On December 22, vivo held an online theme conference of "Comprehensive Excellence, Natural Excellence", and officially released the new vivo S12 series - vivo S12 and vivo S12 Pro.
After watching the press conference, Lao Ji has a very strong feeling: the positioning of the vivo S series has changed, and it will become a powerful weapon for vivo to impact the high-end market.
Full upgrade
Lao Ji found that from the product point of view, compared with the vivo S10 series released on July 15 this year, the vivo S12 series has been fully upgraded. Lao Ji concluded that the product upgrade is mainly reflected in the three aspects of IPD (Imaga/Performance/Design).
Imaga: Imagery
We know that the biggest feature of the previous vivo S series in the field of imaging is to create a very strong front-facing portrait experience for users. The previous generation of vivo S10 series, using a combination of 44 million pixels AF ultra-clear main camera + 8 million pixel ultra-wide angle lens, two LED soft lights hidden in the gap at the top of the screen, and also introduced a "natural portrait" mode, all to create a better selfie effect.
In the vivo S12, the image was first fully upgraded. For example, for the first time, the vivo S12 Pro is equipped with a 5000W pixel custom JNV ultra-clear sensor, adding the new ISOCELL 3.0 pixel isolation technology to present richer and more vivid colors. The previous two LED soft lights have also been upgraded to the front two-color temperature four soft light lamps, which can better meet the needs of users to brighten and fill the atmosphere.
In addition, the rear camera used to shoot others has also been upgraded. Previously, it was only used in the rear 108MP pixel ultra-clear main camera on the vivo S10 Pro, and now it has achieved full standard on the vivo S12 series, with HDR+ panoramic night view, users can take a vast and spectacular city night view.
What makes Lao Ji feel very interesting is that vivo's cutting-edge AI technology team, together with aesthetic experts and professional photography teams, conducted AI training and learning through tens of thousands of high-quality self-made photography and post-production material data of "world-renowned skin care and beauty product advertising level" in more than a year. In the training process, the "teaching materials" used by Vivo are also top-notch, and the whole process refers to the production of commercial advertising shooting process, integrating photographers, lighting engineers, and retouchers in one, creating a photography team in the pocket, so that there is no limit to taking pictures.
Let me give you an example. Vivo S12 series puts "million retouchers" into mobile phones, through micron-level skin rejuvenation and face shaping technology, to achieve two major breakthroughs in smart skin texture and three-dimensional skin tone, bringing an effect comparable to that of commercial-level retouchers, and strengthening the original facial complexion and facial features without damaging the skin texture.
Performance: Performance
Lao Ji's deepest feeling for the vivo S12 series is the improvement in performance.
Previously, the vivo S10 series was equipped with the sub-flagship chip Tianji 1100; this time, the vivo S12 Pro was equipped with the annual flagship core Tianji 1200. Both sides are deeply optimized to fully release the hardcore potential, with a comprehensive running score of 720,000, while using a 6nm EUV process and integrated 5G modem, with lower power consumption.
The memory fusion +4G technology equipped with vivo S10 series is officially upgraded to dual-effect memory fusion +4G on this generation of vivo S12 series, compared with the previous generation technology, the peak number of 8+4G background active applications has increased from 20 to 25, an increase of 25%.
If the previous vivo S10 series did not pay special attention to game performance, the vivo S12 series released this time was specially optimized for games.
Vivo S12 series has added a game BOOST mode, providing more powerful performance guarantee, in the "Glory of The King" HD 90 frame mode, can effectively improve the frame rate stability of more than 30%, mainstream games stable 90Hz. In addition, the vivo S12 series is also equipped with a good screen of superconducting liquid cold heat dissipation and 240Hz touch sampling rate, and the instantaneous sampling rate in the game is as high as 1000Hz, which is naturally more enjoyable.
In order to let users play the game well, Vivo's product team can be described as heartbroken. Vivo S12 Pro is equipped with an e-sports antenna design, built-in 12 antennas, and integrated with a number of technologies such as side distributed antennas and intelligent NR multi-antenna switching, which effectively reduces the impact of the palm on the signal, adapts to more holding methods, and allows you not to drop the line when playing games.
