iQOO 12 review

introduction

The iQOO 12 is the first smartphone to enter our lab with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It’s not like we haven’t teased it numerous times over the past week with camera samples, benchmarks, and software bits.

The iQOO 12 is an attractive looking device: it has an impressive design, both in the Legend version (BMW, White) and in the Alpha version (Black). The phone is IP64 rated for complete resistance to dust and heavy splashes.

The standard iQOO 12 has a brilliant 6.78-inch AMOLED E7 panel with 1280p resolution and 144Hz dynamic refresh rate. There’s also support for 10-bit color depth, HDR10+ streaming, and up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness!

iQOO advertises the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip as adequately cooled with a large vapor chamber for excellent heat dissipation and sustained performance. We will see!

The iQOO 12 has an interesting flagship camera on the back. There’s a large 50MP primary with OIS, a 50MP ultrawide with autofocus, and a 64MP camera behind a periscope lens with OIS for 3x optical zoom and up to 10x lossless zoom. Just like vivo phones, this iQOO 12 camera supports Vivid and Natural color options for cameras and introduces a new one – Cinematic.

The iQOO 12 packs a 5,000mAh graphite battery with a supposedly improved lifespan of 1,600 cycles (before hitting 80% capacity) and 120W super-fast wired charging.

Finally, iQOO 12 runs on Android 14 with Funtouch 14, a launcher optimized for performance and almost bloatware-free. The phone also comes with the promise of three major Android updates and four years of security patches.

Vivo iQOO 12 specifications in brief:

• Body: 163.2×75.9×8.1mm, 199g; glass front, glass back, aluminum frame; IP64 resistant to dust and splashes of water.
• Screen: 6.78″ AMOLED, 1B colors, 144 Hz, HDR10+, 1400 nits (HBM), 3000 nits (peak), 1260x2800px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 453ppi.
• Chipsets: Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 and 5×3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 and 2×2.3 GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno750.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS4.0.
• Operating system/software: Android 14, Funtouch 14 (International), OriginOS 4 (China).
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.7, 23 mm, 1/1.3″, 1.2 µm, PDAF, OIS; Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.7, 23 mm, 1/1.3″, 1.2 µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, 15mm, 119˚, AF.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide).
• Video Capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, Gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Drums: 5000mAh; Wired 120W.
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.4, aptX HD, aptX adaptive; NFC; Infrared port.
• Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

There are two things that leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth after reading these otherwise impressive specs: the selfie camera and the not-so-comprehensive water protection. We can bet that this 16MP front-facing imager is yet another Quad-Bayer camera that will produce low-quality photos. The IP64 rating is good enough for the occasional splash of water, but the phone is still not suitable for submersion in water.

Unpacking the iQOO 12

The white iQOO 12 arrives inside a matte black box containing a 120W power adapter and a 6A USB-C-to-C cable.

The sales package also includes a transparent silicone case and a BMW M printed card.