VIVO, seemingly always aware of what the competition is up to, recently announced a price cut in the Philippines for the Vivo Y53 budget smartphone (click for complete specs), dropping its price from P6,990 (about $140) to P5,990 ($120).

The move thus makes the Y53 cheaper than the comparable P6,995 ASUS ZenFone Live, which ASUS Philippines unveiled a couple of days ago.

And while the Y53 can’t do live-streaming the way the Live, with its live filters and noise-canceling microphones, can, Vivo’s latest bargain blower should be able to handle routine tasks more smoothly, all thanks to a more capable quad-core processor in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 425. To wit: We tried to play NBA 2K17 on the Vivo Y53, and we were able to get it running stably, with little to no slowdowns, at the lowest graphics settings.

Vivo Y53 official product video

It’s a bummer that the 5-inch LCD display, at 960 x 540 resolution, isn’t high-res, though. At 8 megapixels, the back-facing camera is likewise nothing special, even for the category. Powering the assembly is a 2,500mAh battery, which is neither too small nor too big. Android Marshmallow is the operating system of choice for the Y53 (again, nothing to see here).

Still, those of you looking to purchase a good-sized phone that is pleasingly fast and packs enough power to handle demanding games without burning a hole through your wallet may want to consider the Vivo Y53. Especially now that it’s down to its lowest price yet.

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