In fact, IQOO can be called Xiaomi’s answer to their POCO – these are smartphones initially sharpened for performance, without a pronounced gaming specialization like the ASUS ROG Phone or Infinix GT, for example. But if you imagine the table of characteristics as a scale, then the “bowl” with the columns “hardware platform”, “memory” and “battery” obviously outweighs the one with the camera, for example. IQOO Neo 10 is a very bright representative of this kind (bright in all respects, by the way), but it is important not to overdo it with the imbalance or at least roll out the performance so that you don’t want to think about anything else.
Let’s see if vivo/IQOO succeeded, and we will note again that the Chinese company seems to be gradually shifting its focus from the “parent” brand to its sub-brand, as if trying, if not to start from scratch, then at least to organize a redistribution of market shares with the help of a fresh name.
⇡#Specifications
⇡#Design
The IQOO Neo 10 is designed in a seemingly strict manner (the square camera block coupled with the rectangular shape of the case creates a calm image), but at the same time it is not devoid of playfulness, emphasizing the status of the device, which is still largely aimed at gamers.
More precisely, the designers of IQOO Neo 10 tried to sit on two chairs here – the beige and black versions of the smartphone do not carry any provocative charge, and the orange one, which we got for testing, on the contrary, makes a very fresh, lively impression. At the same time, without the gamer spirit with aggression and luminous elements typical of gaming accessories and devices.
IQOO Neo 10 in a complete case
But it is curious that, having released a gadget with a bright case, the manufacturer included a case made of black opaque silicone, hiding the beautiful case from prying eyes.
IQOO Neo 10, front panel: at the top of the screen in the center is the front camera in an individual hole, slightly higher is the speaker
The dimensions of the IQOO Neo 10 are quite impressive: a 6.78-inch screen, weight 206 grams. Interestingly, the case is not too thick (8.1 mm), and this is a bit unexpected, considering the battery capacity (7000 mAh). Of course, holding the smartphone in your hand is still not very comfortable – the combination of a flat screen, flat edges and serious dimensions does not allow you to count on it. But the Neo 10 does not fall outside the expected limits. As they say, it is not us – life (the fashion for “shovels”) is like that.
IQOO Neo 10, rear panel: in the left corner there is a square block with two cameras and a ring flash
The manufacturer claims that the case is certified according to the MIL-STD-810H standard, which means that the smartphone can supposedly withstand operation in harsh conditions – but with an asterisk “we do not guarantee”. There is also moisture protection, but only IP65 (it is well protected from dust, but you cannot immerse it in water – it will only survive rain and touching with wet fingers), in our time, when everyone and their dog flaunts IP68/IP69 certification, it is even a little unimpressive.
IQOO Neo 10, left side without functional elements
IQOO Neo 10, right edge: power key and volume/camera shutter key
The materials are also a bit flimsy. The front panel is covered with tempered glass (the brand is not named, most likely it is Schott, as is usual with vivo/IQOO), but the edges and the back are made of matte plastic. The smartphone turned out to be very nice and quite pleasant to the touch, in fact, but it does not flaunt “premium”.
IQOO Neo 10, top edge: microphone and speaker hole
IQOO Neo 10, bottom edge: slot for two nano-SIM cards, microphone, USB Type-C port, speaker
The functional elements are extremely traditional: there is no mini-jack, the keys are standard, without additional hardware parts on the case. We note the presence of an IR port.
⇡#Software
IQOO Neo 10 runs on Android 15 OS with Funtouch OS 15 shell. We talked about it in sufficient detail in the IQOO 13 review. Here I will simply repeat – this is a neat-looking and moderately functional shell, in which everything is carefully Russified (5-6 years ago vivo had problems with this, now – no), but at the same time it seems a little archaic. At first you try to figure out where this feeling comes from, but then you understand – the whole point is that nothing hints at the neural networks present “under the hood”. Even the standard and, it would seem, ubiquitous “Circle and find” function is missing.
Everything seems to be the old-fashioned way, although there are some intelligent functions, like dynamic desktop wallpapers that “count” steps in a graphic style – for example, you can virtually “go to the mountains” or open a flower bud, completing a given goal step by step.
