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iQOO 11 is the first flagship phone of 2023 in India, and the company managed to beat everyone by offering the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset in the country. For quite some time, people recognised iQOO as a sub-brand of Vivo, but not anymore. iQOO has built its image with performance-focused devices in the mid-range and the premium segment.

iQOO 11 5G shows us how the company wants to continue with this strategy. It manages to sprinkle its products with different flavours that match the needs of the consumers. But can performance be the sole criteria when it comes to buying a premium smartphone at around Rs 60,000? We used the phone for over a week to see if it manages to get the flagship ball rolling in 2023.

iQOO 11 Review: What’s Cool?

iQOO 11 5G catches your eye with its classy yet understated design. The company has launched the phone in two variants, and we got the Alpha model which is a grey tone with matte finish layered over glass. The giant camera layout is hard to miss but what really works for us is the overall dimensions that are neither too wide or tall. People with average-sized hands can easily use the phone with one hand. The texture doesn’t catch smudges easily but some of you might find it slippery to hold.

iQOO has packed the device with a 2K E6 AMOLED display that offers 1440 pixels resolution with a 144Hz refresh rate screen. You can also switch to 1080 pixels that will surely help you conserve battery, which also offers you the option to change the refresh rate settings from 60Hz to 144Hz or smart switch that is something we recommend. It supports HDR10+ and gives you 1800 nits of peak brightness which is pretty good for outdoor visibility.

The colours are punchy, the blacks are deep which is a strong point about AMOLED panels and the adaptive screen switch makes it fluid no matter what apps you’re using, watching videos or playing games.

iQOO has powered the device with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and is selling it with up to 16GB RAM, which is the variant we got to review. Most of you would argue the need to have this much RAM on a phone, and we tend to agree but there is no doubting that the iQOO 11 5G is a performance beast. No matter what you throw at the phone, it delivers and that too without breaking sweat, quite literally.

iQOO has overhauled the cooling chambers under the hood which ensures the heat dissipates in an efficient manner. The results were evident during our time when we barely saw any abnormal heating on the device that caused any concern. When you combine the fluidity of the display with the hardware on board, it doesn’t get better.

So, does the iQOO 11 5G focus entirely on performance and leave the other crucial aspects aside? Not really, the triple rear camera module is huge because of the sensors it accommodates. You have a 50-megapixel sensor with OIS, a 13-megapixel telephoto sensor and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor. Pictures that we captured in regular light were rich in detail, the colours were balanced and the shutter speed was quick. The 13-megapixel telephoto sensor delivers rich macro shots that carry ample detail and the colours also look balanced.

Even in low light, the main camera produces quality images and it is obvious that having OIS means you get clear visuals. The front camera is a 16-megapixel sensor and we liked the natural tones of the skin captured which is better than the flashy texture you tend to see on phones these days.

But with all this power you are bound to be concerned about the power management, and having a 5000mAh battery itself doesn’t guarantee long back up. Well, the iQOO 11 5G ticks both the boxes with flying colours and still manages to exceed your expectations by letting you charge this giant brick at 120W speed which means you go from 0 to 100 per cent in under 20 minutes and then have a phone that will easily coast through the day and some more. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip is claimed to offer this efficiency and we got to see its worth in real time.

iQOO 11 5G Review: What’s Not So Cool?

iQOO 11 5G runs on the Android 13-based Funtouch OS version which continues to have bloatware that is not a welcome addition on phones that cost over Rs 50,000. The notifications from some of these apps can be disabled, and you can even uninstall them if needed, but what’s the point of having them in the first place?

iQOO and other brands in this segment need to cull the bloatware or else people might start looking at other options, even if it comes at a higher cost.

The secondary 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor definitely has room for improvement and we noticed the details missing. The company could fix those issues with an update. And finally, one has to talk about the price from the brand’s perspective. Rs 59,999 for a iQOO flagship phone with its feature set might sound like a bargain but for the buyer, would they really splurge on a device that is not Samsung, Google or Apple? We’ll know in the coming months.

iQOO 11 5G Review: Should You Buy?

It is hard to deny that the iQOO 11 5G is a well-rounded package which covers most features that people seek from a premium device. Top-notch display, flagship performance and reliable cameras and the battery life with 120W is the definite icing on top of the cake. Having said that, the bloatware still is an eye sore and immediately takes away the premium quotient offered. Buy this phone if you want a performance beast but can live with the quirks of the bloated software.

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