iQOO 11 review

Introduction

Not exactly shaking things up in the high end of the iQOO lineup, the iQOO 11 comes less than 6 months after the 10/9T. Alongside the predictable chipset upgrade to Qualcomm's latest, we're getting a storage tech bump, while a more unexpected development in the display specs brings this vanilla 11 into Pro territory.

In the previous three generations, only the Pros had a 1440p display, but now a high-res panel makes it to the 'mainstream' model too. Not only that, but it's 144Hz, a notch 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 the low-key updates for this generation, seeing a nudge to 5,000mAh - should be much appreciated by the brand new flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, efficient as it may be. The newly adopted UFS 4.0 storage is also advertised to have improved energy efficiency but it's the performance numbers that are likely more impressive. With all those power savings, you'd be forgiven not to get too fixated on charging speed, but the iQOO 11 has that covered with its 120W charging support.

Not much has changed in the camera department, coming from the 10/9T. What's seemingly the same 50MP primary unit is now joined by a short 2x telephoto and relatively basic ultrawide - that last one, in fact, sees a downgrade from 13MP to 8MP. By the looks of it, it's going to be the camera setup that earns the Pro model its name, while this one aims for merely being 'good enough' in this department.

vivo iQOO 11 specs at a glance:

• Body: 164.9x77.1x8.4mm, 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 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 3.1 - 128GB, UFS 4.0 - 256/512GB.
• OS/Software: Android 13, Funtouch 13 (International), Origin OS 3 (China).
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, 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: 8 MP, 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.
• Misc: 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 of a nuisance to deal with once removed - hardly an issue, really, unless you're a phone reviewer with a shelf full of phones. Gone is the yellow accent of 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 phone's white back, of course.

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