The Vivo U20 offers great value at Rs 10,990 but we think there's a better option

The Vivo U20 recently went on sale today on Amazon India. Starting at Rs 10,990, the U20 offers excellent value and is arguably one of the best smartphones available at that price. The reason it isn’t the absolute best is because of the Lenovo K10 Note.

Lenovo’s popularity as a smartphone brand pales in comparison to Vivo, at least in India. The Lenovo K10 Note has flown under the radar with the likes of the Realme 5 Pro, Samsung Galaxy M30s, Vivo Z1 Pro, and Redmi Note 8 Pro stealing the spotlight in the sub 15K smartphone market.

Since the K10 Note received a big price cut, it is currently in pole position to compete with the Vivo U20. So, let’s take a look at which of these two budget offerings delivers the best bang for your buck.

In terms of performance, the Snapdragon 710 SoC on the K10 Note is faster than the SD675 chipset on the U20. Despite being over a year old, the Snapdragon 710 chipset is still a pretty decent chip, which will easily outperform the 675. If you’re an active gamer, the Lenovo K10 Note would be the ideal choice.

Both phones pack pretty similar displays with Vivo having a slight edge in size. When it comes to design, the K10 Note does look like the better of the two phones, but that’s only down to the fact that we like the finish on the K10 Note; your opinion may differ.

The Lenovo K10 Note and Vivo U20 both have a similar primary sensor. The big difference here is that Vivo opts for an ultrawide lens, while Lenovo goes the telephoto route. Additionally, the U20 gets a 2-megapixel macro shooter while the K10 Note offers a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The selfie cameras on both phones are pretty similar too. However, the Vivo U20 does have a slight edge in the optics department as it can capture 4K video at 30fps, while the K10 Note is limited to 1080p video at 30fps. At this budget, video recording shouldn’t be a priority, but if it is, go with the Vivo U20.

When it comes to battery life, the Vivo U20’s 5,000 mAh battery will undoubtedly get you more mileage than the K10 Note’s 4,050 mAh battery. Software, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter. The K10 Note’s ZUI 11 skin comes really close to vanilla Android, while Funtouch 9.2 doesn’t have a reputation of being the cleanest of skins. The K10 Note undoubtedly offers better software, very close to the stock-Android experience.

There’s no doubt that the Vivo U20 is a great phone, offering excellent value for money. In terms of battery and camera, we believe the U20 has a slight edge over the K10 Note. However, Lenovo does come out on top in the performance battle. But the most significant difference for us lies in the software. Lenovo offers a bloatware-free, clean user experience that Vivo simply cannot match, which makes the K10 Note a complete package at Rs 10,990.