iQOO 5 review: balanced evolution in all aspects, the first "lightweight" gaming phone in history

A year and a half ago, when the iQOO series of mobile phones were first launched, it entered the market of high-cost-effective gaming phones with its forward-looking vision and gained countless fans. GFK data shows that the young iQOO has jumped to become the seventh best-selling brand in the Chinese market.

Entering 2020, specifically, starting from the newly launched iQOO 5 mobile phone, iQOO changed its strategic approach, upgrading from a single-point breakthrough to a multi-dimensional "full push". On the basis of focusing on performance optimization and gaming performance, it simultaneously built a multi-dimensional experience in photography, charging, appearance, etc., rapidly evolving towards a comprehensive and balanced direction.

In fact, it is not an exaggeration to regard iQOO 5 as a brand transformation product. No matter how the brand "maximizes" in multiple dimensions, its "born strong" gene determines that it will always be an extremely explosive "performance monster".

The whole machine is as light as 197 grams, no pressure for long-term gaming

From a macro perspective, the appearance of iQOO 5 is quite similar to the same-level products currently on the market, but in terms of details, iQOO 5 still has its own style.

On the front, the iQOO 5 uses a 6.56-inch AMOLED punch-hole full screen. Since the bottom border is only 2.8mm, the screen-to-body ratio of the iQOO 5 reaches an astonishing 92.6%. In daily use, the front of the iQOO 5 is almost fully occupied by the screen content, which is visually very impactful.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the high screen-to-body ratio, the iQOO 5 screen also supports a 120Hz refresh rate. Coupled with iQOO 5's skillful tuning at the software level, when our fingers slide across the screen, the elements on the screen will even have a sense of science fiction.

On the back of the body, the iQOO 5 is equipped with a hyperbolic glass back cover. Since the glass surface of the iQOO 5 back cover has been frosted, when held in one hand, the iQOO 5 not only has full control but also feels very comfortable to hold, completely avoiding the risk of the glass body slipping from the hand.

The iQOO 5 is equipped with a triple-camera combination, but because the iQOO 5 frames the three cameras in the same rectangle and uses a geometric stacking design to create a visual distinction between the three cameras, the integrity of the back of the iQOO 5 body also achieves a unity of function and appearance.

Overall, the thickness of the middle frame of iQOO 5 is only 8.32mm, and the weight of the whole machine is as light as 197 grams. Considering the 5G era, the thickness of most mobile phones is close to 10mm and the weight exceeds 200g. The iQOO 5, which focuses on long battery life and powerful performance, can have such performance, which is not easy. It can be called the first "lightweight" 5G gaming phone in history.

Full frame operation without heating

After two years of market cultivation, the word "iQOO" has become synonymous with "performance monster" in a sense. From the hardware point of view, iQOO 5 also lived up to expectations, equipped with 7nm Snapdragon 865, Samsung LPDDR5 RAM and UFS3.1 ultra-fast flash memory. The trinity is the top configuration combination on the market.

Judging from the running scores, iQOO 5 does live up to its impressive configuration, with AnTuTu reaching 635,097,000 points, Geekbench single-core exceeding 4,306 points, and multi-core reaching 13,444 points. It not only reflects the qualities that a flagship phone should have, but also beats a number of other so-called "flagship models".

Of course, the configuration and running score are only theoretical data, and they cannot represent our actual gaming experience. To tell whether it is a mule or a horse, you have to pull it out for a walk. Therefore, we chose two popular games, "Honor of Kings" and "PUBG Mobile", to test the actual gaming performance of iQOO 5.

During the specific test, we maxed out the special effects of the two games "Honor of Kings" and "PUBG Mobile", and then continued to run the games for half an hour. From the actual experience, whether it is "Honor of Kings" or "PUBG Mobile", iQOO 5 can achieve full frame running without lag.

It is worth mentioning that in order to enhance the immersion of the game, iQOO 5 also supports a 240Hz touch sampling rate. When playing games, the 240Hz touch sampling rate can make our touch more coherent and smooth. When used specifically, this advantage of iQOO 5 can give games such as "PUBG Mobile" that require frequent sliding to switch perspectives a smoother sense of control.

At the system level, iQOO 5 has also made targeted optimizations for games. For example, the Z-axis linear motor commonly found on the market is used to support the "4D game vibration" function. When we shoot or turn the steering wheel, iQOO 5 will simulate the real touch by mobilizing the motor.

It is very worthy of recognition that in addition to the eye-catching gaming performance, iQOO 5 has achieved the ultimate level of current technology in heat control. After all, no matter how good the gaming performance of a mobile phone is, if the temperature cannot be controlled and the game screen keeps dropping frames, the experience will become empty talk.

