Vivo iQOO Z5 Review: Competition in the mid-range smartphone segment is very tough. Excellent battery, high refresh rate display, fast charging, and good performance are available in almost every company’s smartphone. The same list also includes iQOO’s mid-range device iQOO Z5, which is equipped with a 120Hz LCD screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G processor, and 44W fast charging.
Vivo iQOO Z5 Review
Vivo iQOO Z5 directly competes with smartphones like Samsung Galaxy M52, Motorola Edge 20, and Xiaomi 11 Lite NE. We have used this device as our primary phone for not a couple of weeks, but for 2 months. Let us know in the long-term review of this phone what is good in this device and what things could have been better.
Vivo iQOO Z5 specs at a glance
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM7325 Snapdragon 778G 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (4×2.4 GHz Kryo 670 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 670); Adreno 642L.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 11, Funtouch 12 (International), OriginOS for iQOO 1.0 (China).
- Body: 164.7×76.7×8.5mm, 193g; Glass front (Panda Glass), plastic frame, plastic back.
- Display: 6.67″ IPS LCD, 120Hz, HDR10, 650 nits (typ), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 395ppi.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/1.97″, 0.7µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 16mm, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide).
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 44W, 50% in 26 min (advertised).
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); 3.5mm jack.
Unboxing: Vivo iQOO Z5 Review
The handset comes with standard packaging which mainly contains the fast 44W charger and a USB-A to USB-C stylish cable.
Vivo also provides a transparent silicone case as a gift for its valued customers.
Design and screen
The design of the iQOO Z5 is one of its biggest strengths. The company has sent the Mystic Space color model to us, which impresses at first sight. The back of the phone is plastic, but the matte finish present on it gives it a premium look and feel. Also, The build quality of this phone is super solid. Since its weight is less than 200 grams, so there is no problem with using it.
iQOO Z5 flaunts a 6.67-inch Full HD+ LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10 support. Such a good contrast and deep black are available in this LCD panel that the lack of AMOLED panel was not detected at all. The display gets 650 nits peak brightness, which makes it easy to see the caller’s name on the screen in sunlight and use it casually. But the screen is not bright enough that you can watch Instagram reels outside during the day.
Performance and software
iQOO Z5 is powered by a 6nm Snapdragon 778G 5G processor. We have got the top-end model of the phone with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage for review. In terms of performance, this phone gets full numbers. With 122GB of storage full and over 100 apps installed, it still works the same way after two months as it did on day one. There is no lag in switching apps. With 35 tabs in Chrome and 20 apps open in the background, the phone runs like ‘butter’.
iQOO Z5 was working on Funtouch OS built on Android 11 at the time of launch. Recently it got an Android 12 update. The software experience has improved a lot after the new update. This UI has a lot of useful features like screen-recorder and app lock, but there are still some minor drawbacks.
For example, you can set a data limit on your phone’s Hotspot connection, but you can’t set the number of devices connected to it or block connected devices. Unlike the UI on other phones, in Funtouch OS, you cannot expand the shortcuts in the quick notification panel. If needed, you have to go to the main setting menu by long pressing it. Apart from this, some bugs also exist, which spoil the user experience.
Gaming
In terms of gaming, the iQOO Z5 completely lives up to the mark. Games like BGMI and PUBG New State do not lag or notice frame-drop. Even after playing the game for 2 hours, this device did not heat up at all. The game with heavy graphics like Genshin Impact also ran smoothly on this device. The game ran at a low quality but worked flawlessly.
There are many great features in the phone’s gaming mode (GameSpace), but there is also a problem here. Sometimes the call alert comes like a notification in the upper part of the screen, sometimes the incoming call takes up the whole screen. Because of this, there is disturbance while playing the game.
Camera
The iQOO Z5 gets three cameras at the back. Among them is a 64MP ISOCELL GW3 primary camera. The second is an 8MP ultrawide angle lens and the third is a 2MP macro lens. The phone has a 16MP selfie camera on the front. The camera software is easy to operate and all the features are available right in front.
In daylight, the pictures clicked with the main camera of the phone look good. Dynamic range, exposure levels, and details are just right. The portrait mode of the phone works fine. Blur level looks natural in them. Sometimes the saturation is just too much.
There is a slight problem with the camera in low light. The details are less in such conditions, but the phone tries to handle it by increasing the sharpness. This trick works to some extent in close-up portrait pictures, but landscape photos start to look quite bad.
The ultrawide sensor and macro lens of the phone work well in good lighting. Apart from the primary camera sensor, the rest of the lenses do not fill in much detail in the pictures, but their saturation level and color scheme are the same as the primary camera.
The phone’s selfie camera gets full numbers. It gives good results in daylight as well as in low light. The skin tone looks natural, the details are good and the exposure levels are quite right.
As far as video recording is concerned, the iQOO Z5 impresses here once again. Details, color reproduction, and stabilization are good in the video. Its most striking feature is its auto-focus. During shooting, the camera shifts the focus according to the subject in front of you, in which there is no delay or jump during the shift.
Battery and charging
iQOO Z5 packs a 5000mAh battery with support for 44W fast charging. The battery backup of this smartphone is excellent. You will have to use it continuously for more than 8 hours to fully discharge the phone. The battery of the phone comfortably lasts for 1.5 days on normal use. During our use, 44 percent battery remains in the phone after 18 hours of use. Of these 18 hours, the screen-on-time is around 6 hours. The 44W fast charger that comes with the phone makes it fully charged in 1 hour 10 minutes. It doesn’t even take half an hour to charge 50%.
iQOO Z5 price
The price of the 8GB / 128GB variant of the phone is $255 roughly Rs 23,990. At the same time, the price of the top variant of 12GB / 256GB is #350 roughly Rs 26,990.
Verdict: Vivo iQOO Z5 Review
The iQOO Z5 delivers on all aspects of a good mid-range smartphone. There is no room for any complaints regarding performance, battery backup, and charging speed. Its camera is good and the screen is also fine for its price. Even after two months of use, apart from the software, we did not find any major flaw in this phone.
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