vivo iQOO 3 hands-on review

Introduction

It might be slow and often overshadowed, but the expansion of the mobile gaming niche is definitely strong and steady. Thankfully, we're now past the point of just slapping a "gaming" badge on any old handset and calling it a day.

Catering to a demanding crowd takes actual innovation and tangible improvements. Something that is often hard to balance with a sensible price tag, as made painfully obvious by ultimate devices, like the Asus ROG Phone II.

vivo iQOO 3 specs

• Body: Corning Gorilla Glass 6 front, aluminum frame
• Screen: 6.44-inch Super AMOLED, 1080 x 2400px, 409ppi; HDR10+ certified; 60Hz refresh, 180Hz touch-sensing
• Rear camera: Primary: 48MP f/1.8, 1/2.0", PDAF; Telephoto: 13 MP, f/2.5, 50mm, PDAF, 2x optical zoom; Ultra-wide: 13 MP, f/2.2, 16mm AF; 2MP, f/2.4 depth sensor; LED flash; 2160p@30fps video recording, gyro-EIS
• Front camera: 16MP, f/2.5
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 (7 nm+): Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585), Adreno 650
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 128GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1
• OS: Android 10; iQOO UI 1.0
• Battery: 4,400mAh, 55W Super FlashCharge 2.0 fast charging
• Connectivity: 5G (only on the 256GB 12GB variant in India), Dual SIM, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ax/ax, dual GPS, USB-C;
• Misc: Monster Touch Buttons capacitive triggers, 4D vibration, In-display fingerprint reader, AK4377A independent audio chip with Hi-Res audio certification

A tough challenge for sure, but not an insurmountable one. Vivo's iQOO sub-brand has been trying its best to achieve just that over the last year or so. The iQOO 3 is the latest product in the line. We had the pleasure of getting some hands-on time with it at today's India launch event and already have a few early impressions to share.