It is reported that in order to control the temperature, iQOO 5 is equipped with a superconducting VC liquid cooling system, the area of ​​which has been increased by 21% compared to its predecessor. Using iQOO 5 to run "PUBG Mobile" continuously for half an hour, the highest temperature on the back of the iQOO 5 was only 39°, and there was no feeling of being hot at all. This proves that iQOO 5 has indeed put a lot of effort into heat dissipation.

Overall, iQOO 5 has made full optimization in terms of performance and gaming, which are the aspects that consumers are most concerned about. On the one hand, it brings an immersive gaming experience through the combination of software and hardware. On the other hand, through hardware-level optimization, it avoids the problem of traditional mobile phones easily overheating when playing games. It can definitely be called a gaming phone customized for players - no wonder it can become the official KPL competition phone.

Photography is no longer a shortcoming, and night samples are extremely transparent

In the age of vlog, the quality of a mobile phone camera has become an important consideration for consumers when purchasing products. iQOO 5, which is well aware of consumer needs, is equipped with a 50-megapixel ultra-sensitive main camera + 13-megapixel portrait lens + 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens triple camera combination.

It is worth noting that the main camera of iQOO 5 is the Samsung GN1 sensor, which supports dual-core focus, four-pixel-in-one technology, and can obtain 2.4μm large pixels.

Just like the performance, no matter how good the camera parameters are, they cannot represent the actual photo effect, because photos are very emotional, and the manufacturer's tuning is sometimes even more important than the hardware parameters. Therefore, let's take a look at the actual shooting level of iQOO 5.

In gorgeous outdoor scenes, iQOO 5 can fully display the high saturation and rich colors of the scene. Although the contrast between the yellow flowers and green leaves is very strong, iQOO 5 does not focus on one color and ignore other colors, but presents a balanced look and feel.

In high-contrast scenes, iQOO 5 takes care of the highlights of the sky on the one hand, and prevents the dark buildings from being underexposed on the other. From this perspective, iQOO 5's precise control of contrast and exposure can bring creators more control over the scene.

One of the highlights of the main camera of iQOO 5 is its "super-sensitivity", so night scenes are naturally no problem for iQOO 5. From the above picture, the night samples of iQOO 5 continue the advantage of accurate contrast of daytime scenes, which can completely separate the highlights of the building from the gray-black background, without overexposure or too dark. It is worth noting that if you look closely at the sky part of the iQOO 5 night sample, there is no noise at all, which is very transparent, effectively improving the quality of iQOO 5 night samples.

Charge 70% in half an hour, let go of battery anxiety

iQOO 5 focuses on gaming and performance, so many people must be very concerned about the battery life of iQOO 5. After all, no matter how good the gaming performance of iQOO 5 is, as a mobile terminal, if the battery life is not long enough, it will also affect the gaming performance.

As we mentioned earlier, the thickness of iQOO 5 is only 8.32mm. Ordinary mobile phones with this thickness may only be equipped with a 3000mAh battery, but iQOO 5 is unexpectedly equipped with a large 4500mAh battery.

In order to test the battery life of iQOO 5, we let it run "PUBG Mobile" for an hour, and finally iQOO 5 consumed only 16% of its power. Based on this, in daily use scenarios, the large battery of iQOO 5 is enough to cope with a day of heavy use.

In terms of charging, in order to avoid the anxiety of slow charging of large batteries, iQOO 5 supports 55W ultra-fast flash charging. According to actual tests, iQOO 5 can be charged to 71% in just half an hour.

Judging from the charging and discharging performance of iQOO 5, iQOO 5 is well aware that what the current smartphone market lacks most is products with outstanding comprehensive performance. Therefore, it has put a lot of work into the battery, which is easily overlooked. By optimizing both large batteries and fast charging, it alleviates users' battery anxiety in the smartest way.

Summarize

For a long time, the iQOO series of mobile phones have given people the impression of "high cost performance", but after experiencing the iQOO 5, I found that high cost performance is only one aspect of the iQOO 5's advantage. As a flagship terminal product, the iQOO 5 is a balanced evolution with all-round "full" features, which is enough to make increasingly picky users feel that they are getting great value for money.

The sales data of the market also proves this point. According to the data of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the total shipment of smartphones in China in the first half of 2020 was 248.9 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 16.1%. However, in contrast to the overall market slump, iQOO 5 set a record of sales volume and sales volume in the price range of 3,500-4,500 yuan on JD.com, Tmall and Suning at the beginning of its first sale. It can be seen that consumers are indeed discerning, and iQOO 5 also accurately meets the real needs of consumers.

From this perspective, when we look back at the iQOO 5 flagship phone, we find that, between giving up and gaining, iQOO 5 has bid farewell to the pure concept of "gaming phone" and turned into an all-round flagship product, but this change not only retains former users, but also brings it a broader future. Therefore, whether you are a game enthusiast or a photography enthusiast, choosing the iQOO 5 with a more balanced overall performance should be an extremely correct choice.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.