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iQOO 13 is the new flagship kid on the block that vies for a spot on the premium table with established brands and does a good job.
iQOO 13 is the new flagship-grade phone with the latest hardware
iQOO has made a name in the market with its powerful and reliable products. The new flagship iQOO 13 is the next step in this direction, and using the latest flagship hardware gives it further credibility. iQOO phones are known for their gaming-centric power, and the overall package works out well for the regular users as well.
The company tends to focus on the price-to-feature ratio with its devices and the iQOO 13 is following the same pattern, making it one of the most affordable phones to get the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset in the market. But making and selling a flagship phone is about the all-round value, performance and ability to withstand the rivals. The iQOO 13 is priced at Rs 54,999 and for that much money, it needs to pass multiple tests. Does it? We try to find out in this review.
The Tall Profile Strikes Again
iQOO 13 borrows a lot of elements from its predecessor, especially on the design front. In fact, if you keep both the phones (on the back side) next to each other, you will barely make out which one is the new model. Having said that, we didn’t find many issues with the design of the iQOO 12 in the first place, but would have liked to see some changes just to give that obvious difference.
The tall profile is another iQOO aspect that people seem to like, which does come in handy while watching videos on the move or playing games.
The iQOO 13 Legend variant gets frosted glass finish which isn’t glossy but does catch minor smudges that can be easily cleaned up.
The phone comes with 8mm thickness and weighs 213 grams which isn’t evident when you actually use the phone. However, you might feel the width of the device in your palm, which could be unwieldy for people with smaller hands.
It gets IP68 and IP69 rating which has become quite common among the phones launched recently. Having these two IP ratings mean the phone can handle high-pressure water that can be used to clean if you spill something on it. The large camera module is the highlight at the back once again, and the new model features an RGB LED halo ring over the setup which helps you with message, call or other app notifications. You can make the colour selection from the settings.
Screen Size Matters
iQOO 13 sports a 6.82-inch AMOLED LTPO display that sounds big and is indeed big. The screen offers 144Hz adaptive refresh rate and produces a peak brightness of 4500 nits which lets you use the phone even under hard sunlight outdoors. iQOO has gone with the Schott Xensation glass for protection which does look durable but we can only tell its real value in the long run.
The display in general is crisp, the colours and punchy and the deep blacks are noticeable thanks to the AMOLED panel. Having support for 144Hz refresh rate means you can enjoy games with future-proof features on this device.
Let The Flagship Race Begin
iQOO 12 was the first phone to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset last year, and the iQOO 13 is the second device in the country to bring the new Snapdragon flagship chipset. Once again, the company’s price for its phone is impressive, especially when you can get the 16GB RAM variant for under Rs 60,000. This device shows the power of the new hardware on board, and the benchmark scores are the highest that we have seen on the new range of phones launched in the last few months. iQOO 13 goes neck-to-neck with the Realme GT 7 Pro in terms of the raw CPU and GPU performance.
Fair to say, the phone is ideal for power users and gamers, who can enjoy all titles at the highest settings and you will barely see the phone break a sweat. Yes, the device will heat up on heavy load, but that is
expected of any computing device and we’re fine with that.
The OS Conundrum
Funtouch OS 15 is fluid and smooth to navigate and some AI features look to add more value to the experience but are still a work in progress.
The one issue we continue to have with phones in this range is the presence of preloaded apps or bloatware. Brands have tried to justify them by saying, people do use it, and they might be right. But why not give them the choice to install it? We can understand if these apps are there on budget phones, but a Rs 50,000 phone shouldn’t have them.
iQOO has reduced the number of these apps but we would like to see the day when there are zero such apps. Also, bringing a flagship phone with the latest hardware should ideally warrant 5 years of OS upgrades, but iQOO is offering 4 years which is not less but we would have liked that figure to be 5 years, which means you can run the phone with up to Android 20.
Camera Shy Or Force?
iQOO 13 features a 50MP rear camera setup that offers primary wide and the telephoto with OIS and the last one is an ultrawide lens. The images are generally sharp when you click in daylight conditions but the low light imaging results left us wanting more. The company can easily fix them in the next updates. The telephoto was a mixed bag, as the colours were crisp but we noticed some details were sketchy. The ultrawide works well but it is probably the weakest out of the three sensors on the device.
The Battery Workhorse
iQOO 13 benefits from the new silicon-carbon battery tech which results in a 6,000mAh unit on the device in the Indian market. Even then you would notice the sleek 8mm frame of the phone, which tells you the value of this technology. And you also get 120W charging support out of the box which delivers full juice in around 30 minutes.
The battery life score of the iQOO 13 makes us believe you can easily get the phone to run for a day and a half, and probably pull out more life with regular use. The PCMark score of 21 hours and 20 minutes is one of the best we have got with the new series of phones.
iQOO 13 is a strong contender for the best value flagship phone, not only in 2024 but going into the next year as well. It has the same looks as the iQOO 12 but everything else, including the camera, makes it a better all-rounded device that will surely appeal to the power or regular users.