The new iQOO 12 is a rather special smartphone.
Not only is this the first phone in India with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, but it also highlights iQOO’s renewed emphasis on cameras and software.
And it offers all this at quite a lucrative price tag. So, even though it launches at the end of 2023, will this be the smartphone to beat in 2024? Let’s find out.
iQOO 12 Design
The iQOO 12 debuts a new design language for the brand. Gone is that familiar rectangular camera island, and instead, you have a massive new rounded square with a cool textured circumference.
I really love the contrast this black camera island creates with the BMW-inspired Legend White colourway of this smartphone.
Too bad that iQOO decided to send me this less interesting Alpha Black colour. This one features a familair shimmery glass back panel that’s seen on a few other BBK-group smartphones.
Anyway, while colour choices are subjective, build quality certainly is not, and the iQOO 12 is undoubtedly very well built.
The phone's aluminium frame, though flat, is ergonomically curved at the edges for a comfortable grip. The rear glass also tapers towards the edges, adding to the sleekness with its 8.1mm thickness.
Yet, the big camera island, while generally admired, introduces some ergonomic challenges. It causes the phone to wobble when placed on flat surfaces. And then, there's a tendency to smudge the cameras, particularly when holding the phone in your left hand.
At the front, the iQOO 12 features a familiar hole-punch design with impressively slim display bezels.
However, it’s high-time that Android phonemakers get rid of the asymmetrical chin, atleast on their high-end smartphones.
iQOO 12 Display
The iQOO 12 is a prime example of how you don't have to spend a fortune to get a fantastic smartphone. It comes with a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED panel with a variable refresh rate of 1 to 144Hz.
However, it's worth noting that 144Hz is primarily achieved in games and benchmarks. For general UI navigation, the peak refresh rate caps at 120Hz.
The display's HDR 10+ certification enhances its appeal, delivering a rich visual experience with vibrant colours and excellent viewing angles.
iQOO's claim of a peak brightness of 3,000 nits is also quite credible, as showcased by the display's exceptional performance on bright afternoons.
iQOO 12 Utility
Underneath the iQOO 12’s AMOLED display is an optical fingerprint scanner, which impressed me with its speed and reliability throughout my testing.
For those concerned about durability, the phone comes with an IP64 rating. While this offers protection against occasional water splashes, it’s not as robust as an IP68 rating.
Entertainment junkies will be happy to know that the stereo speaker setup on this smartphone includes a dedicated upper speaker grille, which results in high levels of loudness. However, I did notice a lack of depth in the bass.
The addition of an IR blaster remains a peculiar addition to this smartphone. I mean, give us expandable storage instead?
iQOO 12 Performance & Software
The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is, unsurprisingly, a beast of a chipset. It absolutely crushes through benchmarks and even leaves Apple’s A17 Pro in dust. (Please watch the video for benchmark numbers.)
However, its stability score in benchmarks was a bit surprising to say the least.
The 8 Gen 3’s new Adreno 750 GPU in itself is very potent, as it’s 25% faster than its predecessor. However, the iQOO 12 amps it up further by pairing its proprietary Q1 gaming chip with it.
As a result, this smartphone supports frame rate interpolation that works brilliantly with supported titles.
So, games like Genshin Impact can run at a high frame rate as well as at a high refresh rate of 144Hz, which makes gaming on the iQOO 12 quite an immersive experience.
iQOO is also proud of the massive vapor chamber on this device, however, I am not totally convinced by it. You see, while frame drops were not very evident during extended gaming sessions, the heat definitely was, as the frame of the iQOO 12 got quite warm.
Anyway, software is another thing where iQOO has made strides with the iQOO 12. Running on FunTouch OS 14 based on Android 14, this is hands down the fastest Android smartphone I’ve ever used.
The animations are stutter-free, app launch times are super quick, and multitasking is a breeze as well.
The infamous hot apps and hot games folders are finally gone, but the UI is still not bloatware free. You do get some pre-installed apps, annoying system app notifications, as well as Glance lock screen.
However, you can get rid of all these things, and once you do it, you will have a blazing fast Android phone that is an absolute delight to use.
Up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UF 4.0 storage definitely contribute to this smartphone’s snappy performance
iQOO is also offering 3 major Android updates and 4 years of security updates on this smartphone, which is good, but still behind Samsung and OnePlus.
iQOO 12 Cameras
In case it’s not evident from the massive camera island, yes, the iQOO 12 wants you to take its cameras seriously.
The smartphone has a 50MP primary camera with OIS, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and 64MP 3x zoom telephoto camera that’s optically stabilised as well.
The iQOO 12 allows you to choose your photo processing, with Vivid, textured and natural being the available options.
Please watch the video for camera samples.
The vivid and natural profiles are quite closely matched, with the former offering only a slight saturation boost. The textured profile takes pretty dramatic shots and may not to be all tastes.
Do note that I have judged this phone’s camera system based on a mix of natural and vivid profiles.
The main camera is a capable shooter that produces excellent photographs. Its dynamic range is wide and the photos retain the essence of the original scene, even in vivid mode.
The telephoto camera is particularly impressive because it successfully matches the colours and dynamic range of the main sensor.
This sensor is capable of long range zoom as well, and the quality at 10x is actually quite impressive. It even offers up to 100x digital zoom, which works well for capturing distant details. It can also take an artificially enhanced moon shot.
The telephoto sensor is also capable of shooting high-res macro photos.
The ultrawide camera does suffer from barrell distrotion but its dynamic range is quite impressive as well.
All sensors on the iQOO 12 can shoot at the 4k 60fps and the footage comes out to be detailed and impressively stable given that there is enough light. You can also shoot 8K 30fps videos with the main sensor.
There's also a cool handheld astrophotography mode, so you can snap shots of the night sky without a tripod. Unfortunately, I couldn't really test it effectively because of the heavy pollution in Delhi, but I'll definitely give it another go and update this review when things clear up a bit.
However, a few quirks stop the iQOO 12 from outshining the best camera phones out there.
Let’s start with the night mode. The night mode, for instance, tends to add a blue tint to images across all three sensors, often making photos look better with the mode turned off.
Then, the portrait mode always overprocesses the subject and the background, even with all enhancements disabled.
Another disappointment is that you cannot switch lenses while shooting videos, which can be quite a bummer for vloggers.
Finally, there’s the 16MP selfie camera. It actually takes good photos with accurate skin tones, but its videos are limited to just 1080p 30fps.
This is not a hardware limitation, but a software restriction. And this is a baffling restriction on such a high-end device.
iQOO 12 Battery Life
The iQOO 12 has a standard 5,000mAh battery which is capable for providing around 10 hours of screen time with mixed usage.
However, it did notice increased ideal battery drain with the stock app notifications enabled. So, it’s best to disable these.
While the iQOO 12 lacks wireless charging, it makes up for it with its 120W wired charging. You have to manually enable peak charging speeds, and when you do it, you can fully charge this smartphone in under half and hour. Quite insane frankly!
iQOO 12 Review
The iQOO 12 is every inch a stellar all-rounder. Its UI is blazing fast, it can tackle heavy games, and can easily be used as a camera phone as well.
While it does have a few quirks, these minor issues become almost negligible when considering the phone's price point.
Frankly, the iQOO 12 stands out as one of the best value-for-money options heading into 2024. It earns my wholehearted recommendation for anyone seeking a flagship yet cost-effective smartphone.
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