The iQOO 12 India launch has concluded and the we finally know all the specifications and other details about the smartphone. The handset comes with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Chipset and is the first smartphone in India to do so. At a starting price of Rs 52,999, is the iQOO 12 worth looking forward to? Let’s find out.
iQOO 12: India price, Availability
The 12GB + 256GB model of the iQOO is priced at Rs 52,999, while the 16GB + 512GB model carries a price tag of Rs 57,999. There’s a discount of Rs 3,000 that can be availed by HDFC and ICICI Bank card customers. If not a card discount, non-Vivo/iQOO users can avail a Rs 3,000 exchange bonus while former Vivo/iQOO users can avail a bonus of Rs 5,000. The handset is available in two shades, including White and Black.
Users who purchased the priority pass can buy the phone on December 13th at 12 PM IST, while the open sale for the handset will begim on December 14th at 12 PM IST.
iQOO 12: Is it worth its price?
With a price tag of RS 52,999, iQOO is going to put a lot of pressure on other brands who will be introducing devices with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the coming year. With the first mover advantage and such an attractive price point, brands like OnePlus, Vivo, and Samsung, will have a standard to meet in terms of the price.
Read More: iQOO 12 Initial Impressions: The Flagship To Look Forward To In 2024
iQOO is also undercutting the price of iQOO 11 5G, which it launched earlier this year in India. To jog your memory, the iQOO 11 was priced at Rs 59,999 for the 8GB + 256GB variant and Rs 64,999 for the 16GB + 256GB option. Pricing iQOO 12 at Rs 52,999 for the base variant and Rs 57,999 for the top-end one, iQOO is offering a difference of Rs 7,000 over its predecessor in terms of the launch price.
If we go component-wise, the iQOO 12 sports a 6.78-inch AMOLED Display with 144Hz Refresh Rate support, 3000 nits peak brightness and a 1.5K resolution. There is a hole-punch cutout at the top centre for the front camera. The device also has an HDR10+ certification and 2160Hz PWM Dimming.
This display meets the standards and exceeds them in some aspects compared to the competitors. However, it is a slight downgrade over iQOO 11 as it had a 2K Resolution panel. The panel has been upgraded overall, which means it will have better colour accuracy efficiency and is way brighter at 3000 nits. Even Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series devices reach a maximum of 1750 nits, so that’s very impressive.
Getting to the cameras, there’s a triple rear camera setup including a 50MP f/1.68 OIS-assisted main camera, a 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide camera and a 64MP f/2.57 periscope telephoto camera sensor with 100x digital zoom. It further gets a 16MP front camera. While every brand offers triple and even quad cameras, iQOO has upgraded them significantly over iQOO 12’s predecessor. Also, a 64MP periscope telephoto sensor is difficult to find in smartphones that lie in this price segment. While we cannot comment on the camera performance as of yet, we can say that the on-paper specs are nothing short of remarkable regarding the said price segment.
The iQOO 12 packs a 5000mAh battery and supports 120W Fast charging out of the box. It runs out of the box on the latest Android 14-based FunTouch OS 14 skin. The device is also IP64-rated. 120W fast charging is again a feature difficult to find at this price. If we talk of software, we have always complained about the bloatware the iQOO devices pack, even though they are categorised as flagships.
iQOO has taken all the feedback and has excluded bloatware like “Hot Apps & Games” from iQOO 12. From our initial software experience with the iQOO 12 that the handset will offer a fluid interface and snappy performance. Moreover, it runs Android 14 out of the box and will get updates until Android 17. Brands like OnePlus and Samsung offer 4 years of major OS upgrades and have a more polished software experience, but that doesn’t mean iQOO’s software is unusable. It may be inferior, but it is not the worst out there.
Lastly, the standout feature of iQOO 12 is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. We don’t have any devices in this range, or for a matter of fact, any handset in India that currently has this chipset. That gives iQOO the first-mover advantage and the opportunity to set a trend that the brands would follow. In our opinion, the company is going on the right track by pricing the iQOO 12 starting at Rs 52,999. iQOO is known for its aggressive pricing, and while it did depart from that with iQOO 11, the company seems to be returning to its roots with its upcoming flagships.
Brands don’t often lower the launch price of the successor smartphone and opt for either of the two options where they would price it the same or higher. By doing that, iQOO 12 is now one of the best offerings in the price segment that carries all the latest technology, including Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, a 64MP periscope telephoto sensor, a 144Hz panel and a lot more. Also, with the recent price drop for iQOO 11 5G, iQOO outdone themselves and showed their commitment towards providing value-for-money products, so we feel the iQOO 12 would follow the same path.
