Neo: iQoo Neo 7 5G first impressions: Seems promising – Times of India

iQoo Neo 7 5G is official and on paper, it seems to be a promising contender in the mid-range segment. The smartphone comes as a successor of the iQoo Neo 6, which checked most boxes as far as a mid-range gaming smartphone is concerned. The iQoo Neo 7 5G builds on an already powerful offering. We played around with the smartphone and will be reviewing the iQoo Neo 7 5G in the coming weeks. Here’s what we think about the phone.
iQoo Neo 7 5G: Price in India, availability
The iQoo Neo 7 5G price in India starts at Rs 29,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. Its 12GB RAM + 256GB storage version is priced at Rs 33,999 in India. The phone will be available for purchase starting from February 16.
iQoo Neo 7 5G: What’s in the box, colour options
The retail box of the iQoo Neo 7 5G contains a TPU case, documentation, a SIM ejector tool, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a charging adapter. The phone is launched in two colour options: Frost Blue and Interstellar Black. We have the Frost Blue colour that looks better than the simple Black colour option.

iQoo Neo 7 5G: Design
iQoo Neo 7 5G gets a polycarbonate body but looks premium. The volume rocker and power button are on the right side and there is an IR emitter on the top. You’ll find a speaker, SIM tray and charging port at the bottom.
The iQoo Neo 7 5G gets a bigger (and taller) display than its predecessor. There is a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and the bezels are nominally thinner than the predecessor. The iQoo Neo 7 5G comes with HDR10+ certification and the flat display gets a hole-punch cutout at the top of the screen.

The feel of the smartphone is decent and the frosted back panel does not attract fingerprints. There are also subtle yet important changes at the back. Unlike iQoo Neo 6 in which the camera island is made of glass, the iQoo Neo 7 5G gets a metal build. The company says that the change is to provide more durability to the phone. The placement of cameras inside the island also get a refreshed look.
iQoo Neo 7 5G has largely the same design as iQoo Neo 6 however, the subtle yet notable changes quickly get your attention.

iQoo Neo 7 5G: Peek under the hood
iQoo jumped ship and moved to a MediaTek SoC. While iQoo Neo 6 had a Snapdragon 870 chipset, MediaTek Dimesity 8200 SoC powers the iQoo Neo 7 5G. It is also the first phone in India to launch with this chipset. iQoo also noted that SoC is the only one in this segment to be based on a 4nm fabrication process.
To complement the chipset, there is up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. There is also a larger cooling area as compared to iQoo Neo 6. We have the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant with us.

On paper, the specifications look pretty decent, however, eyes will be on the performance of the MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC. Now that we are talking about the performance, iQoo says that the phone will offer 90fps support with games including PUBG: New State and Call of Duty: Mobile.
iQoo Neo 7 5G: Camera
iQoo Neo 7 5G gets a triple rear camera setup with 64MP main sensor. There are two 2MP sensors for taking macro and bokeh shots. The company said that since its focus is gaming and performance, they held their steps in the camera department.
The camera shots are acceptable and ideal to share on social media. However, after a few hours we played with the camera, we can say that you don’t have to buy this smartphone for its photography.

iQoo Neo 7 5G: Battery and other features
iQoo Neo 7 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 120W fast charging. The company claims that the phone can be fully juiced up in 25 minutes. Other features include Motion Control that aims to smoothen users’ gaming experience.
When it comes to performance and gaming, iQoo Neo 7 5G is the one to look for. Stay tuned for a full review in the coming weeks.