iQOO 11 5G Review – The Monster Phone

iQOO has just launched its latest flagship phone in India by the name iQOO 11 5G. It’s the first smartphone in India to boast Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset which also makes it a very potent and power-packed device.

You also get a BMW Motorsport inspired design which looks fantastic. Other than that, it features a stunning 2K E6 AMOLED display which is just the best for content consumption. Paired with 120W fast charging, you really don’t have to wait long before getting back on your phone.

The brand is still making its name in India and we can see that this phone has a lot of potential based on the specs. However, all that comes at a premium price tag of 60K. So, is it worth spending that much on an emerging brand? Let’s find out in this iQOO 11 5G review.

The iQOO 11 5G has been launched in India in two RAM variants. The base variant comes with 8GB RAM + 256GB storage at a price of Rs 59,999 while the top variant comes with 16GB RAM + 256GB storage at a price of Rs. 64,999.

The phone is available in two colour options: Alpha and Legend. You can buy the phone online directly from the official website of iQOO or Amazon.

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The iQOO 11 5G packs the following items inside the box:

• Phone
• 120W charger
• Type-C cable
• SIM ejector tool
• Documentation

Before we talk in detail about the iQOO 11 5G, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.78 inches AMOLED
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• RAM & ROM: 8GB RAM 256GB Storage, 16GB RAM 256 GB Storage
• Software: Android v13
• Rear camera: 50MP + 13MP + 8MP
• Selfie camera: 16 MP
• Battery: 5000 mAh
• Weight: 205 grams
• Dimensions: 164.8 x 77 x 8.4 mm

Let me straight away mention that the iQOO 11 5G looks fantastic and will totally catch the eyes from far away. The phone comes in two design variants: Alpha and Legend. I have the Legend variant with me for the review.

It features a BMW Motorsport design aesthetic which looks stunning and really premium. It’s not the first time we have seen such a design on iQOO phones but it never gets old. While almost the whole back panel screams white, there is a red, black and blue strip running from top to bottom.

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You get a vegan leather back that not only feels premium in hand but also keeps fingerprints at bay. Another advantage of this material is it offers a nice grip and doesn’t slip like other phones with glass back.

There’s a big rectangular camera unit on the back which houses the triple camera lenses. The frame is made of aluminium and gives the phone a sturdy feel. Yes, it’s a big phone and has some weight (about 205 grams) to it but doesn’t feel so bulky in the hands.

Coming over to ports and button placements, the right side has the power button along with volume buttons. The left side is clean while the top side has a secondary mic and IR blaster. The bottom side holds the type-C port, primary speaker, primary mic and SIM card slot.

The iQOO 11 5G features a triple camera setup on the backside. This includes a 50MP main camera, a 13MP telephoto lens and an 8MP ultra-wide lens. The front side has a 16MP selfie camera which is housed inside the punch-hole cutout on the top.

The main camera takes some really good shots in daylight and bright environments. The photos I took were sharp and detailed with good dynamic range. The colours look really good and true to life.

The full 50MP were overall similar looking but were more detailed which you realise when you zoom in. The low-light performance is decent and average. I took some shots in dedicated night mode and the camera was able to decrease the amount of grains and makes the images look better.

Also, the phone quickly captures images and there is no lag or delay in shutter speed. The 13MP telephoto lens does a great job and the 2X zoom photos look sharp and detailed. The portrait shots are nice and the edge detection is done well. You can also adjust the amount of blur after taking the photo.

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Coming over to the ultra-wide lens, the shots taken with the 8MP sensor were quite good. The sharpness in the images is okay and the dynamic range is also decent. Overall, it takes good wide-angle shots.

The 16MP front camera takes detailed and crisp selfies in daylight conditions. The dynamic range was wide and the skin tones were also looking close to natural.

The phone cam record 8K videos at 30fps using the main camera. You also get the option to record in 4K quality at 60fps with better stability.

