IQOO 9 Pro 5G Review with Pros and Cons – Brand Issue?
Now, before we start the IQOO 9 Pro 5G Review, let me ask you one question.
Will you pay Rs 64,999 for the IQOO brand? if the answer the YES, then go to Amazon and pre-order IQOO 9 Pro 5G but if the answer is NO then this review ends here do take look at Galaxy S22 Series which Starts from Rs 69,999.
Now let’s start the review for those, who can pay Rs 64,999 for the IQOO brand.
IQOO 9 Pro 5G Price in India
- 8GB Ram + 256GB storage: Rs 64,999
- 12GB Ram + 256GB storage: Rs 69,999
The device is available in Legend (White w/ BMW M branding), Dark Cruise, and Orange color options while the phone is available for pre-order on Amazon and it will go for sale on 2nd March 2022 via Amazon at noon.
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Contents
IQOO 9 Pro Review
IQOO 9 Pro is a solid smartphone and its worth every single penny but the issue is most people in India won’t pay Rs 64,999 for the IQOO brand, by saying that, the phone has a great camera, solid build quality, powerful processor, superfast 120W wired charging and its worth buying.
IQOO is launching the first smartphone above 50k in India, so this will be hard for IQOO as well as for users too.
Even now, users in India, hesitate to pay 65k for the OnePlus 9 Pro, so I don’t think most people will pay 65k for IQOO…
Related: Best Smartphones Under Rs 50,000
Now, there is no doubt, that the IQOO 9 Pro 5G has everything that the flagship smartphone should have and it does worth buying at 65k but still, the 65k price will create hesitation.
If you ask me, I won’t pay 65k for IQOO, I would rather buy Samsung or iPhone because I’m paying a premium.
Also, even after paying 65k, you will get bloatware & ads with IQOO 9 Pro, by the way, you can uninstall third-party apps but still, after 65k, I don’t like to see ads in notifications areas.
IQOO 9 Pro Pros and Cons
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Powerful Processor | No SD-Card Slot |
| 11 5G bands | Bit Heavier |
| Great Display Quality | Ads in the UI |
| Bright Panel | Tons of Pre-Installed Apps |
| Solid Build Quality | No 3.5mm Audio jack |
| Superb Cameras | Panda Glass Protection |
| 50W Wireless Charging | No Water-resistant |
| 120W Wired Charging | |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | |
| Best For Video Shooting | |
| Stereo Speakers | |
| Widevine L1 Support | |
| Carrier Aggregation |
Display Quality
The IQOO 9 Pro comes with 6.78-inches 10-bit 2k LTPO2 AMOLED display with a pick brightness of 1500 nits and 1440 x 3200 Pixels resolution.
On the front side, it has panda glass protection while the rear is made out of glass and the frame is made out of aluminum.
The phone also has Widevine L1 support which means, you will be able to stream FHD+ content on OTT platforms. By the way, you can also watch HDR content as the phone has HRD10+ support.
What more you can ask, the phone has a great display, there won’t be any kind of problem while watching movies or while playing games.
Related: Best Smartphones Under Rs 30,000
IQOO has also used an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor which is after the normal optical fingerprint sensor which we have seen in mid-budget smartphones.
Overall, IQOO has done a great job, can’t complain much.
Performance
The IQOO 9 Pro is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and runs on Fun Touch OS 12 based on Android 12.
Now, as I have said in many smartphone reviews, the Snapdragon 888 processor was heating, now the same is happening with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
When it comes to real life, the phone doesn’t heat too much even while playing games but when you do thermal testing, the phone heats up a little bit.
The problem is not with a smartphone, it’s a chipset issue and I hope, IQOO does something about it because this is a 65k smartphone, so they should fix this issue.
As I have said, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is a powerful processor, so there won’t be any kind of problem while playing mobile games, it will give you the best possible performance in every single game.