The main specifics of Funtouch have remained unchanged for many generations: many proprietary applications (audio and video players, its own V-Appstore application store (with Google Play available, of course), notes, vivoCloud cloud, EasyShare system for transferring information between smartphones, file manager, gallery), even more recommended applications in separate folders (but you don’t even have to install them), a quick access sidebar and various animations. The far left screen is occupied by the Google Now feed this time, and not the proprietary Jovi Home interface – it can be called up separately through the application if desired. The shell works very quickly, I didn’t notice any failures during testing (a little over a week). It takes up 20 GB of memory. They promise up to 3 years of system updates and up to 4 years of security updates.
The fingerprint scanner is located under the screen, an optical sensor is used – that is, the smartphone can withstand the touch of wet fingers, but it will not recognize fingerprints in this case. As is usually the case with screen scanners on mid-range smartphones, it is located too close to the bottom edge of the display, you have to grab the gadget in your hand to reach it with your finger. There is no tactile confirmation of operation. It does not work very quickly, but it is stable. If desired, the scanner can be duplicated using a face recognition system using a front camera without a depth sensor.
⇡#Display and sound
The IQOO Neo 10 has a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2800 × 1260 pixels. The pixel density is 453 ppi. Moreover, support for a refresh rate of 144 Hz is declared. In terms of its characteristics, the Neo 10 screen surpasses almost everything that we can find in the price range of this smartphone, where it is extremely rare for someone to go beyond the Full HD+ resolution, not to mention such a high refresh rate.
And yes, unlike the same IQOO 13, the increased frequency in Neo 10 is actually supported in games – not 144 Hz, of course (only a few applications and games are compatible with it on mobile systems now), but 120 Hz is there – though not everywhere; for example, in Genshin Impact only 60 Hz, in PUBG Mobile 90 Hz maximum, but in CoD Mobile there is still a full 120 Hz. I will add that the frequency is adjusted either automatically, or you can manually set 144 Hz – in this case, however, it will constantly “sag” to 120 Hz, and in video – to 60 Hz. And this is normal. The PWM frequency is 4320 Hz, that is, you will definitely not notice flickering at low brightness values.
The measured brightness level (measurements are taken indoors with artificial light, LED lamps) was 599 cd/m2 – an average result, but the declared peak brightness is 2000 cd/m2 (in the high brightness mode). In the sun, the display behaves confidently, there is no lack of brightness, the picture does not sag in colors.
In addition to the standard operations (change font style, font size, adjust auto brightness), the image settings have interesting settings in the eye protection mode – you can adjust the intensity of this mode (with warmer tones to reduce eye fatigue). There are a couple of picture enhancement functions (increasing contrast and increasing resolution). There are also options for adjusting color rendering. Three color presets are available: standard, bright and professional, as well as color temperature adjustment. I measured the color rendering of the IQOO Neo 10 screen with standard, professional and bright presets at the default color temperature. There is also an option to automatically adjust color rendering to external lighting, but there is no point in measuring color rendering with this parameter.
IQOO Neo 10, gamma in standard color rendering mode. Yellow line – IQOO Neo 10 indicators, dotted line – reference gamma
IQOO Neo 10, color temperature in standard color rendering mode. Blue line – IQOO Neo 10 indicators, dotted line – reference temperature
IQOO Neo 10, color gamut in standard color rendering mode. Gray triangle – DCI-P3 gamut, white triangle – IQOO Neo 10 gamut
The color space in standard mode exactly matches the DCI-P3 coverage, even with a slight excess. The average grayscale gamma is normal – 2.20. The color temperature is slightly elevated – 7,000-7,500 K with a standard of 6,500 K. The average DeltaE deviation for the extended Color Checker palette (grayscale + wide range of color shades) is 3.39 with a standard of 3 and a reference value of 2.
IQOO Neo 10, gamut in bright color rendering mode. Yellow line – IQOO Neo 10 indicators, dotted line – reference gamut
IQOO Neo 10, color temperature in bright color rendering mode. Blue line – IQOO Neo 10 indicators, dotted line – reference temperature
IQOO Neo 10, color gamut in vivid color mode. Gray triangle – DCI-P3 gamut, white triangle – IQOO Neo 10 gamut
In the bright mode, the color space expands slightly, exceeding the DCI-P3 standard even more. The gamma increases slightly, but does not go beyond the norm – 2.27. The color temperature is the same. The average DeltaE deviation according to the Color Checker table is 3.02 – close to the norm.
