It is turning out to be the year of “flagship killers”, that is, phones that challenge premium category members. The iQOO Neo 7 Pro 5G is one of those devices that lets specs do the talking. Under Rs 35,000 you get Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is a killer deal and it comes with fantastic cameras. And it has an additional processor to help gamers.
Time-tested design
IQOO hasn’t played around too much with the design because it already stands out in a sea of smartphones. Besides, a new design will call for fresh investments and that means making compromises in other departments. Instead of complicating matters, IQOO keeps it simple — hang on to a tested design but make sensible upgrades in the specs department. Needless to say, IQOO phones feel great to hold and the slight curved glass helps to hold the phone for long hours during gaming. There is a compromise — the Type-C port is USB 2.0.
Bright, vivid display
At 6.78 inches, the display is on the larger side. It’s an AMOLED display, supporting 120Hz refresh rate and 1,300 nits peak brightness. That’s not all, there is support for HDR10+. Though you don’t get an adaptive refresh rate, there is 2160Hz PWM dimming, which is helpful for those with sensitive vision under low-light conditions. Being an AMOLED display, you do get a fingerprint scanner but I prefer face unlock, which is also available. There will be comparisons with Nothing Phone (2) and one area IQOO is ahead is haptic feedback. The X-Axis Linear Motor is precise and offers 4D game vibration, lending a sense of realism. Helping the display shine is the stereo speaker setup. Overall, the soundscape comes across as detailed.
Top-of-the-line performance
Of course, it’s performance that’s the winning feature of the phone, thanks to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform. The 4nm fabrication processor is not power thirsty and GPU performance is fantastic. The phone has a big 4013mm² vapour chamber liquid cooling and multi-layer graphite for heat dissipation. Helping with the performance is 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage (review unit).
iQOO Neo7 Pro comes with a vivid and bright screen
While playing COD or Genshin Impact, the performance was sustained and there were no frame drops or stutters.
To help gamers, there is an independent gaming chip, which allows game frame interpolation. It boosts frame rates to up to 90 or 120 FPS, besides helping GPU rendering and consistently high frame rates.
A sample photo taken using iQOO Neo7 Pro
Let’s talk about camera
The main camera features 50MP Samsung GN5 sensor with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide snapper and 2MP macro. Given the sensor, you will get bright, detailed pictures, which is unlike most gaming-focused phones. Colours are natural and HDR performance is brilliant. Even at night, there is good performance. Having optical image stablisation helps to capture sharp images and videos turn out fine. Shooting 4K@60fps videos is recommended. And like on Vivo phones, you get excellent stablisation.
Coming with a 5,000mAh battery, you will easily get through he day because of the nimble processor. There is 120W fast-charging, which means you can juice up in less than 30 minutes.
Should you buy it?
It’s an easy answer. Despite a few unwanted apps coming preloaded, it’s a highly recommended phone. iQOO Neo 7 Pro brings down the gap between gaming phones and the usual devices. There is another new phone in the market called Nothing Phone (2), which also performs well but if you are looking for a no-nonsense phone, IQOO is a great deal. In the software department you get Funtouch OS 13 based on Android 13. I am not highly impressed by Funtouch OS and prefer the no-nonsense approach of Phone (2). Yet, iQOO Neo 7 Pro can become your go-to phone. It’s, in many ways, a flagship killer.
At a glance
Device: iQOO Neo 7 Pro 5G
Price: Upwards of 34,999
High notes
Excellent display
Very good gaming performance
Good camera output
Great battery life
Muffled notes
Software experience can be improved