iQoo launched the Neo 9 Professional in February, adopted by the cheaper iQoo Z9 final month. The latter presents among the finest mid-range specs within the phase. We spent a while testing the iQoo Z9's day by day efficiency, digicam high quality and battery life. This telephone competes with different smartphones across the Rs. 20,000 manufacturers in India, such because the Realme 12+ 5G and Moto G84 5G, in addition to the dearer Honor X9b and Nothing Cellphone 2a.
iQoo Z9 value in India
The value of the iQoo Z9 in India is ready at Rs. 19,999 for the bottom mannequin, which has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. The corporate additionally presents the telephone in a 256GB storage variant – that is the mannequin I reviewed – which prices Rs. 21,999.
The telephone is obtainable in Brushed Inexperienced and Graphene Blue in India. Like the corporate's different smartphones, the iQoo Z9 comes with a clear TPU case, a SIM ejector instrument, a 44W charging brick, and a USB Kind-A to USB Kind-C cable.
iQoo Z9 Evaluation: Design
We obtained the Brushed Inexperienced shade variant of the iQoo Z9 for assessment. The telephone has an fascinating design with brush-like traces working from the rear digicam module in direction of the underside of the panel. There’s a small iQoo brand positioned on the decrease half, and there’s no different seen mark.
iQoo Z9 in brushed inexperienced shade
Aside from the brand new mannequin, the telephone's rear panel bears a placing resemblance to the iQoo Z7 Professional that was launched in India in August 2023, together with the vertically aligned rear cameras positioned in a square-shaped digicam island with edges rounded and glossy. metallic end, which is a fingerprint magnet. The amount buttons are positioned on the best facet, above the facility button.
Regardless of the 5,000mAh battery inside, the telephone doesn’t really feel too heavy in day by day use. It has flat edges, which make it straightforward to carry. Whereas it's not precisely slippery, it's in all probability finest used with the TPU case that ships with the telephone. The iQoo Z9 has slim bezels, besides close to the chin. It has an IP54 score for mud and water resistance.
iQoo Z9 Evaluation: Specs and Software program
The iQoo Z9 runs on an octa-core 4nm Dimensity 7200 SoC comprising two Arm Cortex-A715 cores clocked at 2.8GHz and 6 Cortex-A510 cores. This midrange MediaTek chipset is paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and you’ll activate an “Prolonged RAM” function that makes use of as much as 8GB of unused storage to carry the out there storage as much as 16GB.
This smartphone helps 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and GPS connectivity, with a USB Kind-C port. Nonetheless, it doesn't have NFC connectivity, which suggests you possibly can't use the tap-to-pay options out there on apps like Google Pay and PhonePe. The responsive in-display fingerprint scanner takes lower than a second to unlock the telephone.
The iQoo Z9 has a 6.67-inch AMOLED display that’s brilliant sufficient for out of doors use.
Happily, the iQoo Z9 runs on Android 14 out-of-the-box, together with Funtouch OS 14. Like the corporate's different smartphones that we reviewed not too long ago – the iQoo 12 and Neo 9 Professional – the system operator comes with the V-Appstore that can exit of its method to notify you about new Apps to put in. Nonetheless, in contrast to these telephones, you can’t disable the V-Appstore on this telephone. The Dwelling Display screen additionally contains Scorching Apps and Scorching Video games that invite you to put in new purposes and video games.
In line with the corporate, the telephone will obtain two OS updates and three years of safety updates, which is par for the course on this value phase, with one exception – the Samsung Galaxy A15 is promised 4 OS updates and 5 years of updates safety The iQoo Z9 comprises a 5,000mAh battery and may be charged at 44W by way of the included adapter.
iQoo Z9 Evaluation: Efficiency
With the Dimensity 7200 chipset below the hood, the iQoo Z9 ought to theoretically provide one of the best efficiency for a midrange smartphone priced beneath Rs. 20,000. In day by day use, the telephone is zippy and lets you swap between purposes with out reloading it. It additionally has a devoted sport mode discovered on different telephones from the corporate that optimizes efficiency whereas enjoying.
Video games like Asphalt 9 run very easily on the iQoo Z9, whereas titles like Battlegrounds Cell India may be performed on the Excessive setting with the Easy preset with none throttling after about 45 minutes of play. I used to be capable of run Genshin Impression on the iQoo Z9, but it surely was solely barely easy – even after choosing the bottom graphics setting within the sport.
We additionally ran a couple of efficiency benchmarks on the iQoo Z9 and located that it scored a lot greater than different smartphones on this value phase. On AnTuTu 10, the telephone scored 687,545 factors, whereas its single and multi-core factors on Geekbench have been 1,151 and a couple of,669, respectively. Within the PCMark Work 3.0 benchmark, the iQoo Z9 scored 13,319 factors.
iQoo Z9 efficiency benchmarks
The iQoo Z9 scored 6,654 factors in Sling Shot and 5,766 within the Sling Shot Excessive exams in 3DMark. It managed to attain 4,126 factors and 4,205 factors within the Wild Life and Wild Life Limitless benchmark exams, respectively. In the meantime, iQoo's mid-range telephone scored 6,058 factors (108fps) on the GFXBench T-Rex take a look at, whereas the Manhattan 3.1 benchmark resulted in a rating of three,702 factors (60fps), and the Automotive Chase take a look at returned a decrease rating of 1,954 factors (33 fps).
