The iQOO Z6 Pro is yet another performance-oriented phone for the masses. Starting at Rs 23,999, the phone comes with a Snapdragon 778G  processor, 66W fast charging, and other features, which are geared towards gaming. Now I have used a number of phones running this same processor already, and all of them seem to target a particular use case. The Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G for instance, is a compact phone, while the Realme 9 5G SE is a gaming phone on a budget.

The iQOO Z6 Pro doesn’t seem to hit a particular string, and neither is it the most affordable phone with the chip. So should you care about this phone at all? Let’s find out.

iQOO Z6 Pro specs: 6.44-inch AMOLED 90Hz screen | Snapdragon 778G chip | 64MP + 8MP + 2MP camera, 16MP front camera | 4700mAh battery with 66W fast charging |

One of the first things noticeable about the iQOO Z6 Pro is a unique looking rear-design, complete with two large circles holding in the three camera sensors. The phone has a plastic body but the build quality is really nice and everything feels solid to the touch when using this.

Sadly, you still get an outdated water-drop notch design here on the front, which isn’t a deal-breaker. But a constant reminder of the past-generation design. Still, I found the phone’s rear design to be unique and something that will stand out.

This phone has a premium segment display at less than half the price, considering you get a FHD+ AMOLED screen with 90Hz refresh rate and 1300 nits peak brightness. A screen this bright is usually found in premium phones, so the inclusion here is welcome. As a result, the content you view, including videos, movies and even games look great on this panel.

Outdoor visibility was also unsurprisingly good and I had no issues using the phone outside through the sunny May days.  Although this is a phone for performance users and gamers, I was disappointed to find just 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling here. This means you will not be able to get the fastest touch response times with fast-paced games like Battlegrounds Mobile India.

While the phone is fairly quick with day-to-day use and handling multiple apps at once, it is the more resource-heavy stuff I was interested in as soon as I unboxed this phone. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. With games, both of the casual and resource-intensive variety, the iQOO Z6 Pro did not face any issues like overheating or skipped frames. While it’s not flagship-grade gaming, and some high-tier graphic settings remain locked, what you do get is a consistent gaming experience on titles like BGMI and Asphalt 9, which is great if you don’t take your games too seriously.

The Snapdragon 778G offered here is a tried and tested chip by this point, but also note that the phone doesn’t really offer much over other phones with the same processor especially when it comes to gaming.

FuntouchOS has improved a lot over the years, something I observed in particular with recent iQOO devices like the iQOO 9 Pro. The light skin brings useful features to users but nothing feels forced here. You have some bloatware and apps pushing out their own notifications, but then finding phones in this segment without these quirks has become difficult with most brands.

The good bit is that the phone comes out of the box with Android 12, which is great when we’re still dealing with a lot of phones launching with Android 11.

The iQOO Z6 Pro comes with an average set of cameras, which doesn’t see a lot of difference from the setup of the iQOO Z5 last year. While daylight shots offer good dynamic range and punchy colours, night time shots can be a hit-or-miss affair in terms of focus and noise.

The ultrawide camera is also no different from the multiple 8MP ultrawide cameras on the market, offering satisfying daytime shots and softer night shots with a lot of noise. The front camera was good at capturing skin tones and details accurately.

The iQOO Z6 Pro, though it features a smaller battery than the iQOO Z5, is still an all-day phone, although with faster 66W fast charging. You can also manage to charge this phone completely in under 45 minutes.

The iQOO Z6 Pro gets some crucial aspects wrong in my opinion. For a performance and gaming centric phone, the iQOO Z6 Pro misses out on stereo speakers and a 3.5mm jack, leaving you with only one option to enjoy music or media on this device – a good pair of wireless earphones or headphones.

Despite having a capable screen, the phone also doesn’t support HDR streaming on Netflix (although this may be fixed later on with an update).

The iQOO Z6 Pro is not a terrible overall package. It has the right specifications and performance. But it is a device which might not stand out against the competition. It doesn’t help that the phone has no standout features. If you’re looking for an upgrade from something like the iQOO Z5, know that you’d be getting few new additions like an AMOLED screen.

If a good Snapdragon 700-series phone is what you seek, the Realme 9 Speed Edition, the Samsung Galaxy M52 or the compact and premium-looking Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G, are all options running the same chipset.

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Chetan NayakChetan Nayak is a tech journalist working with indianexpress.com who l... read more