The global RAM shortage has forced smartphone manufacturers to hike the prices of their offerings. This has severely affected the midrange segment where customers are typically looking for the best ‘value for money’ deals. iQOO’s latest offering, Z11 Lite, skirts around this issue by making some key tradeoffs. Its base variant offers 4GB RAM to deal with the rising input costs. The good news is that you still get a big display, a 6,500mAh battery pack, expandable storage, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. We used the smartphone for a week to investigate whether it’s worth buying. Here is our review of the iQOO Z11 Lite.
Read Also: Dreame L50s Pro Ultra Review: The Efficient Robot Vacuum Cleaner
In This Article
iQOO Z11 Lite Review: Design and Display
Box Contents
- Smartphone
- 44W power adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- Clear plastic case
- SIM ejector
- Warranty card
- Quick start guide
The Z11 Lite has a minimal design with quiet aesthetics. The flat plastic back panel has individual cutouts for the primary and auxiliary lenses. Placed alongside these cutouts are the LED flash and Dynamic Light. The iQOO lettering is positioned at the bottom of the panel. The matte finish keeps fingerprints and smudges at bay. The flat form factor lends the device a nice in-hand feel, while the curved shape of the corners keeps them from digging into your palm.
The plastic frame houses the volume rocker and the side button on its right edge. The hybrid SIM tray (with microSD card support) is positioned on the opposite edge. At the bottom lie the primary microphone, USB-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack. The speaker grille finds its way to the top of the phone. There’s IP65 protection on board. The device is also compliant with MIL-STD-810H durability standards.
The 6.74-inch IPS LCD panel has a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach 1,200 nits in High Brightness Mode. It maintains decent legibility in outdoor conditions, but struggles under harsh sunlight. The touch response is fine for a device in the sub-Rs 20,000 price bracket. The bezels around the screen get thicker at the bottom. The selfie camera is housed in a dated waterdrop notch. There is no under-display optical sensor on offer here. The side button doubles as the fingerprint sensor.
The viewing experience on iQOO Z11 Lite is constrained by its LCD panel. While it produces rich visuals with vibrant colours, the punchiness and contrast levels don’t match that of an average AMOLED display. The solo speaker produces decent audio output, but there is a slight boxiness to the sound. The good news is that the smartphone has a 3.5mm headphone jack, so you don’t need to splurge on a TWS to access good quality audio.
iQOO Z11 Lite Review: Performance and Cameras
The MediaTek Dimensity 6300 SoC lies at the core of the Z11 Lite. This chipset is based on a 6nm process. The entry-level model comes with 4GB RAM due to the ongoing global RAM shortage. There are a total of 3 RAM and storage variants on offer:
- 4GB + 128GB: Rs 19,499
- 6GB + 128GB: Rs 21,499
6GB + 256GB: Rs 24,499
We ran a couple of benchmark tests on the device. Here is how it performed.
- AnTuTu 3D: 574,362
- Geekbench 6: 569 (single core) 1,380 (multi-core)
Despite low benchmark numbers, the Z11 Lite is able to summon enough power to coast through routine tasks like calling, instant messaging, web browsing, media streaming, and navigation. Apps take slightly longer to load, but switching among them does not cause any performance issues. We used the 6GB RAM variant for this review. The 4GB RAM base model may throw the odd jitter your way while multitasking.
The Dimensity 6300 processor is able to run gaming titles like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile on this device. The gameplay is fine as long as you restrict yourself to medium graphics and a 60fps rate. You are bound to run into the odd frame drop, but it is the exception rather than the norm. The smartphone does a good job of managing its internal temperature. We noticed the first signs of warmth along the back panel after crossing the 15-minute mark.
Software duties on the iQOO Z11 Lite are handled by Android 16 skinned with Vivo’s OriginOS 6. There are a handful of bloatware apps on the device. You also get V-Appstore’s ‘Games’ and ‘Apps’ ad sections disguised as app folders. Thankfully, all of the bloatware can be removed from the device. iQOO has promised 2 major OS updates and 4 years of security patches for this phone.
OriginOS 6 builds upon the foundation laid down by Vivo’s FunctouchOS. You get plenty of customisation options for the lock screen, home page, Always On Display (since the phone uses an LCD pane, the AOD pops up only when you tap the screen), app drawer, app icons, charging animation, face recognition, screen transition, and more. We also like the native wallpaper library on offer here.
The small Dynamic Light on the back comes to life when you receive an incoming call or notification, turn on the music, plug in the charger, or hit a low battery level. You can also customise it to serve as a countdown timer while taking pictures. There is no way to keep it active all the time.
The iQOO Z11 Lite also offers a handful of AI features. You can generate AI captions for the media playing on the device. The Notes app has AI tools to summarise documents and come up with new drafts based on your prompts. On top of that, you get Google’s Gemini Assistant. Circle to Search is curiously absent from the device.
The 6,500mAh battery pack can get you through a day of heavy use without any issues. It makes this device a reliable daily driver. You can rack up to 5-6 hours of daily screen time without worrying about reaching for the charger in the middle of the day. If you’re conservative with your usage, you can push the battery life to 1.5-2 days. The 44W power adapter provided in the box takes just over an hour to fully charge the phone.
The rear camera array comprises a 50MP primary shooter and an auxiliary lens. A 5MP front-facing camera is placed in a waterdrop notch on the display for selfie duties. The main camera is reliable in outdoor daylight conditions. It takes good, sharp images with vivid colours, nice contrast, and versatile dynamic range. You can rely on it to take a good shot as long as there is optimum natural lighting.
In limited lighting mode, the main camera relies on Night Mode to resolve the grain from the images and brighten up the shot. We like the results as they don’t feel overprocessed or glossy. As long as you have a reliable source of light, you won’t be disappointed with the results.
The Portrait Mode in the native camera app lets you capture images at 1x zoom level only. The smartphone does a decent job of recognising the subject’s boundaries and separating it from the background. However, it leaves more to be desired in terms of background blur. The selfies taken by the front-facing 5MP camera are clear, but fall on the softer side. The skin smoothing effect was a bit too strong for our liking, but that’s a subjective opinion. The front and rear cameras can record 1,080p videos at 30fps. There is no option for 4K video recording.
Read Also: Philips 6000 Series Steam Iron Review: 220g of Steam Boost Versus Your Most Stubborn Kurta
Verdict
Given the market conditions and soaring smartphone prices, the iQOO Z11 Lite is a decent deal at Rs 19,499. It packs enough power to serve as a reliable daily driver. The big 6.74-inch display is great for streaming content, even though it isn’t an AMOLED panel. The software experience is quite fun, largely due to the plethora of customisation options. The main camera delivers good pictures in natural and limited lighting. The 6,500mAh battery pack is the star of the show. It keeps battery anxiety at bay, and doesn’t take a long time to get topped up.
Pros
- Nice design
- Good main camera
- Big battery
- Expandable storage
- 3.5mm headphone jack
Cons
- LCD panel instead of AMOLED display
- Waterdrop notch on display
- No ultrawide lens
