iQOO’s Neo 10R offers excellent value for money, but it sure wasn’t the best at everything (especially its cameras). With the iQOO Neo 10, the brand raises the bar. At a slightly higher asking price, the iQOO Neo 10 attempts to deliver even better value compared to its R-branded sibling. While doing so, iQOO also ends up challenging the norm of this segment, which currently consists of mid-range smartphones like the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, and the Redmi 14 Pro+ that also focus on the bigger picture (literally). Most mid-range devices focus on striking a balance between power, features, and aesthetics, with the new addition being the emergence of the telephoto camera this year.With no telephoto camera in sight, can the performance-focused iQOO Neo 10 exist in the mid-range? Or has iQOO managed to deliver something unorthodox, yet enticing for all audiences? Let’s find out!iQOO Neo 10 DesignDesign is a vital element of the typical mid-range smartphone formula, and this is exactly where iQOO comes up a bit too short. It’s available in two rather boring finishes—Inferno Red and Titanium Chrome. While I got a taste of the Inferno Red colourway when reviewing the iQOO Neo 10R, the Titanium Chrome option we received for review is a more subtle (and classier choice).However, when compared to the competition, it can best be described as practical. There’s no denying that iQOO engineers spent a considerable amount of time making the phone as slim as possible, given the performance-oriented hardware it packs. But it almost feels like the design department went on a holiday after that.As subtle as the Titanium Chrome finish appears, it’s quite basic.The Titanium Chrome finish lacks the oomph and uniqueness that most mid-range devices offer in terms of design, and it has a flat front, rear, and sides. Apart from the glass screen protecting the display, the frame and back are made from polycarbonate. And so, the rear panel is a smudge magnet.Given the phone’s slim overall profile, the rear camera module protrudes quite a bit. The phone also feels quite heavy at 206 grams, but the use of plastic and its weight is justified as there’s a high-capacity 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery inside.Appearances can be deceiving, as this chunky camera module only packs two user-accessible rear-facing camerasThankfully, the brand’s practical approach does result in an IP65 rating for dust and water protection and a MIL-S-TD-810H certification. But as always, damage due to water ingress will not be covered under warranty. So, don’t take it for a swim!One design element that I liked on the iQOO Neo 10 is its display. The 6.78-inch, 2,800 x 1,260 pixels resolution AMOLED panel has thin borders all around (slightly thicker at the bottom). Unlike the rear panel, the display’s glass screen does a fine job at avoiding fingerprints and smudges, which is important for a gaming device.The large gaming-grade display also supports HDR10 playback for better visuals when viewing supported contentWith a promised 2,000 nits in high brightness mode and a peak brightness of 4,400 nits, this display is probably the best you can get at this price point. It can easily tackle direct sunlight and works brilliantly when playing games, offering a fast 144Hz maximum refresh rate (if your game supports it) and an accurate touch sampling rate, which is critical for gamers. Buying a gaming-grade smartphone sure does have its advantages for the average Joe or consumer.iQOO Neo 10 PerformanceIndeed, the performance bit is where iQOO has placed its bets. There’s no smartphone at this price point that comes close to the iQOO Neo 10’s performance capabilities. The OnePlus Nord 5 does come close, but it is still a generation older compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 inside the iQOO Neo 10. As you can tell from the benchmarks below, the chipset puts this phone at the top of its segment when it comes to raw performance. In addition, iQOO has also included what it calls the Supercomputing Chip Q1, which is mainly in place to help with the extra gaming features like super-frame-rate (boosted fps) and super-resolution (boosted resolution). Benchmarks iQOO Neo 10 Motorola Edge 60 Pro Nothing Phone 3a Pro Display resolution 1.5K 1.5K FHD+ Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 Mediatek Dimensity 8350 Extreme (4 nm) Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 (4nm) AnTuTu v10 18,70,027 14,13,220 8,01,123 PCMark Work 3.0 12,582 19,111 13,554 Geekbench 6 Single 2,148 1,368 1,173 Geekbench 6 Multi 7,061 4,466 3,239 GFXB T-rex 120 120 60 GFXB Manhattan 3.1 120 115 55 GFXB Car Chase 83 70 28 3DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGL FTR Maxed Out 5,528 3DM Slingshot Maxed Out Maxed Out 6,854 3DM Wild Life Maxed Out Maxed Out 3,988 3DM Wild Life Unlimited 16,645 11,148 4,175 The most important feature of this phone is its gaming bits, and here’s where it performs smoothly even with the most demanding games. Its surface temperature, thanks to numerous mechanisms (including a large vapour-cooling chamber), is able to deliver sustained performance at the highest possible graphics settings, allowing users to game for longer.You can also run supported games (including the above-mentioned ones) at about 144 fps even if games don’t natively support it. CODM, for example, only supports up to 60 fps when playing at Max graphics and frame rate. However, when playing with the Game Frame Interpolation feature (MEMC – Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) switched on, the frame rate cranks up to 144 fps, making the on-screen visuals appear far more responsive even when compared to premium devices. The important bit here is that you can play the game at Max graphics and framerate at 120 fps, unlike the built-in Ultra fps mode, which limits graphics to Low or Medium in order to let users play the game at around 90-120 fps. Once Ultra Game Mode is enabled, users can even take advantage of the instant touch sampling rate of 3,000Hz (available during gameplay only).There’s some throttling happening, but it doesn’t have a noticeable effect during long gaming sessions.With Genshin Impact, I