After a long time circulating globally, finally the brand that many consider to be close to Vivo, namely iQOO, is officially present. Not mid-range or entry-level, iQOO 11 is here to give quite a positive surprise to the flagship smartphone class.
Superior performance, but appear in a very stylish design. Not only in design, even collaborating with well-known global automotive brands. On the other hand, this iQOO flagship smartphone also comes at a fairly affordable price for a flagship smartphone or a premium gaming smartphone.
Present in the 2022 – 2023 transition period, iQOO 11 is a very attractive option, when there are still not many smartphone vendors who haven’t updated their best offers. Is this smartphone also suitable for who are not gamers? Check out the full iQOO 11 review below.
Design
The impression that the iQOO 11 is present as a gaming smartphone is very imperceptible in terms of design. As you can see, the design of the iQOO 11 looks like a typical premium flagship smartphone. Stylish, thin, no special eccentric accents. At least in the Alpha color option we reviewed.
This color option uses a fingerprint-resistant rear glass, which keeps it looking clean, but a little slippery. The camera module is made large, but also stylish, making the iQOO 11 look like it has a superior camera setup. If you want to be more stylish as well as quirky, you can take the white color option with BMW’s signature three-color stripe—yes, this brand does have an official collaboration with this big automotive brand.
The white color option uses vegan leather. With a thickness of around 8.5m and a weight of around 205 grams, it’s a bit bulky, but not as big as the ASUS ROG Phone. The side angles are made with a slight curve so that the impression when held feels thinner.
If it feels too slippery, there is a soft case embedded in the sales package. Overall, the iQOO 11 design is one of the most stylish for a device that emphasizes fast performance.
Screen
Given that the dimensions are quite large, don’t be surprised if the screen dimensions are quite large. The iQOO 11 screen measures 6.78 inches, uses an LTPO AMOLED type panel which has a high refresh rate of up to 144Hz. This value applies adaptively, so there is no need to be afraid of consuming too much power.
The high refresh rate is paired with the standard 1 billion colors, HDR10+ support, and maximum screen brightness which is perfect for outdoor use. The screen is flat, making it comfortable to play games. A slight note is only in the white balance which tends to be a bit bluish—it can be corrected via screen settings, if you want it to be more neutral.
The iQOO 11’s screen is comfortable for playing games as well as watching movies, thanks to satisfying saturation and colors and its wide dimensions. There is an always-on display feature which of course can be activated, and you can change the screen resolution from the default full HD+ to WQHD+ 3200 x 1440 pixels. From our experience, changing the screen resolution doesn’t really have a big impact on power consumption.
Camera
The iQOO 11 camera sensor setup is quite complete. The main sensor has a resolution of 50MP, is of the Samsung GN5 type with OIS and an aperture of f/1.88. Accompanied by a 13MP 2x optical zoom telephoto sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide angle, it is indeed not the most versatile and has the highest resolution. How about the quality?
When using smartphone gaming “glasses”, the iQOO 11 camera is classified as of high quality and above average, it can already approach a flagship smartphone that really prioritizes camera quality. Color reproduction and dynamic range are optimal, perhaps thanks to the Vivo V2 chip which exclusively helps the camera (and gaming performance).
For the 16MP selfie camera on the front, it is quite standard. For more details, you can access the following photo albums.
iQOO 11 video recording can produce the highest resolution up to 8K 30fps, or 4K 60fps. However, these two resolutions (and 4K 30fps) can only be achieved with the main sensor, while the maximum telephoto and ultrawide sensors are only at full HD. Stabilization (EIS, in addition to the default OIS from the main sensor) is also a maximum at 4K only on the main sensor, and functions quite optimally.
As long as the lighting conditions are sufficient, the quality is quite okay, only if the low-light will lower the frame-rate to 24fps so that the footage can look brighter.
Feature
Considering that OriginOS is only available on vivo/iQOO devices in China, iQOO 11 automatically comes with the FunTouch OS interface. It’s based on Android 13, the menu display and others are quite minimalistic and easy to use—although it feels a little boring when compared to One UI or MIUI. Depending on individual tastes, yes.
For additional features, don’t lose much, really. Like the gesture feature that automatically picks up the phone when the screen is pressed to the ear, or the gesture when the screen is off. iQOO 11 also has an infrared sensor on the top side of the body. While the earpiece functions as a secondary speaker, it provides a stereo effect which also adds volume, classified as high quality.
