Launched a few weeks ago is the all-new iQOO Z6 5G presented as Vivo’s sub-brand to the Indian markets. The brand-new smartphone comes in 4GB, 6GB and 8GB RAM options with 128GB internal memory. Supporting the model is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (6nm) Octa-core processor with a 5,000mAh battery. The model also offers an AI triple camera system with a 50MP main camera. As we got our hands on the brand-new smartphone, we tried to dig deeper and test all its features thoroughly to verify whether it holds true to its name or not. Here is a complete inside out review of the iQOO Z6 smartphone, covering in detail everything from its packaging and design to its camera and CPU performance.
iQOO Z6 Review: Design and Display
To start with, the design of the packaging that the new iQOO Z6 5G smartphone model comes riding in impresses you quite a lot. Removing its unconventional yet fancy diagonal-slit lid fills you with childish excitement. The box is compact but heavy, considering the number of contents it carries. The new iQOO Z6 package comes with a USB-A to Type-C charging cable, a Vivo adapter, a transparent silicone cellphone case, a SIM ejector tool, a quick start guide and a warranty card. The smartphone is offered in two colours, Dynamo Black and Chromatic Blue, out of which we were able to get our hands on the latter.
Picking up the phone in your hand, you’ll feel its weight to be not too heavy but not too light either. Of course, you are greeted by your reflection visible in its shiny black display. Flip it over and you’ll meet its lustrous and elegant Chromatic Blue plastic back with a seemingly matte touch, whose colourful sparkle will reflect from your eyes. The triple-camera system along with the flashlight sits gracefully on a smooth black glass raised platform with a silver metallic frame in the top left corner, adding a sophisticated character to the smartphone. The silver iQOO brand engraving in the centre at the bottom completes the look of its back. In short, you’ll be as impressed with its body design as by its packaging.
The smartphone comes wrapped in a body-coloured plastic frame with a metallic finish to it. On the right side come fitted its volume button and a fingerprint sensor integrated power button. The SIM card tray lies on its top while at the bottom comes a 3.5mm jack, a Type-C port and the loudspeaker.
Upon bringing the iQOO Z6 smartphone to life, you’ll find the look and style of the display home screen to be quite sober. Its display is 6.58-inches in size with an 83.9% screen-to-body ratio. The 120Hz IPS LCD screen has a resolution of 1,080 x 2,408 pixels with a 20:9 aspect ratio and 401ppi density. You will be provided with button or gesture control options to choose from while setting up your device. The touch is feather-like and buttery smooth. However, some may find it difficult to get used to, due to its senseless touch experience.
Brightness has to be set to more than 60% for the display to be legible under direct sunlight. Colours appearing on the smartphone display have a perfect balance of contrast, saturation and vibrance. Watching TV series and movies on Netflix was decent in terms of display and sound quality. The experience of streaming videos on Youtube was also good. However, the maximum streaming quality offered in the Youtube app was up to 1080p at a 60fps rate only. Despite that, the vividness, clarity and colour range of the playback does a great job of appealing to the eyes.
The gaming experience on iQOO Z6 was also great. As observed while playing high-end games like Asphalt 9 Legends, the response to touch stimulus was quite smooth and swift while the graphics quality was commendable. Complementing the vivid video streaming and life-like gaming experience of the smartphone was its sound quality, which although seemed quite fair but could have been next-level if the phone supported stereo audio output.
Overall, the design of the iQOO Z6 is quite well thought out and mesmerising. It is perfect to take for a night out and will easily catch the attention of the crowd at a party. The display quality of the smartphone is also appreciable.
Read also: iQoo Neo 6 SE with 120Hz AMOLED display and triple rear cameras launched
iQOO Z6 Review: Performance and Cameras
Elaborating further on the review of the iQOO Z6 specs, the hybrid dual-SIM smartphone comes with a Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6 nm) chipset, an Octa-core processing unit and an Adreno 619 GPU. It is offered with 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM options in combination with 128GB internal storage. The device comes with Android 12 OS and a battery of capacity 5,000mAh. It supports 18W fast charging and gets fully charged in about 1.5 hours. Heavy usage of the phone can make its battery last for about a day while mild and moderate usage can make it run for more than that. The device also supports 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.1.
The fact that you get to enjoy Android 12 OS in a smartphone of its range is a big plus. The interface offered is quite decent and simple to use. Applications within the app drawer, however, could have been arranged better. Many unnecessary apps were found to be preinstalled on the smartphone. At the same time, popular OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime were found missing and had to be manually installed. There was no lag or app crash observed while using multiple applications simultaneously on the device. Switching between apps was also not a problem. The device also didn’t seem to get heated up easily upon usage for prolonged periods.
Coming to the iQOO Z6 camera review, its 50MP+2MP+2MP rear triple camera system coupled with the 16MP front camera does quite a splendid job for a smartphone of its range. Although the number of zoom modes supported is limited (a 1x and a 2x zoom), the capture quality remains consistent throughout. Moreover, both the zoom modes are supported with the video mode and even with the night mode. The selfie camera, Portrait mode and the 50MP mode do, however, miss out on it. Videos can be recorded in up to 1080p at a 60fps frame rate from the rear camera and in up to 1080p at 30fps from the front.
iQOO Z6 5G: Rear Camera Photo Mode Vs Portrait Mode
The normal ‘Photo’ mode from the rear camera works well. The shots appear close to reality in terms of the colour range and the details captured are amazing. The weight of blacks and whites increases in captures taken using the Portrait mode, reducing room for the mid-tones. Although this enhances the contrast element sharply in the images, they end up looking slightly unrealistic. But on the plus side, the Portrait mode is supported with a range of additional features like Bokeh, Beauty and Style. You can adjust each of your facial features in real-time via tools provided under the Beauty section whereas you get a range of pre-embedded filters to select from under the Style section. The range of choices provided for adjustment is quite impressive.
The selfie camera enhances your skin tone and slightly softens up details, hence resulting in taking great selfies. Speaking of the rear camera’s night mode, it does an amazing job at brightening up the shots taken in even extreme low light conditions. However, it misses out on details and the results may appear slightly blurry. On the plus slide, the selfie camera also supports night mode and even has an auto screen light feature that works just like a ring light and evenly distributes light and brightness across your face, unlike the regular flash feature in other smartphone cameras.
The 50MP mode for the rear camera clicks vivid pictures with great colour quality and well-captured details, whereas switching on the AI enhancement mode in the camera helps in optimising images according to frame scene.
Overall, the camera package offered with the smartphone is quite admirable in this price range.
Read also: iQoo Z6 Pro 5G and iQoo Z6 4G with AMOLED display launched in India
Verdict
Summing up, the all-new iQOO Z6 5G is a great choice as an upgrade over the regular feature phones. It not only offers a prominent body design with a pinch of glamour to it but also a good display and a quite appreciable camera quality. On the performance front as well, the smartphone works decently. Geekbench 5 gives it a single-core score of 647 and a multi-core score of 1859. Moreover, the model proves to be great for gaming, with the graphics quality provided.
One may feel the battery life could be slightly improved. The device also does miss out on aspects like a stereo audio output. But weighing the pros that the smartphone offers as compared to its cons, these can surely be overlooked. We would definitely recommend you to go for the iQOO Z6 smartphone in the price range that it is offered.
The iQOO Z6 5G price in India starts from Rs 13,999.
iQOO Z6 Pros
- Stylish Design
- Good Display
- Great Camera Quality
iQOO Z6 Cons
- No Stereo Audio Output
- Battery Life Could Be Improved
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