The iQoo Z3: A 5G Powerhouse with a Price Tag That’s Hard to Beat
In the competitive landscape of budget smartphones, it’s not enough to just offer fast 5G connectivity. Manufacturers need to provide compelling features and performance to stand out. The iQoo Z3, iQoo’s first affordable smartphone for India, aims to do just that, boasting a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G processor and a 120Hz refresh rate display. But is it enough to capture the attention of budget-minded consumers in a market packed with compelling options from rivals like Xiaomi and Realme? Let’s dive into the details to see if the iQoo Z3 has what it takes to be a true champion.
Design: A Touch of Color and Familiar Feel
The review unit I received was in the Cyber Blue color scheme, which features a smooth plastic back panel with a pearlescent finish that shifts colors depending on how you hold the phone. For a more subtle look, you can opt for the Ace Black finish, which presents a grey and black gradient. While the plastic construction feels solid, the matte finish easily attracts dust.
The iQoo Z3, despite its 6.5-inch display, feels surprisingly slim and comfortable to hold. The front boasts a large display with thick bezels, a design that’s familiar in this price range. At the bottom, you’ll find a combination of the 3.5mm headphone jack, single speaker, primary microphone, and Type-C USB port. The fingerprint sensor is seamlessly integrated into the power button on the right side, making it easily accessible and responsive.
Specifications and Software: A Familiar Interface with New Hardware
The iQoo Z3 makes waves as the first smartphone in India to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G mobile platform. While it’s an update to the Snapdragon 765G, which found its way into several mid-range smartphones in 2020, offering it in a sub-Rs. 20,000 smartphone is a significant move by iQoo. The Snapdragon 768G is capable of delivering powerful performance thanks to its octa-core setup with one 2.8GHz Kryo 475 Gold core, another 2.4GHz Kryo 475 Gold core, and six 1.8GHz Kryo 475 Silver cores.
The iQoo Z3 comes in three storage configurations: 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage. All models support up to a 1TB microSD card expansion using the hybrid SIM slot.
The software side sees the iQoo Z3 running Vivo’s FunTouch OS 11.1, based on Android 11. At the time of this review, iQoo hasn’t announced any plans to move to Vivo’s Origin OS, which is already available on the Chinese variant of the Z3. While FunTouch OS offers a stock Android look, it’s enhanced with customizability options that extend beyond most other Android skins. You can personalize animations for unlocking, facial recognition, charging, USB insertion, and even putting the phone into standby mode. Despite these features, unlike Oppo’s ColorOS and Realme’s Realme UI, FunTouch OS doesn’t allow for icon shape customization. There are also a number of iQoo-branded apps, including Notes, Video, and EasyShare, along with the brand’s own dialer and SMS apps. Bloatware is minimal, limited to just three apps: Snapchat, Dailyhunt, and Moj, all of which can be uninstalled.
Performance and Battery Life: A Smoother Experience and Speedy Charging
The 6.5-inch FHD+ LCD display on the iQoo Z3 impresses with its 120Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate, contributing to a fluid and responsive user experience, especially while gaming. The reinforced Panda glass, while protecting the display, unfortunately attracts fingerprints easily. The screen gets sufficiently bright in direct sunlight, showcasing sharp text and images, though colors appear slightly saturated.
The 120Hz refresh rate significantly enhances the overall experience, making the software seem fluid in everyday use. While iQoo claims the display is HDR10 certified, I was only able to stream HDR content on YouTube, as Netflix did not support it.
General performance is top-notch, with no lag or stuttering. The Snapdragon 768G SoC delivers a noticeable performance boost compared to the Snapdragon 750G, as evident in the benchmark scores. The iQoo Z3 achieved a score of 4,45,029 in AnTuTu and 710 and 1,985 in Geekbench 5’s single and multi-core tests, respectively. These scores are definitively higher than those achieved by the Snapdragon 750G in the OnePlus Nord CE 5G.
