iQOO launched the “iQOO Z9” 5G mobile a few months ago with some new features and the smartphone has garnered a lot of attention especially because of its amazing features considering its price and the Moto G45 also comes with similar features. The brand has now launched the iQOO z9x 5g, which is a more affordable variant of the z9 5g and like most iQoo phones, the main focus is on its performance capabilities. And the smartphone also has many of the same features as the Vivo T3x. As for the Vivo T3x, it has the same processor, camera and battery specifications. I have also used this mobile and I found the performance and features to be good.
And I also found a lot of differences, like Vivo t3x has only mono speakers, while z9x has a great stereo speaker setup. And but is it able to compete withother smartphones according to its price? Let’s see and I have talked in detail.
iQOO Z9x 5G Review :- Key Specfication.
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RAM & Storage :- 4 GB RAM + 128 GB
6 GB RAM + 128 GB
8 GB RAM + 256 GB
12 GB RAM + 256 GB
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Processor:- Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1
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Rear Camera:- 50 MP + 2 MP
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Front Camera:- 8 MP
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Battery :- 6000 mAh
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Display :- 6.72 inches (17.07 cm)
iQOO Z9x Review: Display.
If we talk about the IQOO display, then it has an FHD+ IPS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. With a price of around $137, IQOO has brought one of the bestspecification displays, which means that users get one of the best displays for the price. And the company gives high quality display at a low price which I would always like to praise.
And if we talk about the performance of this mobile, then with the FHD+ resolution, the details are sharp and iQOO has no rough edges as far as a standard user is concerned. Also, considering that it is an IPS LCD display, the viewing angles are also increased and you can use your iQOO Z9X 5G without any problem, which gives a premium look while on the go.
The display is also super responsive and bright. Of course, given the 120Hz refresh rate, or the display refreshing 120 times every second, every movement every animation is as smooth as possible. If we talk about the peak brightness, it is claimed to be 1,000 nits which is a number that is within one percent of the brightest of displays. I tested the actual brightness of the entire display and it was pretty close to the claimed brightness.
So yes, the iQoo Z9x display is good. The colours of the IPS LCD panel look a bit dull, but there are different colour profiles to choose from, if you like or prefer a more vibrant and saturated display, the iQoo Z9x can deliver that too. This mobile has a lot of rankings that help you rank mobiles, which is quite good.
iQOO Z9x Review: Cameras.
iQOO has provided dual cameras in this mobile but despite the presence of these, the iqoo z9x only has a single user-accessible camera. It has a 50-megapixel camera that captures 12-megapixel photos with saturated colors and a good amount of detailing. However, when taking photos, the details are decent, provided your subject or object is a little far from the camera and then it gets blurry. So the camera is a bit lacking for me. And the white balance is a bit hit or miss, which leads to lack of shot-to-shot consistency while shooting. It is very slow to focus on an object or subject even during the day, and hence sometimes the photos are a bit blurry.
The brighter camera in this phone also struggles with the dynamic range in scenes, sometimes clipping in low and contrasty lighting. And there is no dedicated micro mode or any micro camera in the phone, but it can capture up to 10 to 15 student remotes in memory, which is handy. But when using the camera, it sometimes takes good photos in portrait mode, with very good detail and edge detection, with good lighting on aerial subjects. And even then, skin color tones are not fixed, and clipping happens unnecessarily when shooting in colorful scenes.
Lastly, I recorded a 4k 30fps video on the 8GB RAM variant of the iQOO z9x. The video quality is pretty good. Also, the phone is limited to 1080p 30fps video recording, which seems a bit restrictive considering its price, but the 1080p 30fps images look great with good details and stable frame rate and also, get better stability compared to 4k 30fps images, which make the photos look a bit shaky despite capturing good details. The camera should be better.
iQOO Z9X 5G review: Design.
If we talk about the design, the iQOO z9x 5g has a similar shape and size as the iqoo z9x. And we get a brushed green back panel with green strokes on the matte plastic that become more prominent every time we shine a light on them. Then there is the camera module, which reminds me of the camera module on the iQOO 12. And although it is different from the flagship, it just hints at a 12-megapixel camera module. Apart from that, it is our basic glass slab design with flat corners. We get a USB Type-C port along with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a speaker grill. The volume rocker and power batten are placed on the right side of the frame, with the fingerprint sensor integrated into the power batten itself.
