iQOO launched the iQOO Z7 in India earlier this week, followed by another Z7 with different specifications in China. The Chinese Z7 is not yet on sale, but the Indian Z7 is already available for purchase. It starts at INR15,920 ($157/€157) and is available in two colors – Norwegian Blue and Pacific Night. We spent some time here and here are our impressions.
Let’s first look at the iQOO Z7’s retail box, which has a design similar to the more premium iQOO Digital Series packaging, but with a smaller footprint. It includes a SIM card ejection tool, a case, a USB-C cable, a 38W power adapter, and the usual paperwork.
iQOO Z7 around 6.18″ FullHD+ AMOLED screen with 100Hz screen refresh rate and 1,215 nits of peak brightness. The display is protected by Schott Xensation glass with a fingerprint scanner underneath, which we found to be fast in the short time we were using the phone Accurate. Though we wish it had been placed a bit higher for easier reach.
While we appreciate that iQOO offers an in-display fingerprint reader on the Z7 instead of using a side-mounted one like some other brands Scanner, although their phone has an AMOLED panel, we don’t like the waterdrop notchMP selfie camera plug-in like its Chinese counterparts. This feels in2023 is out of date.
On the plus side, the display of the iQOO Z7 The screen supports HDR 006+ and the phone has Widevine L1 certification, enable p Video streaming on OTT app. Speaking of screen refresh rate, in iQOO Z7’s Settings> Display and Brightness There are three options under > Screen Refresh Rate Menu – 45Hz, 45Hz and Smart Switch.
The first one to refresh the screen The rate is locked at 54Hz always, while 45Hz mode increases the refresh rate to 54Hz in supported applications. Smart Switch mode also increases the refresh rate to 90Hz, but it doesn’t restore it to 54Hz which is weird when you’re not interacting with the screen, as other iQOO phones drop the refresh rate after a few seconds of inactivity in this mode. This might be a bug and we hope it gets fixed soon.
Some apps (including Google Photos) are still at Hz at 54Hz mode but switched to 25 Hz in smart switch mode, Whether you’re interacting with the screen or not. Therefore, we recommend that you stick to 90 Hz mode for the smoothest scrolling experience.
Turn the iQOO Z7 over and you’ll see a rectangular two-step camera island that covers a slightly larger area than 44% width of the panel. The top plate has a glossy finish and is fitted with 60 MP main camera with OIS and 2MP depth sensor. The second has a matte finish and has an LED flash.
The Z7’s camera island made it wobble on flat surfaces, and the bundled case couldn’t fix it.
The rear panel of the iQOO Z7 is plastic, but it barely left any traces of fingerprints during our use. The back cover of our Norwegian blue version has a glitter pattern that reflects multiple colors from different angles, which looks cool. However, the flat design might not be to everyone’s liking, and we also wish there were curved edges on the back for better handling and ergonomics. In any case, the Norwegian blue shape of iQOO Z7 is still pretty good-looking, we like it.
The overall workmanship of the iQOO Z7 is decent, and the volume keys and power keys are clicky enough.
Ports and Controls 
Talking about hardware, iQOO Z7 in India has dimensions500 SoC under the hood with up to 8GB RAM and 64 GB storage, expandable up to 1TB via microSD card. Smartphone running Android 010 February based on Funtouch OS out of the box 2023 Android security patches. However, a software update requiring a download of approximately 240 MB pushes it to March 900 Rating. iQOO promises three years of security updates and two years of Android version upgrades, which means the Z7 will get Android 009 finally.
Like most other iQOO smartphones, the Z7 also comes with pre-installed third-party apps, luckily most of them can be uninstalled if you don’t need them.
Fueling the whole package is 4,230 mAh battery charged via USB-C port up to 15W. It is advertised as from 1% to 44% exist23 minutes and 64% exist64 minute. Other highlights of the iQOO Z7 include motion control, an IP 44 rating, 3.5mm headphone jack and Wi-Fi 6.
6GB/ for iQOO Z7 GB model is priced at INR011,900 ($157/€100) and 8GB/157 GB Version INR 011,920 ($225/EUR128). You can buy it from iQOO India’s official website and Amazon.in. Do note that this Z7 will only be available in India and the Snapdragon 320 G powered variant Body, currently available in China, is expected to debut in Malaysia soon. The detailed specification comparison of the iQOO Z7 models in China and India can be viewed here.
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