iQoo Neo 6 Review: Top Specs for Less

Smartphone maker Vivo is a big in its local China and different Asian markets, however its presence is neglected in a lot of the remainder of the arena. Like competitors Xiaomi and Huawei it created a sub-brand, iQoo, to convey its generation to the loads at regularly less expensive costs.

The iQoo Neo 6 is an overly cast phone with with regards to flagship specifications and above moderate efficiency for the asking value. The design stands proud, the device is unobtrusive, and the primary digital camera lens may be very succesful.

The phone is to be had now in India and China, however it will no longer get an reliable liberate any place else. That’s a disgrace as it’s a phone that provides mid-range Realme, Samsung, and Oppo telephones a run for their cash.

I reviewed the Indian model of the phone, which has the Snapdragon 870 while the Chinese type has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. 

Design and construct

• Cool color choices
• Matt plastic end
• Hole-punch selfie digital camera

The design of my Neo 6 assessment unit would had been wholly unremarkable have been it no longer in a parma violet red and blue explosion that iQoo is looking ‘Cyber Rage’. But there’s not anything raging about its well mannered lilac tones that adjust with the sunshine. I believe it appears to be like nice, and it stands proud in opposition to 1,000,000 black slab telephones.

iQoo has stored on prices and stepped forward sturdiness through opting for plastic as a substitute of glass at the again too, a transfer extra producers must make, specifically like right here the place it doesn’t really feel reasonable. The two lengthy edges of the again are moderately curved which is helping the phone nestle conveniently to your fingers.

The digital camera module is an austere rectangle with 3 lenses and a flash, with a element under on a plastic strip that has the Neo branding on it. With no regulatory marks and a neat silver iQoo brand, it is a phone to shop for to stick out from the gang. The different color choice is a extra muted ‘Dark Nova’ that’s a gloomy greenish blue.

Around the entrance is a much less inspiring affair. There’s a well-recognized black bezel across the fringe of the reveal with rounded corners and a unmarried hole-punch lower out for the entrance dealing with digital camera on the best.

There’s no headphone jack, and the USB-C port is flanked through a downward firing speaker and nano-SIM slot. A quantity rocker sits above the ability button at the right-hand edge. So a long way, so phone. But red.

Display and audio

• Flat 6.62in OLED
• 120Hz refresh price
• Stereo audio system

The Neo 6 has a large, brilliant 6.62in AMOLED display that will get lots brilliant and is conscious of faucets, swipes, and pinches. I love that it’s flat reasonably than curving on the edges.

The display doesn’t move correct to the sides however the bezel didn’t trouble me as it is extremely skinny, and the 4 corners are rounded smartly not like another telephones I’ve examined. The in-display fingerprint sensor is dependable and responsive.

High refresh price shows are quite common in Android telephones now, which is superb for you and your eyes. 60Hz used to be the smartphone norm for years however 120Hz at the Neo 6 doubles that to make app animations, menus, and textual content scroll two times as easy. You can select 60Hz or 120Hz within the settings or choose for iQoo’s Smart Switch device that flicks between the 2 relying on what you’re doing. Using 60Hz when issues aren’t shifting claims to save lots of battery existence.

I had no qualms with the panel at the Neo 6 the use of it as my major phone for a few weeks. I scrolled Twitter, watched YouTube, and took pictures with out a lot lacking the shows of costlier telephones just like the Google Pixel 6 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Those telephones do have higher displays however taking into consideration the cost of the Neo 6 you aren’t lacking out on an excessive amount of further high quality.

The audio system also are relatively excellent, specifically for being attentive to podcasts or the radio or speaking telephones calls handsfree. The earpiece and down-firing speaker used as a stereo pair and best distort while you crank song via them very loudly. But given it must be unlawful to play song at any quantity out of your phone, you received’t be anxious about that may you, pricey reader?

It’s nice to peer the phone qualified to play Hi-res song, so for those who subscribe to a provider like Tidal or Qobuz you’ll revel in first rate wi-fi sound high quality.

