vivo iQOO Z7 Pro: Is it an efficient gaming phone?

November 02, 2023, 09:41 AM
by Shahriar Rabab

UNB News
Publish- November 02, 2023, 09:41 AM
Shahriar Rabab

vivo iQOO Z7 Pro

BBK Electronics, the parent company of vivo introduced iQOO as its subsidiary, a new and revamped lineup that streamlined gaming in the mid-range market back in 2019. iQOO launched the Z7 Pro on 5th September 2023. So how does it fare alongside the competitors? Let’s find out the specs, pros, cons and price of iQOO Z7 Pro.

Key Features of vivo iQOO Z7 Pro

Design and Build Quality

The Z7 Pro moves away from the traditional iQOO design elements to be more streamlined with the Vivo V series. The Z7 Pro has a stark similarity with the V27 Pro with its camera housing and ring LED flash. The Z7 Pro is larger and sleeker than the Z7 with its curved edges and long-form factor.

The device dimensions are 164.10 mm by 74.80 mm by 7.36 mm with a weight of 175 g. Even though it’s a large phone, the plastic frame and body with glass back help to keep weight down to a handy limit. The glass back called the Fluorite AG glass has a matte finish which helps to deter fingerprints and smudges. The front glass is protected by Asahi glass. The new Blue Lagoon variant has a frosted blue texture on the back making it look like ocean waves.

Moving on to the technical features, the device brings the same set of features from last year’s Z6 Pro. The power button and the volume rockers are placed on the right. The usual dual sim slot, single firing speaker, and the Type C charging port are placed on the bottom with a flush left side. The top however has the words “Professional Portrait” printed on it which might as well be iQOO’s new branding approach.

The Display

The display on the iQOO Z7 Pro is a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with FHD+ resolution. Even though it is a mid-range smartphone, iQOO did not hold back when it comes to features. The display has a 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, 1B colors, and 1300 nits of peak brightness. The rather long and curved panel has a 20:9 aspect ratio of 1080 by 2400 pixels. It brings the pixel density to 388 ppi. The almost bezel-less curved punch-hole panel pushes the limit with an astounding 90.4% screen-to-body ratio.

Using the display has been as exciting as its features. The panel had vivid settings out of the box which can be recalibrated based on user preference. Beyond that, the performance of the display was excellent. It showed good color contrast with very smooth navigations by virtue of the 120 Hz refresh rate. Legibility under direct sunlight was not an issue due to the high peak brightness. iQOO seems to have improved their accidental touch as no mistouches were noticed during the test.

Overall, it's an excellent panel that can easily take the panel for being the best in its price range.

The Camera

There’s a vertically aligned dual camera module on the Z7 Pro with an AURA LED flashlight. The main camera is a 64 MP f/1.79 and 26mm wide lens. The secondary camera is a 2 MP f/2.4 depth sensor. The depth sensor aids in the bokeh effect for portrait shots but it cannot be used as a standalone sensor.

iQOO since its initial days, focused on the performance aspect of the smartphone. This was an effective strategy considering Vivo themselves focused heavily on the camera performance. While the camera improved a lot since its initial days, it still has a long way to go.

Pictures under direct sunlight came out crisp and clear with detailed subject and background separation. There were good details in each image with a decent dynamic range. The stock camera has different shooting modes which lets the users experiment and choose. Just like its tagline on the top, the portrait photography indeed got better as they came out identically perfect every time.

Performance in low light requires a heavy dependency on the night mode. In testing, the night mode was consistent with decent exposure in each shot but the color looked artificial with HDR enhancements. The front camera is a 16 MP shooter with generic features good enough for casual selfies and videos.

The videography on the rear camera of iQOO 7 Pro is rated at 4K at 30fps. The front camera is capable of capturing 1080p footage at 30fps. The OIS and gyro-EIS improve the stability of the videos with good details. But there are some jitters here and there.

Overall, the camera performance of the Z7 Pro is an improvement from last year’s Z6 Pro but it’s still not on par with camera-focused smartphones in the mid-range market.

Processor and Performance

The processor on the Z7 Pro is Mediatek Dimensity 7200 based on the 4 Nm architecture. It has a 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 and 6x Cortex-A510 chip design which brings a balance of efficiency and higher clock speed. The processor is coupled with Mali-G610 MC4 GPU.

It has 8GB of RAM. The internal memory ranges from 128 to 256 GB.

Like the previous iQOO smartphones, the Z7 Pro also focused on performance and it shows. In testing, the smartphone was able to run leading titles like PUBG, Asphalt 9, and Genshin Impact at max settings. There were no frame drops or noticeable lag in the gameplay. Users will be getting a constant 60 fps on Asphalt 9 which significantly increases the immersive experience of the gameplay.

The device did however heat up after about half an hour of continued gaming. But even then, there weren’t any noticeable performance drops. The battery discharge also stayed at a fairly constant rate. Day-to-day tasks like browsing, social media and stuff are a breeze thanks to the fluid 120 Hz display and the fast animation of the OS. Speaking of OS, the smartphone comes with FuntouchOS 13 based on Android 13. Funtouch still has its bloatware but the sheer performance helps to offset the experience a bit.

Battery and Charge Time

The battery on the iQOO Z7 Pro is 4600 mAh which might be less compared to the usual 5000 mAh spec. However, the efficient processor ensures that users will be getting 6 to 8 hours of SoT from the device. It also comes with 66W wired fast charging which can take the device from 0 to 50% in 22 minutes.

Pros and Cons of iQOO Z7 Pro

Pros:

- Impressive design
- Excellent performance
- Great battery life
- Best-in-class display
- Ergonomic in-hand experience.

Cons:

- Slightly lacking in camera performance
- Lack of stereo speaker
- Bloatware in the OS.

Price of iQOO Z7 Pro

The iQOO Z7 Pro comes in 8/128 GB and 8/256 GB variants. The price of the base model is 23,999 INR whereas the higher storage variant is priced at 24,999 INR. It roughly amounts to 31,763 BDT and 33,086 BDT respectively (1 INR = 1.32 BDT). However, the price is expected to differ once it becomes officially available in Bangladesh.

Verdict

The iQOO Z7 Pro stays true to its roots of being an affordable gaming device. Though the manufacturing brand did not promote Z7 Pro as a gaming smartphone, the performance level easily helped it to become one. The updated design, display, processor, and battery all work in unison making it an almost complete smartphone in the mid-range segment.

The only shortcoming is the camera. While it's not bad by any means, it still doesn’t hold up against the competitors at the same price range or even a tad below it. So for anyone who’s not that into photography, the vivo iQOO Z7 Pro 5G can be an excellent choice that can provide a satisfactory user experience.