The Snapdragon 765G was a solid choice for mid-level gaming, and the 768G continues the trend with its capable graphics performance. The iQoo Z3 seamlessly handled Call of Duty: Mobile at the default High graphics and High frame rate settings, showcasing no signs of overheating. While the phone did warm up slightly after switching to Very High graphics and frame rate (with anti-aliasing on), it maintained a smooth gaming experience. Asphalt 9 Legends also ran flawlessly at High Quality, with zero lag or stutters.
The single speaker at the bottom of the phone delivers impressive volume but lacks quality, resulting in a tinny sound. It’s adequate for gaming but falls short for music listening or movie watching. Fortunately, the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack is a boon for those who prioritize audio quality.
The iQoo Z3’s 4,400mAh battery charges remarkably quickly, going from zero to 67 percent in just 30 minutes and reaching a full charge in 60 minutes. The inclusion of a 55W charger in the box contributes to this speedy charging capability. In our HD video loop test, the phone achieved an impressive 19 hours and 32 minutes of battery life. With a combination of gaming, photo taking, phone calls, and social media browsing, the phone typically lasted throughout the day, ending with 30-40 percent battery remaining at night – an excellent result.
Cameras: Daylight Dominance with Low-Light Limitations
The iQoo Z3 boasts a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 64-megapixel f/1.79 primary camera, an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, and a 2-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera. On the front, the selfie camera features a 16-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture. The camera interface is in line with what you’d expect from iQoo and Vivo smartphones, offering customizable camera modes.
Daylight photography results in slightly saturated images with a good amount of detail in the textures. While noise is well-controlled and shadows show ample detail, noticeable purple fringing appears in brighter areas of scenes. The ultra-wide-angle camera captures passable photos but falls short in detail, with purple fringing again noticeable in bright settings. Surprisingly, the 2X digital zoom mode produces photos with a respectable level of detail. Portrait mode photos exhibit slightly more saturation and accurate edge detection.
Low-light photography presents a mixed bag. Noise is under control but shadows lack detail, even in scenes illuminated with nearby light sources. Night mode effectively brightens scenes and controls highlights but falls short in detail.
The 2-megapixel macro camera produces images with odd color tones, making it less appealing than cropping shots taken with the primary camera.
Selfies captured in daylight are clean and well-exposed, although they tend to be overly bright. The front camera performs well at exposing both subjects and backgrounds. In low-light settings, the selfie camera delivers decent results, provided there’s a light source nearby. Night mode introduces a strange effect, applying a kind of makeup to faces (even with beautification disabled), making individuals appear textureless and synthetic.
Videos recorded in 1080p at 30 and 60fps using the primary camera showcase good detail and stabilization. Similar to photos, purple fringing is evident when recording videos with the ultra-wide-angle camera. In low-light conditions, 1080p 30fps video appears blurry, and EIS results in an undesirable shimmering effect when walking.
Videos recorded in 4K reveal abnormal color saturation in both daylight and low-light settings. These videos also lack stabilization, resulting in a jerky look when panning or walking.
Verdict: A Worthy Contender in the Budget 5G Market
The iQoo Z3 emerges as a formidable contender in the higher end of the budget smartphone segment. Its main hardware highlight, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 768G processor, delivers a performance edge over the competition, although it’s not a groundbreaking leap.
The iQoo Z3 also features a vivid 120Hz refresh rate display and best-in-class charging with a 55W adapter in the box. Despite its plastic frame and back, the phone boasts a stylish Cyber Blue finish and is future-proof thanks to its 5G support. The only drawback is its average low-light camera performance.
The iQoo Z3 offers exceptional value for the features it provides, starting at Rs. 19,999. Its closest competitor, the Realme X7 5G, offers 50W charging and dual 5G standby on both SIMs.
Ultimately, the iQoo Z3 is a compelling option for those seeking a budget-friendly smartphone with potent performance, a smooth display experience, and speedy charging capabilities. However, if low-light photography is a primary concern, you might want to consider alternatives with stronger camera performance in this price range.
