iQOO, for those of you who don’t know, is a subsidiary of Chinese manufacturer Vivo, whose Parent company, in-turn is BBK Electronics. The first smartphone that iQOO launched here in India was the iQOO 3 , which quite surprisingly launched at a good price, considering what it came packed with. It was launched at 37K INR. But in a year’s time, the price’s has dropped significantly. It currently retails at 25K on Flipkart . iQOO 3 Shot on iPhone 5s (Blogger compression killed it -_-) Having got it on Flipkart, I’ve been using the iQOO 3 for about two weeks now and here’s my review of the same. Performance The iQOO 3’s got 2020’s flagship SoC, Snapdragon 865 . And just like any other flagship chip, this too performs exceptionally well. Day-to-day tasks are child’s play and graphically intensive tasks too are handled really well. For me, who previously used the Redmi 7, with the Snapdragon 632, this feels so much faster. What betters the experience is the 8 Gigabytes of DDR5 RAM...
This is the second post in the series "Which smartphone should you buy". There are so many options under a particular price range that, sometimes, the consumer gets confused on which one to buy. Here's a guide that may help you decide which one to buy.
NOTE : THE NUMBERING HERE ISN'T THE RANKING OF THESE SMARTPHONES
1) Firstly, we have the realme 6i :
The realme 6i was launched as an upgrade to the realme 5i. This is a fantastic upgrade on paper, as there is huge hike in the quality of specifications.
Some of it's highlights are :
- It comes with a 4300 mAH battery with support for 30W fast charging. But you only get the 20W charger in the box. The 30W charger to be bought separately. The battery life is decent.
- It has the MediaTek Helio G90T, which is most powerful chipset out there in this price segment. It outperforms the likes of Snapdragon 720G and 730G when comes to Graphically intensive tasks. As it is built on a 12NM fabrication process, the battery consumption might be a tad higher than the 720G and 730G.
- Next up, cameras : The realme 6i has comes with a Quad Camera setup : The first one being a 48 Megapixel f/1.8 lens that takes amazing shots in well lit surroundings. It also has a dedicated night mode that captures decent images even in low light. The second camera here is an 8 Megapixel f/2.3 Ultra-wide angle lens with a FOV of 119°. The third one is a dept sensor and finally a 2 Megapixel Macro Camera.
- One more big highlight of this smartphone is the display : It comes with an IPS LCD Full HD+ panel with a refresh rate of 90Hz, which is very rare in this price segment,combined with the realme UI provides super smooth experience.
- Price : 4GB + 64GB - 12999 INR and 6GB + 64GB - 14999 INR
Image Courtesy: GSMArena
2) The second one on our list is the Redmi Note 9 Pro :
Some of the highlights :
- The Redmi Note 9 Pro comes with a 5020 mAH battery with support for 18W fast charging. The capacity is really good, but faster charging would have been better.
- This comes with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 720G SoC, which is one of the efficient ones in the present lot. The 720G provides amaing CPU performance with zero-lag in day-to-day tasks. The GPU here(Adreno A618 ) though, is good, but not as good as the G90T, which provides amazing GPU performance.
- Cameras : The Note 9 Pro has a Quad Camera setup : A 48 Megapixel f/1.79 primary, an 8 Megapixel Ultra-wide, a 5 Megapixel macro and a 2 Megapixel Dept Sensor. The primary here, takes really good shots, same as the 6i. The ultra-wide angle lens, with a FOV of 119° also takes good shots but with a compromise in detail.
- One more advantage over the 6i is the Glass Back, that too Gorilla Glass 5, which gives better resistance when compared to plastic.
- Price : 13999 INR
Image Courtesy: Mi.com
This one's for you if have a budget of 12K to 13K INR.
Some of its highlights are :
- The Narzo 10 was launched alongside the Narzo 10A focusing on the performance for the people who are into gaming in a budget.
- It has MediaTek's Helio G80 processor, which is insane for this price segment. The day-to-day tasks are just cake walk for the G80 and it also handles graphically intensive tasks really well. You can have a great, uninterrupted gaming experience. As it is a 12NM chipset, it might consume a bit more power when compared to the likes of Snapdragon 720G.
- It has a 5000 mAH battery, which, combined with realme UI gives great battery life. And if the battery runs out of juice, the 18W fast charger is ready to go.
- Cameras : It comes with a Quad-Camera setup - A 48 Megapixel f/1.8 primary camera ; An 8 Megapixel f/2.3 Ultra-wide angle lens with a FOV of 119° ; A 2 Megapixel dept sensor and a 2 Megapixel Macro. It also has a 16 Megapixel selfie shooter which takes good shots in well lit surroundings.
- Price : 11999 INR
Image Courtesy: Gizmochina
Some of its highlights are :
- First up, battery: This has a massive 6000 mAH battery, which can easily last a day and a half with moderate usage. It is also paired with an 15W fast charger.
- The Samsung M21 comes with Samsung's own Exynos 9611, which is now coming even in their 20000 INR smartphones (M31s). It gets through day-to-day tasks easily. The GPU performance here though, may not be as good as the G80 or the 720G, but it's good.
- Cameras : The M21 comes with a triple camera setup : A 48 Megapixel Primary, an 8 Megapixel Ultra-wide, and a 5 MP Dept Sensor, all of which capture great shots. The front camera here is 20 MP with an f/2.2 aperture, which is an upgrade over all mentioned above.
- One more upgrade over the others, is the display : The M21 has an Amoled display, which none other smartphone has in this price bracket.
- Price : 14499 INR
Image Courtesy: Amazon.in
FINAL VERDICT :
- If you are into gaming and other graphically intensive takes and also interested in mobile photography : REALME 6i
- If you are a gamer and want an efficient proccesor but with a little compromise in GPU and do not care Software experience : REDMI NOTE 9 PRO
- If you are just a casual gamer and want your day-to-day tasks to go on smoothly : NARZO 10
- If you aren't a gamer. Just casual tasks and more into photography. All of this from a non-Chinese brand : SAMSUNG M21
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