Vivo T4: Stylish Mid-Range Marvel with Impressive Battery Life, but Camera Limitations Hold It Back

Smartphones positioned at the lower spectrum of the mid-range category (beginning at Rs. 20,000 and above) are viewed as the standard bearers, designed to allure and motivate budget-conscious consumers to invest a little more, thanks to enhancements that validate their pricing. The Vivo T4 (alongside the iQOO Z10) represents one such mid-tier option expected to deliver the quintessential mid-range appeal packaged in an appealing cost. Unfortunately, the sub-Rs. 25,000 market has recently become quite saturated. Consequently, the Vivo T4, despite several improvements, does not fully meet expectations, although it might still serve as an excellent choice for certain users.

Vivo T4 Design

The Vivo T4 certainly embodies the essence of a mid-range smartphone. Its overall aesthetics draw inspiration from the high-end Vivo X200 series, featuring distinctive design traits that make it visually appealing at its price point.

The Vivo T4’s curved mid-frame enhances its quad-curved display, contributing to a sleek overall profile.

 

Weighing in at a mere 199 grams, the device has a thickness of only 7.9mm at its slimmest point. With its aggressively shaped polycarbonate mid-frame, a quad-curved display, and back panel, the overall design gives an impression of extreme slimness.

This is impressive considering that this smartphone accommodates a 7,300mAh battery. It is not merely about aesthetics; this Vivo model also features an IP65-rated build for protection against dust and water.

Despite the matte finish of the plastic back panel being prone to smudging, these marks were hard to detect, thanks to our review unit’s nearly white, Phantom Grey hue.

 

Apart from its stylish appearance, I appreciate the substantial rear camera module adorned with a pleasing plastic ring. This design choice ensures it won’t scratch against wooden surfaces or your fingers when using it for support.

Vivo T4 Performance

While quad-curved displays give smartphones a trendy and contemporary style, they also lead to distracting reflections in bright outdoor conditions. The Vivo T4’s screen is no exception. However, considering its pricing, it’s worth mentioning that this full-HD+ AMOLED display is HDR10-certified, capable of achieving high brightness levels (up to 5,000 nits) for outdoor usage.

The Vivo T4 showcases a 120Hz AMOLED panel with a quad-curved design.

 

Regrettably, the dazzling display is paired with a single bottom-firing speaker. It gets satisfyingly loud and delivers a treble-heavy sound at maximum volume (100 percent), but it can also sound a bit muddled. Funtouch OS includes an Audio Booster mode (up to 200 percent), but it doesn’t significantly increase the loudness relative to 100 percent. Other smartphones in this price range usually offer a more compelling audio experience.

The software runs on Android 15 with the typical Vivo UI, featuring a plethora of customization options and practical AI tools. Throughout the testing phase, the phone performed smoothly; there were no noticeable glitches or lags. The fingerprint sensor also responded swiftly and reliably on each attempt.

Vivo’s Funtouch OS 15 is built on Android 15.

 

The results from our benchmark tests are consistent with those from other competing smartphones in this price bracket. The performance of the Vivo T4 parallels those results, as indicated in the benchmark chart below, and faces stiff competition from Poco F6, the sole device supplying a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC within this range.

 

 

Benchmark assessments are solely synthetic and do not truly reflect real-world performance. Gameplay is more telling.

I engaged with Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) since this is a low-end mid-range device. To my surprise, the phone set itself to Very High graphics with Max frame rates while turning off most effects. The game performed seamlessly at these default settings. Although frame rates fluctuated, the gameplay remained sufficiently fluid, allowing for sessions exceeding 45 minutes without any heating concerns. When I tried pushing the game to Ultra frame rates, the experience was smoother visually, though not perfectly at the target of 90 fps.

The Vivo T4 contains a single accessible rear-facing camera.

 

While the device’s aesthetic is quite appealing, appearances can be misleading. A clear example of this is the rear camera arrangement, which looks bulky with three rear-facing cameras appearing to be present. However, only one operational 50-megapixel camera is available for use.

