iQOO 11 review

introduction

Not exactly shaking things up at the top end of the iQOO range, the iQOO 11 arrives less than 6 months after the 10/9T. In addition to the predictable chipset upgrade to Qualcomm’s latest, we’re seeing an increase in storage technology, while a more unexpected development in display specs takes this vanilla 11 into Pro territory.

In the previous three generations, only the Pros had a 1440p display, but now a higher resolution panel comes to the “mainstream” model as well. Not only that, but it’s 144Hz, a notch above the norm. Of course, it’s AMOLED with adaptive refresh rate capability, so it’s easier on the battery.

Even so, the battery is one of the low-key upgrades for this generation, seeing a boost to 5,000mAh – it should be much appreciated by the all-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagship, efficient as that may be. The recently adopted UFS 4.0 storage is also touted as having better energy efficiency, but it’s the performance numbers that are arguably more impressive. With all those power savings, you’d be forgiven for not fixating too much on charging speed, but the iQOO 11 has it covered with its 120W charging stand.

Not much has changed in the camera department, coming from the 10/9T. What is ostensibly the same 50MP primary unit is now joined by a short 2x telephoto and a relatively basic ultrawide – the latter, in fact, sees a downgrade from 13MP to 8MP. Apparently, it will be the camera setup that earns the Pro model its name, while this one simply aims to be “good enough” in this department.

vivo iQOO 11 specifications at a glance:

• Body: 164.9×77.1×8.4mm, 205g; aluminum frame; glass back or vegan leather.
• Screen: 6.78″ LTPO4 AMOLED, 1B color, 144Hz, HDR10+, 1800 nits (peak), 1440x3200px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 518ppi.
• chipsets: Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm): Octa-core (1×3.2GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 3.1 – 128GB, UFS 4.0 – 256/512GB.
• Operating system/software: Android 13, Funtouch 13 (International), Origin OS 3 (China).
• Rear camera: Broad (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm, 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 13 MP, f/2.5, 50mm, PDAF, 2x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 8MP, f/2.2, 16mm.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, Gyro EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, Gyro EIS.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 120W wired, PD3.0.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Infrared port; stereo speakers.

iQOO 11 unboxing

The iQOO 11 comes in a fairly typical iQOO box with the sides of the lid cut diagonally making it a bit awkward to handle once removed – hardly a problem, really, unless you’re a reviewer of phones with a shelf full of phones. Gone is the yellow accent from the previous boxes and only the BMW and M Motorsport logos introduce a break in the monochromatic presentation. Well, that and the M stripes on the white back of the phone, of course.

The accessories include a soft silicone case with a large cutout for… the somewhat unnecessarily substantial camera island. More importantly, you get a charger that can deliver 120W of power to the iQOO 11, or up to 65W via USB Power Delivery (both PPS and PDO branches are supported). A USB-C cable is also included.