Related: Best Gaming Smartphones Under Rs 50,000
Even the phone is priced at 65k, you will see ads while it also comes with tons of bloatware that can be uninstalled but still, this can’t be happening in a premium smartphone.
The device feels smooth and fast, so no issue with performance.
By the way, it also has 5G support and IQOO has added 11 5G bands which include n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28 n41, n66, n77, and n78
Overall, for the price of Rs 64,999, can’t complain much, it is a powerful smartphone and it will give you powerful performance in every single area.
Cameras
The Gimble cameras, yes, IQOO has added gimble inside 50MP primary sensor.
It also has a 50MP ultra-wide lens and 16MP telephoto lens while there is a 16MP selfie shooter on the front.
The rear cameras can shoot videos up to 8k@30fps, 40k@30fps, and 1080p@30/60fps while the front can shoot at 4k@30fps and 1080p@30/60fps.
As the phone has gimble as well as OIS, there is no issue with videos, the footage comes out smooth.
Still, I feel, IQOO needs to work on the Gimble to make everything smooth, as of now, the videos come out good but sometimes, there is some shakiness in the video footage.
This is a minor problem and most of the users won’t even notice but it’s there, so I pointed it out.
The details on the videos are also good, no issue with that, the colors look amazing, and didn’t face any issue with dynamic range too.
Now, as this is the Vivo sub-brand, the colors do come out a bit saturated which is kind of okay because IQOO is doing the same on most smartphones and the same can be said for Vivo smartphones too.
Now, if we leave the gimble aside, the videos do come good, the details are there and there is no issue with dynamic range too.
Related: Best cameras Smartphones Under Rs 20,000
The 50MP primary sensor also takes a good image even at night, also, OIS & gimble helps a lot at night as they remove shakiness.
Also, in daylight, the images come out very good, and you will be more than happy with the images.
You know, as I said, the small ultra-wide sensor doesn’t make any sense because the ultra-wide lens captures a bigger area, so whether brands can work on the camera or they can provide a bigger ultra-wide lens.
In IQOO’s case, we have a bigger 50MP ultra-wide lens.
As this is a bigger sensor, the details come out well. IQOO is also using an Ultra-wide lens as a Macro lens too, so if you’re that person who loves to take macro shots then you will be more than happy with this 50MP sensor.
There is also a 13MP telephoto lens and it can do 2.5x optical zoom. The images did come out good but there was an extra red tint when I used 2.5x.
The front 16MP selfie shooter is good but I feel, IQOO needs to work on front cameras.
The selfie does come out good but still, it doesn’t feel like 65k, feels like 25k.
So with OTA updates, IQOO can improve the front camera.
But it depends on IQOO when they gonna fix the cameras, will they fix it or not? only time will tell…
Overall, for the price of Rs 64,999, IQOO 9 Pro has a good camera and it justifies the price tag but still, the camera needs improvement.
Audio Quality
The IQOO 9 Pro has a stereo speaker which works fine, no issues there. Its dual speakers, so can’t complain much.
It also has a secondary noise cancellation microphone. The IQOO 9 Pro does have carrier aggregation support.
As this is a flagship smartphone, there is no 3.5mm audio jack. You can use the TWS earbuds or buy Type-C to 3.5mm dongle for wired earphones.
Overall, the sound quality is good and there are no issues with call quality too.
Battery Life
The 4,700 battery won’t last for a day but that 120W fast charging will help a lot. It will take only 18 minutes to charge from 10% to 100% which is nuts.
Overall, if you’re a heavy user then make sure you carry the 120W charger with you otherwise, you will only be able to charge this smartphone at 18W with other chargers.
There is also 50W wireless charging support, so if you want to take advantage of that then you have bought the wireless charging otherwise, you can also use a 120W wired charger which is supplied in the box.
So yes, I’m a bit disappointed with the battery size but hey, they have also provided the 120W charger, so can’t complain much.
IQOO 9 Pro FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro has a 3.5mm Audio jack?
A: No.
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro has NFC Support?
A: Yes.
