The iQOO 9T is a killer phone that you probably can’t buy

Final month we evaluated the OnePlus 10T and located it to be a strong Android smartphone with an affordable $649 value. The iQOO 9T was just lately launched for smartphone clients in India for ₹49,999.00 (approx USD$625), about the identical value because the 10T. Whereas I had restricted connectivity and could not totally take a look at its mobile efficiency, I used to be in a position to spend a couple of weeks with the Alpha black mannequin. iQOO additionally gives one within the Legend colour that has BMW Motorsport striping on the again.

The iQOO 9T is without doubt one of the few telephones sporting the brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, superfast LPDDR5 RAM, and 120W FlashCharge. 

These are primarily flagship specs for a value lots of lower than most flagships. It’s a massive telephone, however feels nice within the hand with a steel body and frosted rear glass panel.

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I have been utilizing the 12/256GB mannequin of the telephone with my T-Cell SIM card. LTE is properly supported on 5 bands by T-Cell with the n41 band offering 5G connectivity. It labored properly sufficient for me to hold out communications and in addition was completely high quality on Wi-Fi.

{Hardware}

Trying on the specs, the iQOO 9T has practically all flagship specs and is a beautiful piece of substances. The RAM is even Enhanced LPDDR5 with Enhanced UFS 3.1 on the interior storage, so the telephone is a screamer and it by no means lagged or obtained held again by something I threw at it.

The show helps a refresh price of as much as 120Hz with a smart-switch possibility that robotically adjusts the refresh price based mostly on utility utilization and system energy consumption. It has a peak brightness of 1,500 nits with HDR 10 Plus certification and appears implausible. The front-facing digicam is centered in a hole-punch design on the prime of the show.

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The {hardware} of the iQOO 9T is implausible, with a rock-solid really feel and chic design. The telephone is a bit broad and enormous, however that additionally implies that media content material performs properly on the telephone’s attractive AMOLED show. It definitely helps that the stereo audio system additionally sound nice.  

Talking of media and leisure, avid gamers will admire the V1 Plus chip that will increase the body price and optimizes colours. The most recent era of under-display fingerprint sensors is current, and in my testing, it labored flawlessly. I used it together with the face unlock characteristic with a speedy and constant response.

The telephone has a mic and IR port on the highest, and a speaker, USB-C, mic, and SIM card tray alongside the underside. The ability and quantity buttons are on the suitable aspect.

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On the again of the iQOO 9T we discover three digicam lenses and a flashlight. The highest left digicam is the first 50MP GN5 digicam with twin pixel know-how and OIS. The 13MP ultrawide digicam is positioned beneath it whereas the 12MP portrait digicam is off to the suitable of the 13MP digicam lens.

The again glass has a frosted matte-black end with a shiny black higher third across the digicam array. The body is steel, and the entrance has a full glass show with no cutouts for the digicam or fingerprint sensor.

Wi-fi charging is just not supported on the 9T, however wired fast-charging is, and a 120W charger is included. iQOO says the telephone could be charged to 50% in 8 minutes and to 100% in simply 20 minutes.

Software program

The iQOO 9T launches with Android 12 and Funtouch OS 12 World. Our assessment unit got here with the Aug. 1 Android safety replace and it has obtained a few minor telephone updates since its arrival.

The Funtouch OS 12 consumer interface offers a reasonably inventory Android expertise; a swipe over on the house display reveals Google Uncover, and a swipe up on the house display exhibits the app launcher and widgets to select from. The widgets are made for the Funtouch OS consumer interface.

The opposite space the place I see some customized affect is within the settings choices obtainable on the telephone. Dynamic results, extremely sport mode, and shortcuts/accessibility have device-specific choices corresponding to animations, 4D sport vibration, and numerous notifications.

We additionally see some apps particular to the gadget for internet searching, picture albums, an infrared distant app, and theme choices. There are a few different instructed apps, however these are usually not put in, so it’s a pretty clear smartphone.

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Backside line

The iQOO 9T is sort of equal to the OnePlus 10T, by way of specs and pricing, with the iQOO 9T being barely wider and taller. The 9T could have barely higher cameras and feels a bit extra premium because of the steel body.

Whereas I have not been linked to all the obtainable 5G networks, I did use the telephone with a T-Cell SIM that had LTE protection. The massive-capacity battery carried out properly, simply lasting by way of greater than a day of heavy utilization. I do not sport a lot on my telephones, however I did load up and play some racing video games to take a look at the iQOO 9T’s efficiency. It was a blast to easily cruise round programs with out lag or the telephone heating up.

The iQOO 9T is a strong flagship telephone with an higher midrange value. I used to be pleasantly shocked by the standard of the pictures and will use this telephone as my each day driver.

Alternate options to think about

It is nice to see telephones with flagship specs obtainable for lots of lower than the flagship fashions from Samsung, Google, and Apple. Listed here are another telephones to think about within the $500 to $700 value vary.