The iQOO 11’s excellent audio quality is not supported by a 3.5mm audio jack, but if needed, an adapter is included in the sales package. The in-display fingerprint sensor on the iQOO 11 also functions optimally, like a flagship smartphone in its class.
performance
Since Qualcomm released its second chipset for smartphones released in the second half of 2022, the impression of its performance has become more positive, not only fast but power efficient and not hot. This impression continued on to Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which was the first to be officially present via iQOO 11. Yes, it just arrived officially, immediately brought the newest and best chipset (from Qualcomm).
It is undeniable (and we forgot at the start, thanks to its stylish design) that the iQOO 11 is a gaming smartphone, bringing the fastest performance in its class. Apart from the chipset, it is also paired with 16GB LPDDR5 extra wide RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. Plus, the Vivo V2 chip also helps optimize gaming performance.
In our opinion, iQOO is quite great for being able to present really good performance through iQOO 11, even though it is one of the first smartphones to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. The body temperature is also maintained, thanks to a hardware-based cooling system that is said to be made quite extensive, so able to cover a wider area.
There is still a possibility that iQOO 11’s performance will be even better through software updates that will be available in the future. So if you are looking for a smartphone to play games or just run a variety of heavy applications smoothly and instantly, this is the best smartphone available today.
Battery
This smartphone, which has a sleek and stylish design, apart from carrying a maximum cooling system, is also equipped with a large battery capacity with no less maximum charging current. The iQOO 11 battery has a capacity of 5,000 mAh, and of course it is very sufficient for full daily intensive use – also thanks to the chipset which, the good news, is power efficient.
With high performance, indirectly the intensity of use during testing is higher than usual. And even so, never once did we have to charge it before bedtime until midnight. Need to charge? The 120W charger can add more than 80% power in less than 15 minutes.
If you want it full, you need to wait an additional 10 minutes. The type of charger itself is quite inclusive, because it can also charge other devices with the 65W PD standard, such as smartphones to laptops. So you only need one charger to charge a lot of power, even though the iQOO 11 has specific voltage and amperage currents.
So in this section, both are satisfactory with their performance. It’s just that the slight drawback is the support for wireless charging which is absent in iQOO 11.
Conclusion
Coming first as a smartphone with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, the iQOO 11 made a very good impression for its official first presence in the country. Appear to bring a stylish and exclusive design, provide wild performance, as well as an attractive price. Not really putting aside the quality of the camera.
After the presence of iQOO 11, we can look forward to other options that will be offered to the people. Will there be another class of smartphones that will be brought officially, and will the flagship line be as promising? We look forward to it together.
iQOO 11 specifications
general
| DeviceType | Smartphones |
| Models / Series | iQOO 11 5G |
| released | 08 December, 2022 |
| Status | Available |
| Price | USD $732,99 (16GB/256GB) |
platforms
| Chipsets | Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm) |
| CPUs | Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510) |
| GPUs | Adreno 740 |
| RAM (Memories) | 4GB (+4GB “extended”) RAM |
| Storage | 256GB |
| Operating System | Android 13 |
| UserInterface | Fun touch OS 13 |
Design
| Dimensions | 164.9 x 77.1 x 8.4mm or 8.7mm |
| Weight | 205/208 grams |
| Design Features | Glass front, glass back, aluminum frame Colors: Black, White |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 5000 mAh battery Fast wired charging 120W, 100% in 25 min |
Displays
| ScreenType | LTPO4 AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 1B colors |
| Size and Resolution | 6.78″ E6 AMOLED, 1440 x 3200 pixels (~517 ppi density) |
| Touch Screen | Yes |
| Features | 144Hz adaptive refresh rate, HDR10+, Widevine L1,10-bit colour, 1800 nits local peak brightness, Gorilla Glass Victus |
network
| Network Frequency | LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 8(900), 40(2300) 5G band 1, 3, 7, 28, 40, 41, 78, SA/NSA |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| Data Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A, 5G |
camera
| Multi Camera | Yes (Rear) |
| Rear | 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; 13 MP, f/2.5, 47mm (telephoto), PDAF, 2x optical zoom; 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm (ultrawide) |
| Front | 16MP, f/2.5 |
| Flash | dual-LED flash |
| Videos | 4320p 30fps, 2160p@30 /60fps, 1080p@30 /60/120/240fps, EIS |
| Camera Features | HDR, panorama, night mode, |
connectivity
| Wi-fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, NavIC |
| hdmi | No |
| NFC | Y |
| Infrared | Yes |
Smartphone Features
| Multimedia Features | stereo speakers, |
| FMRadio | Yes |
| Web Browsers | HTML5 |
| messaging | SMS, MMS, Online |
| Sensors | Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