Q: How many OS updates will IQOO 9 Pro will get?
A: IQOO has promised two years of OS updates and three years of security updates.
Q: What is the screen refresh rate of the IQOO 9 Pro?
A: It has a 120Hz refresh rate LTPO2 AMOLED panel.
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro has stereo speakers?
A: Yes.
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro has Widevine L1 support??
A: Yes.
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro has a camera2api enabled?
A: Yes
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro has 5G Support?
A: Yes.
Q: How many 5G bands does IQOO 9 Pro have?
A: It has 11 5G Bands which include n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28 n41, n66, n77, and n78.
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro have fast charging support?
A: Yes, it has 120W wired fast charging support.
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro have carrier aggregation?
A: Yes.
Q: Does IQOO 9 Pro have a compass sensor?
A: Yes.
Q: Where to buy IQOO 9 Pro in India
A: The IQOO 9 Pro is available on Amazon.
Q: Alternatives of IQOO 9 Pro?
Verdict
There is no doubt, that IQOO 9 Pro is a great smartphone, and it’s also available at a good price, its no an overpriced smartphone but it’s from IQOO, so some users might think, it’s an overprint smartphone because this is IQOO’s first above 50k.
As I have said, if you’re okay with the IQOO brand then yes, go order IQOO 9 Pro otherwise, you can also take look at the newly launched Motorola Edge 30 Pro (review) or even Galaxy S22 Series.
IQOO 9 Pro Full Specifications
| Launch Date | 23 February 2022 |
| Release Date | 2nd March 2022 at Noon Via Amazon |
| Display | 6.78-inches 2K LTPO2 AMOLED 10-bit panel HDR 10+ 1500 nits Pick Brightness 518 PPI density |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 Pixels resolution |
| Dimensions | 164.8 x 75.2 x 8.8 or 8.9 mm |
| Display Protection | Panda Glass |
| Screen Refresh Rate | 120Hz Refresh Rate |
| Build | Glass front (Panda Glass), Aluminum Frame, Glass Back/Aramid fiber back |
| OS | Fun Touch OS 12 – Android 12 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm) |
| GPU | Adreno 730 |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510) |
| Storage | 8GB Ram + 256GB Storage 12GB Ram + 256GB Storage UFS 3.1 Storage LPDDR5 RAM |
| Card Slot | N0 |
| Rear Cameras | 50MP Primary Sensor (gimbal OIS) 50MP Ultra-Wide 16MP Telephoto Lens (2.5x) |
| Video | 8k@30fps 4k@30fps 1080p@30/60fps |
| Front Camera | 16MP |
| Video | 4k@30fps 1080p@30/60fps |
| 3.5mm Jack | No |
| Widevine L1 Support | Yes |
| Carrier aggregation | Yes |
| Stereo Speakers | Yes |
| Bluetooth Version | 5.2 |
| 5G Support | Yes |
| 5G Bands | 11 5G Bands n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28 n41, n66, n77, and n78 |
| NFC | Yes |
| IR Blaster | Yes |
| Sensors | Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Fingerprint Sensor | In-Display, ultrasonic |
| Battery | 4,700 (non-removable) |
| Charging Speed | 120W Wired Charging 50W Wireless Charging 10W Reverse wireless charging |
| Charging Time | 0% to 100% in 20 Minutes |
| Colors | Legend (White w/ BMW M branding), Dark Cruise, Orange |
| SAR Value | – |
| Benchmark Score | AnTuTu: 862324 (v8), 997948 (v9) GeekBench: 3708 (v5.1) GFXBench: 46fps (ES 3.1 onscreen) |
| Weight | 204 Gram |
| Price | 8GB Ram + 256GB storage: Rs 64,999 12GB Ram + 256GB storage: Rs 69,999 |
| In the box | IQOO 9 Pro 5G 120W Charge adapter USB Type-C Cable Phone case Screen protector SIM tray ejector Quick start guide Safety information |
| Available at | Amazon |
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