iQOO Z7 5G reviewA well-balanced phone under Rs 20,000

By Sneha SahaIn today’s times, it is tough to find a good all-rounder smartphone between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. There are many good options at higher price points, but at an affordable price point, there are very few options available in the Indian market. This is exactly where brands like iQOO are tapping into. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer, which has now split off from Vivo, already offers many good options under the Rs 20,000 price segment. The latest addition to the lineup is the iQOO Z7 5G smartphone, which launched in India just a couple of days ago and I have been using the phone for a while now.

When the company announced the launch of the iQOO Z7 5G smartphone, I expected it to be like any other phone in the price segment. But, surprisingly, it impressed me in various respects. Firstly, the sleek design and a very balanced build. Secondly, the camera performance. For a phone, priced so aggressively, the iQOO Z7 5G clicks well-detailed photos in almost all lighting situations. While there are many good things about the new affordable iQOO phone, there are also some areas where it could have been better.

Now, the question remains – is the iQOO Z7 5G worth buying? Or should you go for any other smartphone under Rs 20,000? Let’s find out the answers to these questions in this full review. But before that, the price of the iQOO Z7 5G in India. The smartphone comes in two variants – 6GB RAM plus 128 GB storage at Rs 18,999 and 8GB RAM plus 128GB storage for Rs 19,999. As a part of the launch offer, there are some discount offers available but that’s only for a limited period. Now, let’s take a look at whether you should consider the iQOO Z7 5G smartphone at the time of your next smartphone purchase or not.

iQOO Z7 5G design and build

I am an iPhone lover, or to be specific, I like phones with a minimalist design and no giant camera modules or flashy colours. And what I like about the iQOO Z7 5G phone is its simple design. It comes in two colour options – Norway Blue and Pacific Night. The one featured in the review is the blue variant, which looks quite classy and adds a premium touch to the overall design.

Before getting to the design, I would like to talk about the build. The iQOO Z7 5G offers a sturdy build quality despite offering a plastic back and frames on the sides. It feels extremely light in the hands, which makes it easy for users to use the phone all through the day very easily. The weight is very well balanced all throughout the phone, which I really like.

As for the design, the iQOO Z7 5G includes two camera sensors at the back, which are placed inside a square-shaped camera module. The good thing is, the rear panel, like many other phones these days, doesn’t look odd due to the large camera module. I also like that the camera module doesn’t bump out too much and that helps the phone lie flat on any surface. In addition to the camera setup, the back panel includes an iQOO brand logo. That’s how simple the design of the phone is.

Another thing that I liked about the phone, in terms of design, is the back panel texture. Even though the back looks glossy from a distance, the iQOO Z7 5G offers a matte finish. Now, that helps prevent fingerprint marks. The sides of the phone offer a boxy design, which makes it quite easier to use the phone all through the day. Now, the matte-finished boxy design and lightweight nature make the new iQOO phone a pretty good deal on the design front.

On the front though, I would have liked a dot drop notch. The phone includes a U-notched display with slim bezels on three sides and a slightly thicker chin at the bottom. Another complaint hereis the missing curved display. Many phones these days are opting for a curved display, which again makes the phone look premium. iQOO, on the other hand, has opted for a flat screen. Although the screen gets quite bright in most lighting conditions.

iQOO Z7 5G display

Now, the iQOO Z7 5G has really impressed me in this department. Specifications first. The smartphone comes packed with a 6.38-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 98 per cent DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut, a 90Hz screen refresh rate, but you can switch anytime to the standard 60hz mode. The smartphone also packs an in-display fingerprint sensor, which was quick to unlock the screen for me. The company says that the display is protected with Schott Xensation glass on top.

I watched many videos and movies on the iQOO Z7 5G, and also played long sessions of Asphalt 9. The screen gets quite bright in almost all lighting conditions, including under the scorching Delhi sun. In outdoor situations, the brightness level of 80-100 per cent worked well for me. The screen, even under strong sunlight, turns out to be quite bright, which is rare to find in this price segment. This also means that the screen of the iQOO Z7 5G gets quite bright even at 50 per cent brightness when inside a room.

As for the performance, the screen shows crisp and vibrant visuals and the viewing angle is also great. However, I would have liked a curved display but iQOO has opted for a flat screen, which isn’t all that bad. But, a curved display offers a much better and premium viewing experience.

iQOO Z7 5G camera

iQOO has kept it simple on the Z7 5G phone. There are just two cameras on the rear panel and a single sensor on the front. The phone includes a 64-megapixel ISOCELL GW3 primary sensor with OIS and lots of models coupled with a 2-megapixel bokeh camera. I am quite impressed with the performance.

