On paper, the iQoo Z5 doesn’t seem like a massive improvement over the previous model in this series, iQoo Z3. Approx Rs. There is no AMOLED display like competing smartphones. 25,000 price point, and its cameras are pretty much the same as the Z3’s. However, it costs a bit more – the base variant is priced at Rs. 23,990. So is the new iQoo Z5 worth your money, or are there better smartphones out there that offer more for less? let’s find out.
iQoo Z5 price in India
iQoo Z5 is available in two variants. There is an 8GB RAM and 128GB storage option, which is the base variant, and is priced at Rs. 23,990 in India. The other is the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant, priced at Rs. 26,990.
iQoo Z5 Design
In terms of design, the iQoo Z5 is a step up from the Z3. The soft finish on the back panel of the previous model has been replaced with a frosted texture, which does an excellent job of resisting fingerprints and doesn’t slip through my hands either. The camera module has grown in the shape of a rectangle with rounded corners, and it protrudes very little from the rear surface. The back panel and frame are made of plastic, but this phone felt solid. This time the colorways are more subtle. There are two of them – Mystic Space and Arctic Dawn – and both look quite mature and elegant. I received a Mystic Space Unit for review, and it switches between dark blue and black when viewed from different angles.
The back panel and frame of the iQoo Z5 are made of plastic
The phone doesn’t feel too chunky at 8.5mm, and it doesn’t feel heavy at 197g either. At the top is a 6.67-inch full-HD+ LCD panel with a hole-punch camera cutout. While the top, left and right borders look thin enough, the bottom ones are quite thick. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack, and it is located on the top of the smartphone.
iQoo Z5 Specifications and Software
The iQoo Z3 debuted Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 768G processor in India, and the Z5 gets an updated 778G SoC. This updated processor is manufactured using a 6nm manufacturing process and runs at a maximum clock speed of 2.4Ghz, which is lower than the 768G. However, it has an integrated Adreno 642L GPU, which is clocked at 750MHz instead of the 450Mhz Adreno 620 GPU on the older 768G.
The phone is offered with 8GB or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. Communication standards include support for 5G radio (only limited to the n77/n78 bands), dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.2, and general satellite navigation systems. The phone has a dual-SIM tray and there is no microSD card slot for expanding storage. It packs in a 5,000mAh battery that can be charged with the bundled 44W charger.
iQoo Z5 runs on Funtouch OS 12, which is Android 11. based on
iQoo Z5 runs Vivo’s Funtouch OS 12, which is based on Android 11. just like premium Vivo X70 Pro+The Z5 also gets the widget treatment, and you can read more about it here Here. Animated widgets work as expected but don’t integrate very deeply with native or third party apps. They are still fun to use. The rest of the software looks similar to the FunTouch 11 and works thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate display.
iQoo Z5 Performance and Battery Life
While the LCD screen works fine considering its price, I noticed a slight yellow tint on the lower end of the panel. Sunlight legibility is excellent and viewing angles are also good. The 6.67-inch 20:9 aspect ratio display makes accessibility of things a bit of a stretch. Vivo claims that its display is HDR10 compatible, but I did not find support for it in most OTT apps including Netflix and Amazon Prime. However, the Z5 still makes a good video streaming device, thanks to its stereo speakers, which sound loud and clear.
The display wears out easily and fingerprints are not easy to erase
What I didn’t like about the display is that it’s a soggy mess. The smartphone has a pre-applied screen guard. Peeling it off left behind a layer of residue, which made it sticky and didn’t let my fingers slip over it, especially while playing sports. After a gaming session, that panda glass was a soggy mess and hard to clean.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G didn’t disappoint in our benchmark tests. The phone’s score was on par with the competition’s score, managing 5,66,151 points in AnTuTu and 760 and 2,802 in Geekbench’s single and multi-core tests, respectively.
iQoo Z5’s power and volume buttons are on the right
Gaming performance was quite good. I tried Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 and both games ran smoothly. The Snapdragon 778G SoC managed to run Call of Duty: Mobile with very high graphics by default and at high frame rate settings without any noticeable heating issues. Asphalt 9: Legends also ran smoothly on the default settings.
