On May 31, vivo officially released the new vivo S17 series. The vivo S17 series mobile phones include three models: vivoS17, vivo S17t and vivo S17Pro. These three new models not only have good-looking bodies, but also have outstanding imaging capabilities.
1. Imaging, the key element of competition in the mid-to-high-end mobile phone market
In terms of pricing, the starting price of the vivo S17 in this series is 2,499 yuan, while the vivo S17 Pro starts at 3,099 yuan, and the highest configuration price reaches 3,499 yuan. It can be seen that this is a typical series of mid-to-high-end models.
According to the data released by various platforms, the vivo S17 series created a new high in omni-channel sales on the day of its first sale. Among them, the sales of the high-end version of the vivo S17 Pro even more than doubled that of the corresponding previous version, which shows how much consumers love this new phone. Judging from the feedback of users on major professional forums and e-commerce platforms, the fundamental reason why the vivo S17 series is so popular is that it not only has a balanced and powerful configuration level, but also brings outstanding imaging capabilities to users.
This situation reflects the current development status of the mid-to-high-end mobile phone market. In general, after the domestic mobile phone market experienced a severe situation of an overall decline of 13.2% in 2022, there is still no sign of growth recovery in 2023. It is worth noting that the average price range of mobile phones in the domestic market has increased to the middle and high-end range of 2,700 yuan to 3,000 yuan since the fourth quarter of last year. The reason is that consumers are generally tired of the rhetoric marketing that was prevalent in the market in the past, and the frequency of their replacements has dropped significantly, and their purchase goals are directed to mid-to-high-end models with more stable performance and more "durable". Under this trend, major manufacturers have begun to "involve" fiercely into the mid-to-high-end price segment, directly promoting mid-to-high-end models to become the market segment with the most brands and the most abundant models.
And in this unprecedentedly fierce competitive environment, consumers have become more "picky". They no longer simply focus on the comparison of hardware configurations as they did in the past few years, but pay more attention to experience. The industry is also generally aware that the so-called "no shortcomings" models cannot satisfy consumers. Because having no shortcomings also means that there are no characteristics, and it is difficult to arouse consumers' interest in a dazzling market. Under this trend, manufacturers have also begun to abandon the once-used "bucket machine" rhetoric, and instead emphasize the differentiated advantages of their own products in a certain field. Among them, the ultimate video experience that has been "monopolized" by high-end flagship models for a long time in the past has begun to accelerate "decentralization" under the new competitive situation, and has become a key factor for brands to attract consumers in the mid-to-high-end price range of 2,500 to 3,500 yuan.
Especially after entering the first quarter of 2023, the industry and consumers have generally noticed that the "volume" of the mobile phone market has shown a distinct layered feature. The homogeneous competition pattern of volume configuration, volume memory, and volume price in the past has been limited to products in the low-end price range. Consumers in the mid-to-high-end price range no longer pay too much attention to configuration parameters and "cost-effectiveness", but pay more and more attention to the video experience that can only be enjoyed on high-end models in the past. Only models with more distinctive image performance can be accepted by the market and achieve big sales. Therefore, powerful manufacturers regard the imaging system as a high ground for competition, and carry out differentiated competition in imaging performance from various levels such as hardware, algorithms, and chips. Since then, imaging has officially become the core element of differentiated competition in the mid-to-high-end mobile phone market. The vivo S17 series with excellent image performance also came into being during this critical period.
2. Mid-to-high-end mobile phone portrait photography depends on the vivo S series
In fact, vivo has long been one of the most competitive major players on the key track of imaging. Its S series has been developed to the eighth generation so far, and has always been known for its superior image function. In particular, its powerful portrait photography performance is the "killer weapon" to win a differentiated competitive advantage in the market. For experienced users, the portrait photography of the S series has impressed them since the official release of the first-generation product vivo S1 Pro in 2019. This model not only has an f/2.0 large aperture, 1/2.8-inch photosensitive element, but also the first to introduce the screen fill light function, which can make the effect more three-dimensional and full when taking selfies. With its superior camera experience, the phone won the reputation of vivo's "selfie flagship" that year. Since then, the vivo S series has continued this imaging advantage from generation to generation.
Starting from the second-generation product S5, vivo not only introduced a higher-resolution front camera, but also provided industry-leading functions such as automatic beautification, making portrait photography more perfect; to the fourth-generation product vivo S7, new hardware such as ultra-high-definition PDAF autofocus, ultra-wide-angle sub-camera, and the introduction of the eye tracking function, the S series began to have high-quality portrait photography capabilities in sports scenes; The light path is guided to the outside world, and the light is softened with fine Fresnel patterns, and the ultra-high color rendering index is used to bring a fill light effect comparable to natural light; the eighth-generation product vivo S17, which has just been launched, is a masterpiece of vivo in portrait photography theory, technology, software and hardware design.
