The iQOO Z7 Pro 5G is the brand's latest smartphone that is poised to compete in the 25,000-rupee smartphone segment.
But, with so many other candidates already competing for your attention, can this smartphone truly make a mark?
iQOO Z7 Pro 5G Design
The iQOO Z7 Pro brings a refreshing change to the brand's design language.
Typically known for their large and boxy phones, iQOO has taken cues from parent brand Vivo, resulting in a more sophisticated and sleeker smartphone. The Z7 Pro also feels remarkably well-made.
The back panel is made from AG glass and this Blue Lagoon colour has a cool tropical vibe to it. It's also quite lightweight at 175 grams and incredibly slim at just 7.36 mm.
That brings me to the common issue with all curved phones, which is that the narrow frame makes it a bit slippery.
Also, the “professional portrait” stamp lifted from Vivo phones still looks quite out of place.
Overall though, the Z7 Pro is one of the best looking phones in the 25,000 rupee segment, with a great in hand feel as well.
iQOO Z7 Pro 5G Display
Sporting a 6.78-inch 3D curved AMOLED display, the Z7 Pro matches the class standard for similarly priced smartphones. It's a nice display to watch content on as it boasts good colour calibration, crisp viewing angles, and essential certifications like Widevine L1 and HDR10+.
There's a 120Hz refresh rate here for smoother scrolling, and with a peak brightness of 1300 nits, the Z7 Pro offers excellent visibility even during sunny days.
iQOO Z7 Pro 5G Utility
The Z7 Pro takes two 5G SIM cards, but there is no storage expansion option. However, you do get up to 256GB of internal storage.
The device also does not feature a stereo speaker setup, which is another problem with Vivo’s V-series phones that this phone mimics. However, the single speaker does deliver loud and crisp audio.
iQOO Z7 Pro 5G Cameras
That camera island on the Z7 Pro has two big lenses, and neither of them is an ultra-wide lens.
As the mid-range phone segment story goes, there is just one functional camera here, which is a 64MP sensor with OIS.
This camera produces nice photos as per the segment standards. The good thing is that it keeps the colours fairly natural, however, the dynamic range could have been better.
Night time photos are quite good as long as you are not trying to focus on a close subject.
You might have also noticed a soft flash on the camera island, a feature reminiscent of Vivo phones. This is referred to as the Aura Light, and it helps to click some decent low light portraits.
In terms of video, the phone can shoot up to 4K at 30FPS, and the results are quite good in terms of detail, but these are electronically stabilised, so not the best in terms of stability.
On the front, the 16MP selfie camera produces reliable results, capturing photos with good detail.
iQOO Z7 Pro 5G Performance & Software
The iQOO Z7 Pro 5G is powered by MediaTek’s new 4nm Dimensity 7200 chipset. This chipset is touted to be the best performer in its segment, and it is kind of true.
It pretty much destroys the Snapdragon 782G in the Nord CE 3 on 3D Mark's Wild Life Stress Test.
Also, the CPU stability score on this phone, at 90%, is something not many smartphones can achieve.
That’s not all, since iQOO phones prioritise gaming, the Z7 Pro also gets a large liquid cooling system.
Consequently, the overall performance of this phone is super impressive by segment standards. For instance, I could enable Ultra frame rate on Call of Duty.
The thermal management was also quite good, with the phone not getting uncomfortably hot after extended gaming sessions.
With that being said, if gaming is your sole priority, the more powerful iQOO Neo 7 is only slightly more expensive than this phone.
On the software front, this phone comes with Funtouch OS 13 built on top of Android 13. Using Funtouch OS in the Z7 Pro has been an enjoyable experience.
It is not without flaws, since you will receive spammy notifications and some bloatware out of the box. All of this, however, can be disabled or deleted, leaving you with a fluid smartphone.
iQOO Z7 Pro 5G Battery Life
The 4,600mAh battery on this smartphone is definitely not the biggest in business. However, you can still expect to extract around 6.5-7 hours of screen time with mixed usage thanks to that 4nm chipset.
The Z7 Pro does come with a quick 66W fast charger bundled, so quick top ups should not be an issue at all.
iQOO Z7 Pro 5G Review
The iQOO Z7 Pro 5G impresses with its refined design and powerful performance for the price.
While it lacks an ultrawide camera and could have had a larger battery, it still stands as a worthy contender in the midrange price segment.
Also watch: Realme 11x 5G review: Budget phone with quality camera; Check Price, specs, pros & cons