I clicked different photos in different scenarios with the iQOO Z7 5G and most of them turned out to be quite good. There isn’t much difference between photos clicked in normal camera mode and 64MP mode visually, just that the details (when seen on a big screen) look better in the latter. Overall, photos clicked in good light with the iQOO Z7 5G capture a good amount of details and also great colours. What is great to see is, the details look good even when zoomed in. Even in low light, iQOO Z7 manages to click good-looking photos with a good amount of detail. And in case the light is too dim, the Night mode helps as it brightens the scene.

The iQOO Z7 also manages to click great portrait shots by capturing the subject well and blurring the background properly. The good thing is, the edges of the subject also look sharp. In the camera samples, you can see that my colleague’s hair strands look sharp and don’t get mixed with the background in any way. The selfie portrait shots clicked with this phone also look impressive, but the camera tends to beautify the face way too much. The same goes for normal selfies. They look Instagram-worthy, but I would have liked it if they looked more real. But, if you are a social media addict, you are going to love it.

While the iQOO Z7 5G does a fairly good job with its camera, I would have liked it even more if it could click good macro shots as well. But, all in all, iQOO has done a fairly good job with the phone’s camera.

iQOO Z7 5G performance

The iQOO Z7 is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G Mobile Platform coupled with 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The company sent us the top-end model (8GB + 128GB) for review and I used it to do all my day-to-day tasks. From browsing social media to writing emails and messages, watching movies and videos on YouTube, listening to music, and more, the iQOO Z7 5G was able to handle all of it smoothly with occasional lags, which is kind of usual for phones at this price point.

The smartphone manages the usual tasks well, but when it comes to multitasking, the iQOO Z7 5G lacks in various situations. For instance, at the time of playing the Asphalt 9 racing game, the lags were quite visible and the phone also sent multiple warnings when I chose to play the game in the high graphic setting. The prompts showed that the app might crash, so I continued with the default setting to get the best experience. However, even with that, the game didn’t run smoothly. The app crashed a few times and the visuals also didn’t appear smooth. So, the iQOO Z7 is apt for an average smartphone user, but if you are a gamer or depend on your phone for everything possible, there are better options but at higher prices.

While the gaming experience may be great, watching videos and movies on the iQOO Z7 5G is fun. The smartphone offers great videos, as I have already mentioned at the beginning of the review, but what adds to the experience is the fantastic speakers. iQOO has tuned the speakers well and it gets quite loud and clear. But in extremely loud volumes, the vocals seem distorted. Otherwise, the experience is quite pleasant, especially coming from a smartphone at this price point.

The iQOO Z7 runs on Funtouch OS 13 based on Android 13, which brings a host of new security features and optimizations, but bloatware still remains. Some of the third-party apps like Byju’s, Facebook, Josh, among others – can be deleted, but there are a few apps that you can’t get rid of. This can sometimes get irritating for users like me who are fans of the stock UI experience.

iQOO Z7 5G battery

I used the iQOO Z7 5G to do all my day-to-day tasks – gaming, multitasking, social media browsing, and so on — and even after that, the smartphone offered a decent battery life. For me, the iQOO Z7 lasted from morning to night till 8 pm, but after that, I had to put the phone on charge. So, even though the 4500mAh battery didn’t last for one full day, it tries hard, which I appreciate. But the good thing is, the 44W fast charging support that comes bundled in the box. So, even if the phone goes out of charge, it gets charged quickly. For me, the phone fully charged from 0 – 100 per cent in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Note, this is after using the proprietary charge that comes bundled with the box.

iQOO Z7 5G reviewshould you buy?

iQQO makes great phones and the good thing is it offers them at an affordable price point. The new iQOO Z7 5G is also built on similar lines. After using the smartphone for around 7 days, I strongly believe that the iQOO Z7 5G is one of the best you can get under the price of Rs 20,000 if not the BEST.

The iQOO Z7 5G offers a sleek design and is also lightweight, which means you can easily use it all day long. While the design looks premium, I would have liked it even more if it opted for a glass body instead. The phone also offers a great pair of cameras, which capture well-detailed photos in most situations, and also decent battery life. However, performance is one area where I feel it could have been better, especially while dealing with multitasking and games. Although the phone manages the usual day-to-day tasks well.

All-in-all, the iQOO Z7 5G is a good deal if you are looking for a phone under Rs 20,000. However, it does require some improvements here and there. Now, if you can’t deal with the cluttered Funtouch OS of the iQOO phone, there are a few other options available out there, such as – Realme 10 Pro, Poco X5, and some others.