A few years ago, smartphone segments were simple: budget, mid-range and flagship. Now there is something called an “affordable flagship” (besides “premium budget” and whatnot). Making all this happen is OnePlus, which now is more or less in the flagship category, meaning other brands need to fill this wannabe-flagship category. One of the players I have had my eyes on for a few years is IQOO, which continues to do a great job at coming up with smooth-running devices. There are a few quibbles but that doesn’t interfere with the overall experience. We have been using the IQOO Neo9 Pro for a few weeks. Frankly, it’s tough to recommend a phone after five days of usage. What about after a few weeks? The answer is simple: It’s a snazzy and snappy device.

IQOO takes care of the design department quite well, thanks to the dual-tone colour. The phone’s appeal comes through as soon as you pick it up. First, the colour combination stands out and it certainly catches one’s attention. The device looks unlike most Android devices. And the vegan leather finish offers an excellent feel. The phone has flat frames that slightly curve at the back, making it easy to hold the device for long hours.

Diving into the camera department

Even under slightly dark conditions, photographs retain details

On the camera front, you get a 50MP IMX920 OIS main snapper. Photos are slightly punchy but these look good on social media. There is an option to set the colour profile to ‘natural’. Be it outside under shiny conditions or indoors under uneven lighting, photographs are quite good. At night, the camera auto detects the scene and brightens up shots. Even with some of the over sharpening, I am enjoying the snaps out of a reasonably-priced phone.

IQOO didn’t stop there: Portrait shots came out fine. Thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, you get stable 4K videos (at 60fps). But everything changes when it comes to video on the selfie camera, which restricts it to 1080p at 30fps. Further, selfie portraits are more sharpened than usual. Like I said, there are small issues you have to live with. On to the 8MP ultra-wide snapper, which does a fair job, even though there is a small colour shift moving from the main to ultra.

Snappy performer

On the device, you get an IR Blaster, which can control home appliances, like the AC, fan and so on. Overall, the phone does a great job with everyday performance. Even though it’s last year’s flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, you get fluid performance. It’s a processor that will keep you happy for a few years.

Photos taken using the main sensor are slightly vibrant but you can change the colour profile to ‘natural'

To keep the overall performance snappy, there is 12GB RAM (on the review device) and 256GB UFS 4.0 storage. The base variant has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage (UFS 3.1). The review device performs as good as, say, OnePlus 12R and there is hardly any throttling. You also get good thermal control while playing games at good frame rates. For extra smooth performance, turn on game frame interpolation to boost frame rate.

If that doesn’t impress you, consider the 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display. I don’t want to get into the peak brightness aspect, which is very high but I am not sure how far it can sway one’s buying decision. It’s enough to say that the display is very bright even under full sunshine.

Should you buy it?

IQOO is giving a PD charger in the box, which can also be used to fast-charge other smartphones, laptops and tablets. You get Funtouch 14 based on Android 14. IQOO has reduced the number of unnecessary apps. Apps like Truecaller, Snapchat, PhonePe and Netflix are there and I believe phone manufacturers should stop playing this marketing game.

The display is bright enough for using under all kinds of lighting

IQOO has indeed done a good job with the device, giving three years of Android updates and four years of security updates. You get a 5,160mAh battery tied to a well-designed processor. So you will easily get a day out of the phone. It simply shows what IQOO Neo9 Pro is giving overall — solid performance, good pricing.

The dual-tone finish is eye-catching

At a glance

Device: IQOO Neo9 Pro

Price: Upwards of Rs 34,999

High notes

Good design and build

Excellent battery life

Camera punches above weight

Snappy performance

Muffled notes

Front camera video restricted to 1080p@30fps

Some unnecessary preloaded app