iQoo Neo 6 Assessment: High Specs for Much less

Smartphone maker Vivo is a huge in its native China and different Asian markets, however its presence is missed in a lot of the remainder of the world. Like rivals Xiaomi and Huawei it created a sub-brand, iQoo, to convey its know-how to the lots at usually cheaper costs.

The iQoo Neo 6 is a really stable cellphone with near flagship specs and above common efficiency for the asking worth. The design stands out, the software program is unobtrusive, and the principle digicam lens may be very succesful.

The cellphone is on the market now in India and China, however it may not get an official launch wherever else. That’s a disgrace as a result of it’s a cellphone that provides mid-range Realme, Samsung, and Oppo telephones a run for his or her cash.

I reviewed the Indian model of the cellphone, which has the Snapdragon 870 whereas the Chinese language mannequin has the Snapdragon Eight Gen 1.

Design and construct

Cool color choices
Matt plastic end
Gap-punch selfie digicam

The design of my Neo 6 overview unit would have been wholly unremarkable have been it not in a parma violet purple and blue explosion that iQoo is asking ‘Cyber Rage’. However there’s nothing raging about its well mannered lilac tones that change with the sunshine. I believe it appears to be like nice, and it stands out towards one million black slab telephones.

iQoo has saved on prices and improved sturdiness by choosing plastic as a substitute of glass on the again too, a transfer extra producers ought to make, notably like right here the place it doesn’t really feel low-cost. The 2 lengthy edges of the again are barely curved which helps the cellphone nestle comfortably in your arms.

The digicam module is an austere rectangle with three lenses and a flash, with a element beneath on a plastic strip that has the Neo branding on it. With no regulatory marks and a neat silver iQoo brand, it is a cellphone to purchase to face out from the gang. The opposite color choice is a extra muted ‘Darkish Nova’ that’s a darkish greenish blue.

Across the entrance is a much less inspiring affair. There’s a well-known black bezel across the fringe of the show with rounded corners and a single hole-punch reduce out for the entrance dealing with digicam on the prime.

There’s no headphone jack, and the USB-C port is flanked by a downward firing speaker and nano-SIM slot. A quantity rocker sits above the facility button on the right-hand edge. To date, so cellphone. However purple.

Show and audio

Flat 6.62in OLED
120Hz refresh fee
Stereo audio system

The Neo 6 has an enormous, brilliant 6.62in AMOLED display screen that will get lots brilliant and is conscious of faucets, swipes, and pinches. I like that it’s flat quite than curving on the edges.

The display screen doesn’t go proper to the sides however the bezel didn’t hassle me as it is vitally skinny, and the 4 corners are rounded neatly not like another telephones I’ve examined. The in-display fingerprint sensor is dependable and responsive.

Excessive refresh fee shows are quite common in Android telephones now, which is nice for you and your eyes. 60Hz was the smartphone norm for years however 120Hz on the Neo 6 doubles that to make app animations, menus, and textual content scroll twice as clean. You possibly can select 60Hz or 120Hz within the settings or go for iQoo’s Good Change software program that flicks between the 2 relying on what you’re doing. Utilizing 60Hz when issues aren’t shifting claims to avoid wasting battery life.

I had no qualms with the panel on the Neo 6 utilizing it as my essential cellphone for a few weeks. I scrolled Twitter, watched YouTube, and took images with out a lot lacking the shows of costlier telephones just like the Google Pixel 6 Professional or Samsung Galaxy S22 Extremely. These telephones do have higher screens however contemplating the worth of the Neo 6 you aren’t lacking out on an excessive amount of further high quality.

The audio system are additionally fairly good, notably for listening to podcasts or the radio or speaking telephones calls handsfree. The earpiece and down-firing speaker used as a stereo pair and solely distort if you crank music via them very loudly. However given it must be unlawful to play music at any quantity out of your cellphone, you gained’t be anxious about that can you, pricey reader?

