iQOO 11 5G review: Well-balanced premium phone

Last week, emerging smartphone maker iQOO earlier in the month launched the company's first premium phone iQOO 11 5G in India.

. Though the design language remains the same when compared to the predecessor iQOO 9 series, it comes with big upgrades internally to deliver faster and more efficient performance and improved photography experience.

. Here are my thoughts on the brand-new iQOO 11 5G:

. Design, build quality and display As said before the new iQOO 11 5G continues the design legacy of the iQOO 9 Legend edition. Why change the winning formula when it ensures the device standout among the rival brands with mundane colour schemes, right?

. However, unlike the predecessor which had a smooth snowy while glossy feel, the new generation model has an even better leathery textured finish. It exudes a premium hand-feel experience and most importantly offers, a great grip for fingers to hold onto it. If you have sweaty hands, they may get stained easily. But, can be wiped clean with a cloth.

. You can use the transparent cover case offered by the company in the retail box. It is soft and sturdy enough to protect the device from getting dents on the premium metallic frame.

. On the back, it also features the trademark BMW Motorsport black-red-blue colourway racing stripe that runs from top to the base on the right side. On the other side, you find the big rectangular camera module with triple camera sensors and dual-tone LED flash.

. On the front, iQOO 11 5G flaunts a wonderful 6.78-inch Quad HD+(1440 x 3200p) LTPO(v4) AMOLED display with support for a peak brightness of 1,800nits and pixel density of 518 ppi (pixels per inch). It is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus shield and the company also pre-applies an additional layer of removable screen guard on top of the display, to ensure it is well protected against daily wear-and-tear scratches. The screen is really good for consuming OTT content on the go. I had a good time watching HD vlogs on YouTube during the long bus commute between my office and the house. The colours of the subject and scene on the display come off as rich and vibrant, visually pleasing. Even while reading the news on the web, I didn't face any pressing issues to complain about.

. Also, the in-screen fingerprint sensor, as advertised, does a fine job of responding quicker to the thumb impression and unlocking the screen. However, ensure the finger is dry.

. Performance iQOO 11 5G is the first premium phone to land in India with 4nm class Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Qualcomm's latest and most powerful octa-core (3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 x 1 + 2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 x 2 + 2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 x 2 + 2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 x 3 with Adreno 740 GPU) mobile chipset to date.

. Our review unit is the top-end model (with 16GB RAM + 256GB storage). It did an excellent job in all day-to-day chores such as opening app fasters, switching between multiple apps, operating the camera to record 4K videos and other tasks. It even worked smoothly while playing games and didn't exhibit overheating issues when playing in the shade outdoors or indoors.

. The new phone also supports the Extended RAM feature that allows users to expand the physical memory up to 24GB (in the 16GB RAM version) and in the base model with 8GB RAM, it can extend to 16GB RAM, provided there is enough space in the storage. This will ensure the phone is fast and smooth while operating the phone.

. It should be noted that the iQOO 11 comes with a Vapor Chamber Liquid Cooling system, which is said to be made of stamped stainless steel for efficient heat dissipation, 40 per cent better compared to the predecessor.

. iQOO 11 runs Android 13-based Funtouch 13 OS. It is the same we see in premium Vivo phones. Though I don't mind the custom Android skin of Funtouch, there are a lot of third-party apps, which I will never use. However, this is subjective and other individual users may differ from my views.

. It supports the 5G service offered by both Airtel and Reliance. [Note: 5G bands supported by iQOO 1- SA: n1/n3/n5/n8/n28/n40/n41/n77/n78; NSA: n28/n1/n3/n40/n41/n77/n78]

. The new iQOO 11 is a well-optimised premium phone and it can easily last two days under normal usage.

. Having said that Battery life is very subjective and it may vary with individual behaviour. if you have an appetite for OTT content consumption, particularly on cellular data, you can watch three-four episodes or a movie in HD quality a day and the rest is used for normal phone usage, it can serve for a full day.

. Read more | Tips on how to extend battery life on Android phones

One of the most notable aspects of the iQOO 11 5G is the 120W charger. It can power up the phone from zero to 100 per cent capacity in around 30 minutes. It is a really great value addition to the user experience.

. Photography iQOO 11 houses a V2-processor-powered triple camera featuring-- main wide 50 MP (f/1.9, 23mm, 1/1.57-inch, 1.0µm pixel size, PDAF: Phase Detection Auto Focus, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) backed by 13 MP telephoto lens (f/2.5, 47mm size, PDAF, 2x optical zoom) and a 16mm 8MP ultrawide sensor (f/2.2) with dual-LED flash on the back.

. It takes fantastic photos in the sunlight. The colours are really warmer, visually perfect, and worthy to be shared on social media platforms. Yes, they are brighter than normal, but people like it this way, and iQOO like others too, offers what their patrons want.

. In the low-light environment, particularly during the twilight time, the native camera does an excellent job of capturing the near-accurate reddish-orange hue of the sky and as you can see in the sample photo of the Nandi hills, the monolithic mass of granite covered with green shrubs at the base and the surrounding landscape are well captured.

. However, at night with street lights, the picture quality seems to take a hit with a lot of noise which by the way are visible only when the photos are viewed on a big PC screen. On the smartphone screen, they look fine.

. The portrait mode works fine too. It manages to deliver a bokeh effect in the background of the subject just fine.

. It can record high-resolution 8K videos at 30fps (frames per second), 4K at 30/60fps, and full HD 1080p at 30/60/120/240fps. Thanks to gyro-EIS (Electronic Image Stabilisation), the videos tend to be stable, but not on par with Apple iPhones.

. On the front, it features a wide 16MP sensor (f/2.5). It takes good selfie photos in all conditions. I am very impressed with portrait mode, which ensures the face is captured well and also the contours around the hair are well marked and differentiated from the background without any issue of smudges even when wearing spectacles and earphones.

. It can also record full HD 1080p video at 30fps. It comes in handy in video chat to ensure the face looks clear and steady, provided you have a stable internet connection.

. Final thoughts iQOO 11 5G is a well-balanced premium phone. It has all the right things such as a reliable and efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to deliver smooth performance and long battery life. The fast charging is a big value addition. Also, the camera too is decent in most light conditions, but very impressed with how it captures images during low-light conditions of the evening and early mornings. And, the design language too, is unique and makes it stand out among its peers.