Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 late final yr, promising to ship the facility that the very best Android telephones have to succeed. Since then, numerous firms have already introduced merchandise that includes the Qualcomm flagship. One of many first to brace the worldwide markets was the iQOO 11, beating the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely and plenty of different flagship telephones to the punch. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is actually the spotlight of the iQOO 11, by far an important a part of this telephone.

If you happen to’re unfamiliar with iQOO, it is a sub-brand of Vivo, which is a part of the BBK Electronics conglomerate that additionally owns OnePlus and Oppo. iQOO focuses on high-end, gaming-compatible specs coupled with nice {hardware} construct high quality, and it has been making a reputation for itself in South Asian markets like India and Malaysia since its worldwide debut in 2020. As such, its merchandise are all the time among the many first to pioneer new {hardware} options, with final yr’s iQOO 9 Professional and iQOO 9 introducing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Qualcomm’s quick and large 3D Sonic Max fingerprint scanner. Let’s take a better have a look at the newest iQOO product.

The iQOO 11 is a showcase of a telephone with the newest and biggest know-how, however you doubtless will not be capable of get your fingers on it.

Specs

• SoC: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• Show: 6.78-inch 2K E6 AMOLED, 144Hz
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 256GB
• Battery: 5,000mAh
• Ports: USB Sort-C
• Working System: Android 13 (Funtouch OS 13)
• Entrance digital camera: 16MP
• Rear cameras: 50MP major, 13MP telephoto zoom, 8MP ultra-wide
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, twin SIM 5G
• Dimensions: 164.86 x 77.07 x 8.72mm
• Colours: Alpha, Legend
• Weight: 205g
• Charging: 120W
• IP Ranking: No IP score
• Micro SD card help: No

Professionals

• Nice efficiency due to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and good cooling
• Modern {hardware} design and construct with anti-fingerprint sandstone again
• An IR blaster is on board, serving to you ditch your TV distant

Cons

• Battery optimizations make multitasking a ache, regardless of greater than sufficient RAM
• Funtouch OS nonetheless has autofill supplier bugs affecting password managers
• No IP score

Purchase This Product

The iQOO 11 is not coming to the US, nevertheless it’s nonetheless thrilling

Let’s get the most important caveat out of the best way: The iQOO 11 is not formally coming to the US, and neither is its flagship sibling, the iQOO 11 Professional. As a substitute, it is reserved for China, India, and some South East Asian nations. If you happen to select to import the iQOO 11, which may value you about $700 earlier than taxes, it ought to nonetheless work properly sufficient with most US carriers, although you will run into some points like restricted 5G help and VoLTE points. You’ll be able to examine compatibility together with your service on Kimovil.

I am primarily based in Germany, the place carriers are much less restrictive, and band compatibility is never a problem. Although your expertise within the US could differ, the iQOO 11 nonetheless provides us a good suggestion of what we will anticipate in 2023. As talked about, the corporate is routinely among the many first so as to add new {hardware} and options, which isn’t any totally different in terms of the iQOO 11. As well as, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in it would additionally energy most Android flagships in 2023.

The iQOO 11’s design is a complete winner

Much like its predecessors, the iQOO 11 sticks with its design. The corporate {couples} high-quality supplies with a glossy look. Like many different telephones from Vivo and the remainder of the BBK empire, the black variant comes with an etched end on the glass again to assist grip it and provides it an attention-grabbing texture — a design first popularized by OnePlus and its sandstone-textured debut telephone. That is paired with an understated however massive digital camera array tucked within the high left nook, taking over rather less than 1 / 4 of the again.

The again glass easily curves to the body that separates the back and front, and it homes the same old {hardware} options: energy and quantity management on the appropriate, a USB-C port and a SIM card slot on the underside, and an IR blaster on the high. Up entrance, you are met by a flat show with a punch-hole selfie digital camera within the high center.

Total, the telephone looks like a flagship whenever you wield it. Its sturdy construct prevents it from squeaking even whenever you attempt to twist it, and its weight is completely balanced for lengthy scrolling classes with out feeling too mild and, thus, low cost.

The iQOO 11’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is predictably a efficiency powerhouse

What’s extra attention-grabbing is the iQOO 11’s inside. Whereas it does not provide the crème de la crème like its barely costlier sibling, the iQOO 11 Professional, it comes with respectable flagship qualities. On the middle is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, coupled with a whopping 16GB (or 8) of RAM and 256GB of storage. Paired with the 1440 x 3200 OLED display screen with a refresh charge of as much as 144Hz, the telephone feels prefer it simply flies, it doesn’t matter what you throw at it.

That is notably true for gaming, even when the iQOO 11 does not cater its {hardware} and software program design to players like a number of the greatest gaming telephones. For instance, when taking part in Genshin Impression — one of many computationally tougher video games for telephones — you will barely run into body drops or points.

Whereas the iQOO 11 has a vapor chamber liquid cooling system, it nonetheless will get noticeably hotter throughout lengthy classes. If you happen to play Genshin Impression, you will undoubtedly discover that throughout the preliminary obtain session — a process that has many telephones battling the warmth. Different telephones can get so heat they’re uncomfortable to carry, however the cooling system within the iQOO 11 appears to do its job splendidly and retains it touchable. In on a regular basis utilization, the cooling system can shine much more. The telephone will not heat up throughout easy scrolling, studying, and texting, which is one thing I am unable to say about Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 telephones or the Google Pixel 7 Professional.

