Watch Out For iQOO 13, the Only Android Flagship That Could Excite

iQOO has unveiled its most powerful smartphone in China, called the iQOO 13. Known for its performance-centric smartphones, iQOO has refined its formula to make the iQOO 13 the best phone it has ever sold. Now, this phone is set to launch on December 3, 2024.

Equipped with the latest and most powerful Android chipset, iQOO has also embraced the trend of back-light notifications, a feature borrowed from its Vivo-branded siblings. With the tagline “Be the G.O.A.T.,” the brand signals that this phone can handle tasks seamlessly.

The smartphone features flat sides along with curved edges and a punch-hole front-facing camera. Additionally, it showcases BMW badging, marking it as one of the most feature-loaded smartphones available. The phone also boasts a 2K resolution screen with a 144Hz refresh rate. Recognising the potential harm of blue light to users’ eyes, iQOO has incorporated an eye care display feature to safeguard vision.

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IQOO 13 expected specifications

iQOO owns a strong reputation for creating performance-oriented phones that can also take great photographs. 

The iQOO 13 is laced with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip which consists of a 3 nanometer-based octa-core CPU with two performance cores clocked at 4.32 GHz; even the six efficiency cores of this processor are clocked at 3.53 GHz, which is significantly higher than the previous generation’s performance cores. The SoC is paired with the Adreno 830 to handle graphics-oriented tasks. The phone has a dedicated Q2 chip to help with gaming loads.

The Chinese variant of this phone comes with 12GB RAM in the lower variant with 256GB onboard storage while the top-end variant comes with 16GB RAM and 1TB onboard storage. iQOO has used the UFS 4.0 storage type to complement the overall performance and fast data transfer.

The Indian version of iQOO 13 is expected to feature a 6.82-inch LTPO display with 2K resolution, and the screen also supports HDR 10+ and 1B colours. There will be an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the display for security purposes. The main chassis of the smartphone is made of aluminium.

If you miss notification LED lights on your flagship, the iQOO 13 has a complete RGB square light ring around the rear camera.

The Indian version of this flagship is expected to ship with Android 15-based Funtouch OS. For software update policies, we have to wait for the official statement of the brand after the launch.

In terms of optics, the iQOO 13 features a 50-megapixel main camera sensor with optical stabilisation and an f/1.9 aperture, another 50-megapixel ultrawide sensor with autofocus support and a third 50-megapixel telephoto sensor with 2X optical zoom capability. The front-facing camera is expected to feature a 32-megapixel selfie sensor.

It is anticipated that the phone will be capable of shooting 8K videos at 30 FPS with the main rear sensor and 1080p resolution video with the front sensor.

Under the hood, the device is equipped with a 6150mAh battery that supports 120W wired charging, which is said to charge the battery from 0 to 100 per cent in just 30 minutes, according to iQOO leaks.

The Indian version of the smartphone is expected to come in Black, Green, Silver and White colour options, with the White variant featuring BMW M branding.

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Only flagship that values excitement

This is possibly the only value-centric flagship that attracts automobile enthusiasts. iQOO has collaborated with the BMW M motorsport division for a few years now and its flagships proudly flaunt the BMW M logos along with the tri-colour stripes.

iQOO first collaborated with BMW in 2020 for the iQOO 5 BMW Special Edition, where the logo proudly declared "Monster Inside." Once again, iQOO is doing something unique, setting itself apart from other brands in the market by offering more than just a smartphone launch.

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iQOO knows how to price flagships well

At the moment, the brand has not revealed the exact price of the product but we can expect it to be more affordable than its rivals.

The iQOO 12 was launched in India last year for INR 52,999 with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. The iQOO Neo 9 Pro using the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip became one of the most popular gaming phones under INR 40,000. Hence, we can only expect iQOO to uphold that reputation with the iQOO 13 and make Qualcomm's 3nm flagship mobile chip performance more accessible.

Just for reference though, the iQOO 13 was launched at a price CNY 3999 in China, which roughly translates to INR 47,999 in India.

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