One minor level is that during direct daylight you’ll be able to see the hidden ambient mild sensors and different sensors in the back of the reveal, one thing I have never noticed in lots of telephones of past due.

Specs and function

• Snapdragon 870
• 5G
• 8GB/128GB or 12GB/256GB

The Neo 6 shines while you examine how a lot it prices to how smartly it plays. It is a mid-range priced phone that acts just about in addition to a flagship phone that retails for two times or 3 times extra.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 chipset is lots of the reason given this is a notch under ‘flagship’ stage nowadays. But for most of the people, myself integrated, it’s overkill. The processor is way more tough than what maximum folks do on our telephones within the first position. It handles social media, messaging, pictures, and video calls very easily.

It additionally method the Neo 6 is a tight selection as a gaming phone and has delicate inclusions below the hood like a vibration engine that rumbles alongside to gameplay.

(*6*)

My assessment unit had 12GB RAM which helped issues fly through briefly, regardless that that quantity continues to be an terrible lot for a cell. iQoo additionally added in what it calls ‘prolonged RAM’ the place the phone can spice up an additional 4GB of RAM efficiency out of unfastened space for storing – so the 12GB RAM can emulate the efficiency of 16GB (or 8GB boosted to 12GB at the different type).

It does this robotically to stay video games flowing and apps working within the background when there’s a large number of stuff open without delay.

In benchmark checks the Neo 6 used to be just about as zippy because the Poco F4 GT, a gaming phone with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip and function constructed for gaming. It used to be additionally quicker than the OnePlus Nord 2T, a phone that prices extra, and infrequently under the top rate Vivo X80 Pro.

Benchmarks aren’t the whole lot in fact, so I’m glad to again up that the Neo plays smartly in actual global use too.

Sadly, one of the most worst issues in regards to the phone is its haptics. Though the gaming rumble characteristic labored properly with little bumps and buzzes that make sense in context, the haptic motor for typing and device vibrations may be very tinny and pingy, to the purpose the place every particular person vibration is like an audible ‘ping’. It is actually irritating and makes the phone really feel reasonable. For the primary time in years, I became off the keyboard vibration on an Android phone. Boo.

Camera

• 64Mp Samsung sensor
• No telephoto lens
• Software spoils selfies

A shared trait amongst many first rate mid-range telephones is the presence of 1 relatively excellent digital camera lens along two no longer nice ones, and the similar applies right here. iQoo has used Samsung’s 64Mp GW1P sensor for the primary lens and it produces nice photographs in sunlight. It’s extensively utilized to crop 2x to imitate telephoto within the absence of a devoted telephoto lens.

Results are punchy due to HDR and optical symbol stabilisation (OIS). Even with AI modes became off, the device nonetheless cranks up the saturation so it’s somewhat laborious to get true to existence color stability however so far as Android level and shoots move, that is very cast. If you are taking a large number of footage of shifting gadgets like youngsters and animals, be warned that photographs regularly end up somewhat blurry with any motion.

Software annoys extra when taking selfies with the 16Mp entrance digital camera. The device is about up with face slimming, whitening, tinting, and quite a lot of different AI-beautifying modes out the field and it’s an enormous ache to head in and switch all of them off. It’s one of the irritating issues in regards to the phone.

The 2Mp macro lens provides a little of amusing getting up shut, nevertheless it’s a novelty that doesn’t closing lengthy. Results aren’t as detailed as at the iPhone 13 Pro or as shut up because the loopy 30x digital camera noticed at the Oppo Find X3 Pro, however the ones are very top rate telephones. Basically, mid-range telephones shouldn’t have macro cameras as a result of they’re by no means any excellent when the parts are reasonable.

A 16Mp ultra-wide lens is excellent for taking pictures extra of a scene, nevertheless it’s of noticeably lesser high quality than what the primary lens is in a position to.

