The Vivo S17 series was launched in China in May, and the series includes four smartphones currently – Vivo S17e, S17, S17t & S17 Pro. Today, the brand launched the Vivo S18 series in China, which currently includes three phones – Vivo S18e, S18, and S18 Pro. The S18e is a budget phone, the S18 is a mid-range phone, and the S18 Pro is a flagship phone.
VIVO S18e
Starting with the cheapest of the three, the Vivo S18e comes with a circular camera module, hence looking different from the other two phones. The camera module has two cameras and two ring flash modules. The thickness of the device is 7.69mm and it weighs 193g. The phone is IP54-rated.
The phone is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 5G chipset, the same chip as the Vivo S17e. So, performance-wise, there is no upgrade. There is 12GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB or 512GB UFS 2.2 storage. The battery is 4,800mAh, slightly larger than the 4,600mAh battery inside the S17e. The phone also supports faster 80W wired charging (versus 66W).
The dual camera setup includes a primary 50MP sensor with OIS and a 2MP secondary depth sensor. The S17e had a similar dual camera setup, except that it had a 64MP sensor instead of 50MP for the primary camera. The selfie camera has a 16MP sensor.
Finally, the display is a 6.67-inch Full-HD+ AMOLED, and up to 120Hz refresh rate and 1800 nits local peak brightness. So, the screen size is smaller than the Vivo S17e’s 6.78-inch panel, but the peak brightness is higher.
The phone has an under-display fingerprint scanner and runs on Android 14-based OriginOS 4.
Vivo S18e comes in three colors and here is the pricing –
- 12GB + 256GB – ¥2099 (~$295)
- 12GB + 512GB – ¥2299 (~$323)
VIVO S18
The Vivo S18 looks completely different from the S18e. Compared to the Vivo S17, the phone has a different camera module design. The Vivo S17 had a ring-LED flash, and the Vivo S18 takes it one step further. The phone has an even larger ring on the back this time, and it supports color temperature adjustment in the range of 1800K~5000K. On the front, the phone has two flash modules for better selfies in low-light scenarios.
Apart from the camera module, the design is pretty much identical, except for the color options.
Under the hood, the Vivo S18 has the 4nm-based Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, the most recent 7-series chip by Qualcomm. Compared to the Snapdragon 778G+ chip in the S17, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 offers 50% lower power consumption and 58% better GPU performance. For better thermals, the phone has a large 7000mm² graphite heat dissipation area.
The battery is 5,000mAh, larger than the S17’s 4,600mAh cell. The wired charging speed is the same at 80W.
The Vivo S18 has a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate and 10-bit colors. The local peak brightness is 2800 nits.
Finally, speaking of cameras, the Vivo S18 has a dual camera setup on the rear. The primary camera has a 50MP sensor with OIS, and the ultrawide camera has an 8MP sensor. The selfie camera has a 50MP sensor with autofocus.
Vivo S18 comes in three colors and here is the pricing for China –
- 8GB + 256GB – ¥2299 (~$323)
- 12GB + 256GB – ¥2599 (~$365)
- 12GB + 512GB – ¥2799 (~$393)
- 16GB + 512GB – ¥2999 (~$421)
VIVO S18 PRO
The Vivo S18 Pro is a flagship phone, and design-wise, it is pretty much identical to the Vivo S18, with the only difference being a triple camera setup on the rear. The color options are the same too. The battery & charging is the same (5,000mAh and 80W), and so is the display.
The S18 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ chipset, compared to the Vivo S17 Pro’s Dimensity 8200. There is LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage.
There is a triple camera setup on the rear. The primary camera has a 1/1.49-inch Sony IMX920 sensor with OIS. The ultrawide camera has a 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor, and the telephoto camera has a 12MP Sony IMX663 sensor. The selfie shooter has a 50MP sensor with autofocus.
Vivo S18 Pro comes in three colors and here is the pricing –
- 12GB + 256GB – ¥3199 (~$449)
- 16GB + 256GB – ¥3499 (~$490)
- 16GB + 512GB – ¥3699 (~$519)