iQOO 13 review

Triple 50MP camera setup

The iQOO 13 is equipped with a triple 50MP camera setup on the back and a 32MP front-facing shooter for selfies. The camera hardware on the back matches the one on the vivo V40 Pro - exact same sensors and lenses.

• Wide (main): 50 MP Sony IMX921 f/1.9, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; 4320p@30fps
• Ultra wide angle: 50 MP Samsung ISOCELL JN1, f/2.0, 15mm, 1/2.76", 0.64µm, autofocus; 2160p@60fps
• Telephoto: 50 MP Sony IMX816, f/1.85, 50mm, 1/2.51", 0.64µm, PDAF; 4320p@30fps.
• Front camera: Front camera: 32 MP Galaxycore GC32E1 / Hynix hi3231q, f/2.2, 1/3.1", 0.7µm; 2160p@30fps

It's worth noting that the iQOO 13 downgrades its zoom camera, in a sense. Last year's iQOO 12 had a bigger 64MP sensor coupled with a 3x periscope telephoto lens, which is now replaced by a smaller 50MP unit with 2x zoom.

Daylight photos

Main camera

It's perhaps no surprise that the iQOO 13 produces very similar-looking to the vivo V40 Pro photos. They share the same software and camera hardware and produce vibrant, sharp, somewhat detailed and with impressive dynamic range photos. The pictures taken with the main camera leave little to no room for complaints. It's very consistent when it comes to indoor photography as well.

Main camera samples

Maybe a future software update could improve how the camera resolves fine detail and foliage.

Here are a couple of portraits taken in the standard Photo and the dedicated Portrait modes.

Portraits: Photo mode • Portrait mode

The full-resolution 50MP mode is hard to recommend. Pictures look soft and have a limited dynamic range. There are obvious traces of upscaling too.

50MP main camera samples

2x zoom camera

The 2x zoom photos are excellent. We are even surprised that the foliage and fine details look better than on the main camera. Dynamic range is wide, color reproduction matches the one from the main camera and indoor samples look just as good.

2x zoom camera samples

Here are some 2x portrait samples.

2x zoom portraits: Photo mode • Portrait mode

4x crop zoom

The camera app provides a dedicated 4x toggle as well, which is a crop from the 2x zoom camera. We can't say the results are amazing, but for casual social media posting, they will do the trick.

4x crop zoom samples

They are noticeably softer than the 2x zoom samples, there's obvious color fringing in most shots and the dynamic range seems slightly narrower.

And here are the portraits.

4x portraits: Photo mode • Portrait mode

Ultrawide camera

The shots from the ultrawide camera look nice in the context of ultrawide cameras. Sharpness and detail are obviously not ideal compared to the main and zoom cameras, but this one gets pretty close to ideal. The lens distortion algorithm is doing a pretty good job; the dynamic range is wide, and the autofocus ensures sharp and detailed close-ups. The unit also maintains good performance indoors.

Ultrawide camera samples

Selfies

The selfies aren't bad, but we've seen sharper images from cheaper or similarly priced phones. Dynamic range is excellent, though, and the camera resolves plenty of detail. Colors need a little boost and so does contrast.

Selfies

Low-light photos

Main camera

Even if you don't shoot in the dedicated Night mode, the system applies it in the standard Photo mode whenever necessary. In our case, all of the scenes triggered the Night mode. The result is clean-looking images with plenty of detail, sharp subjects and wide dynamic range. Contrast is nice and colors are close to natural.

Main camera samples

Perhaps the algorithm goes a little bit too hard on the shadows. It overexposes them, which some people will like as the phone brings out more detail, but it also takes away the natural look of the scene. All in all, we find the shadows a bit too bright for our taste.

2x zoom camera

The 2x zoom samples are somewhat unimpressive. We've seen sharper and cleaner-looking photos from other 2x zoom cameras. This one seems to be lacking saturation and offers a more limited dynamic range compared to the main camera. The processing is quite different.

2x zoom camera samples

4x crop zoom

Since the 2x zoom photos aren't ideal, it's no surprise that the 4x crop zoom samples are muddy, lack detail and have a narrow dynamic range. It's hard to recommend using this mode at night.

4x crop zoom samples

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide camera also struggles at night and we had higher hopes for it given the fairly large 50MP sensor. Samples are soft, lack fine detail and colors are noticeably muted, especially compared to the main camera. Dynamic range is wide, though, and noise is virtually non-existent.

Ultrawide camera samples

Video recording

The device supports up to 8K video recording at 30fps with its main and 2x zoom cameras, while the rest cap at 4K@60fps. Standard EIS is available on 4K videos, but advanced action camera-like stabilization is limited to 1080p@60fps.

The 4K video from the main camera has plenty of color, wide dynamic range, good contrast and is fairly detailed. We've seen sharper 4K footage from other phones, as this one is a bit fuzzy in some areas.

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

Of course, the ultrawide footage is softer than the main cam, with slightly muted colors, lower contrast and a narrower dynamic range. Having said that, the ultrawide clip isn't necessarily bad in the context of ultrawide cameras.

The 2x zoom camera produces unimpressive footage that's softer than we would expect and with traces of color fringing. It also struggles to resolve fine details of subjects in the distance.

When it comes to the low-light performance of the main camera, we are pleasantly surprised. The video footage shows a wide dynamic range, well-contained light sources, decent sharpness, nice contrast and natural-looking colors. The noise is a bit more noticeable in the darker areas of the scene, but it's not enough to ruin the clip.