Level Up Your Knowledge With iQOO Z5 Quiz!

Specifications and introduction

Vivo iQOO Z3 was first introduced in April locally in China, its successor the iQOO Z5 which is with us here today in September so we cannot expect a major leap in generation. However that does not imply there is not anything to upgrade. Not at all but the opposite.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

It now has a larger 6.67-inch screen (it is IPS still, though), a more capable Snapdragon 778G chipset, implements ultra-fast UFS 3.1 storage, introduces a pair of stereo speakers into the mix and increases its battery capacity to a more acceptable 5,000 mAh.

Regarding design, the big improvement is to be expected, at least in the way it looks. The camera island has also been redesigned, with the waterdrop notch getting thrown out, which in fairness was a little divisive to begin with. It has a lot more sense why the selfie camera should have the centered punch-hole in 2021. How else can we explain the fact that the iQOO Z series is primarily positioned as a phone aimed at the Gen Z generation (because of the name), which must keep in pace with the trends.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

And even though we did not find the iQOO Z3 unreasonable since not all smartphones that sell as 5G-enabled devices can offer everything that this one can due to the abundance of its alternatives at the same price point, the Z5 is losing a part of its desirability at the initial price of INR 23,990. But on the other hand, the updated hardware is probably worth the additional few dollars, and this is what we shall attempt to determine in the pages ahead.

Opening the vivo iQOO Z5

The phone is packaged in typical packaging with the right 44W charger and a USB-A to USB-C cable.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

As a bonus Vivo also included a clear silicone back case.

Handling and design

Comparing Z3 to iQOO Z5 Quiz is hard because it is slightly larger in terms of the display (6.67-inch versus 6.6-inch) but it is not that heavy compared to Z3 (about 193g). It can be explained by the fact that it is mostly plastic – its frame and the backside are both made of the plastic with a matte finish. This time however, vivo shares the front glass panel maker – Tungshu – they manufacture so-called Panda glass.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

Still quite comfortable to hold too, the back of it has slightly more curvature to the sides though, to assist the grip. Also, the plastic employed is enhanced by the paint job giving it a higher quality feel at least to the touch.

We preferred the Arctic Dawn finish that is a matte effect. It is slightly, admittedly, a better build than the Z3.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

The camera bump is one element that we had highlighted earlier as well and this time the design has been updated to be a bit more blocky in shape hence also being larger in size. The going by the notch to a punch-hole is a decision that has been greatly welcomed as the phone appears to fit in the current design language.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

Side buttons have nice feedback, and the power button doubling as an fp reader is rapid and quick to respond.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

Altogether, iQOO Z5 Quiz has a pleasant lightweight construction that is quite reasonable within the price segment. Nothing very different or unique just that it remedies one or two minor problems we had with the earlier design. Well done that.

Hardware overview

Beginning with the display, it went large in 6.58 to 6.67 inches and enclosed under Panda glass. It is HDR10 conformant too and it goes up to 600 nits peak brightness according to the specs supplied by vivo.

We did not get a chance to test it using the right apparatus but the legibility is fair enough under direct sunlight. Incomprehensible visual content is visible in the form of text and videos and images are easy to see.

Quite remarkably, we carried out the check on video standards support ourselves and revealed that even the HDR10+ standard and HLG codecs are covered by the display. Widevine L1 certification is not left out as well so 1080p video on Amazon Prime and netflix is available.

And sadly the iQOO Z5 Quiz is content with IPS as competition is gaining ground with OLED panels. This makes the contrast and HDR performance low. LCD panels, after all, possess much fewer dimming zones as compared to OLEDs.

There is also an update in the chipset that is present but it also increases since it goes to Snapdragon 778G or 778G and the minimum RAM is up 2GB to 8GB/128GB. And even the swift UFS 3.1 storage is a nice bonus, but we doubt that one will be able to notice the distinction on daily usage. Unfortunately, the new iQOO Z5 Quiz lacks the card slot hence no further storage is possible.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

The rear camera array, which is carried over from the Z3, translates into the popular budget-friendly 64MP, 1/1.97″, 0.7um sensor being at the head of the camera department, complemented by f/1.8 aperture. It is coupled with an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide lens that features 120-degree field of view. And the third one is dedicated to macro-shots which provides only a 2MP resolution.

The selfie camera is downgraded on the front. It uses the same 16MP sensor but the aperture is reduced this time to 2.5 as compared to its predecessor which had f/2.0 aperture. It is our guess that the new punch-hole design made vivo employ a smaller aperture.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

Being equipped with stereo speakers is another major advantage since majority of the devices within the same price range have them. It is even a norm even in the mid-range devices.

The battery unit is not the cherry this time since vivo has increased the capacity by a lot and decreased the charging rate. So now you are getting 5,000 mAh battery charging at over 44W rather than 4,400 mAh battery sweeping up 55W. Nevertheless, a 50 percent charge on flat is cited to take 26 minutes according to the own data released by vivo.

Performance

We performed some of the synthetic benchmark tests to find whether the Snapdragon 778G chipset and implementation is working as intended. And, naturally, to check whether there are any competitors with similar price who have more raw horsepower.

And here’s a long term load test of around 81% retention after a long hour test. That’s a decent metric, and it looks like it isn’t running too bad performance-wise, and since there aren’t any huge spikes your CPU shouldn’t ever start doing mad-stuttering when it involves throttling.

Refresh rate when playing games As far as the refresh rate in gaming is concerned, this too appears a problem with iQOO Z5 Quiz as with most smartphones. Accordingly, Only Real Racing 3 could run at 120fps whereas all other games we have tested are at 60fps, so you cannot take full advantage when the panel sticks to 120Hz.

Software

Its handset uses Funtouch 12 based on Android 11 which is slightly disappointing since we are now in the Android 12 age. Besides, OriginOS appears to be sold only to the Chinese market at least in the nearest future.

Other wise, the system is run smoothly without encountering any hiccups, however we have encountered some few bugs here. Notifications clear up automatically, e.g. when a user enters the recent apps menu it takes them a little bit of time after gesturing without a reason.

Other than the ineffective HRR used in games, this is quite good in any other applications and system menus in Funtouch 12. Smart Switch Mode appears to give the best outcome. Unless you are engaging the screen the refresh rate will actually reduce to 60Hz and this is also true of just about every application we have tried. At least it seems to be so of the most popular ones.

And there are some of the apps, such as Quora and Chrome, which failed to cross 60Hz. Netflix, YouTube, Google Photos, as well, except they have no real need of using HRR when viewing a video or when scrolling through your picture collection.

Camera

These are some of the examples shot using the primary and the ultrawide cameras. All of them are made using AI scene recognition on and HDR auto.

We also shot a 4K video so that you can watch it.

Verdict

While the iQOO Z5 Quiz is an obvious upgrade over its predecessor, the price hike makes it a less exciting option and that is especially true since it brings slower charging, along the way omitting microSD card slot. More importantly, however, even going with a LCD display (120Hz continues to be included), is probably deter some interested buyers.

iQOO Z5 Quiz

And although the iQOO Z3 was sort of a reasonable 5G-enabled option at the time, a lot has changed in the last two months or so, as competitors also jumped into the 5G bandwagon. It indicates that the selling point of the phone cannot be 5G anymore.

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