IQOO Neo 10, gamma in professional color rendering mode. Yellow line – IQOO Neo 10 indicators, dotted line – reference gamma
IQOO Neo 10, color temperature in professional color rendering mode. Blue line – IQOO Neo 10 indicators, dotted line – reference temperature
IQOO Neo 10, color gamut in professional color rendering mode. Gray triangle – sRGB gamut, white triangle – IQOO Neo 10 gamut
In professional mode, the color space narrows to sRGB, the gamma decreases to 2.18, the color temperature already corresponds to the standard. Well, the average DeltaE deviation for the extended Color Checker palette is 0.90 – an excellent level. In general, the IQOO Neo 10 display is configured very well.
There is no mini-jack here, of course. The smartphone transmits information wirelessly and with high quality: Bluetooth 5.4 with support for LDAC, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive profiles. The smartphone has stereo speakers, a conversational speaker works in tandem with a dedicated one located on the bottom edge, but there is a grill that outputs sound from it to the top edge, so there are no problems with sound positioning.
⇡#«Iron and performance
The IQOO Neo 10 actually debuts the Qualcomm hardware platform of the pre-flagship level — Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. Interestingly, it is not 8s Elite, but Gen 4 — it seems that the manufacturer has somewhat overcomplicated the method of naming its processors.
Moreover, architecturally it has almost nothing in common with 8 Elite. It is much closer to Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with its traditional ARM cores, but there are some nuances. So, as usual, it has eight computing cores, divided in this case into three clusters: one high-performance ARM Cortex-X4 with a frequency of 3.2 GHz, three “medium” ARM Cortex-A720 with a frequency of 3.0 GHz and four conditionally “energy-efficient” ARM Cortex-A720 with a frequency of 2.0 GHz. Yes, yes, the A720 is also responsible for the simplest tasks, and this, of course, is a surprise. The graphics subsystem is Adreno 830 with a clock frequency of 1.1 GHz and support for hardware acceleration of ray tracing. The instruction set is ARMv9.2-A. The platform is assembled at TSMC factories.
The platform also comes with a Q1 coprocessor, which is said to be capable of delivering higher refresh rates and frame rates in games (as if the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4’s base power wasn’t enough).
The screenshots failed to capture the screen refresh rate. On the left it is 120 Hz, on the right – 90 Hz
Well, the IQOO Neo 10 really plays its trump card with increased performance without hesitation. In its price category, the smartphone, in fact, has no competitors even close. Even mid-priced gaming smartphones, like the Infinix GT 20 Pro, lag behind quite seriously – in some benchmarks, as much as twice! Another thing is that it is quite difficult to see this colossal advantage in games with your own eyes. Yes, in Call of Duty Mobile the smartphone confidently works at 120 Hz and 120 frames per second, but in PUBG Mobile its limit is 90 Hz and 90 frames per second. For example, realme 14 5G with a weaker platform still “squeezes” a little more. In graphically more advanced projects, like Genshin Impact, the IQOO Neo 10 has an advantage, but not as noticeable as it might seem when looking at the numbers. We can talk primarily about a more serious reserve of power for years to come than about specific advantages right now.
What is no less important than pure power, the IQOO Neo 10 has good cooling. Yes, we still record a certain throttling (up to 30% in some resource tests), but the case remains warm, not hot (in AnTuTu, for example, the temperature increased by only 4 degrees during testing), and with such a performance reserve, such a level of throttling does not bother us – in any case, it is enough for large and long-term tasks.
The platform, of course, supports the fastest current memory: here are UFS 4.1 standard drives (with a capacity of 256 or 512 GB; there is also a version with 128 GB of memory, there is a slower drive – but this version is not officially available in Russia) and LPDDR5x RAM (from 8 to 16 GB – all options are available in Russia) with the ability to expand at the expense of the drive. There is no memory card slot, as usual. We tested the 16+512 GB version.
⇡#Communications and wireless communications
IQOO Neo 10 has both a 5G modem and a 4G modem – all the necessary ranges are supported in the case of LTE, there are no questions about the speed either (5G is not relevant in Russia yet, but if this information is relevant for you personally – the list of ranges is in the specifications table). There is VoLTE, but eSIM, unfortunately, is not supported. There are two physical slots, for nano-SIM cards.
IQOO Neo 10, dual nano-SIM slot
A set of wireless modules: Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/6/7, NFC, infrared. The navigation module works with dual-channel GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC.