The telephone has a 6.67-inch full-HD + AMOLED show (1,080×2,400 pixels) with a refresh charge of 120 Hz with a pixel density of 394ppi and a most brightness of 1800 nits. I confronted some visibility points in very brilliant lighting situations, particularly when utilizing the telephone outdoors within the afternoon. There are three show shade profiles to select from – commonplace, skilled and brilliant. Whereas it is a subjective selection, I choose to make use of the usual (default) mode.
The 5,000mAh battery on the iQoo Z9 enables you to go for a number of hours earlier than it’s essential to cost the telephone once more. In our HD battery loop take a look at, the telephone lasted round 23 hours and 14 minutes. With a mixture of gaming, capturing a handful of images and movies, and about an hour of gaming, I had between 23 % and 29 % of battery left on the finish of the day. After draining the battery, the telephone took about 32 minutes to go to 50 % and about 55 minutes for a full cost.
iQoo Z9 Evaluation: Digicam
The iQoo Z9 is supplied with a 50-megapixel main digicam, a Sony IMX882 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, and an unspecified 2-megapixel depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. The telephone has a 16-megapixel entrance digicam with an f/2.0 aperture for selfies and video chats.
Pictures captured with the first digicam are sharp, and colours are displayed precisely when capturing on the default zoom (1x). The digicam interface lets you rapidly swap to 2x, which seems to be an in-sensor digicam that additionally gives photographs with a variety of element. This digicam works effectively for human topics, vegetation and pets. You may as well click on good photos if there’s sufficient pure mild.
The iQoo Z9 captures detailed photographs when there’s sufficient pure mild
There is just one usable rear digicam on the iQoo Z9, which works reliably through the day. Nonetheless, in the event you're attempting to seize photographs in low-light situations, it's finest to make use of the built-in night time mode. In case your topic isn't transferring, night time mode can present significantly better photographs than the default mode, decreasing the quantity of noise and artifacts with out an excessive amount of softening.
Since there isn’t a ultra-wide-angle digicam, I discovered myself stepping again to click on photographs of enormous topics that have been near me, corresponding to buildings. This isn't an issue in most eventualities, however it could actually make clicking some images tough. In contrast to related telephones on this value phase, the iQoo Z9 will not be outfitted with a macro digicam for close-ups.
The built-in night time mode does job in low-light eventualities
The first digicam additionally features a 50 megapixel mode that takes photos fairly rapidly whereas offering photographs with the next decision than the usual mode. This mode is finest used on topics which can be shut and leads to photographs which have extra element and a barely bigger file measurement.
Selfies taken on the iQoo Z9 are clear and look good when there's sufficient lighting, which suggests you ought to be effective in the event you're clicking photos of your self through the day. In low-light situations, the selfies captured by the telephone include some noise, and the photographs will not be as sharp because the telephone tends to easy these photographs.
The 50 megapixel mode presents barely higher element for topics which can be up shut
The video efficiency of the iQoo Z9 is on par with different smartphones on this value phase. You possibly can report 1080p movies at 60fps and 30fps, whereas 4K movies may be recorded at 30fps. It ought to be famous that the 1080p / 60fps mode presents higher video stabilization in comparison with the 4K possibility, which was a worthy trade-off, in my view.
iQoo Z9 Evaluation: Verdict
For those who're in search of an inexpensive mid-range smartphone with good efficiency and first rate photograph high quality, the iQoo Z9 is an efficient possibility to contemplate at this value level. It presents dependable battery life and has a brilliant AMOLED display, whereas the processor undoubtedly punches above its weight and makes up for the less-than-ideal UFS 2.2 storage.
Nonetheless, the telephone faces robust competitors from smartphones like final yr's Samsung Galaxy M34 – whereas the Exynos 1280 processor on this telephone is slower than the one on the iQoo Z9, it boasts a top quality of higher digicam and a (subjective) higher software program expertise, with longer software program. assist window. Likewise, the Realme 12+ 5G has an extra ultra-wide-angle digicam and helps quicker charging at 67W.
There may be additionally the Poco X6 5G, which presents first rate main digicam efficiency and packs a 5,100mAh battery, though it comes with Android 13 out of the field in 2024. In case your price range is somewhat greater, it’s also possible to take into account the Nothing Cellphone 2a. , which includes a good main digicam and clear software program. Nonetheless, it doesn’t include a charging brick within the field, an issue that won’t be confronted with the iQoo Z9.
