iQOO is known for its smartphones with a powerful gaming DNA. However, the brand is moving beyond the gaming-phone image to offer a more of a complete flagship experience. Given the recent price hikes across the smartphones globally, the starting variant of iQOO Z11 5G now costs Rs 13,000 more than its predecessor, iQOO Z10, which was launched at a starting price of Rs 21,999.
The iQOO Z11 5G comes with the MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo, AI features and a sleek design that is meant to give you premium in-hand feel. At a starting price of Rs 34,999, does the phone stand as a strong competitor in the price segment, let us find out in this review.
iQOO Z11 5G Review: What’s Inside the Box
I received my review unit in the Celestial Blue colour (12GB + 256GB). This smartphone also comes in the Aurora Green colour option. Apart from the device, the box has a SIM ejector tool, a USB-A to USB-C cable, a protection case, the paperwork and a 44W charging adapter.
iQOO Z11 5G Review: Design
The iQOO Z11 5G feels great in the hand. Despite housing a large 7,050mAh battery, the handset does not feel bulky. The 3D curved display also helps the phone look and feel slimmer. However, the curve is quite steep, so you may need to be a little careful while handling the edges.
Moreover, the curved design gives the Z11 a premium look and makes it stand out in a market where flat displays have become the norm. My Celestial Blue unit has a classy finish with a subtle shimmer that changes with the viewing angle. The darker shade does attract fingerprints. So, I will suggest using the device with the case.
Speaking of ports and buttons, the right side of the iQOO Z11 gets the power button and volume rockers, while the left side is clean. At the bottom of this device, you get a dual nano-SIM tray and a USB 2.0 port. The phone also features stereo speakers, multiple microphones and an IR blaster.
iQOO Z11 5G Review: Display
If you are someone who’s priority is a big screen, then you might like the device. The iQOO Z11 gets a 6.83-inch 1.5K curved AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and it is one of the strengths of this handset. The panel is bright enough for comfortable outdoor use, although it gets slightly dimmer during longer sessions.
I watched YouTube videos and binged a couple of anime episodes on Netflix. Colours are vibrant, blacks are deep, and contrast is good for the price. Text also looks sharp, ideal for reading. The curved edges did not cause any accidental touches during my testing. The 144Hz refresh rate, however, is not used to its full potential. In Smart Select mode, most apps run at 60Hz or 90Hz. Even with the high refresh rate mode enabled, several apps remain limited to 90Hz. Only a couple of apps actually make use of the full 144Hz.
In terms of the audio experience, the stereo speakers are another strong point. They get loud enough for most situations, with 150 per cent and 200 per cent volume boost options for noisier surroundings. The overall audio experience is good for the segment. However, Haptics could have been better. The haptics feel a bit underwhelming. The vibration is fine for calls and alarms, but it does not feel as refined during typing or regular use.
iQOO Z11 5G Review: Performance
The iQOO Z11 is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo, and my review unit came with 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It is not a flagship processor, but you would not really notice that in day-to-day use. The phone feels quick, apps open without much issue and switching between apps is generally smooth. I also did not have any complaints about how it handled apps in the background.
I spent some time playing BGMI on the phone, where the game runs at Smooth graphics with the Extreme frame rate setting. That means you are limited to 60fps, but the gameplay itself was pretty good. I did not come across any major lag or stuttering during my sessions. The benchmark results were decent as well. The Z11 scored 11,11,629 on AnTuTu. On Geekbench, it scored 991 in the single-core test and 3,455 in the multi-core test. The Dimensity 7500 Turbo is positioned in a similar performance segment as the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4. For comparison, the OnePlus Nord CE 6, powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4, scored 11,40,057 on AnTuTu in our testing. This puts the two devices in a broadly similar range in terms of benchmark performance.
The iQOO Z11 runs OriginOS 6 based on Android 16, and the overall experience is quite smooth. Animations feel fine and I did not notice any issues while using the phone. Bloatware is something you will have to deal with. There are several pre-installed apps, including Booking.com, LinkedIn, Agoda, Instagram, and others. The good thing is that these third-party apps can be uninstalled without much trouble.
There is also a small catch during the setup. The handset suggests installing a bunch of third-party apps, and there is an option to avoid it. If you want a cleaner setup, make sure you untick it before continuing. On the AI side, the Z11 comes with features such as AI Eraser, Super Eraser, AI DocMaster, AI Creation, AI Transcript Assist, AI Captions and Circle to Search. Google Gemini is also built in. Most of these are useful additions, although how much you use them will depend on your day-to-day needs.
iQOO promises three major Android updates and five years of security updates, which is fairly standard for this segment.
The in-display fingerprint scanner sits slightly lower than I would have liked, but it is reliable. It unlocked the phone successfully about nine out of 10 times in my testing. Face unlock is even quicker and worked well in low light too.
iQOO Z11 5G Review: Camera
The iQOO Z11 has a 50MP Sony IMX882 main camera with OIS, paired with an 8MP ultra wide lens. For selfies, the device gets a 32MP shooter on the front. The camera app covers most of the basics, including 50MP, Panorama, Documents, Slo-mo, Time-lapse, Pro and Live Photo modes.
In daylight, the main camera does a decent job. Colours look good without being overly processed and the camera handles bright and dark areas reasonably well. Photos also look quite nice on the phone’s display. Things could change when you start zooming into the pictures. Fine details can look a little smudged. I noticed this in both well-lit and darker scenes. Low-light shots are okay for casual use, but noise is visible in darker areas.
Speaking of the selfies camera, it is actually the better part of the setup. Selfies have enough detail, skin tones look natural and portrait shots do a good job separating the subject from the background.
Video recording goes up to 4K at 30fps on both the front and back cameras. There are two stabilisation options, but the stronger Ultra mode brings the resolution down to 1080p because of the crop. The regular stabilisation, helped by OIS, does a good enough job of keeping footage steady. One thing missing is a portrait video mode.
iQOO Z11 5G Review: Battery
The iQOO Z11 comes with a 7,050mAh. This is actually smaller than the 7,300mAh on the Z10, but I did not feel like I was missing out on battery life. With heavy use, the Z11 comfortably lasted me more than a day. On days when I used it a little less, I could stretch it to around a day and a half.
Charging is where things are less impressive. The phone supports 44W fast charging, and I got it to around 50 per cent in about 40 minutes. A full charge took a little over an hour. You need to manually turn on the fast-charging option to get those speeds. The phone does get noticeably warm while fast charging, though, so that is something to keep in mind.
iQOO Z11 5G Review: Verdict
The iQOO Z11 5G is a phone that gets the important things right. It feels good to use, the curved AMOLED display is one of its highlights, performance is more than enough for everyday use and gaming and the 7,050mAh battery easily gets you through a full day. Moreover, the design also gives the Z11 a more premium feel than you might expect from a phone in this segment.
When it comes to the camera setup, it works decently if you are someone using it for casual photography and social media usage. The main camera takes good photos in daylight, but details can look soft when you zoom in. More importantly, the software experience is mostly smooth, but the bloatware could have been taken care of.
Overall, the iQOO Z11 5G makes the most sense if performance, a big curved display and strong battery life are high on your list.
