iQOO, a sub-brand of Vivo, is understood for making telephones which are performance-focused and worth for cash. After the success of the iQOO 12 from final yr, the model is now again with one other flagship, which, on paper, looks like one other efficiency monster. The iQOO 13 is the most recent telephone from the model, and it is one of many first telephones to launch in India with the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC. Other than utilizing the top-of-the-line flagship processor from Qualcomm, the 13 additionally brings a brand new show, bigger battery, and barely up to date design.
The iQOO 13 is now barely dearer than the outgoing mannequin, beginning at Rs. 54,999 for the bottom variant with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and Rs. 59,999 for the 16GB 512GB possibility. On this assessment, we’ll inform you if it is price the additional money.
iQOO 13 Design: Premium and trendy
- Dimensions – 163.37×76.71×8.13mm
- Weight – 213g
- Colors – Nardo Gray and Legend
The iQOO 13 is a handsome rectangular slab that, regardless of its measurement, would not really feel large in hand. Whereas it appears similar to final yr’s iQOO 12 (Evaluation), there are some adjustments. The telephone will get a matte/satin end glass rear panel with chamfered sides and a flat aluminium body with curved, rounded edges. The rear panel is slippery, however the shiny body gives a considerably safe grip. You do get a transparent grippy case within the bo, although. The body has a metallic end to it and gathers fingerprints, however the rear panel on our Legend variant retains the fingerprints and smudges away. The Nardo Gray possibility is, sadly, a fingerprint magnet.
The rear panel has a matte end
iQOO exhibits off its partnership with BMW M Motorsport on the Legend variant in a really refined method. The rear panel is usually plain, with simply the iQOO emblem on the backside and the BMW M badge. The white model, aka Legend, appears and feels elegant. The eye to element is great.
The telephone is simply 8.1mm thick, however the rear digicam module does protrude out. The module now has an RGB LED strip known as ‘Monster Halo’. You should utilize the strip as a notification gentle or whereas gaming. It is not very brilliant, but it surely does the job of notifying you.
You should utilize the LED strip across the digicam island as a notification gentle
iQOO 13 now comes with an IP score. It will get IP68/IP69 ingress safety in opposition to mud and water. We eliminated the SIM tray and located that it makes use of a rubber seal. The telephone homes its energy and quantity buttons on the correct body. You may discover the SIM tray, USB Kind-C port, and a loudspeaker on the backside, together with a microphone. The highest homes the second loudspeaker and one other microphone. The telephone additionally has an IR blaster contained in the rear digicam module and NFC help.
iQOO 13 Show: Huge, brilliant, and every little thing proper
- Measurement – 6.82-inch, 2K decision
- Kind – Q10 AMOLED, 144Hz refresh price, 300Hz contact sampling price
- Safety – Schott Xensation Alpha
The show on the iQOO 13 is a pleasant improve over the iQOO 12, primarily in a single key space – brightness. You continue to get an 8T LTPO AMOLED panel with a 144Hz refresh price and 2K decision, however the brightness has been boosted to 1,800 nits HBM (excessive brightness mode) and 4,500 nits peak brightness. This equates to raised out of doors visibility, even beneath a brilliant solar. The show measurement can be barely greater – 6.82-inch in comparison with 6.78-inch on the 12. The bezels are slim and uniform throughout, and also you get a centred hole-punch digicam cutout on the high. The panel additionally presents a 300Hz contact sampling price.
The show is brilliant outside and presents good viewing angles
Different show options are largely much like final yr and embody 10-bit color, HDR10 help, and Widevine L1 for HD streaming. You get three refresh price modes – Good Swap (Auto), Customary (60Hz), and Excessive (144Hz). The telephone additionally allows you to change between full-HD and QHD decision. As for the colors, you’ll be able to select between Customary, Skilled, Shiny, or Adaptive color. The show is great for gaming and watching movies with good color output. It additionally presents a number of eye safety options and will get two TUV certifications.
You may discover a new and improved ultrasonic fingerprint scanner on the iQOO 13, a step up from the usual optical unit discovered on the 12. The scanner was quick and correct all through the assessment interval. It was additionally positioned at a snug peak from the underside of the show.
iQOO 13 Software program: Loads of customisation and a few AI
- OS – Android 15
- UI – Funtouch OS 15
- Newest safety patch – 1 October 2024
The iQOO 13 runs the most recent Funtouch OS 15, based mostly on Android 15. iQOO has promised 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches. The telephone presents a largely clear software program expertise aside from just a few preinstalled apps and video games. Fortunately, all of this may be uninstalled. There’s not loads of bloatware on the telephone, however there’s additionally not loads of AI options on the machine, particularly when the complete smartphone trade is after AI. IQOO will possible begin bringing new AI options with future software program updates.