It’s nice to see the cellphone licensed to play Hello-res music, so should you subscribe to a service like Tidal or Qobuz you’ll get pleasure from respectable wi-fi sound high quality.

One minor level is that in direct daylight you’ll be able to see the hidden ambient mild sensors and different sensors behind the show, one thing I have not seen in lots of telephones of late.

Specs and efficiency

Snapdragon 870
5G
8GB/128GB or 12GB/256GB

The Neo 6 shines if you examine how a lot it prices to how properly it performs. It’s a mid-range priced cellphone that acts just about in addition to a flagship cellphone that retails for twice or 3 times extra.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 chipset is a lot of the motive why given it’s a notch beneath ‘flagship’ stage as of late. However for most individuals, myself included, it’s overkill. The processor is way extra highly effective than what most of us do on our telephones within the first place. It handles social media, messaging, pictures, and video calls with ease.

It additionally means the Neo 6 is a good selection as a gaming cellphone and has delicate inclusions beneath the hood like a vibration engine that rumbles alongside to gameplay.

My overview unit had 12GB RAM which helped issues fly by shortly, although that quantity remains to be an terrible lot for a cell. iQoo additionally added in what it calls ‘prolonged RAM’ the place the cellphone can increase an additional 4GB of RAM efficiency out of free cupboard space – so the 12GB RAM can emulate the efficiency of 16GB (or 8GB boosted to 12GB on the opposite mannequin).

It does this mechanically to maintain video games flowing and apps working within the background when there’s a number of stuff open without delay.

In benchmark assessments the Neo 6 was practically as zippy because the Poco F4 GT, a gaming cellphone with a Snapdragon Eight Gen 1 chip and objective constructed for gaming. It was additionally quicker than the OnePlus Nord 2T, a cellphone that prices extra, and barely beneath the premium Vivo X80 Professional.

Benchmarks aren’t every little thing in fact, so I’m comfortable to again up that the Neo performs properly in actual world use too.

Sadly, one of many worst issues in regards to the cellphone is its haptics. Although the gaming rumble function labored properly with little bumps and buzzes that make sense in context, the haptic motor for typing and system vibrations may be very tinny and pingy, to the purpose the place every particular person vibration is like an audible ‘ping’. It’s actually annoying and makes the cellphone really feel low-cost. For the primary time in years, I turned off the keyboard vibration on an Android cellphone. Boo.

Digital camera

64Mp Samsung sensor
No telephoto lens
Software program spoils selfies

A shared trait amongst many respectable mid-range telephones is the presence of 1 fairly good digicam lens alongside two not nice ones, and the identical applies right here. iQoo has used Samsung’s 64Mp GW1P sensor for the principle lens and it produces nice photographs in daylight. It’s additionally used to crop 2x to imitate telephoto within the absence of a devoted telephoto lens.

Outcomes are punchy due to HDR and optical picture stabilisation (OIS). Even with AI modes turned off, the software program nonetheless cranks up the saturation so it’s slightly exhausting to get true to life color stability however so far as Android level and shoots go, that is very stable. If you happen to take a number of photos of shifting objects like youngsters and animals, be warned that photographs usually prove slightly blurry with any motion.

Software program annoys extra when taking selfies with the 16Mp entrance digicam. The software program is about up with face slimming, whitening, tinting, and numerous different AI-beautifying modes out the field and it’s an enormous ache to go in and switch all of them off. It’s one of the annoying issues in regards to the cellphone.

The 2Mp macro lens gives a little bit of enjoyable getting up shut, however it’s a novelty that doesn’t final lengthy. Outcomes aren’t as detailed as on the iPhone 13 Professional or as shut up because the loopy 30x digicam seen on the Oppo Discover X3 Professional, however these are very premium telephones. Mainly, mid-range telephones shouldn’t have macro cameras as a result of they’re by no means any good when the parts are low-cost.