In this generation of models, vivo not only maintains the high quality of the previous generation, but also makes new breakthroughs in the field of portrait photography. In the continuous iteration of the S series, vivo realized that to achieve good portrait photography effects, it must not only provide high-efficiency photosensitive performance for the device, but also be able to create an ideal lighting environment for users under any conditions. Therefore, the vivo S17 has achieved the ultimate in the photosensitive level first. The new machine has a 50-megapixel JN1 wide-angle lens, a 50-megapixel GN5 super-sensing portrait lens on the outsole, and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, forming the most powerful front-camera system at the same price. In order to improve the light-sensing effect, vivo S17 is also equipped with vivo's strongest super-sensing spectral sensor so far, with the industry's most 13 channels, the accuracy and stability of color temperature detection have increased by more than 10%, and the exposure and white balance film rate reached 92.7%, leading the industry. This combination, together with the Sony IMX766 sensor, all series of OIS optical image stabilization, super-sensing portrait algorithm, etc., makes the new machine even in the harsh night scene portrait shooting environment, the light-sensing effect is comparable to that of top flagships.
In the fill light layer, in order to create the ultimate lighting environment, the vivo S17 series is equipped with two new micro-slit soft lights and a smart soft light ring, which supports intelligent cool and warm color temperature adjustment and manual stepless color temperature adjustment. Turn on soft light portrait 3.0, and the night scene portrait is more transparent and clear, and the color is more integrated with the environment. It is worth mentioning that this meat halo has 9 times the light-emitting area of ordinary flashes, can achieve 360° uniform light distribution, and at the same time increase the brightness by 36%. Let the face be illuminated gently and evenly, and say goodbye to blurry black face/facial staining and other problems; intelligent cold and warm color temperature adjustment can avoid color cast caused by inconsistent color temperature, and make the portrait perfectly blend into the environment.
In general, the vivo S17 not only has flagship photosensitive capabilities, but also has a soft light and fill light system that reaches the level of color rendering at the art museum level, allowing users to take portraits with clear details and natural colors, which can be called first-class.
3. Vivo S17 series "hooking people" is more than just images
It can also be seen from the comments of many users on the Internet that the almost "attractive" appeal of the vivo S17 series not only comes from the powerful imaging functions and experience, but also is inseparable from its fashionable appearance. In terms of appearance design, the new phone places great emphasis on lightness and lightness. The thickness of the whole phone is only 7.46mm, which is even thinner than the iPhone 14. The weight is only 186g, and the screen and back panel are designed with curved edges, which makes the user feel quite comfortable when holding it. In addition to the slim and stylish outline appearance, the material used in this machine is more eye-catching, and it has won the love of young fashion groups with its light and shadow texture with oriental aesthetic charm.
In terms of body material, the vivo S17 pioneered a new process called "particle ink". During the design process, vivo overcame many challenges, prepared more than 400 sets of raw material formulas, tried more than 1,400 sets of design schemes, put 15 million magnetic particles on the back panel of each mobile phone, and debugged delicate layered flowing light and shadow. After 3 high-temperature baking, the interval between each process is precisely controlled within 30 seconds to finalize the effect and present "Oriental aesthetics grown from the trend". After the new process was finalized, the designer also innovatively combined the process with jade glass material to delicately outline the starry particles into a circular curve, and designed a double-layer closed magnetic field-enhanced three-dimensional light rod on the front and back of the magnetic particle ink to create a delicate "ice white jade" texture, showing the artistic beauty of "flowing mountains and seas" with light and shadow layered on it.
Powerful imaging performance and stylish appearance are the "longboards" of the vivo S17 series, but users have noticed that the new machine has excellent performance in all aspects, and its longboards are not limited to these two! In terms of core configuration, the machine is equipped with the Dimensity 8200 flagship chip, which adopts TSMC’s 4nm process and has a main frequency of 3.1GHz, which can not only ensure the running speed of the mobile phone, but also ensure that it runs without lag in the background multitasking environment. In terms of battery life, the new machine is equipped with a large 4600mAh battery and supports 80W long-distance flash charging. Both battery durability and charging speed are excellent. Moreover, with the support of innovative technology, the service life of this battery has reached twice that of ordinary mobile phone batteries, allowing users to have no worries in various heavy usage scenarios.
The whole series of this machine adopts the same 1.5K super retina eye protection screen of the flagship model, and the resolution of this screen is 2800×1260. Relying on the new diamond-like pixel arrangement and high pixel density, the screen display is extremely delicate and realistic. At the same time, it also achieves a peak brightness of 1300nit and more vivid color performance, providing users with an excellent sense of visual immersion. In terms of vision protection, the screen has 1 billion color display performance and supports 2160Hz high-frequency dimming, so it is not prone to visual fatigue even if it is used for a long time.
On the whole, the vivo S17 series has a light and stylish design, and the performance of applications and games is very good, especially the image performance is quite outstanding. It is a very competitive product series.