Camera
As I wrote at the beginning, the accents in IQOO smartphones are clearly placed: first place is performance, then the camera. And in Neo 10, despite the price range of 35,000-45,000 rubles, we see only two rear cameras responsible for two focal lengths. They did not add a macro camera or a conditional “depth sensor” for the sake of quantity.
On the left is a photo with a base resolution of 12 MP, on the right is a photo with a maximum resolution of 50 MP
The main camera allows you to shoot with increased resolution – by default, an image is produced with a resolution of 12.5 megapixels. As usual, we do not see a real increase in detail due to the low resolution of the optics, but the file sizes increase significantly, quickly filling up the device’s memory.
Left to right: Wide angle, standard focal length and 2x hybrid zoom
The use of a Quad Bayer sensor is, of course, not necessary for 50-megapixel shots (this option is secondary), but for the possibility of using a two-fold “hybrid” zoom (due to the crop from a shot taken with the maximum resolution). Here it is implemented averagely, let’s say – the picture does not sag in colors or dynamic range, there is no critical increase in contour sharpness, but you can often notice compensation for insufficient detail by drawing in details using neural networks – a very characteristic “AI shading” appears. The quality of the picture also seriously sags at night, although the mode remains operational.
With a standard focal length, the IQOO Neo 10 shoots well: high sharpness, without oversharpening; the camera confidently copes with night scenes, too – the high aperture in combination with the optical stabilizer helps. The only complaint about the main camera of the smartphone is the slightly cold colors. They are typical for all available focal lengths, such is the way of working with color rendition. This can be corrected by choosing one of the three shooting “profiles”, but more on that below. Well, at night, both cameras glare a lot with bright light sources in the frame.
The wide-angle camera allows you to get a fairly sharp picture in ideal lighting conditions – not too blurry even at the edges of the frame, but the viewing angle here is not very wide, so I don’t see any point in deceiving myself too much about this. The colors are even paler, the camera is noticeably lost at night, the image, which is not the sharpest (8 megapixels after all), is seriously lacking in detail – while the percentage of successful shots without blur is quite high.
On the left – a snapshot in normal mode, on the right – at night
There is a specialized night mode that works with all three basic focal lengths. It is activated by default even when shooting in the basic mode in low light, it will just be a slightly shorter shutter speed. If you want more detailed, but also more “over-compressed” (the effect of post-processing is clearly visible) photos – turn on the special night mode. It makes the image sharper, with a better balance between light and dark areas of the frame, but the picture becomes more “over-compressed” and artifacts may appear.
In place are the brand’s signature night filters for smartphones – they can be found on other smartphones of the BBK concern (OPPO, realme, OnePlus), but vivo has always had more of them, and the IQOO Neo 10 has an order here too – 10 filters. Above are examples of nine out of ten filters presented.
There are also regular filters that tint the image in different ways. Two are highlighted in the “styles” subsection – black and white with rough contrast and “vintage”, simulating a retro photo with a worn effect, characteristic colors and inscriptions around the perimeter. Another 11 are regular tinting. Examples are in the gallery above.
The portrait mode here is quite interesting. There is software background blur (artificial bokeh is adjustable in the range from f/0.95 to f/16) and retouching (with the ability to adjust individual zones of its impact – from skin smoothing to correction of individual facial features). Basic filters have been replaced by “Styles”, which are designed primarily to imitate professional portrait photography in different lighting conditions and on different cameras (natural, textured, high sharpness, vintage, etc.) – in fact, it is better to select them for specific shooting conditions; this also applies to regular filters, but in this case – especially. Several styles, in particular, are suitable only for shooting portraits at night with a flash. There are also three different bokeh patterns. There are three focal lengths: a 1.5x zoom has been added to the standard for the main camera and a 2x zoom, simulating optics with a classic focal length of 35 mm. Both in terms of the set of options and the quality of shooting (correct sharpness on the model, quite good blur with almost no artifacts, pleasant skin tone) – a very high level, which you don’t even expect from a smartphone, for which the value of photography, in fact, is not declared. By the way, a large circular flash is used here, but with single-color diodes, this is not the Aura flash, like in vivo V30.