Battery and charging

• 80W stressed out charging
• No wi-fi charging
• All day stamina

One of the Neo 6’s perfect options is its stressed out 80W charging speeds, which in my trying out charged the phone from 0% to 88% in quarter-hour. Fast charging is turning into extra same old on Android telephones and it’s one more reason to head for the Neo 6.

If you’re no longer in India or China, have in mind you’ll have to shop for a plug adapter (like I did) to make use of the bundled immediate charger. You may no longer see best charging speeds as a result of this.

The Neo 6 simply lasted a complete day of heavy use on its 4700mAh battery, best dipping to dangerously low ranges after I’d been hammering Call of Duty. That stated, it may be a little unpredictable. A 10-minute CoD shootout best dropped the phone 4%, however leaving the phone on Wi-Fi in a single day noticed it drop from 84% to 56%. Good factor the charging is super-fast.

In the PC Mark app battery take a look at it lasted for 16 hours and 43 mins, which has best been overwhelmed in our contemporary trying out through the 18 hours and half-hour of the Realme 9 Pro.

Software and updates

• Android 12
• FunTouch OS is cast
• Gaming options

iQoo’s FunTouch OS pleasantly stunned me through no longer being too overbearing. Some producers meddle with the semblance of Android – even Google nowadays – and it may be distracting.

iQoo does alternate a couple of issues about Android 12 (each corporate does) equivalent to the place issues are hidden within the settings app, however total, I discovered it a blank and simple flavour of Android having no longer used it a lot prior to now.

There are some neat device touches such because the Game Space app the place you’ll be able to see what video games you’ve got downloaded and the way lengthy you’ve spent on them (unhealthy) and what kind of Wi-Fi or cell information you’ve used enjoying them (helpful). I additionally just like the in-game menu that may be accessed swiping from the left that presentations CPU and GPU pressure, battery existence, and toggles for battery saver balanced and, amusingly, monster mode that cranks the {hardware} to the max.

There’s even a voice changer toggle and a WhatsApp picture-in-picture button that brings the chat app onto the display to fireside off fast texts with out quitting your sport.

iQoo guarantees two years of Android updates to Android 13 and 14, and 3 years of safety updates. This is equal to OnePlus, and higher than Honor, however in the back of Google’s 3 and 5 years of Android and safety updates respectively, and Samsung’s superlative 4 and 5.

Price and availability

The iQoo Neo 6 is on sale in India from ₹34,999, which is set £360/$450. If you’ll be able to to find one to import for this value, it’s superb worth certainly. 

At the time of writing the 8GB/128GB Chinese type used to be on sale at Giztop for $499 and the 12GB/256GB type for $549. Bear in thoughts this isn’t the type I reviewed, and has other specifications. Check them out right here.

Verdict

With a in fact sexy design that advantages from being plastic and subsequently harder, the Neo 6 is a great selection if you wish to have an Android phone that plays like a flagship for a mid-range value. The device is blank, the primary digital camera is cast, and the battery fees extremely immediate.

If you’re out of doors of India or China it’s possible you’ll want to shop for the OnePlus Nord 2T because it has equivalent options, the similar device replace promise, and can include native warranties. It’s laborious to go back or repair an imported phone. But the Neo 6 is no doubt value a glance if you wish to have one thing a little other with nice efficiency. It simply turns out love it’s laborious to import the Indian model. 

Specs

iQoo Neo 6: Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G
• 8GB/12GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 garage
• 6.62in AMOLED reveal (2400 x 1080 solution)
• 64Mp f/1.9 Wide perspective digital camera
• 8Mp f/2.2 Ultra-wide digital camera
• 2Mp f/2.4 Macro digital camera
• 16MP f/2.0 Selfie digital camera
• Max Video Quality – 4K @ 30fps
• Funtouch OS 12 (in line with Android 12)
• 5G
• WiFi 6
• Bluetooth 5.2
• GPS
• NFC
• Dual-SIM
• USB-C charging port
• 4700mAh battery (helps 80W Fast Charging)
• 163 x 76.2 x 8.5 mm
• 190g