
| Dual SIM | |
| MHL support | |
| 3.5mm headphone jack | |
| FM Radio |
Frequently Asked Questions.
Does the VIVO X50e come with a headphone?
Yes, VIVO X50e comes with a headphone in the box.
Does the VIVO X50e come with a screen protector?
Yes, the X50e comes with a pre-installed screen protector.
Does the VIVO X50e come with a case?
Yes, the X50e comes with a clear case in the phone box.
Conclusion:
We use a smartphone for more than 48 months. But not less than that. We know that many in the US buy a phone from the carrier on a two-year contract. At the end of the agreement, they return their phone and buy another phone. Apple also has an upgrade program, where Apple allows to upgrade the iPhone each year.
But, we have to buy a VIVO phone at full retail price. Therefore we need to calculate how many months we intend to use this phone. If its 36 months, then divide the phone price in your local market with 36 and decide whether it is worth it.
