vivo iQOO 3 hands-on review

Internals

The vivo iQOO 3 has all the usual high-performance, flagship grade checkboxes checked-off, as you would expect. The Snapdragon 865, with the powerful Adreno 650, up to 12GB of fast LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of snappy UFS 3.1 storage. The latter being unfortunately non-expandable.

Vivo's press materials also mention the usual slew of "features" typically attached to any device aimed at a gaming crowd. Things like cleverly-worded "vapour chamber cooling" tag lines and latency and performance optimizations in "Monster Mode". We typically don't pay too much attention to these before we get to test their real-world application. In any case, the iQOO 3 lacks any crazy fan-based cooling solution, so, at the end of the day, it is eventually going to heat-up and likely throttle, just like any other passively-cooled mobile phone in existence.

vivo iQOO 3

In fact, the iQOO 5G has a few other potentially heat-generation and/or cooling impeding aspects on the inside. For one, there is the 55W Super FlashCharge technology, apparently capable of getting the phone's 4,400 mAh battery from zero to 50% in just 15 minutes. As impressive as that is, it might not be a good idea to top-off at quite this speed while actively gaming. We'll definitely test that if we get the chance.

In case it wasn't apparent from the name already, 5G connectivity is also something the iQOO 3 5G delivers on. Only in its top-tier 12GB/256GB variant, though. That comes courtesy of the Snapdragon 865 potent and beefy X55 modem. This kind of setup also comes with plenty of drawbacks to internal layout and has its own thermal considerations. Not only is the X55 modem itself external to the main chipset, but its 5G antenna setup is big and requires a lot of very precise space utilization. Hopefully, that didn't force vivo to make too many compromises in terms of heat dissipation and performance. Especially seeing how the iQOO 3 5G is making its debut in India, where 5G isn't really an option at this time. Meaning that the feature is chugged-in mostly for future-proofing and marketing purposes.

But that's the topic of a whole other conversation we won't get into. Another thing taking up valuable internal space is the independent AK4377A audio chip in the iQOO 3. It, however, is arguably a much more sound use of space (see what we did there). It allows the phone to pass the Hi-Res audio certification. We expect great results in terms of its audio output.

Camera

Camera prowess is not traditionally a major priority on a gaming smartphone. The iQOO 3 doesn’t really look like a photography master on paper either. That's not to say that a modern 48MP camera can't capture crisp shots. On the contrary - we've seen it time and time again, even on budget devices. A final verdict on that end does require a thorough review, though.

The 13MP, 120-degree ultrawide on the iQOO 3 does sound intriguing as well. It features something called a "Super anti-shake" gyro-EIS algorithm for video stabilization.

Software

Vivo has an Android skin specifically meant and developed for the iQOO line. We only spent a short time with it, but, similar to the iQOO 3's subdued overall design, its software looks and feels a lot "tamer" than what you may find on most gaming phones. Menus, layout, and even icons all look very close to vanilla. An approach we can appreciate, since if flashy graphics are what you are after, there is an endless sea of customization options to explore in the Android ecosystem, in general.

Vivo does offer first-party theme support, as well, complete with some more "gamery" options. So, there is no shortage of options. As far as additional features in iQOO UI go, there is a nifty iManager app, as a central control hub for a few of the phone's features and various maintenance task. Also, there is the menacing-sounding Monster Mode, we already mentioned. It's particular real-world effects to gaming, however, need to be tested further.

Final thoughts

The vivo iQOO 3 was just unveiled in India, with a starting price of INR36,990 ($515/€475), for the base 8GB/128GB LTE variant. A bump-up in memory to 8GB/256GB will set you back INR39,990 ($555/€512) and the top-tier iQOO 3 5G, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, retails for INR44,990 ($625/€575). In China, the iQOO 3 is only available with 5G across all of the memory tiers and with slightly different price points (but in the same ballpark).

All things considered, that's pretty decent pricing for flagship hardware. Especially when you consider the "gaming" nature of the device. Which in this particular case is more than just a badge, with nice little additions, such as the capacitive Monster Touch triggers and ultra-fast 55W charging. On the flip side, vivo has been cutting some corners, with the most noticeable omission being the lack of high refresh rate on its otherwise impressive display. In an increasingly competitive mobile gaming market, that could cost some points.

Offering the top-tier 5G-enabled variant on the Indian market also doesn't make too much sense at the moment. Thankfully, you don't have to pay the extra costs if you opt for a lower tier, but you might still end-up suffering from any less-than-ideal engineering choices dictated by the incorporating of 5G into the design. But, before we can properly review the iQOO 3, that's more of a speculation on our end than a legitimate concern at this point. In any case, the iQOO 3 deserves some further attention.