A 16Mp ultra-wide lens is nice for capturing extra of a scene, however it’s of noticeably lesser high quality than what the principle lens is able to.

Battery and charging

80W wired charging
No wi-fi charging
All day stamina

One of many Neo 6’s greatest options is its wired 80W charging speeds, which in my testing charged the cellphone from 0% to 88% in 15 minutes. Quick charging is changing into extra regular on Android telephones and it’s another excuse to go for the Neo 6.

If you happen to’re not in India or China, keep in mind you’ll have to purchase a plug adapter (like I did) to make use of the bundled quick charger. You may not see prime charging speeds due to this.

The Neo 6 simply lasted a complete day of heavy use on its 4700mAh battery, solely dipping to dangerously low ranges after I’d been hammering Name of Responsibility. That stated, it may be a bit unpredictable. A ten-minute CoD shootout solely dropped the cellphone 4%, however leaving the cellphone on Wi-Fi in a single day noticed it drop from 84% to 56%. Good factor the charging is super-fast.

Within the PC Mark app battery take a look at it lasted for 16 hours and 43 minutes, which has solely been overwhelmed in our current testing by the 18 hours and 30 minutes of the Realme 9 Professional.

Software program and updates

Android 12
FunTouch OS is stable
Gaming options

iQoo’s FunTouch OS pleasantly shocked me by not being too overbearing. Some producers meddle with the looks of Android – even Google as of late – and it may be distracting.

iQoo does change just a few issues about Android 12 (each firm does) resembling the place issues are hidden within the settings app, however general, I discovered it a clear and straightforward flavour of Android having not used it a lot beforehand.

There are some neat software program touches such because the Sport House app the place you’ll be able to see what video games you’ve got downloaded and the way lengthy you’ve spent on them (harmful) and the way a lot Wi-Fi or cell information you’ve used enjoying them (helpful). I additionally just like the in-game menu that may be accessed swiping from the left that exhibits CPU and GPU pressure, battery life, and toggles for battery saver balanced and, amusingly, monster mode that cranks the {hardware} to the max.

There’s even a voice changer toggle and a WhatsApp picture-in-picture button that brings the chat app onto the display screen to fireside off fast texts with out quitting your recreation.

iQoo guarantees two years of Android updates to Android 13 and 14, and three years of safety updates. This is similar as OnePlus, and higher than Honor, however behind Google’s three and 5 years of Android and safety updates respectively, and Samsung’s superlative 4 and 5.

Value and availability

The iQoo Neo 6 is on sale in India from ₹34,999, which is about £360/$450. If you could find one to import for this worth, it’s superb worth certainly.

On the time of writing the 8GB/128GB Chinese language mannequin was on sale at Giztop for $499 and the 12GB/256GB mannequin for $549. Keep in mind this isn’t the mannequin I reviewed, and has totally different specs. Test them out right here.

Verdict

With a genuinely enticing design that advantages from being plastic and subsequently extra sturdy, the Neo 6 is an efficient selection if you need an Android cellphone that performs like a flagship for a mid-range worth. The software program is clear, the principle digicam is stable, and the battery prices extremely quick.

If you happen to’re exterior of India or China you may desire to purchase the OnePlus Nord 2T because it has related options, the identical software program replace promise, and can include native warranties. It’s exhausting to return or repair an imported cellphone. However the Neo 6 is unquestionably value a glance if you need one thing a bit totally different with nice efficiency. It simply looks as if it is exhausting to import the Indian model.

Specs
iQoo Neo 6: Specs

Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G

8GB/12GB RAM

128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage

6.62in AMOLED show (2400 x 1080 decision)

64Mp f/1.9 Broad angle digicam

8Mp f/2.2 Extremely-wide digicam

2Mp f/2.Four Macro digicam

16MP f/2.Zero Selfie digicam

Max Video High quality – 4K @ 30fps

Funtouch OS 12 (primarily based on Android 12)

WiFi 6