vivo S19 and S19 Pro arrive with 50MP front and rear cameras, impressive batteries

30 May 2024

The vivo S19 series has arrived with a passion for photography and a cutting edge battery. There are two phones – vanilla and Pro – with the Pro model packing more processing power and an extra camera, though we’re sure that the vanilla model will have its fans too.

We have to talk about the battery first – the vivo S19 is quite slender at 7.19mm and isn’t too heavy at 193g. And yet it has a 6,000mAh battery inside. This is thanks to vivo’s Blue Ocean tech, which achieves 809Wh/L energy density. The extra density makes the battery 16.6% smaller than other conventional 6,000mAh batteries. Another way to look at it is that the battery has 1,000mAh more capacity than a traditional battery of the same size. This is paired with 80W fast charging (wired-only).

The S19 has a 6.78” display with 1,260 x 2,800px resolution (20:9). This is 10-bit 120Hz OLED panel with 4,500 nits of peak brightness. And it’s a flat display, which will become relevant as we move on to the Pro.

But first, the vanilla phone is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 paired with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB storage. The phone normally uses LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, except for the base 8/256GB model, which gets LPDDR4X and UFS 2.2. We will look at prices shortly.

For the camera system, the phone puts a 50MP f/2.0 module front and center – literally, it is punch holed into the display. The rear has a 50MP main with an f/1.88 lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) that was developed in-house. This is joined by an 8MP ultra wide.

The vivo S19 Pro is thicker at 7.58mm but it is actually a gram lighter at 192g. As we mentioned, this one has a faster chipset and an extra camera, which ate into the battery space so the capacity is 5,500mAh. That’s still more than most phones of this thickness and weight and is thanks to the Blue Ocean battery tech (808Wh/L density on this one). It has the same charging system – 80W wired only.

The Pro is powered by the Dimensity 9200+ with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB storage. vivo only used LPDDR5X and UFS 3.1 chips for this one, regardless of which memory configuration you pick.

The screen is very similar – a 6.78” 10-bit 120Hz OLED panel with 1,260 x 2,800px resolution (20:9), except this one is curved on the sides. It houses the same 50MP selfie camera like the vanilla model.

The 50MP main on the back is the first to use the Sony IMX921 sensor. It is joined by a 50MP tele module with a 2x lens (and 4x lossless zoom, thanks to its high resolution sensor). They are joined by an 8MP ultra wide camera. Both S19 phones use Aura Light ring flashes, which provide softer illumination.

Both S19 phones are engineered to withstand falls and are water resistant. The vivo S19 Pro goes a step further it has IP68 and IP69 ratings, the latter being for encounters with hot water.

The vivo S19 and S19 Pro are available in China starting today through vivo’s online store and partners. The company didn’t say if and when these models will be available in other regions. Check out the Chinese prices below:

	vivo S19		vivo S19 Pro
	CNY	USD (converted)	CNY	USD (converted)
8/256GB	CNY 2,500*	$345*	CNY 3,300	$455
12/256GB	CNY 2,600	$360	CNY 3,500	$485
12/512GB	CNY 3,000	$415	CNY 3,800	$525
16/512GB	CNY 3,300	$455	CNY 4,000	$550
* the 8/256GB S19 has LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage, higher capacity units use LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1

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