Since this is a gamer-focused smartphone, it also has ‘4D Game Vibration’, which can be activated in the Ultra Game Mode menu or in the game sidebar. It didn’t work as expected, sending out jerky vibrations that were either too late or didn’t make sense, and I found it distracting at best.
iQoo Z5 has three rear cameras
Battery life was pretty decent with the 4,400mAh battery on the iQoo Z3, and iQoo seems to have improved things quite a bit with the iQoo Z5. The phone packs a high-capacity 5,000mAh battery that easily lasts for a day and a half with regular usage. The phone clocked an impressive 21 hours 57 minutes in our HD video loop battery life test. The slightly slower 44W charger that comes in the box still charges the phone to 100 percent from a dead battery in 1 hour 10 minutes, which isn’t bad. In short, iQoo’s move to sacrifice fast charging for a longer-lasting battery has paid off.
iQoo Z5 cameras
The iQoo Z5 packs three rear-facing cameras – a 64-megapixel primary, 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. Selfie duties are handled by a 16-megapixel front-facing camera. The camera app interface is pure Vivo, and all the important controls, including a toggle for the macro camera, are just a tap away. The camera modes are also customizable. Video recording maxes out at 4K 30fps for the rear cameras, while the front-facing is limited to 1080p video at 30fps.
iQoo Z5 daylight camera sample. Top: Primary camera, Bottom: Ultra-wide-angle camera (tap to view full size)
Photos taken in daylight showed colors that were slightly saturated, with some pale purple fringing in bright areas. While they looked decent at first glance, it was easy to tell that these photos are short on resolved details after enlarging them a bit. Selfies came out well with good dynamic range, but edge detection was average in portrait mode.
iQoo Z3 close-up camera sample. Top: Macro Camera, Bottom: Primary Camera (tap to view full size)
Photos taken with the ultra-wide-angle camera were passable and there was blurry detail towards the edges of the frame. The macro camera with its fixed 4cm focal length isn’t easy to use, and the output ended up dramatically with mostly oversharpening. I instead preferred close-up shots taken with the primary camera.
iQoo Z5 Selfie Portrait Camera Samples. Top: Daylight, Bottom: Low light (tap to view full size)
Like the iQoo Z3, the low-light image quality of the Z5’s cameras wasn’t great. Photos taken in low light showed fuzzy details and lots and lots of blurry texture. Switching to Night Mode didn’t help, it just added contrast to the image and nothing else. Selfies taken in low light fell short of detail and looked quite soft, and edge detection was below average.
iQoo Z5 low-light camera samples. Up: Auto, Down: Night Mode (tap to see full size)
Videos shot in daylight came out with a steady frame rate and offered good stabilization, but the Z3 couldn’t handle bright scenes and had a tendency to overexpose. Oddly, I noticed a slight flicker effect when walking, even in broad daylight. The details were on the lower side in low light. Stabilization was good enough, but frame rates were a bit choppy. The shimmer effect was visible even in low-light footage. 4K video recorded while on the go looked very disturbing.
Decision
While the iQoo Z3 comes with its sub-Rs. 20,000 starting price seemed to offer enough value for money, the same cannot be said about the Z5, as its base price starts at Rs. 23,990 in India. iQoo Z5 offers some improvements iQoo Z3 (Review), namely stereo speakers, a bigger battery and a new processor, but that’s not enough to take on other popular phones that cost around Rs. 25,000.
iQoo is officially planning to pull the plug on the Z3, but it’s still on sale for at least Rs. 17,990 (6GB RAM + 128GB storage) online for now. The Z5, in comparison, isn’t a huge step up in terms of overall performance and doesn’t offer enough value. There are better smartphones available at similar prices than the competition.
From a hardware point of view you get the powerful Snapdragon 778G SoC, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage, but the competition includes realme gt master edition (Review) which offers similar specifications with a better Super AMOLED display, good camera performance and 65W fast charging, is priced at Rs. 25,999. Gamers may like Poco F3 GT (Review) with its maglev trigger, RGB lighting and bigger battery, even though it costs a bit more, starting at Rs. 26,999.
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