The iQOO 11 5G packs a 5000mAh battery which delivers a solid battery life. I was really impressed with the battery backup. You can easily accept one full day of battery life from the phone.

A heavy user can get through half a day with no worries. I got about 5-6 hours of screen on time. But the best thing about the phone is the 120W fast charging support. In a hurry? Just plug in your phone for 5 minutes and you’ll be good to go.

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The 120W charger takes just about 20-22 minutes to fully charge the phone from 0 to 100 per cent. A quick charge of just 10 minutes juices the battery to about 60 per cent. It’s great to see that iQOO bundles the charger in the box itself.

One thing which disappoints me a little is that the phone lacks wireless charging support even after coming at the premium price tag.

The iQOO 11 5G features a 2K 6.78-inch E6 AMOLED display which is the first of its kind in India. It supports a 144Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1800 nits. You get a touch sampling rate of 300Hz and 1200Hz of instant touch sampling rate. If we just take a look at the specs, this is the best display available on a smartphone.

This stunning panel offers great colours and a good dynamic range. The content on the screen looks super sharp and crisp. The blacks were deep and the games looked really punchy. The 144Hz display feels super smooth to use.

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I could just scroll my Instagram feed for hours on this. Just to refresh my memory, I watched some Dragon Ball Super episodes on it and the fights looked extra crazy on this screen. Gaming on the phone was also a great experience. The response time is quick and I didn’t notice any shutters.

Moreover, the bezels are really slim on all sides which enhances the viewing experience. There’s just a small punch-hole camera on the top which acts as the elaichi in biryani.

The panel gets bright enough for both indoor and outdoor use. You can use the phone under direct sunlight with no issues. Yes, I tried it too. No problem to read the text or reply during sunny days.

Performance is the real highlight of the iQOO 11 5G as it packs the latest flagship chipset and is also the first smartphone to launch in India with it. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC which is paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 256 GB of UFS 4.0 internal storage. Sounds good right?

Well if we talk about everyday usage, it rocks. I used Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat simultaneously without any issues. The phone doesn’t know the meaning of lags or slowdowns. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is an absolute beast.

You can throw anything on the phone at it will handle it with ease. Anything means anything. There’s plenty of RAM (I have the 16GB variant) to handle multiple apps in the background. I tried to push the limits of it and still the phone was working smoothly.

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Multitasking – no issue, switching between apps – seamless, playing games – highest graphic settings. I played Apex Legends Mobile and Genshin Impact and both the games ran smoothly at their highest graphic settings. There were absolutely no lags, even while loading. And remember you have the 144Hz high refresh rate display which enhances your gaming as well as your everyday experience.

I can confidently say that it’s one of the best gaming phones out there in the market. The phone does get a bit warm after like an hour of gaming but not to a point where it feels uncomfortable to hold the phone.

The iQOO 11 5G runs on Funtouch OS 13 skin which is based on Android 13, the latest Android version in the market. The UI feels nice and optimised. I did not notice any bugs or lags in the software.

There are a bunch of customisation options. You get a single place for shortcut toggles and notifications. There’s a recommended apps section on top when you open the app drawer. The rest of it is pretty similar to what you see on any other Funtouch running smartphone.

However, there’s a bunch of bloatware in the system. The worse part is some of them cannot be uninstalled or disabled like the V-Store and Browser.

iQOO has promised three years of major software updates and four years of security updates. This means that you’ll get to the Andriod 16 version in the future.

The iQOO 11 5G packs a stereo speaker setup which gets pretty loud. The audio output is clear and does not distort even at high volumes. Overall, speakers on the iQOO 11 are pretty good and can be called above average.

The iQOO 11 5G comes with 5G connectivity as the name states along with support for 9 5G bands. These include n1, n3, n5, n8, n28, n40, n41, n77 and n78. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, OTG, IR blaster and even NFC. So you don’t see any compromises when it comes to connectivity.

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The phone comes with an in-display optical fingerprint scanner. It’s snappy and quickly unlocks the phone. The accuracy of the sensor is also good.