iQoo Z3 review: What makes or breaks this sub-20K phone [read now]

iQoo is making itself known in the Indian smartphone market and the latest addition to its 5G-family of smartphones is the iQoo Z3. Targeted towards the mid-range shoppers in India, the iQoo Z3 positions itself in a quiet competitive price segment, which is well dominated by Xiaomi, Realme, Samsung, OnePlus and its own Vivo.

iQoo Z3 follows the success of iQoo 7 and iQoo 7 Legend, which have been critically-acclaimed phones in the sub-40K segment. iQoo Z3 doesn't exactly trail below Rs 20K, but its base model costs Rs 20,000 and the higher-end variant goes as high as Rs 22,990, which is a fair hike for a RAM and storage bump.

6GB+128GB: Rs 19,990

6GB+256GB: Rs 20,990

8GB+256GB: Rs 22,990

There are no exclusive colours as both Cyber Blue (one with gradient finish) and Ace Black can be picked regardless of the variant you choose. Here's our review of the high-end Cyber Blue variant of the iQoo Z3.

Design and Display

The thirst to quest on and on doesn't quite reflect on the design of the iQoo Z3. It's not a bad looking phone in any way, but it doesn't stand out in the crowd, which might be crucial for Vivo's sub-brand in order to shine. The handheld feel is good, weight distribution is even and the phone doesn't feel bulky or heavy.

The rear panel and the frame of the phone are made of plastic, but the smooth finishing will trick you easily into thinking it is frosted glass. Despite plastic, the gradient back panel picked up smudges, visible at side viewing angles, and the display panel, which lacks oleophobic coating, got smudged quite easily.

The power/lock button and volume controls are placed on a flat surface on an otherwise rounded right side of the phone, the USB Type-C port, 3.5mm jack and speaker are placed at the bottom. The SIM card tray is placed on the top. The sharp lines on the frame are hard to miss, which is sort of a signature design in Vivo phones. Even the iQoo branding is subtle, like on the Vivo phones and the cameras are placed inside a prominent module on the top left of the back panel.

The display on the iQoo Z3 is a 6.58-inch IPS LCD panel, which is as old as the waterdrop notch at the top. There's a chin, which is prominent, but with time, you'll get used to both these classics. As for your viewing pleasure, the Z3's display is not AMOLED for starters. But there's HDR (for YouTube) and Widevine L1 certification (for HD streaming on Netflix, Prime, OTTs). There were no complaints with the brightness of the display but put it next to an AMOLED display and you'll start noticing what you're missing.

Cameras

iQoo Z3 features a triple camera setup, combining 64MP Samsung ISOCELL GW3 sensor, 8MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro sensors. On the front is a 16MP shooter for selfies.

The output on the iQoo Z3 is strong on the portrait shots and while using the primary sensor. But there are a few misses. Details are amiss in low-light shots, and even in good lighting, the photos evidently miss details when zoomed in. There's some artificial retouching at work. The dynamic range is good, but colour saturation is on the higher side. In case of videos, the output is good, but the lack of OIS shows instability. Macro shots require effort, but if you can get the focusing right under good lighting, the close-ups are not too bad.

Performance

iQoo Z3 is positioned as a high-performing device and it knows how to handle its tasks. From gaming in high graphics to daily tasks, the Z3 managed them all well. We didn't notice any major lags nor there was any heating while playing games for extended periods of time. The 120Hz refresh rate with 240Hz touch sampling kicks in effectively in intense gaming sessions and makes the gaming output quite smooth.

The Snapdragon 768G is a new chipset from Qualcomm's stable and iQoo Z3 currently wears the exclusive tag for the chip, though it may not be for long. The 8GB RAM model gets 3GB extended RAM feature, which can be used when needed and it comes in quite handy if your tasks demand heavy multi-tasking. The positioning of the fingerprint sensor on the power button will require retraining your muscle memory and we didn't quite get the hang of it during our review period. But in terms of efficiency, the fingerprint sensor works fast and accurately.

Overall, iQoo Z3 is easily one of the best performing phones in its segment.

Software

The great performance is marred by software experience. The FunTouch OS 11.1 on top of Android 11 has undergone many improvements over the years from what we've gathered from older Vivo phones, but it's not there just yet. The untimely pop-ups for permissions, privacy notifications, frequent arrival of notifications from various apps require some hard work. There are some apps we didn't need pre-loaded on the phone, but that's the case with every other phone in the segment. Only a handful of phones offer what we call a truly clean UI experience, sadly iQoo Z3 isn't one of them.

But on the plus side, the iQoo Z3 offers a range of customisation options and a host of unique features targeted at gamers and non-gamers too. The Ultra Game Mod offers various settings, which you can explore to match your requirements and there are several gestures to be used as shortcuts for different functions. Some unique elements like Face beauty for video calls, flashlight notifications, smart motion might be useful to some users' taste.

Battery

This is another strong point for iQoo Z3 - on paper and in practice. There's a 4,400mAh battery with a 55W fast charging support in the box, which can fully charge the phone in less than an hour - and that's 0 to 100 percent. It is quite remarkable.

As for battery life, the iQoo Z3 is good enough to last a full day with a screen time of 5+ hours. On best days, it can even go a day and a half. Battery life wasn't a concern for us, which is partly because of the super-fast charging on the phone.

Verdict

iQoo Z3 has a few things going in its favor. The performance and the battery in the Z3 have to be the biggest USPs and top reasons why this phone can be considered for its price. The rest of the features are there to make for a good package. We wouldn't be too dismissive about the phone's design and display, but an AMOLED panel would still be a better choice at this price range. The cameras are decent, but those who got an eye for detail will spot the discrepancies. The iQoo Z3 lacks in some areas where alternatives like Redmi Note 10 models, Nord CE excel, but it has its own strengths to live up to the expectations of demanding consumers.