Seven years is a long gap for any product line to stay dormant, but that is exactly how long Indian buyers waited for a new vivo S series phone. The wait ends with the vivo S2, and instead of a cautious re-entry, vivo has thrown in a curved AMOLED screen, a battery big enough to skip a full day of charging, and a camera setup that records 4K video from both the front and rear lenses.
We spent time with the S2 unit to see whether the comeback lives up to the hype, and the short version is that this does not feel like a typical mid-range phone.
Table of contents
- A Comeback Seven Years in the Making
- Design and Display: A Slim Body Hiding a Massive Screen
- Battery and Charging: The Real Headline Feature
- Performance: Dimensity 7360-Turbo and Everyday Multitasking
- Camera: 50MP Main Sensor With 4K From Both Ends
- Durability and Connectivity
- Software: OriginOS 6 on Android 16
- Price and Availability in India
- Full Specifications at a Glance
A Comeback Seven Years in the Making
The original vivo S1 launched in India back in 2019 as an affordable option, and the series quietly disappeared soon after. The vivo S2 returns with a completely different positioning. Rather than chasing the budget crowd, it lands in the premium mid-range bracket and goes head to head with phones like the OnePlus Nord series and Nothing’s lineup.
What stands out immediately on picking up the phone is how compact the whole package feels for a device carrying such a large battery. That single detail sets the tone for everything else on this handset.
Design and Display: A Slim Body Hiding a Massive Screen
The vivo S2 ships in three finishes: Sapphire Blue, Regal Bronze, and Silk White, our review unit came in the Regal Bronze shade. The back uses a plastic composite sheet instead of glass, a deliberate choice that trades a touch of premium feel for better drop resistance since plastic will not shatter the way glass can.
Despite packing a 7,050mAh cell, the phone measures just 7.99mm thick in the Sapphire Blue and Regal Bronze versions, with the Silk White variant coming in marginally thicker at 8.1mm. Weight sits between 197g and 199g depending on the color. For a battery this size, that is a genuinely impressive piece of engineering, and the phone never feels like it is carrying extra bulk in hand.
Up front is a 6.83-inch AMOLED display with a 3D curved panel, a design choice usually reserved for far pricier phones. The screen runs at 2800 x 1260 resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate, meaning scrolling and animations look noticeably smoother than on standard 60Hz panels. Local peak brightness touches 3,000 nits, which should keep the screen legible even under harsh Indian summer sunlight, and the panel supports the P3 wide color gamut for richer, more accurate colors in photos and videos. The fingerprint sensor sits under the display itself.
Battery and Charging: The Real Headline Feature
If there is one number that defines the vivo S2, it is the 7,050mAh battery. Most slim phones on the market compromise on battery size to hit a thin profile, but vivo has clearly refused to make that trade-off here. In daily use, this translates to a phone that comfortably lasts through a demanding day without needing a top-up before bedtime.
Charging comes via a 44W FlashCharge brick, which ships in the box. It will not compete with the fastest charging standards out there, but paired with a battery this large, the emphasis is clearly on capacity over raw charging speed.
Performance: Dimensity 7360-Turbo and Everyday Multitasking
Under the hood sits the MediaTek Dimensity 7360-Turbo, an octa-core chip built on a 4nm process with four performance cores clocked at 2.5GHz. In benchmark testing, the chipset returned an AnTuTu score in the region of 9,40,000, a solid result for this price bracket. AnTuTu is a widely used benchmarking app that gives a single combined score for a phone’s overall processing power.
Memory is handled by 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and the phone can virtually extend this by another 8GB by borrowing from storage, taking the effective total to 16GB. vivo states this extended memory setup allows up to 25 apps to stay active in the background simultaneously, which is useful for anyone who constantly switches between social apps, browsers, and games. Storage runs on UFS 3.1, a faster standard than the older eMMC storage still found in several phones at this price.
For gaming, vivo claims the S2 sustains a stable 90 FPS in BGMI for up to three hours even at 30 degrees Celsius ambient temperature, a claim aimed squarely at buyers who game for extended sessions without wanting the phone to throttle.
Camera: 50MP Main Sensor With 4K From Both Ends
The rear camera setup pairs a 50MP main sensor with a 2MP secondary sensor used for depth information, while a 32MP camera handles selfies on the front. Both the front and rear cameras can shoot 4K video, a feature usually limited to considerably more expensive phones, which makes the S2 a genuinely capable option for anyone who creates content regularly.
Portrait mode offers 28mm, 42mm, and 56mm focal length options, and the camera supports up to 10x zoom, though there is no dedicated ultra-wide lens on this model. Dual-View Video lets you record from the front and rear cameras at the same time, handy for travel vlogs or reaction-style content. Camera software also includes AI Erase for removing unwanted objects from photos and AI color adjustment tools, along with a dedicated underwater photography mode with its own set of shooting guidelines. Overall image quality in our testing sat comfortably in the above-average to excellent range for this segment, with filters that occasionally elevate specific shots noticeably.
Durability and Connectivity
The vivo S2 carries both IP68 and IP69 ratings, a combination rarely seen on phones this slim. IP68 covers protection against dust and submersion in fresh water up to 1.5 meters, while IP69 certifies the phone against high-pressure, high-temperature water jets. On top of that, the phone has passed MIL-STD-810H military-grade durability testing, covering shock resistance and drop tests.
On the connectivity side, the phone supports dual 5G SIMs, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4, USB Type-C 2.0 with OTG support, and full satellite navigation through GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou. Two notable omissions are NFC and FM radio, so anyone relying on tap-to-pay through their phone will need to look elsewhere.
Software: OriginOS 6 on Android 16
The phone ships on OriginOS 6, built on top of Android 16 out of the box. vivo has confirmed three years of Android OS upgrades and five years of security updates for the S2, a reasonable commitment for a phone in this price range. As with most phones running custom Android skins, expect a handful of preloaded apps on first boot, though these can be uninstalled without much hassle.
Price and Availability in India
| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 8GB RAM + 128GB storage | Rs 39,999 |
| 8GB RAM + 256GB storage | Rs 44,999 |
The vivo S2 goes on sale from August 11, 2026, through vivo’s own online store, Flipkart, and authorised retail outlets across India, with launch offers including instant bank cashback and no-cost EMI options. You can check the current listing on Amazon for both storage variants and all three color options.
Full Specifications at a Glance
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.83-inch 3D curved AMOLED, 2800 x 1260, 120Hz, 3000 nits peak brightness |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 7360-Turbo, 4nm, octa-core |
| RAM and Storage | 8GB LPDDR4X (+8GB extended), 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Rear Camera | 50MP main + 2MP secondary |
| Front Camera | 32MP, 4K video support |
| Battery | 7050mAh with 44W FlashCharge |
| Durability | IP68 and IP69, MIL-STD-810H certified |
| OS | OriginOS 6 based on Android 16 |
| Connectivity | Dual 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.4, USB-C 2.0, no NFC, no FM |
| Weight and Thickness | 197g to 199g, 7.99mm to 8.1mm |
| Colors | Sapphire Blue, Regal Bronze, Silk White |
Whether the return of the S series pays off for vivo will depend on how it holds up against the OnePlus Nord and Nothing Phone crowd over the coming months, but on first impressions, this is one of the more complete packages in its price bracket.