Vivo sub-brand iQOO had an excellent 2022 on the again of the iQOO 9 Pro and 10 Pro, and the model is aiming to proceed that momentum into 2023 with the introduction of the iQOO 11 collection. While the numbered collection is aimed on the high-end section — identical to the Vivo X collection — iQOO has the power to be a bit of extra adventurous in terms of designs and inner {hardware}. Given that iQOO as a model is catered towards a youthful viewers, this technique is sensible — it is what Xiaomi does with POCO.As a outcome, iQOO’s gadgets are inclined to have daring designs and supply thrilling {hardware}, and that is no completely different with the iQOO 11. The cellphone continues the model’s partnership with BMW and options an attention-grabbing design on the again, and it’s the first cellphone I’m utilizing to be powered by Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform. With the iQOO 11 launching simply six months after the iQOO 10 collection, not a complete lot has modified elsewhere — the iQOO 11 makes use of the identical 50MP digital camera, has the identical 120W quick charging tech, and is available in comparable storage configurations. But the addition of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 robotically makes the gadget that rather more attention-grabbing, and with the cellphone heading to India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in early 2023, there’s a whole lot of potential for the iQOO 11 to get some significant consideration in these markets.iQOO 11: Pricing and availability(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)iQOO unveiled the iQOO 11 and 11 Pro at a launch occasion in China on December 8, and each gadgets at the moment are on sale within the nation. A world launch is slated for January 10 in India, and iQOO has shared that the 11 collection will head to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand as effectively along with China and India. In China, the bottom mannequin retails for 3,799 RMB ($545). There is not as huge a distinction between the iQOO 11 and 11 Pro as earlier fashions; each telephones have the identical QHD+ 144Hz AMOLED panels with dynamic refresh and have Qualcomm’s newest silicon.The iQOO 11 Pro has extra versatile cameras because of the addition of a 50MP wide-angle lens, has a 4700mAh battery with 200W quick charging, and also you get wi-fi charging. The customary iQOO 11 will get an 8MP wide-angle lens, and it has a bigger 5000mAh battery however with 120W charging as a substitute. You additionally get 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of the newest UFS 4.0 storage with the iQOO 11, and truthfully, I do not see a tangible purpose for choosing up the 11 Pro over the usual mannequin this yr.iQOO 11: Design(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)iQOO differentiated its gadgets by partnering with BMW over the past two years, and that collaboration is unchanged for the iQOO 11 collection. The Legend variant of the iQOO 11 has a white end with BMW M livery on the again, and it seems to be actually good. iQOO says it went with a Clous de Paris sample for the three vertical bands that run throughout the again, and it makes the BMW livery stand out a bit of bit extra towards the white again.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)On that notice, the again itself is made out of vegan leather-based this time, and it’s beautiful. I like telephones with leather-based backs, and iQOO did an awesome job with the grain and end, and the iQOO 11 seems to be and appears like a high-end cellphone. The leather-based again is bolstered by a fiberglass end, and that provides a bit of extra sturdiness to the design.Dominating the design on the again is the outsized digital camera island; iQOO went with a steel housing for the island, and you will find two massive rings across the 50MP and 2x digital camera modules and a smaller ring for the 8MP wide-angle lens that is on the suitable. While the island is quite massive, it would not protrude an excessive amount of, so there is no noticeable wobble when utilizing the iQOO 11 on a flat floor.Image 1 of 7(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)To its credit score, iQOO is not getting on the flat cellphone bandwagon, with the iQOO 11 that includes easily curving sides on the again. The display screen is flat as effectively, and whereas the cellphone weighs 208g, it feels nice to carry and use. There’s additionally an IR blaster right here, a brand new addition for iQOO’s gadgets. At the underside, you may discover a SIM card tray that holds two SIM playing cards.iQOO 11: Screen(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)One of the most important adjustments with the iQOO 11 is the swap to a 6.78-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1440) AMOLED display screen with 144Hz refresh. This is similar panel that is utilized in iQOO’s Pro fashions, and the truth that it is now making its solution to the usual variant makes the iQOO 11 all of the extra engaging.The panel itself has vibrant colours and will get very brilliant in out of doors use, and there is a first rate quantity of customizability in terms of adjusting the colour steadiness. There’s dynamic refresh right here as effectively, with the cellphone capable of go right down to 1Hz for static content material and all the way in which to 144Hz when navigating the interface and shopping.There is stereo sound, however you do not get equivalent channels. The secondary channel is tucked above the display screen, and whereas it does make a distinction whereas streaming movies or gaming, the impact is not fairly as immersive because the likes of the Xiaomi 12 Pro.iQOO 11: Performance(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)For the second yr in a row, iQOO is without doubt one of the first producers to roll out a tool powered by the newest Qualcomm silicon. