iQOO’s Z9x is a bit competitive in terms of price, but only stands out for its battery life and fast charging capabilities. Its camera is very basic, and so is its software, which is loaded with bloatware and spammy push notifications. Nearly a year later, we have a successor, and it’s called the iQOO Z10x. It seems that iQOO has done enough homework this time, and the Z10x seems to be ready to face the competition.
The back panel is made of polycarbonate with a matte finish that won’t attract smudges and dust.
Out of the box, the design of the iQOO Z10x looks much better than the phone it replaces. Its midframe (also made of polycarbonate) has flat sides, but its rear panel is curved near the edges. We received this Ultramarine phone for review, which has a lavender-like color. However, iQOO has added some detail in the form of a wavy texture, which can be seen when you twist the phone. I like how subtle it is and not as flashy as the iQOO Neo 10R I recently reviewed.
Unlike the mid-range iQOO Z10, the iQOO Z10x retains a flat display panel.
While things have improved on the back, it’s not the same as the front. Although the LCD has the same 6.72-inch diagonal, FHD+ resolution, and 120Hz refresh rate, the bezels are a bit thicker. The bezels are thinnest on the sides (although not as thin as on the iQOO Z9x), but thicker at the top and thickest at the bottom. It’s easy to conclude that iQOO has cut corners here, but there’s more on that in our review.
The phone also retains the IP64 dust and water resistance rating of the iQOO Z9x. Taking into account its thick appearance and weight (204 grams), iQOO decided to omit the 3.5mm headphone jack equipped on the previous generation model.
The third, smaller camera-like cutout is actually an infrared blaster
This camera module is incredibly complex given that it only provides a single user-accessible camera. It’s still as basic as before, with a 50-megapixel (f/1.8 aperture) main camera (no OIS) and a 2-megapixel depth camera (for portrait camera mode). The selfie camera is also the same as before, an 8-megapixel unit. I definitely wasn’t expecting a better performance from the photography department this year.
As for the core hardware, there are some upgrades as well. The newer MediaTek Dimensity 7300 processor offers a maximum clock speed of 2.5GHz compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC used in the previous model. The 7300’s GPU is also much faster compared to the one in the iQOO Z9x, so gaming performance should improve.
iQOO’s Z10x runs on Vivo’s Funtouch OS 15, which is based on Android 15
Another new feature is the 6GB base RAM version, which is an improvement over the base 4GB RAM version offered by the iQOO Z9x. The iQOO Z10x is available in 6GB+128GB (Rs. 13,499), 8GB+128GB (Rs. 14,999) and 8GB+256GB (Rs. 16,499) variants. Supports multiple SA and NSA 5G brands as well as dual 5G standby. There’s no NFC, but you get Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity.
The iQOO Z10x’s fingerprint reader is embedded in its power button
The battery capacity has been increased from 6,000mAh to 6,500mAh. Considering that the TSMC chipset is more efficient this time around, I can only expect the iQOO Z10x to perform better than the iQOO Z9x. Charging is the same as the Z9x, 44W.
With multiple upgrades, we expect the iQOO Z10x to perform better in some aspects compared to the iQOO Z9x we tested last year. We’re not too confident in its photo-taking abilities, which is the same as before. Hopefully, iQOO has solved the annoying spam notifications we encountered on the iQOO Z9x this time. If you’re looking for a smartphone with a big battery budget that won’t break the bank, the iQOO Z10x could be the phone for you. But we recommend you wait for our detailed review before choosing.