Given the extraordinary quantity of RAM, it is nonetheless jarring how typically you run into prematurely killed apps whenever you swap between duties. iQOO’s software program is aggressive and ruthless in terms of closing background actions. As an example, Sync, my most well-liked Reddit app, normally retains its scroll place for hours upon hours on different telephones, however right here, it routinely throws me again to the highest of the house display screen once I return to it after only a few minutes. This will get higher whenever you swap to a extra performance-oriented battery mode or grant exemptions to your favourite Android apps, however you should not should take care of these issues.

Battery life

Talking of the battery life, it is also clear that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is extra resourceful than its predecessor. Its new structure is specified by a method that makes use of a lot much less vitality for background duties, permitting for longer standby time. We will not pin that on the processor in isolation, although — we all the time have to take a look at the complete bundle and all elements to gauge one thing like this. iQOO does have just a few methods up its sleeve to eke out as a lot battery life as potential.

In its default software program configuration, which limits the show to 1080p fairly than 2K and opts for an adaptive display screen refresh charge that does not hold it at 144Hz always, battery life isn’t any concern in on a regular basis utilization. Throughout my time with the telephone, there was barely a day I completed beneath 50% battery.

Even on a day of navigating public transit and taking pictures, out and about from morning until midnight, I did not even come near killing this factor. Even whenever you allow extra power-intense choices like the complete decision and the always-on 144Hz choice, it is best to nonetheless have sufficient headroom.

Because of the included 120W charger, juicing up your telephone when it runs out will not be a trouble. iQOO claims the 5,000mAh battery might be topped up from zero to 100 in 25 minutes. My exams proved these estimates correct — it does not take greater than half an hour to replenish.

The iQOO 11 software program does not fairly match the processor’s uncooked energy

Uncooked energy is not all the pieces, although, and iQOO nonetheless has work to do in different departments. The system UI often skilled full freezes, and typically apps would crash, one thing I might pin on optimization fairly than the processor itself.

The software program is the place I see the most important downsides to the IQOO 11. First, the in-app Materials You theming did not correctly kick in with the default wallpaper, one thing I may solely repair by re-applying the wallpaper. Worse, whenever you set your password supervisor as your default autofill supplier, the choice does not stick, forcing you to repeat and paste your passwords until you need to open the autofill supplier settings each time you log in someplace.

Funtouch flaws

There are additionally some little issues that make Funtouch OS annoying to make use of. When utilizing face and fingerprint unlock, you’ll be able to’t simply all the time faucet the fingerprint scanner to open your lock display screen like you’ll be able to on the Google Pixel 7 Professional. As a substitute, you want to swipe up when the telephone makes use of your face to unlock. This routinely makes you guess what you must do whenever you unlock your telephone: press the fingerprint scanner or swipe up?

Funtouch OS moreover lacks some quality-of-life shortcuts seen on many different Android telephones. For instance, there isn’t a fast rotate shortcut popping up on the backside of the display screen whenever you maintain the system horizontally. You can also’t open the digital camera with a double click on on the facility button, although there may be an choice to assign an extended press to the amount button to that. Couple that with the extreme addition of bloatware, and also you’re left with a subpar expertise.

Many of those points aren’t new to Funtouch OS 13 — they’ve existed earlier than. What makes this much more irritating is that Funtouch OS provides some neat quality-of-life options. For instance, like on older Funtouch OS variations, you’ll be able to swipe down with three fingers to leap proper into split-screen mode, a characteristic I want each Android producer would steal.

The iQOO 11’s digital camera is okay, however that is it

The digital camera does not like contrasty backgrounds and quick topics

As is the case for many Chinese language telephone makers, the digital camera software program is focused towards its residence market. Out of the field, a magnificence filter is enabled in portrait mode that it is best to flip off if you’d like extra realistic-looking pictures of your self and your topics. Fortunately, the software program reminds you to do exactly that whenever you first use portrait mode, and no matter choice you select will stick till you modify it manually once more. I might nonetheless respect extra producers offering the pure model by default, identical to Google does with its Pixel lineup.

With that out of the best way, the digital camera expertise does not handle to impress me an excessive amount of. The iQOO 11’s setup consists of a 50MP major, an 8MP wide-angle, and a 13MP telephoto. A 16MP digital camera serves double obligation for selfies and face unlocking. Whereas the {hardware} potential is there, the post-processing algorithms aren’t there simply but.

Whenever you take care of fast-moving topics like pets and youngsters, you’ll be able to anticipate blurry outcomes most of the time, even in respectable lighting. After all, you could possibly pin that on the character of how these items go, however even when taking pretty easy portrait pictures of my spouse in good lighting, her face wasn’t centered. That is a recurring concern for every kind of topics for me.

I additionally do not love how iQOO handles colours and dynamic vary, although that is extra of a matter of style. iQOO opts for a extra pure method to darkish and light-weight patches in pictures, which means that when you take a photograph of a topic towards a vibrant background, your topic will seem a lot darker. Most different smartphone makers have lengthy opted to make all elements of pictures as vibrant as potential, which many individuals choose who simply need to level and shoot with out considering an excessive amount of. Altering the HDR choice to all the time on robotically helps with that, although.

Must you purchase the iQOO 11?

Within the US, you in all probability should not purchase the iQOO 11 — you will run an actual threat of getting compatibility points together with your service. Nonetheless, the iQOO 11 continues to be a fantastic showcase for what the newest and biggest {hardware} can obtain proper now — firstly, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Whereas it is inconceivable to level to a single part because the one which makes a product nice, there’s a good probability that the processor performs an enormous half within the clean and funky efficiency of the iQOO 11, all whereas offering stellar battery life. I want the software program can be equally nice.

If there may be something to remove from the iQOO 11, it is that Qualcomm lastly gives a product that strikes a stability between efficiency and endurance, and that is one thing to stay up for all through future telephone launches in 2023.