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 delivers first rate good points over the 8+ Gen 1, however I did not see any distinction in real-world use. That’s going to be the case for some time contemplating simply how highly effective the 8+ Gen 1 is in its personal proper.Qualcomm switched to a brand new quad-cluster design with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 that sees cores in a 1+2+2+3 configuration, with the transfer touted to supply important effectivity good points. As that is the primary Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-powered gadget I’m utilizing, I put it by means of a couple of artificial workloads to gauge the place it stands towards the 8+ Gen 1 and the A16 Bionic. I used the ASUS Zenfone 9 because the baseline for the 8+ Gen 1 and the iPhone 14 Pro for the A16 Bionic.Swipe to scroll horizontallyCategoryASUS Zenfone 9iQOO 11iPhone 14 ProCrossMark (Overall) 100810741328Productivity9679681299Creativity104211481517Responsiveness10361202950Geekbench 5.1 (single-core)131114741882Geekbench 5.1 (multi-core)4286476054003DMark Wild Life Extreme (rating)2801298833713DMark Wild Life Extreme (FPS)16.7517.920.2There’s a 11% improve in Geekbench scores over the 8+ Gen 1, and though Qualcomm tweaked a couple of issues for this technology, the 8 Gen 2 nonetheless would not measure as much as the A16 Bionic on this explicit space — iPhones proceed to have the outright lead. The iQOO 11 additionally has a slender lead in 3DMark, however as soon as once more, the A16 Bionic is dominant. That mentioned, you may discover first rate good points over the 8+ Gen 1, and that is an enormous deal in and of itself. As for real-world use, there is no such thing as a noticeable distinction when taking part in video games on the iQOO 11 versus a tool just like the Zenfone 9. What’s clear is that there’s greater than ample headroom on each platforms to ship the absolute best framerates whereas gaming, and I did not see any lag in any respect within the two weeks I used the iQOO 11. The similar holds true in day-to-day use; the {hardware} is overkill for many mundane duties like shopping and social media.The cellphone will get a bit of heat throughout gaming periods, however it’s on par with gadgets powered by the 8+ Gen 1 — I did not see something untoward on this space.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)On that notice, iQOO bundles 16GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage as customary for the iQOO 11, and the gadget will likely be offered in an 8GB/128GB configuration in choose markets. You additionally get first rate 5G connectivity over Sub-6 frequencies, and the cellphone has Wi-Fi 6 together with Bluetooth 5.3 — similar as its predecessor. There’s NFC and the AptX HD audio codec as effectively, and whereas you do not get a 3.5mm jack, the bundled USB-C to 3.5mm connector within the field is right if you wish to plug in wired audio gear to the iQOO 11.Rounding out the {hardware}, the iQOO 11 will get an x-axis vibration engine that delivers good suggestions, and though the in-screen module is not fairly as massive because the one on the iQOO 9 Pro, it’s dependable and quick to authenticate. The one problem I’ve with it’s that it sits a bit of decrease on the display screen — just like the OnePlus 9 collection — and it makes accessing the module a bit of unwieldy. On that notice, I might have favored to see some form of ingress safety right here, however that is nonetheless restricted to the perfect Samsung telephones. As for battery life, I simply acquired a day’s price of use out of the massive 5000mAh battery, and there is no want for any battery nervousness with this gadget. And once you do have to plug it in, the iQOO 11 prices at 120W. iQOO bundles a 120W charger within the field, and it doubles up as a 65W USB PD charger — a pleasant bonus.It takes simply 25 minutes to totally cost the gadget by way of the bundled charger, and a 15-minute cost will get you an astonishing 80% cost.iQOO 11: Cameras(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)iQOO has determined to play it protected on the digital camera entrance, with the iQOO 11 that includes the identical 50MP Samsung GN5 digital camera as its predecessor. The digital camera has 1.0um pixels and OIS, and it’s joined by a 13MP lens that provides 2x optical zoom and an 8MP wide-angle lens. Up entrance, you may discover a 16MP digital camera — once more, that is equivalent to what’s featured within the iQOO 9/10 collection.The digital camera interface hasn’t modified both, and is just like what you get on different gadgets. All the capturing modes are specified by a grid, and you may simply entry the three lenses by way of devoted toggles. You additionally get toggles for HDR, flash, beautify results, and a pure coloration mode that makes use of scene recognition to regulate coloration steadiness.Image 1 of 5(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)The GN5 module is a recognized amount at this level, and it produces vibrant pictures in daylight situations. Images taken outdoor have nice dynamic vary and good coloration accuracy, they usually’re not overly saturated. The digital camera takes wonderful pictures in low-light conditions as effectively, rendering