Vivo S12 series has passed a number of rigorous tests and obtained the KPL test certification of King Glory. Vivo S12 series when installing the game can also complete the update by cutting out the background, and also supports the glory of the king, the peace elite lightning start, through the AI wisdom engine to judge the user's use behavior, skip the loading interface.
Design: Design
The photochromic discoloration that has been upgraded to photochromic 2.0 on the vivo S12 series has been upgraded to photochromic 2.0 by the vivo S10 series, with a wider color change threshold and more sensitive response, and can also refract dazzling light under ordinary light, and the color and texture performance are more brilliant.
The vivo S12 series released this time also specially launched a "warm gold" color scheme, which is warm golden sunlight before discoloration, and lush blue-green rainforest after discoloration.
We know that vivo S10 is already very thin and light, vivo S12 series continues to adhere to the pursuit of thin and light, vivo S12 Pro further thinned the TW cover thickness by about 19%, FPC thickness by about 29%, the front camera and cover gap thinning by about 30%, the battery capacity can be upgraded to 4300mAh. The whole machine weighs only 171 grams and is as thin as 7.36mm. Vivo S12 is also thin and light, its 7.39mm ultra-thin fuselage adopts a one-piece aviation aluminum straight-edged middle frame, the edges and corners are more gentle, the middle frame feels smoother; it weighs about 179 grams.
superstar
So, why did vivo make a comprehensive upgrade to the S12 series, is it because the previously released S series products were not very successful? In fact, on the contrary, the S series has always been the main model of vivo. According to data from third-party research institutions, as of the end of June this year, the cumulative sales of the Vivo S series have exceeded 25 million units, and now it is approaching the mark of 30 million units. In less than three years, the vivo S series has become one of the best-selling series of products in the Chinese mobile phone market step by step.
Because of this, Vivo has placed more expectations on the S series: Lao Ji believes that the meaning of the future vivo S series may have to be redefined, and it will become the Superstar (superstar) of Vivo.
Since it is Superstar, of course, it must have more comprehensive skills. Therefore, the vivo S12 series released this time has not only upgraded the main image and design in the past, but also focused on breaking through the limitations in performance and has the potential to become a flagship model.
Such a flagship model, its user portrait can not be summarized by a certain subdivision group, in essence, it has initially possessed the recognition of the mass market, covering many consumer groups such as value control, image enthusiasts, performance party, etc., thus further expanding the market scale.
This is also reflected in the pricing of the vivo S12 series. Previously, the vivo S10 series only had two price points, namely 2999/3399 yuan, and the market coverage was still relatively limited. Today, the vivo S12 series has increased to 4 price points, namely 2799/2999/3399/3699 yuan, which has expanded the previous price range of 400 yuan to 900 yuan, which is already a configuration of a main product series.
China's mobile phone market is completing consumption upgrades. According to the "2021 Mobile Phone Industry Crowd Insight White Paper" released by Judasu, the first half of 2021 as a whole showed the phenomenon of user replacement consumption upgrades, and the number of users who changed machines to high-end models was nearly twice the outflow of high-end models. That is to say, under the general trend of consumption upgrading, the high-end smartphone market is also ushering in growth.
Vivo not only sees this trend, but is seizing it. According to market research agency Counterpoint Research, vivo has made significant progress in China's mid- and high-end sectors over the past year. Among them, the market share in the price range of $500 to $599 has risen from 10% in September 2020 to 20% in September 2021.
This was driven by the strong performance of the vivo X70 Pro launched in September this year. Through unremitting efforts in the research and innovation of camera technology, as well as a strategic partnership with ZEISS, the leader in optical technology, vivo X series has successfully gained a foothold in the high-end market.
So, who is going to hold on to the positions left behind after the vivo X series attack, especially the basic position of $400 to $499? Lao Ji believes that this task can only be undertaken by the vivo S series. As Counterpoint Research said, the S series is of strategic importance to Vivo as the average selling price in China's mass market is expected to continue to increase over the next two years.
In the future, the vivo S series will be together with the vivo X series to form two wheels that drive the high-end of vivo, and continuously output strong power. This year, Vivo has won the No. 1 of the Chinese mobile phone market for three consecutive quarters; with the superstar of the vivo S series, vivo will go further and longer.