introduction
The iQOO 9 series originally debuted in China in January with the iQOO 9 Pro and iQOO 9 vanilla. A month later, these officially arrived in India along with the iQOO 9 SE. This is the first time that the iQOO has run an “SE” model, and in keeping with tradition, it sits at the bottom of the current lineup as a kind of “stripped-down” version of the regular iQOO 9.
The iQOO 9 SE clearly takes its siblings in many respects. Of course, the style is a little different. Indeed, this is the case with the entire iQOO 9 trio, but the iQOO 9 SE is clearly not a completely different phone just added to the iQOO 9 family. While it isn’t the “cream of the crop” in terms of specs and features, it is neither. far from the typical “mid-range ranger”. What iQOO has done instead is essentially recreate a true flagship of about a year ago in terms of specs. A move that has a lot of potential in our minds since, more often than not, even a dozen months later, flagship hardware is still “flagship hardware” if that makes sense.
From left to right: iQOO 9 Pro • iQOO 9 • iQOO 9 SE
When comparing the iQOO 9 SE to its closer sibling iQOO 9, we noticed a slight drop in some areas, but honestly, nothing major. The iQOO 9 SE’s display is not 10-bit, but rather an older 8-bit color unit, but it’s still an AMOLED. A Super AMOLED, in fact, means that Samsung has been involved. It’s still FullHD +, 120Hz, HDR10 + certified, and has a peak brightness of 1200 nits, just like the iQOO 9. In fact, it’s slightly larger at 6.62 inches. So is the whole iQOO 9 SE. Although not by much. The chipset has been downgraded from a Snapdragon 888+ to a regular Snapdragon 888, which, honestly, is hardly a downgrade, especially if you care about better thermal behavior and sustained performance, where the original Snapdragon 888 is honestly better.
The specs of the iQOO 9 SE at a glance:
- Body: 163.2×76.4×8.4 mm, 196 g; plastic frame and back; Splash and dust resistant.
- Screen: 6.62 inch Super AMOLED, 120 Hz, HDR10 +, 1200 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20: 9 aspect ratio, 398ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm): Octa-core (1×2.84 GHz Kryo 680 and 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 680 and 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 680); Adreno 660.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- Operating system / software: Android 12, Funtouch 12.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f / 1.8, 25 mm, 1 / 2.0 “, 0.8 µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f / 2.2, 16 mm, 120 degree, 1 / 3.1 “, 1.12 µm; Depth: 2 MP, f / 2.4.
- Front Camera: 16 MP, f / 2.0, (wide angle), 1 / 3.0 “, 1.0µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K at 30fps, 1080p at 30fps; Front camera: 1080p @ 30fps.
- Drums: 4500 mAh; Fast charging 66W, 50% in 14 min, 100% in 39 min (advertised).
- Various: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC.
The iQOO 9 SE is also a short camera compared to the vanilla. It lacks the 2x telephoto lens, which is definitely a shame, but the 48MP Quad-Bayer main camera is still good at moderate zoom levels. It remained mostly unchanged, without a simple gimbal-free OIS system. The iQOO 9 SE also lacks the impressive 120W charging of the iQOO 9 and iQOO 9 Pro. Instead, it ‘settles’ for a 66W charging solution, which promises a full battery charge in 39 minutes instead of 18. Honestly, not a major loss in our book. Plus, thanks to its simpler charging circuitry and less aggressive battery isolation and safety features, the iQOO 9 SE actually has a slightly larger battery than the iQOO 9. Well, it’s a bigger phone too.
And that pretty much covers all the downgrades the SE has to live with. Not a bad deal at all, if you ask us. That said, the devil is always in the details and we have yet to thoroughly examine the iQOO 9 SE and put it to the test to see if it really holds up.
One last thing. You may have noticed the absence of vivo prior to iQOO, and this is because the ex vivo subsidiary now operates independently. Well, more or less. Vivo still makes all iQOO phones and iQOO is still based on vivo’s Funtouch launcher, but all designs and specs presumably come from the independent iQOO entity. And now that we’ve cleared everything up, let’s explore this really cool iQOO 9 SE.
Unpacking
The retail package of the iQOO 9 SE is reminiscent of a bygone era in more ways than one. First of all, the phone ships in a huge (by today’s standards) two-piece box.
The iQOO 9 SE needs a huge box to hold all the supplied accessories. And that’s something we absolutely can’t complain about.
First and probably most importantly, there is a FlashCharge 66W live charger in the box. It still uses a Type A plug on the side of the charger, which we don’t exactly appreciate as the included Type A to Type C cable is kind of an owner nowadays and you have to take it with you. This is greatly overshadowed by the fact that the iQOO 9 SE is fully equipped to charge at its full speed of 66 W. The V6650H0A0 charger is rated for output of 5V @ 2A, 9V @ 2A, 11V @ 3A, 11V @ 5A or 20V @ 3.3A. Proprietary, yet fast charging.
Even in retail packaging: a nice, thick, semi-transparent TPU case, so you don’t have to worry about ruining your new phone from day one. In fact, the iQOO 9 SE also comes with a pre-applied screen protector. Nothing too fancy – just plastic, but it’s there and perfectly applied too. And finally, there is also a Type-C to 3.5mm dongle in the box.
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