good colours and managing highlights effectively. The iQOO 11 is ready to ship pictures with correct colours and wonderful element in scenes with various quantities of brightness. This was an issue on the iQOO 9 Pro because the cellphone tended to blow out highlights, however the iQOO fares significantly better.There’s not a lot in the way in which of seen noise at night time, and general, the principle digital camera on the iQOO 11 holds its personal on this class. The 2x lens additionally does a good sufficient job in its personal proper, producing pictures with good vibrancy and element. That mentioned, the wide-angle lens simply is not adequate for a mid-range cellphone; it would not have the identical coloration steadiness as the principle digital camera, and it would not measure up in low-light situations.If you do not thoughts the dearth of versatility, the iQOO 11 has lots to supply. But should you want a dependable wide-angle lens and the power to shoot at 5x or 10x zoom ranges, you may want to check out Xiaomi and Samsung’s choices.iQOO 11: Software(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)Vivo continues to make use of two software program interfaces, and the iQOO 11 runs Funtouch OS 13 based mostly on Android 13 in world markets. The Chinese variant comes with Origin OS as a substitute, and at this second, it is unlikely we’ll see a world launch of the pores and skin.Funtouch OS 13 hasn’t modified an excessive amount of, and the interface has brilliant colours and a contemporary design that appears good. One attention-grabbing level is that Vivo’s cellphone dialer is unbroken right here; most producers have gravitated to Google’s cellphone dialer and Android Messages for texts as the usual selection. Only Samsung and ASUS (and iQOO) proceed to bundle their very own dialers, and for what it is price, you may discover Google’s various accessible out of the field.(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)There’s no Material You aesthetic right here, and that is a letdown contemplating the dynamic coloration picker characteristic would have turn out to be useful. That mentioned, you get an ordinary notification shade with toggles and incoming notifications situated in the identical pane, and there is an app drawer that additionally doubles up as an inventory for all accessible widgets.You additionally get a ton of customizability right here, however the settings may use a bit of labor concerning categorization. There’s some bloatware as effectively, however most of it may be uninstalled with none problem. As for software program updates, iQOO says it should roll out two platform updates to the iQOO 11, which is one lower than the usual. For its half, iQOO is doing an excellent job with rolling out updates on time; the iQOO 9 Pro acquired the secure Android 13 launch in November, forward of a whole lot of its Chinese rivals.Funtouch 13 will get a whole lot of the fundamentals proper, nevertheless it wants a little bit of polish to make it nearly as good as MIUI 14 and ColorOS 13.iQOO 11: The competitors(Image credit score: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)There’s a whole lot of selection if you’d like a tool with high-end {hardware}. The iQOO 9 Pro continues to be a stellar various, and it has an identical design, similar cameras, 120W charging tech, and is simply as quick in every day use. It’s already on Android 13, and provided that the gadget has been accessible for some time, there are engaging offers available.The Xiaomi 12 Pro can be a good selection if you’d like the perfect cameras on this class. Xiaomi went with a extra mainstream design for the 12 Pro, however the fundamentals are rock-solid right here, and also you get a couple of extras like wi-fi charging. Of course, the Xiaomi 13 collection is now official in China and slated to make its solution to different markets shortly, and that is one other potential candidate to think about.iQOO 11: Should you purchase it?(Image credit score: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)You can purchase this if:You need a cellphone that can flip headsYou want a gaming cellphone that has the newest inner {hardware}You need a cellphone with a flat AMOLED panel and 144Hz refreshYou need a big battery and ultra-fast charging techYou should not purchase this if:You need a cellphone with IP68 ingress safetyYou want wi-fi chargingYou’re searching for versatile camerasiQOO nailed the basics with the iQOO 11; the cellphone has a vibrant 144Hz AMOLED display screen, and the truth that it’s a flat panel will likely be an enormous promoting level to people who don’t love curved screens. The 50MP digital camera takes nice pictures in any state of affairs, and whereas the auxiliary lenses aren’t fairly nearly as good, the principle digital camera by itself has lots to supply.The proven fact that this is without doubt one of the first telephones to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 makes it a gorgeous choice to prospects desirous to get their arms on the newest {hardware}, and it’s a improbable gaming cellphone. I just like the daring styling and the usage of vegan leather-based on the again as effectively — it makes the gadget a bit of extra distinctive towards the likes of the iQOO 9 Pro.The software program is best than earlier iterations, nevertheless it nonetheless wants a bit of labor, and iQOO ought to supply extra software program updates. The iQOO 11 is coming to markets the place there is no scarcity of rivalry on this class, however iQOO managed to do sufficient to make the cellphone stand out.