The telephone will get updates till Android 19
For now, you get AI erase and AI enhancement instruments within the Gallery app, which do proper by their title. The AI erase allows you to take away objects, individuals, and distractions from a picture, and it carried out fairly properly once we tried it. The AI enhancement device, in the meantime, tries to do away with blur from photos and likewise did a good job in our testing. Other than this, you get Google’s Circle to Search, Stay Transcribe, and a Dynamic Gentle characteristic to regulate the LED array on the again.
iQOO 13 Efficiency: Like a BMW M4, it’s unimaginable
- Processor – Snapdragon 8 Elite
- RAM – 12/16GB LPDDR5x
- Storage – 256/512GB UFS 4.1
- GPU – Adreno 830
iQOO has at all times gone after efficiency figures and delivering a brilliant clean gaming expertise on its quantity sequence, which continues with the 13. The iQOO 13 can run any recreation you throw at it, and it will probably run the sport on the highest graphics settings doable. The brand new Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC is tremendous quick, and utilizing the telephone is like driving a BMW M4 or M2 Competitors. The chip contains a new core structure in comparison with final yr’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and makes use of customized Oryon cores that provide as much as 4.32GHz clock speeds. You additionally get a brand new Q2 supercomputing chip developed by iQOO that’s mentioned to enhance gaming efficiency whereas being environment friendly.
Gaming is tremendous enjoyable on the iQOO 13
If we discuss numbers, the iQOO 13 performs very well in all artificial benchmarks. It additionally scores increased than its solely present competitor available in the market, the Realme GT 7 Professional, in most checks. In comparison with final yr’s 12, there are many enhancements.
| Benchmark | iQOO 13 | Realme GT 7 Professional | iQOO 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 Single | 3,063 | 2,953 | 2,225 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi | 9,636 | 9,094 | 6,726 |
| AnTuTu v10 | 27,52,786 | 27,15,106 | 19,83,471 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 16,823 | 25,876 | 13,320 |
| 3DM Slingshot Excessive OpenGL | Maxed Out | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Slingshot | Maxed Out | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life | Maxed Out | Maxed Out | Maxed Out |
| 3DM Wild Life Limitless | 16,496 | 24,042 | Maxed Out |
| GFXBench T-Rex | 121 | 60 | 143 |
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 | 121 | 60 | 143 |
| GFXBench Automotive Chase | 102 | 60 | 127 |
With regards to real-world utilization, the telephone continues to carry out fantastically, and now we have by no means as soon as confronted any type of lag. Animations, app opening/loading, multi-tasking, and virtually each different job are a chunk of cake for the iQOO 13.
As for gaming, the telephone is a straightforward suggestion. We ran a few video games, reminiscent of BGMI and Genshin Affect, on the telephone. The latter ran easily on the Highest graphics setting and body price. Even BGMI labored flawlessly when set to the utmost obtainable graphics choices.
When it comes to warmth, we had been additionally capable of run the video games for over two hours with out working into any main points. Even a 3-hour gaming take a look at did not decelerate the telephone regardless of the body getting scorching to the contact. The telephone contains a 7,000 mm2 Vapor Chamber, which is what helps maintain the warmth beneath management.
iQOO 13 presents twin stereo audio system, and the sound output is fairly good. The audio system get loud and supply some bass as properly. The earpiece and microphone additionally carry out very properly, and we did not face any points throughout voice calls. Haptics on the telephone present first rate suggestions, nothing out of the odd. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth efficiency can be high notch, and we did not face any connectivity points in the course of the assessment.
iQOO 13 Cameras: Principally good
- Major – 50-megapixel Sony IMX921, f/1.88, OIS
- Telephoto – 50-megapixel Sony IMX816, f/1.85, 2x optical zoom
- Ultrawide – 50-megapixel Samsung JN1, f/2.0
- Selfie – 32-megapixel Galaxycore GC32E1, f/2.45
The iQOO 13 comes with a triple rear digicam setup that is, in a means, a step again from what we obtained on the 12. You not get a periscope telephoto sensor, which was actually good on the predecessor. As an alternative, you now get a typical telephoto unit with 2x optical zoom. The entrance digicam now presents increased decision in comparison with the iQOO 12. The digicam app is your customary FuntouchOS affair, with most digicam modes only a faucet away.
