iQOO 12 review – flagship performance and cameras at an affordable price

• The iQOO 12 is the latest flagship smartphone from iQOO in India.
• The device has been priced starting at ₹52,999 and is available in two variants.
• Here’s a review of the iQOO 12 that will help you decide whether to buy the device or not.

iQOO has launched the iQOO 12, the company’s latest flagship smartphone in India. It is the successor of the iQOO 11 that was launched in the country in January 2023.

The iQOO 12 has become the first smartphone to launch with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in India. In addition to hardware improvements, the iQOO 12 also comes with an improved camera setup, which we have already reviewed here.

I have been using the iQOO 12 for a few weeks now, and here is my detailed review of the latest flagship offering from the Chinese smartphone maker.

iQOO 12 price and availability

The iQOO 12 has been priced at ₹52,999 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB internal storage variant and ₹57,999 for the 16GB RAM + 512GB internal storage variant.

The device comes in two colour options – Alpha and Legend. While the black coloured Alpha variant comes with AG Glass at the back, the white Legend variant comes with Porcelain Enamel Glass.

It will be available from Amazon India starting from December 14.

In the box

• iQOO 12 smartphone
• Silicon case
• Power adapter
• USB Type-C cable
• SIM ejector tool
• Documentation

iQOO 12 specifications

iQOO 12 pros and cons

Pros

• Rear camera
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset

Cons

• Average selfie camera

Design and display

The iQOO 12 features a glass back, with a minimalist design. The smartphone comes in two colour options – Alpha and Legend. I tested the Legend colour variant which comes with BMW M branding at the back.


The Legend variant comes with Porcelain Enamel Glass and is white in colour. The device comes with a large camera module at the back, which the company calls the porthole design. The camera module features a silver steel ring around it, which improves its looks.

The white enamel glass design feels good and the device does not attract fingerprint smudges, allowing you to use it without a case without any issues. The large camera module ensures that the device does not wobble, allowing you to easily use it even when placed on a flat surface.

Like a lot of smartphones being launched these days, the device comes with flat sides, which makes it easier to hold and use. The device weighs 204 grams, which is slightly on the higher side, but one-handed usage is not an issue.

The smartphone features volume rockers and the power button on the right side and the left side comes with a single antenna band.

At the top, you get a speaker, microphone and an Infrared sensor, which is nice to have and is rarely found on devices these days.

At the bottom, you get the SIM tray, a microphone, a USB Type-C port and the second speaker grille.


Coming to the display, the smartphone features a 6.78-inch 1.5K LTPO AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate up to 3000 nits peak brightness and 2160Hz PWM dimming.

The high resolution, 144Hz refresh rate and the high brightness ensures that the device offers an enhanced visual experience, be it for consuming content or gaming. The device offers excellent visibility even in direct sunlight as it supports up to 3000 nits brightness.

Software and performance

The iQOO 12 runs on Android 14 out of the box with the company’s Funtouch OS 14 on top. The device will get three years of Android updates and four years of security updates.

For those unaware, Funtouch OS is a highly customised version of Android from the company and is equipped with several custom features.


While iQOO has reduced bloatware such as Hot Apps and Hot Games that are present in devices such as the iQOO Neo 7 Pro, the device has its fair share of bloatware such as pre-installed iQOO apps, Facebook, GPay, Netflix, PhonePe, Snapchat and more.

In terms of performance, the iQOO 12 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 coupled with up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 internal storage.

The latest flagship chipset from Qualcomm, coupled with ample RAM and storage allows the device to easily multitask. To test the device’s performance, I played popular titles such as Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 on the smartphone. The device offers a good gaming experience and even with high quality graphics enabled, I did not notice any stuttering or lag.

The iQOO Neo 7 Pro 5G is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with 120W fast charging support. The device can be charged up to 50% in around 12 minutes and a full charge takes around 25 minutes. The device does not offer wireless charging.

The device offers over a day’s battery life with normal usage, which includes streaming and some gaming.

Camera

The smartphone comes with a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 50MP primary camera with PDAF and OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom.


The camera is one of the highlights of the smartphone and it performs well. When it comes to clicking images in daylight conditions, the smartphone is able to capture images with good details and colour reproduction. The device was able to capture images with good highlight retention, and was able to focus on the subject very quickly.


Coming to portraits, you can adjust the blur effect on the device, which is good, offering you more control over your images. The portrait images captured with the smartphone turned out well, with good edge detection and background blur effect.

As the device supports 3x optical zoom, you will have no issues at all with capturing images in 3x. Even images captured in 10x offered decent details, with minimal noise.


When you go to 30x, the images start losing detail and are grainy. The 100x mode is good for identifying objects but loses out on detail.


The smartphone is able to capture good images even in low light conditions, offering good details with minimal noise.

On the front, the device sports a 16MP selfie camera. The selfie camera offers decent images in daylight with minimal noise but struggles a bit when it comes to low-light images.

Verdict

The iQOO 12 is a feature-packed smartphone that offers good performance, a vibrant display and a good camera setup. The device offers a good design and comes with a smooth user experience.

While the company has reduced bloatware, the device still comes with several pre-installed apps. If you are looking for a powerful device that offers a good gaming experience and a good camera setup, the iQOO 12 is a good option for you and is priced competitively.

SEE ALSO:

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