noticed no problems at the native maxed-out settings (Highest), and the game was running at 60 fps. Enabling the Frame Interpolation feature does boost the fps dramatically, but things do not appear clear while panning the camera across landscapes, and the fps keeps randomly dropping, which does get a bit annoying once I get used to the smoother visuals.Playing CODM, gameplay at Max graphics and framerate is pretty impressive despite the back-to-back tournaments. Turning on the Game Frame Interpolation feature drastically speeds up the visuals, but there were noticeable frame drops with the game literally stalling at times when there’s too much chaos happening on screen. So, I preferred keeping the feature switched off as much as I enjoyed using it.The stereo speakers are loud and pack a good punch, ideal for gaming and consuming contentWhile all of the above gamer-grade mechanisms keep the phone cool and the performance going, the non-gamer crowd benefits from a phone that keeps its cool even when using demanding applications like the camera app and more.As we wait for Vivo to switch gears to OriginOS, it remains to be seen which smartphones will get upgraded to the same. In the meantime, FuntouchOS, which is based on Android 15, powers the iQOO Neo 10. It’s typically Vivo with the usual customisation options in place. Given the new-age and powerful hardware, iQOO also offers several AI tools, including an image editor, circle to search and more. Of course, there are a few pre-installed third-party apps (which can be uninstalled), but I wasn’t bombarded with random, spammy notifications.iQOO’s software commitment is commendable, with 3 years of OS and 4 years of SMR updatesGiven that this phone is focused more on gaming and raw performance, its camera hardware is not as exciting as a typical mid-range smartphone. There’s a 50-megapixel primary camera with an f/1.9 aperture and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture. Selfies are handled by a 32-megapixel front-facing camera.The primary camera captures daylight photos with excellent detail and dynamic range. Despite resorting to the default Vivid colour setting, I found this mode to have better colour accuracy. They can appear a bit punchy at times, and the sharpness may be a bit overdone, but at this price point and given the purpose of this phone, the primary camera is quite impressive.(tap images to expand)The primary camera also impressed in low light, capturing good detail and dynamic range with a bit of colour saturation (top). You can fire up the dedicated Night mode as well, but it’s best avoided as it cleans up the textures and gives the image a contrasted and overprocessed look (bottom). (tap image to expand)The 2x digital zoom captures quality photos with some oversharpening, but don’t go pixel peeping (tap image to expand)The ultrawide camera captures come out soft and dreamy (tap image to expand)Selfies come out well, with good sharpness, detail, and edge detection (top). Low-light selfies are also quite good. My only problem with the primary camera’s Portrait mode is that it tends to beautify faces and boost colours, as is evident from the second sample (bottom). (tap images to expand)Video recordings captured at 4K 30 or 60 fps appear bright, show good detail and dynamic range. Stabilisation is best when recording at 4K 60 fps, along with a steady and stable frame rate. 1080p videos also look similar, but pack in less detail. If you want to use both rear cameras, you will have to limit capture to 1080p 30 fps, as the ultrawide video capture is only available in this mode because of its 8-megapixel resolution. Low-light video capture, in contrast, is very poor at 4K resolution. 1080p video recordings captured at 30 fps manage the best quality with the noise under control, although there is some jitter when walking.With a 7,000mAh battery under the hood, I expected no problems with battery life and the iQOO Neo 10 deliveredThe iQOO Neo 10 can easily last two days of casual to medium usage and at least one and a half days with heavy usage. With intense gaming sessions, it can still last a whole day with a full charge, but iQOO also includes bypass charging to prioritise powering your game while charging at a slower rate. Our video loop test lasted an impressive 32 hours and 6 minutes, which easily beats its competition on this front. PCMark’s Work Battery Life test (running real-world applications in a loop) also managed to squeeze out an above-average 23 hours and 17 minutes.Charging with the 120W bundled charger is very quick, with the phone achieving an 78 per cent charge in just 30 minutes and completing the charge in 38 minutes. This is impressive given that it is charging a 7,000mAh battery. Additionally, this was achieved without activating iQOO’s fast-charging feature, which would have slightly heated the phone and charged it even faster. Without it, the phone remained surprisingly cool even though it was charging really fast in normal mode.iQOO Neo 10 VerdictStarting from Rs. 30,999 for the base 8GB + 128GB storage variant, the iQOO Neo 10, unlike the iQOO Neo 10R, offers excellent value for money both for mobile gamers and casual users alike. As we have seen above, the gaming-grade hardware does bring several advantages to the casual user, which include a bright HDR10-certified display, sustained performance under load and excellent battery life, along with blazing-fast charging.Of course, iQOO has cut some corners to get here. The design is plain Jane, even though it offers an IP65 rating for dust and water resistance. Then there’s the secondary camera, which is clearly present to fill up a spec sheet. Regardless, the iQOO Neo 10’s primary camera did surprise; it’s not as colour accurate regular mid-ranger and does not offer a fancy telephoto camera, but it does cover the basics very well, which is a win-win for the gaming crowd and the casual user who isn’t too deep into smartphone photography. For those bitten by the photo bug, it’s wise to invest in the Nothing Phone 3a Pro (Review) or the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ (Review) instead.
Source: gadgets360.com
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