iQOO 11 review – GSMArena.com reviews

Introduction

Not really shaking things up at the high end of the iQOO range, the iQOO 11 arrives less than 6 months after the 10/9T. Alongside the predictable chipset upgrade to Qualcomm’s latest, we get a storage tech bump, while a more unexpected development in display specs brings this vanilla 11 into Pro territory.

In the previous three generations, only the pros had a 1440p screen, but now a high resolution panel is also part of the “consumer” model. Not only that, but it’s 144Hz, a cut above the norm. Naturally, it’s AMOLED with adaptive refresh rate capabilities, so it’s easier on the battery.

Even so, the battery is one of this generation’s discreet updates, seeing a boost to 5,000mAh – should be much appreciated by the all-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagship, efficient as it is. The newly adopted UFS 4.0 storage is also advertised as having improved power efficiency, but it’s the performance numbers that are probably the most impressive. With all that power saving, you’d be forgiven for not being too obsessed with charging speed, but the iQOO 11 has that covered with its 120W charging stand.

Not much has changed in the camera department, coming from the 10/9T. What’s ostensibly the same 50MP main unit is now joined by a short 2x telephoto and a relatively basic ultrawide – the latter, in fact, sees a downgrade from 13MP to 8MP. On the face of it, it’ll be the camera setup that gives the Pro model its name, while this one simply aims to be “good enough” in that department.

vivo iQOO 11 specifications at a glance:

• Body: 164.9 x 77.1 x 8.4mm, 205g; aluminum frame; glass or vegan leather back.
• Display: 6.78″ LTPO4 AMOLED, 1B colors, 144Hz, HDR10+, 1800 nits (peak), 1440x3200px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 518ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4nm): Octa-core (1×3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3×2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 3.1 – 128 GB, UFS 4.0 – 256/512 GB.
• Operating System/Software: Android 13, Funtouch 13 (International), Origin OS 3 (China).
• Rear camera:Wide (main): 50MP, f/1.9, 23mm, 1/1.57″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 13 MP, f/2.5, 50mm, PDAF, 2x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 8MP, f/2.2, 16mm.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide).
• Video capture:Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 120W wired, PD3.0.
• Various : Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Infrared port; stereo speakers.

iQOO 11 Unboxing

The iQOO 11 comes in a fairly typical iQOO box with diagonally cut lid sides that make it a bit awkward to deal with once removed – that’s really not a problem unless you’re a reviewer of phone with a shelf full of phones. Gone is the yellow accent of the previous boxes, and only the BMW and M Motorsport logos introduce a break in the monochrome presentation. Well, that and the M stripes on the white back of the phone, of course.

Accessories include a soft silicone case with a substantial cutout for the somewhat unnecessarily substantial camera island. More importantly, you get a charger capable of delivering 120W of power to the iQOO 11 or up to 65W via USB Power Delivery (both PPS and PDO branches are supported). A USB-C cable is also included.