iQOO Z9s review: Good performer with dashing looks

The new iQOO Z9s comes with stuning looks with a slim body. Inside, it houses a new MediaTek processor and comes with a massive 5,500mAh battery.

It has a really good design language, but does the phone deliver the goods on other aspects such as performance, photography and battery life? Here are my thoughts on the new iQOO phone.

Design, build quality and display

The latest in the Z9s series phone flaunts a sleek design with an eye-catching colour scheme. It measures just 7.5mm in thickness. It is available in two visually appealing colours- titanium matte and onyx green. Our review unit is the latter.

As you can see in the cover photo, it has a gorgeous light greenish colour with a silver-hued wave-like design. It has a marble-like smooth finish. Another notable aspect is that it does a great job of repelling fingerprint smudges.

iQOO Z9s 5G series.

At the top left corner, it has a visually appealing dual-camera module with a circular Auro LED flash.

Further, it features an IP64 rating, meaning the device can withstand water splashes and particulate dust. Also, on the front, the display panel features Schott Xensation glass shields to protect against scratches. Additionally, the company has pre-fitted another layer of plastic layer.

iQOO Z9s 5G series.

And, with the retail box, the company offers a transparent silicone cover case. It will help the device's back panel from cracking during accidental falls.

iQOO has covered all bases to ensure the device serves the owner for several years.

The device features dual SIM slots an in-display fingerprint sensor, a USB type-C port and a speaker at the base.

iQOO Z9s 5G series.

On the front, the iQOO Z9s features a 6.77-inch full HD (2392 x 1080p) AMOLED screen with a 20:9 aspect ratio screen with HDR10+, up to 1,800 nits peak brightness.

The display is bright enough during daylight to read messages or view videos without any issues. The in-screen fingerprint is really good, the best I have seen in a phone under Rs 20,000.

Performance

The new iQOO Z9s houses a 4nm class MediaTek Dimensity 7300 with Mali-G615 MC2 GPU, 8GB / 12GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB / 256GB (UFS2.2) storage.

It runs Android 14-based Funtouch OS. It has a simple user interface and is easy to navigate through the settings to change the display mode or other functionalities of the device.

The drop down drawer offers shortcuts to most used functionalities such as Wi-Fi, cellular data, switch SIM usage, screen brightness, NFC (Near Field Communication) and more.

iQOO Z9s' single-core, multi-core and GPU performance scores on Geekbench 6.0.

Though it has a lot of third-party apps, the phone has a lot of free storage to accommodate hundreds of new apps and also be able to store thousands of photos and videos captured with the phone's camera. The company offers a base storage of 128GB.

And, the device is guaranteed to get at least two years of Android OS updates (up to 2026). And, an additional year of security software support for protection against emerging cyber threats.

The device works smoothly without any pressing issues to complain about. It also supports most of the graphics-rich gaming titles such as BGMI, Asphalt series and more. When playing gaming for more than half an hour on a stretch, it gets warm, but not overwhelming as such.

iQOO Z9s 5G series.

With a 5,500mAh cell capacity, the device manages to offer a full day's battery life under normal usage. The company offers a 44W FlashCharge adaptor with a retail box. It can power up the device from zero to 50 per cent in less than 30 minutes and hit the 100 per cent mark under one hour of charging.

Photography

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample.

iQOO Z9s features a dual-camera module-- main 50MP (with Sony IMX 882 sensor, f/1.79 aperture, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation) + 2MP depth sensor (f/2.4) with Aura LED flash.

On the front, it has a 16MP (f/2.45) camera.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample.

It takes really good pictures in the natural sunlight conditions. The subjects, particularly the flowers get a dash of colour boost to make them look really pretty.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample.

The cameras, both on the front and the back, do the same magic with human faces. They make it look photogenic, worthy to be shared on social media platforms and even use them for Display Picture (DP) for the profile.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample with portrait mode on.

With portrait mode, the phone accurately maps the outline of the subject be it the face of a human, a pet or a flower, to get a sharp picture and beautifully blur the background to deliver a bokeh effect.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample.

The device supports 2X zoom with less loss of quality. It can go up to 10X digital zoom.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample with 2X zoom.

That's not all. The native camera has a bevvy of superficial tools to further enhance the face. One can alter the chin size, reshape the nose, adjust eye size and even the mouth to make it pretty and I have to confess, the results are praiseworthy.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample.

It does not support ultra-wide angle mode but manages to get vast areas of the landscape to get group photos pretty well.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample with night mode on.

At night, iQOO Z9s does a fine job capturing crisp photos with less noise. As you can see the sample phtoos, manages to perfectly balance the light coming from the neon lights of the nameboard and street lights, and the background maintains the dark sky look. It doesn't blow out too much light and keeps the darkness, the true essence of the night in the photo.

iQOO Z9s 5G's camera sample with night mode on.

Final thoughts

iQOO Z9s is a pretty phone with a slim and stylish design language. As far as performance is concerned, it works perfectly without any glaring issues to complain about. Also, it delivers great in terms of battery life. And, the camera does its job good and I am more impressed with the low-light photography capability of the device.

iQOO Z9s 5G series.

Considering the overall aspects, it is a great value-for-money mid-range phone with beautiful design language.

iQOO Z9s comes in three configurations-- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 19,999, Rs 21,999 and Rs 23,999, respectively. It will be available in two colours onyx green and titanium matte.