The Vivo iQOO series of phones has been making quite a buzz in the entry-level smartphone market for a few years. The company recently announced the Vivo iQOO Z6 was released on March 20, 2022, in India. The phone brings a few key developments from the Z5 released last year. So, will this phone be the next budget king? Let’s find out in this detailed review of iQOO Z6.

Key Features of Vivo iQOO Z6

Design and Build Quality

Speaking of the design, it will instantly remind users about the Vivo T1 and OnePlus 9 series. And that isn’t surprising considering iQOO, Vivo and OnePlus, all three belong to BBK Electronics.

The phone is an overall plastic one with a glass front. The plastic on the back has a refractive matte finish which easily catches the eye. The rectangular camera housing is raised a bit giving it a pronounced look. Needless to say, the phone doesn’t sit flush on a flat surface. At 185 g, the phone is relatively heavier than a plastic build phone. but the even distribution of weight helps to offset the weight for long time usage.

Read OPPO K10 5G Review with Price: What’s New?

Moving onto ports and buttons, the power and volume rockers are situated on the right of the device. The power button doubles as the physical fingerprint scanner which is now becoming a common placement in budget phones.

The top of the phone features the secondary noise cancellation mic and the hybrid sim slot. Users can have a dual standby sim or replace one with micro SDXC. The main speaker along with the Type-C port and the 3.5 mm headphone jack is situated on the bottom of the device.

Overall, the design of the iQOO Z6 isn't really much different from the Z5. But the certain refinements and polishing help to give the device a more premium look.

Read Xiaomi Redmi K50 Pro 5G Review: What’s new?

Display

The iQOO Z6 features a 6.58-inch IPS LCD panel. It was expected that iQOO will go with the LCD panel given the price of the device. But what’s interesting is that the company managed to include a 120 Hz refresh rate with the panel.

Animations look much smoother compared to before. Much of it is due to the smooth display and some OS tweaks. The display is everything expected from an FHD+ display. The phone does get relatively bright outdoors. Viewing angles are also great. Colors might look a bit washed out here and there depending on the content. But users have full control to tweak the colors so nothing to worry much. Aside from the 120 Hz refresh rate, this is just another run-off-the-mill IPS LCD panel. But considering the price, it does its job more than well enough.

Read Motorola Edge 20 Fusion Review: Is it worth consideration?

Camera

The camera is easily one of the strong points of the Z6. It features a triple camera sensor with the main one being a 50 MP f/1.8 wide-angle shooter. Some might feel that it falls short of the 64 MP main shooter used in last year’s Z5. But it was done to provide more aggressive pricing without compromising much on the quality.

The wide-angle lens is complemented by a couple of 2 MP macro and depth sensors. Though they don’t stand out much as a standalone sensor, the depth sensor obviously helps with the bokeh effect. The selfie camera is a 16 MP shooter which can take decent shots.

Now coming to the performance of the main sensor, it does surprisingly well in bright conditions. The portrait mode shots look excellent with near-perfect edge detection. The phone also does well at preserving the dynamic range.

Read Apple iPhone 14 Pro: Know the Latest Leaks, Rumours

But like most cameras in this budget, it struggles in low light conditions. Images appear with noises and grains with exposure issues. This problem plagues most entry-level smartphones and unfortunately, the Z6 isn’t any different. Moving to videography, the phone can shoot 1080P at 30 fps. Given the processing power and the camera capabilities, Vivo would have definitely gone for better resolution but 1080P is what users will be getting.

Processor and Performance

The Vivo iQOO Z6 features a Snapdragon 695 5G chipset built on the 6 Nm architecture. This is a 5G capable mid-range processor from Snapdragon. The chipset has an octa-core design with 2 2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold and 6 1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver. The balanced output provides a unified performance index which is reflected on different benchmark testing.

Numbers aside, the processor performs relatively well in day-to-day use. It breezes through light tasks like browsing the web or watching YouTube. The processor can even handle graphics-intensive games like PUBG and Asphalt 9. However, 3D games tend to heat the device pretty fast and it creates thermal throttling. So it's best to stick to simple 2D games on this device.

Read Tecno Spark 8C: Review, Price in Bangladesh

The phone comes with Funtouch 12 OS running on Android 12. Funtouch has been Vivo’s premier OS since its inception. The skin itself is not bloatware heavy but users definitely won’t get the stock android experience here. Thanks to some animation tweaks mentioned earlier, using the phone feels much snappier than it is.

Battery and Charge Time

The phone features a 5000 mAh battery. Users can easily get up to 6 to 8 hours of continuous usage with the device. The phone also includes an 18W fast charger. It's great to see that iQOO included a fast charger in this price range.

Price of Vivo iQOO Z6 in Bangladesh

The Vivo iQOO Z6 is not yet officially available in Bangladesh. The price of the 8/128 GB version in India is 15,999 RS which roughly translates to 18,063 BDT (1 INR = 1.13 BDT). However, the official price tag of iQOO Z6 may vary in Bangladesh depending on supply chain, tax, and company regulation.

Read OnePlus Nord 3: Updated Rumors, Leaks You Need to Know

Verdict

So does the Vivo iQOO Z6 live up to the anticipation? The phone itself cut some corners from the previous Z5 and it's very apparent. However, that allows for very competitive pricing. And the pricing alone justifies the hype for this device. It also performs well with the camera, display, and battery. However, the front bezels and the plastic build take away from the premium look of the device. But beyond these small issues, the Vivo iQOO Z6 will be an excellent buy for people looking for a capable device at a budget price.