iQOO is on a launch spree in India, and its latest launch invites us to meet with the iQOO Neo 6. The Neo 6 from the Vivo sub-brand comes as a new mid-ranger priced at Rs 29,999 for the 8/128GB model and seems to have some powerful internals, including the much-loved Snapdragon 870 SoC with up to 12GB of RAM and much more. The device looks like an incremental upgrade to the iQOO 7, which was a great option in its segment when it launched. Is the Neo 6 worth its price tag as well? Let’s have a look at our review of the iQOO Neo 6.
iQOO Neo 6: Display & Design
The Neo 6 from iQOO sports a premium build with a curved back panel. The device is in the broader side when held in hand and is definitely not a one-handed smartphone. However, because of the curved panel, it gives a tight grip and doesn’t feel very slippery. You do get the premium feel as well and the Haptics add to it. The vibrations are tight and well in sync with the software. They are strong enough to let you know about an incoming call when the phone’s in your pocket.
The power, as well as the volume buttons, reside on the right, while the USB-C port, a mic, a speaker and a SIM tray are at the bottom. Talking about audio, there’s a stereo speaker setup which sounds surprisingly good at full volumes. There’s a slight hint of bass and it gets loud enough with clear vocals for an all-rounded experience.
Coming to the front, you get a 6.62-inch AMOLED Display with a Refresh Rate of 120Hz. Further, there will be a peak brightness of 1300 nits and a 91.4% screen-to-body ratio. The bezels are relatively thicker and it did look odd to my eyes at first but once I got used to it, it wasn’t an issue anymore. The screen gets super bright under direct sunlight and is very responsive to the touch.
It has that rainbow-ish tint running across but isn’t as noticeable as I have seen on some other iQOO smartphones. Viewing angles are sharp as well and overall, it is a great panel for the price. The in-display fingerprint sensor is very accurate and quick to read the fingerprint. It unlocks the device instantly and has a bunch of customisation options, be it for fingerprint animation or the icon.
iQOO Neo 6: Software & Performance
Talking about software though, like all iQOO smartphones, you get FunTouch OS 12 with Android 12 on top. Again, there are a bunch of customisation features for almost every type of element in the software that can be customized. Be it charging animation, App opening animation speed, unlock animations and much more. However, FunTouch OS still needs some polish all around as some icons and text look out of place. Also, the device came with April security patch pre-installed while I expected it to be May’s.
During my review of the iQOO Neo 6, it performed as expected in all scenarios. Executing day to day tasks wasn’t an issue at all as the iQOO Neo 6 breezes through almost every operation. Playing games including Apex Legends, Call Of Duty Mobile, RL Sideswipe was a very enjoyable experience. There were no lags as such and the device remained astonishingly under control in terms of temperature.
Even under such high temperature conditions outside, when I was playing Apex Legends and CODM at high graphics at max FPS, the device never got uncomfortably hot in the hands. The thermals on the iQOO Neo 6 are certainly very good and the efficiency of the Snapdragon 870, in terms of heat, is much better than even the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 as both the OnePlus 10 Pro and S22+ I have heat much more during gameplays.
iQOO Neo 6: Battery Life
The iQOO Neo 6 is backed by a 4700mAh battery which has support for whopping 80W fast charging. During the review, the iQOO Neo 6’ 4700mAh cell lasted me a good day and a half with moderate usage. I easily got more than 6 hours of screen-on time with usage, including chatting, some calls, browsing, and social media.
With heavy use, including gaming, I could get 4.5 to 5 hours of screen-on time which is again very impressive. The device can charge from 5 to 100% in about 35 to 40 minutes and again, it’s very quick and is also on par with what the competitors are offering.
iQOO Neo 6: Cameras
Cameras on the iQOO Neo 6 include three Sensors on the back. There’s a 64MP main sensor with OIS support, an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP portrait sensor. In addition, on the front, it sports a 16MP camera for selfies and video calls. As for the camera app, it is fairly simple to use and there’s no shutter lag while clicking photos. In addition, you get a bunch of filters within the app along with features such as eye Autofocus mode, object or body autofocus modes, AI scene enhancement, Super Macro mode, and more.
As for the pictures themselves, during the review, we could see that the iQOO Neo 6 is a great performer when it comes to outdoor shooting. Good amount of detailing and sharpness in the picture made it look much better than what I had expected as cameras on iQOO smartphones haven’t been the best in their segments. The colour tone has been kept close to natural with slightly more vividness for a colour-rich photo.
The ultra-wide-angle sensor is average at best. While there’s not much of a colour shift when compared to the primary sensor and the colours look vibrant, the sharpness and details take a hit. There’s that oil-paint effect that is very evident in each shot I captured even in broad daylight. The fish-eye effect is decently contained, though.
The portrait sensor does a very good job in clicking portrait shots and giving you that bokeh effect. It identifies the subject instantly and doesn’t misbehave in focusing on it. The amount of background blur and EDGE detection is on par. Further, the details and sharpness are retained even if you zoom in and Pixel peep. The colours are again very vibrant, adding to the overall vibe of the portrait photo.
You can click macro shots as well with the smartphone via the primary sensor. However, they don’t come out too good and stand below average, both in terms of colours and details.
Shots under artificial lighting are again really good with accurate colour tones and great detailing. The picture doesn’t lose its sharpness at any point. Under low lighting, the details are slightly degraded but the colours look natural and not faded.
The front camera performance remained optimum with adequate sharpness, details and natural skin tones. Night shots on the other hand are slightly noisy and don’t have a lot of details in them but the colours look fine.
iQOO Neo 6: Competitors
iQOO Neo 6 falls in a crowded price segment in India which is being dominated by a bunch of other companies such as Realme, Xiaomi, OnePlus and even Samsung. However, iQOO is offering 80W fast charging, which is not found on many phones in this segment.
While you may get a different software experience with the Realme GT Neo 2 that comes with the same Snapdragon 870 SoC but it is nearly a year old at this point. Moreover, it came with Android 11 which means it will get updates only till Android 13. However, on iQOO Neo 6, you would get OS upgrades till Android 14.
You get the same software advantage with Neo 6 over iQOO’s own iQOO 7, which also comes with the same SoC. Further, the iQOO 7 doesn’t have 80W Fast charging and has a smaller 4400mAh battery. Lastly, the iQOO 9 SE is also an option in this price range with a more powerful Snapdragon 888 Processor but then the iQOO Neo 6 feels more efficient in terms of heat management, has better haptics and also looks better in our opinion.
