iQOO 11 5G Review: Fast & Furious XI

This new iQOO 11 5G  comes with a long list of notable firsts including the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, Samsung's 144Hz E6 LTPO AMOLED display, and UFS 4.0 memory. 

DESIGN & UTILITY

The iQoo 11 continues the brand's signature white finish and BMW's iconic racing stripes. However, the use of silicon leather for the back panel is a welcome addition. Not only does it look visually appealing but the leather-finish also improves the grip of the phone. Meanwhile, these stripes, which are now made of fiberglass, add a little more durability to the design.

The back panel also has an oversized camera island with metal housing and large rings around the camera lenses, which looks quite nice.. I was pleasantly surprised to find that despite its size, the island doesn't protrude too much. This means that when I use the phone on a flat surface, it doesn't feel wobbly or unstable.

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The back side features a curved design at the edges, which gives the impression of a slimmer profile . Around the front is a brilliant 6.78-inch display, which seems to have slightly thick bezels around it, and the panel itself is flat, which may appeal to gamers because it doesn't have any curved edges that can sometimes cause accidental touches. The screen also gets Gorilla Glass Victus protection, making it fairly scratch resistant.

The rest of the phone is held together by an aluminum frame and has an IR blaster and microphone on the top, as well as a SIM card tray and USB Type-C port on the bottom. The power button and volume rocker, which provide a nice tactile feel, are located on the right side of the phone. 

One thing to note is that the iQOO 11 only gets an IP52 dust and water resistance rating. Moreover, the phone has no wireless charging or expandable storage, and the maximum onboard storage available is 256GB, so you may have to get used to the idea of cloud storage for backing up very large files. 

DISPLAY & AUDIO

The iQoo 11 flaunts a stunning display that is perfect for gaming and watching videos. It features a high-quality 2K E6 AMOLED panel with HDR10+ and an impressive 1800 nits peak brightness, so there's no problem using it under direct sunlight.

On top of all of that, the screen also boasts a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, ensuring smooth and fluid animations. There's dynamic refresh here as well, thanks to LTPO tech, and this allows the device to adapt to the content being displayed on the screen. The speakers on the iQOO 11 are also noteworthy, delivering powerful bass and clear sound.

Additionally, the iQOO 11 also has an x-axis vibration engine that provides good haptic feedback and while the in-screen fingerprint sensor is not as large as the one on the iQOO 9 Pro, it is fast and reliable.

PERFORMANCE & BATTERY

The iQOO 11 is the first smartphone in India to feature the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. It boasts significant improvements over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, including a 35% increase in CPU performance, and  a 25% bump in GPU performance.

The chipset also now gets support for faster technologies like LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0. Aside from the latest Snapdragon processor, the phone also gets a new V2 chip, developed by the parent company, vivo, which enhances the quality of night-time photos and videos, as well as providing a boost to gaming performance.

There's a lot of amazing tech packed in here that helps in transforming the iQOO 11 into an extremely powerful smartphone. It consistently ranks at the top of benchmark charts and is definitely one of the most impressive devices I have tested. From lightning-fast app switching to seamless web browsing and photo editing, it truly shines in every task I've thrown its way.

Of course, it's also a great choice for gaming, with its top of the line hardware able to handle even the most demanding games without breaking a sweat.

In the battery department, the iQOO 11 definitely stands out, thanks to its large 5000mAh battery. With moderate daily use, you can expect to have about 50% battery life remaining at the end of the day. And when it does need a quick top up, the included 120W charger will have it fully charged in just 28 minutes. With a 15-minute charge, you can get an impressive 78 percent charge.

SOFTWARE

iQOO 11 ships with the latest Android 13 operating system, and is covered by Vivo's FunTouch skin. lt includes handy features like a customizable home screen with granular controls of UI color schemes and the ability to pin apps to prevent others from accessing them. Overall, FunTouch OS 13 is functional but not as highly regarded as other skins.

Another issue with Funtouch is its abundance of pre-installed apps, some of which cannot be removed or disabled. This results in a cluttered interface and a less streamlined user experience. 

On the plus side, iQOO's software always nails the gaming features. For example, Game Space provides a convenient way to access your installed games and track your gaming statistics such as total playtime and most played games.

You can also access the ultra game mode a special in-game menu by swiping from the left side of the screen. This lets you switch between different power modes to give you the best gaming performance. There are also options like reject Background calls and Block notifications that help you stay undisturbed while gaming.

As for software updates, The iQOO 11 is set to receive three major OS updates and three years of security patches. While that isn't bad by any means , it is worth noting that Samsung offers up to four years of OS updates and five years of security patches. 

CAMERAS

This phone has a triple camera setup that includes a 50MP Samsung GN5 main sensor, but this time around it lacks the super steady gimbal found in the iQOO 9 Pro, and instead has a more standard optical image stabilization system. The primary camera is joined by a 13MP 2X telephoto zoom lens, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 16MP front facing camera.

Photos taken with the 50MP camera in daylight have good dynamic range and color saturation, and generally offer a lot of sharpness and detail. The telephoto camera is also able to produce clear, high-quality photos with good noise control when using the 2X zoom. However, it would have been better to have a Periscope zoom lens that offers at least 5x optical zoom, as well as more consistent color matching between the main and 2X lenses.

The portrait mode offers reliable edge detection and the extended focal length allows it to produce attractive and natural background blur.

Ultra wide photos have decent sharpness and dynamic range, but again the colors differ from those of the main camera and the overall quality is just average. On the other hand, low light performance with the main camera is excellent, most likely thanks to that V2 chip working its magic behind the scenes. 

Selfies taken with the 16 megapixel front-facing camera come out with good detail and sharpness, but the portrait mode can struggle with edge detection at times. 

In the video department, IQOO 11's rear camera lets you record at up to 8K at 30 fps, 4K at 60 fps, and 1080p at 60 fps. Footage comes out looking really crisp, particularly at 4K 60 fps, and digital stabilization helps ensure smooth pans. Night time shooting isn't nearly as good as what iQOO advertises but the main still retains good detail and color saturation.

VERDICT

The iQOO 11 is a fantastic all-around smartphone that excels in performance thanks to its powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Additionally, the pricing of the base variant at 59,999 Rupees appears to be quite competitive. It will be interesting to see how it compares to its rivals in 2023, but overall it is a very solid offering from iQOO.