Samples from the Vivo T4’s primary camera (tap images to expand)

 

Images taken with the primary camera featured slightly enhanced colors by default. The color saturation can be reduced by enabling the Natural Colour mode within the camera app, though this may result in somewhat muted tones that do not accurately depict the scene before you.

Dynamic range appears quite strong, delivering ample detail in lighter areas and shadows, even as the camera tends to slightly overexpose scenes. While the images look crisp on the phone’s screen, zooming in can reveal a slightly blurred texture across surfaces. For some unknown reason, they seem a bit smeared. Overall, detail tends to be softer unless the subject is quite close. The autofocus mechanism is quick to engage, and I rarely encountered scenarios where I had to manually focus on the subject.

Samples from the Vivo T4’s primary camera (tap images to expand)

 

In lower light conditions, the camera produces acceptable images with satisfactory detail. Interestingly, the blurred textures I noticed in daylight photography seem to be resolved in Night mode, yielding vibrant shots with commendable dynamic range and detail. Capturing images in low light does take some time; you may need to wait 2 seconds or more for the camera to process a shot in dimly lit conditions.

2X zoom samples from the Vivo T4 (tap images to expand)

 

The zoom feature uses a crop of the main camera’s sensor. Results in Auto mode aren’t satisfactory, resulting in blurred textures for photos taken beyond close range. It’s not suitable for capturing images during your travels.

The phone’s Portrait mode also underwhelms, but can still produce decent results in bright light, as seen in the examples below.

Images taken at 1X exhibit good detail but tend to be slightly overexposed (tap image to expand)

 

At 1.5X, the image quality declines slightly, with noticeable noise and irregular blotchy textures (tap image to expand)

 

At 2X, suited for telephoto shots, the photograph quality declines even further, and chroma noise starts to appear.

 

In lower light, the camera performance predictably declines, trying to enhance colors and suppress noise, leading to flat subjects that lack detail and texture. (Tap image to expand)

 

Selfies in daylight come out quite acceptable, showcasing good edge detection, although the camera sometimes beautifies the image with the screen flash activated, which is puzzling. (Tap image to expand)

 

Video recording performs surprisingly well in bright conditions, with natural colors and commendable dynamic range. Shooting at 1080p 60fps yields a stable frame rate, while 4K 30fps recordings deliver superior quality. In low light, colors tend to appear somewhat washed out, though video footage maintains a steady frame rate and effectively controls noise, resulting in a pleasing output.

The high-capacity silicon carbon battery in the Vivo T4 can easily sustain two days with light use.

 

One of the standout features of this smartphone within its price category is its battery capacity. The 7,300mAh battery achieved an impressive 37 hours and 55 minutes during our HD video loop test, which runs a locally stored video on repeat until the power is depleted. During the PCMark Work Battery evaluation, which simulates real-world tasks, the phone performed commendably, with a total of 26 hours and 56 minutes. Given my typical usage (gaming, photography, social media, calls, office applications), the robust silicon carbon battery provided about 13 hours of screen-on time, easily spanning two full workdays. Draining this device’s battery turned out to be a substantial task.

Vivo T4 Verdict

The Vivo T4, starting at Rs. 21,999, shines in battery longevity and overall functionality, but arrives at the launch with just one rear camera when competitors like Nothing’s Phone 3a (Review) boast three rear cameras for a marginally higher cost of Rs. 24,999. Finding it difficult to settle for a solo rear camera in this price range is an understandable dilemma. However, Vivo offers a competent camera, especially at its native (1x) focal length. If this compromise is acceptable, you will receive tremendous value for your investment with the Vivo.

The Poco F6 (Review) remains the gamers’ favorite due to its Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC, which is a fantastic deal at the price of Rs. 21,999. If you can extend your budget by a few thousand rupees, the OnePlus Nord 4 (Review) emerges as the premier option, beginning at Rs. 27,499.

Vivo might have enhanced its offering by integrating a telephoto camera while slightly downgrading the battery capacity, making it more attractive for its users. Given its existing specifications, it’s still a strong contender for those in search of a slim, stylish mid-range smartphone featuring an exceptional battery life.