You get triple 50-megapixel cameras
Whereas we have already accomplished a short overview (click on for samples) on the digicam efficiency of the iQOO 13, the place we have talked concerning the main digicam and the telephoto, as seen within the overview, the first digicam does an amazing job in each day and evening scenes, producing sharp, vibrant, and adequately detailed photographs. The white stability and dynamic vary are good, and the color replica is near pure. There’s nothing to complain about with the primary digicam’s efficiency in daylight circumstances. In low gentle circumstances, the digicam continues to do properly and manages to protect particulars. The photographs even have good white stability and dynamic vary.
Let’s discuss concerning the ultrawide digicam. Photographs from the sensor prove sharp and detailed in daylight circumstances. Nonetheless, the photographs are typically darker and the colors are inconsistent with the primary digicam.
Ultrawide daylight pictures (Outside and Indoor) (Faucet to increase)
With regards to low-light efficiency, the ultrawide digicam produces photographs with softer particulars, some noise, and darker colors.
The telephoto digicam is a downgrade (by way of sensor used) in comparison with the iQOO 12, however the iQOO now makes use of VCS (Vivo color science) for software program optimisation on the 13. It does a superb job with 2x pictures, and there is loads of element, a large dynamic vary, and the colors are in line with the first digicam.
A 4x possibility can be obtainable within the digicam app, which crops into the 2x shot. Right here, the photographs do carry some softness, and you may discover a loss in particulars, however they’re nonetheless usable.
Low-light photographs from the 2x telephoto are first rate, however the 4x pictures characteristic softer particulars and a few noise. You’ll be able to examine the Portrait efficiency within the digicam overview.
4x Low gentle photograph (Faucet to increase)
Coming to the entrance digicam, selfies are detailed with good dynamic vary and white stability in daylight circumstances. Low-light selfies are first rate, with photographs showing softer and darker.
When it comes to video efficiency, the iQOO 13 helps 8K recording at 30fps from the first rear digicam. The video is detailed and sharp with good colors and white stability, however you will discover shakiness as this mode solely helps customary stabilisation. You’ll be able to solely use extremely stabilisation in 1080p 60fps movies. The 4K mode additionally produces well-detailed pictures with barely boosted colors. The principle digicam does a superb job in the case of low-light video recording. Nonetheless, the ultrawide and 2x telephoto sensors aren’t nice for capturing movies.
iQOO 13 Battery: Wonderful
- Capability – 6,000mAh
- Charging – 120W
- Charger – 120W within the field
We had been extremely impressed by the battery efficiency on the iQOO 13, but it surely wasn’t stunning. The 6,000mAh battery on the telephone can simply last as long as 2 days with minimal utilization. In our HD video loop take a look at, the telephone lasted for round 29 hours, which is spectacular because the take a look at was performed with the decision set to QHD, refresh price at 144Hz, and 50 % brightness.
The telephone fees to 100% in round 45 minutes
With regards to charging, the telephone helps 120W FlashCharge know-how with a number of security measures in place. In our charging take a look at, the telephone took 46 minutes to cost from 1 to 100%. The handset was capable of attain a cost of 69 % in 30 minutes and 30 % in simply 10 minutes. Charging does warmth up the telephone a bit, and if you’re anxious about battery put on, you’ll be able to allow optimised charging in Battery settings. Sadly, the telephone nonetheless would not supply wi-fi charging help.
iQOO 13 Verdict
If you would like one of many best-performing telephones at the moment obtainable available in the market, get the iQOO 13. The telephone presents unimaginable efficiency that you just will not discover in some other Android flagship at the moment obtainable in India. It additionally presents glorious battery life, a superb set of cameras, an amazing huge show, and tremendous quick charging.
On the beginning worth of Rs. 54,999, no telephones can compete with the iQOO 13 by way of efficiency. The just lately launched Realme GT 7 Professional (Evaluation) is the one true competitors because it’s the one different telephone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC in India and is priced equally. If you would like higher digicam efficiency, we would advocate the GT 7 Professional. For every little thing else, the iQOO is a more sensible choice. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to anticipate upcoming telephones such because the OnePlus 13, which might be priced equally and supply higher efficiency and cameras.
