iQOO 12 review

Alternatives

The iQOO 12 is shaping up as an excellent gaming and camera phone in spite of the few hiccups we have encountered along the way. It's a great-looking flagship with an all-round premium specs sheet and cutting-edge hardware. The iQOO 12 will first launch in China and India, and it will make it to a few more countries eventually.

The only other smartphones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 available right now are in China, so it would take a few months for real competitors to the IQOO 12 to appear in the global market. When that happens, it will be worth keeping an eye on the Xiaomi 14 Pro. It is a more expensive device, but it probably has a better display, better cameras, and better speakers.

Xiaomi 14 Pro

Our verdict

The iQOO 12 is an excellent smartphone with a competitive price of around $600 (China, India). It is a true flagship with a premium design, an exclusive BMW M Motorsport collaboration, the latest Snapdragon chip, a top-notch display, and blazing-fast charging.

At the end of this review, we have mostly positive impressions from the iQOO 12. Its got a great design (even if slippery), and we appreciate the IP64 protection. We found the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to live up to expectations, and the thermals are quite good.

The battery life turned out great, the charging - was incredibly fast, and the speakers were nicely loud.

The photo quality from all cameras is very good, but it has some issues with the processing at times. The same goes for the video capturing - it's inconsistent. And the selfie camera is not particularly good.

The iQOO 12 still comes with a lot of bloatware on its Android 14, though it has been reduced as promised. iQOO has also specified three major Android updates for this smartphone.

While iQOO can make solid phones, it needs more experience with the camera, speakers' equalizer, and the software package.

Even as is, the iQOO 12 is a wonderful smartphone, one worthy of our recommendation if you want a solid gaming- and camera-oriented smartphone with a unique design. If you accept its minor flaws, there is a big chance that you will love this iQOO 12.

Pros

• Superb design, IP64-rated.
• Excellent AMOLED, truly dynamic, HDR10+.
• Great battery life, incredibly fast charging.
• The best chipset on the market, dependable stability.
• Overall, solid photo quality from all rear cameras.
• Great video stabilization.
• All-round connectivity options.
• Android 14, 3 major updates promised.

Cons

• Pre-installed bloatware.
• Inconsistent image processing.
• Low-quality selfie camera, 1080p video only, no EIS.
• No wireless charging.