From left to right: vibrant profile, textured, natural
As I noted above, there are three image “profiles” – in addition to all the filters and “styles”. They are not optional, you always need to choose one of the three options for working with color and light. By default, the smartphone shoots in a bright profile: slightly embellished colors, but natural shades, normal exposure and saturation. In textured mode, vignetting is added, exposure is reduced, detail is added. In natural mode, the colors are as close to reality as possible, but with a colder shade, exposure is increased, the picture seems to be brighter (unlike the bright profile).
The camera app is quite well organized, and this time it does without any specifics like modes hidden in unusual places. Everything is expected, except that you can miss the presence of filters by selecting the corresponding icon and finding only “styles” there — there are just two tabs in this submenu. The set of modes is more or less familiar: in addition to those already mentioned, there is document shooting, a mode with manual settings (and the ability to shoot in RAW), panorama, slow-motion and interval shooting, long exposure shooting (you need a tripod or a sturdy support), the “Supermoon” mode (in it, the Moon is “drawn” in post-processing) and a simulation of the “Fisheye” lens.
The IQOO Neo 10 smartphone can shoot 4K video at up to 60 frames per second, but only on the main camera. The wide-angle is limited to shooting Full HD video at 30 frames per second. Accordingly, you can only switch between cameras when shooting at this resolution, and you can do it quickly by selecting the icon with the corresponding focal length, and not just using the not very responsive slider. The bells and whistles include various filters (including those simulating cinematic color correction – this format is called “Cinema Effect”), background blur and retouching for portrait video – all this works when shooting video in Full HD at 30 frames per second. There is stabilization, it works by default and works quite effectively (although when walking, the picture noticeably “floats”), but you can turn on the enhanced mode (here – “Ultra”), which only works at Full HD resolution. The quality of the shooting is decent, but the picture is still a bit noisy – especially with a 2x zoom. The availability of 4K 60p shooting is pleasing, which is not always the case in smartphones of the price category to which the IQOO Neo 10 belongs, but it is a little disappointing that this can only be done with the main camera.
⇡#Offline work
The IQOO Neo 10 has a 26.6 Wh (7000 mAh, 3.8 V) battery. And the combination of battery capacity and the relative thinness of the device makes it clear that this is a silicon-carbon battery. And it is also clear that the smartphone has excellent battery life, that is, it could have screwed up with the shell, spending too much energy on trifles, or something like that, but the creators of the smartphone did not screw up – and it easily holds a charge for a day under standard load, and it also “lives” for a long time in games.
In our test with Full HD video playback at maximum brightness, with Wi-Fi enabled, the IQOO Neo 10 lasted more than a day (26 hours 5 minutes, to be exact) – an excellent result.
The IQOO Neo 10 comes with a 120W adapter, which can charge the smartphone from 0 to 100% in about 37-38 minutes. Moreover, charging with a power of up to 100W is supported, not necessarily with a branded one, but with any Power Delivery adapter of similar power. There is reverse charging (via cable). The only thing missing is wireless charging.
⇡#Conclusion
IQOO Neo 10 manages to surprise first of all with a solid lead over competitors in performance, it is a really powerful smartphone, and also with a fast screen with 2K resolution. The picture is completed by a very capacious battery with support for very fast charging. It sounds like a smartphone for gamers – there is also a special chip, and a special mode in the settings … while IQOO Neo 10 does not hint at this hypostasis in any way and generally manages to maintain a relative balance in characteristics.
Yes, the camera does not have optical zoom, and the wide-angle module is frankly weak, but the main camera shoots great. The front camera is also not bad, and even supports 4K video recording. The design is pleasant. The screen is configured gorgeously. It seems that vivo may well be able to “reset” the situation on the market if devices with a similar combination of price and quality are released under the IQOO brand.
Advantages:
- Nice design (in orange version);
- A well-tuned, large AMOLED display with 144Hz support (but in games it works at 90-120Hz, as a rule);
- Good picture quality on the main back chamber;
- Extensive capabilities and high quality when shooting portraits;
- A good front camera with the option to record 4K video;
- The most powerful hardware platform in its class – with high-quality cooling;
- Stereo speakers;
- Excellent battery life and very fast charging.
Disadvantages:
- The body is protected according to the IP65 standard – competitors, as a rule, have IP67 to IP69;
- No memory card slot or mini-jack;
- No optical zoom;
- Low quality of shooting with a wide-angle module;
- The smartphone is very heavy;
- No wireless charging.