We also get an IP64 rating with the iqoo z9x 5g which is pretty good even for the budget segment. Other than that, things are simple and familiar with a hole-punch display and a little see-through at the bottom of the display. This is probably why iqoo has taken a safe approach when it comes to the design. The iqoo z9x 5g looks pretty simple and straight forward and there is no distinguishing factor about the design except maybe the brushed green back panel and the camera module, which probably reminds me of an older iqoo device, which I really like.
iQOO Z9x Review: Performance.
With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC and 8GB of RAM, the iQOO Z9x performed well for its price. Compared to competing smartphones at this price point, the phone performed at par with the rest, except for graphics, in this case, the phone performed slightly better than the Moto G64 5G, which is its primary competitor at the price. And the gaming performance of the 5G smartphone is pretty good. It seems that iQOO has done some good optimizations, making the phone an easy-budget gaming recommendation. Also, we tried Kai Game: This on the mobile, and it performed pretty well (with some frame drops) with medium graphics and high frame rating settings (default).
While playing games, the screen refresh seemed limited to 90Hz with the auto refresh rate mode on. It seems that you will have to manually enable the 120Hz mode for optional (or all) apps to truly take advantage of the smoothness of the 120Hz screen refresh rate. However, at the same time, you also have to remember that most games will not run at 120fps as the underlying hardware simply isn’t capable of powering it. Even after running the 3D game mentioned above, the phone did get warm at times and sometimes not even hot.
The full HD+ resolution display of the iqoo z9x is not the best we have seen in this segment but does support dynamic refresh rate in auto mode, switching between 60Hz/90Hz/120Hz based on the content to save battery life. During my testing, I observed that the refresh rate of the display usually stays at 90Hz while interacting with it and then drops to 60Hz when not in use or while watching a video. Talking about the display, the display is not at all bright in this segment but feels plenty sharp for casual usage. And while it shows a saturated colour, there is a noticeable yellow colour at the bottom corner of the display, which becomes more visible when viewed against a white background.
The phone supports Widevine L1 certification for streaming content, so it let me view video content in sharp, yet full HD quality. I also liked the way iqoo worked with the stereo speakers setup, which made content and games a little more immersive compared to a single bottom-firing speaker. While it felt very tiny and irritating, the volume level was fast enough that I was convinced to plug in a pair of wired earphones (skipping the 3.5mm plug) or connect TWS earphones for better quality.
If we talk about battery life, there was no issue with iqoo z9x. With casual use (no camera use or gaming) the phone easily lasts for less than two days and with heavy battery use (camera, gaming and calls) it can easily last more than a day. In our battery loop test, iqoo z9x performed very well for 21 hours and 23 minutes with the screen refresh rate set to 120Hz/60Hz, which made all animations in apps (except games) appear smooth. And when the battery is almost drained, the 44w charger this phone can charge approx. It charges 35 percent in 30 to 37 minutes and fully charges upto 73 percent in 1 hour, means it gets charged in 1 hour and 37 minutes, which is not less considering the time taken by this category of smartphones to charge and the larger battery means a larger battery than normal.
Credit by youtube channel:- Tech Singh
iQOO Z9x Review: Conclusion.
The iqoo z9x is a solid competitor for a budget 5G smartphone. However, it is slightly behind the moto g64 5g in some areas including the price. Talking about the moto g45 5g price, the 8gb + 128gb variant is priced at around $160 and even its 12gb + 128gb variant is available for around $183, which is the price of the iqoo z9x (8gb variant). Keeping the price aside, the G45 5G definitely has an attractive design, it offers a clear and stock service of Android 14 and it has a primary camera with optical image stabilization (OSI) as well as an ultra wide camera.
If we talk about Samsung, the Galaxy A36 5G seems like a solid competitor and it starts at around $ 229. $ 172 for the 8gb + 128gb variant. It has a 120Hz AMOLED display, is upgraded to Android 14, and has three rear-facing cameras, including that primary camera. The iqoo z9x has an IP64 rating and fast 44W wired charging. So, if these are your priorities while choosing a budget 5G smartphone, the iqoo z9x should be on top of your list.
iQOO Z9x Review: Buy or not.
Pros
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Good Performance.
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Great battery Life.
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Bright display.
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Good for gaming.
Cons
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Third party apps.
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Cameras could be better.
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Sammy notification.
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Unwanted pre-installed programs.
