iQOO 9 Pro

The iQoo 9 Pro is built with a metal frame sandwiched between two sheets of glass. In terms of the overall design, it shares many similarities with the iQoo 7 Legend (Review). A three-color racing stripe inspired by BMW Motorsport runs off-center down the rear panel. The power button, like on the iQoo 7 Legend, is also finished in blue.

​​If you look closely, you'll notice some new details. The white portion of the rear glass has a fine carbon fiber-like weave etched into it. The white area has a matte finish that feels smooth and does not collect fingerprints, but it is quite slippery. Fortunately, iQoo includes a color-coordinated case in the box. The back stripes have a glossy finish, giving the back panel a dual-tone appearance.

The camera module occupies roughly one-third of the back panel. It only protrudes slightly, which I like. It's mostly for show, but it also keeps the phone from wobbling when placed on a flat surface. The display on the 9 Pro is made of Panda glass, which curves on the left and right sides, giving the smartphone a slim profile. The bezels are slim, and I like how the earpiece slit is almost invisible. The phone's top and bottom are both flat. On the bottom, there's a SIM tray, primary microphone, USB Type-C port, and speaker, and on the top, there's an infrared emitter and secondary microphone.

The iQoo 9 Pro is equipped with three rear-facing cameras. A 50-megapixel primary camera with sensor and optical stabilization for gimbal-level smoothness, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with autofocus, and a 16-megapixel telephoto camera with OIS and PDAF are all available. A 16-megapixel front-facing camera is in charge of selfies. The camera interface is similar to other Funtouch OS-powered phones, with customizable camera modes and important controls accessible via a hamburger icon in the top left corner.

Source: IQOO 9 Pro

The selfie camera captured some photos that were sharp and clear, with a good dynamic range and detail. Portrait mode, on the other hand, had some issues with edge detection in complicated scenes with foliage or trees in the background, resulting in a halo-like effect around the subject. Because the iQoo 9 Pro's ultra-wide-angle camera has autofocus, it can also be used as a macro camera, shooting subjects with impressive detail from as close as 3cm away. It is, in fact, one of the few usable macro cameras in this price range.

The camera's low-light performance was also quite good. The primary camera's 5-axis gimbal stabilization is the star of the show here, and iQoo has even included a toggle in the viewfinder to demonstrate how the gimbal moves and compensates for handshake. When shooting in low light, the camera automatically captures photos with a longer (one second or more) exposure. Photos taken in 'Auto' mode were also quite good and packed in a lot of detail. Activating Night mode increased the dynamic range and brought out even more detail with some sharpening. Photos taken with the ultra-wide-angle camera were also usable, though the Night mode images from this sensor were a little soft due to the lack of OIS.

The iQoo 9 Pro has a 6.78-inch curved-edge AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,440x3,200 pixels (2K+). The text and images appeared to be quite sharp. Colors appeared a little too saturated at the default 'Standard' color setting, so we changed to the 'Professional' setting, which made them look more realistic and natural. Outside, the display became quite bright and was legible even in direct sunlight. Because it is an LTPO panel, it can reduce its refresh rate to 10Hz when necessary, which should result in longer battery life. The screen also has a touch sampling rate of 300Hz, which came in handy when playing FPS games.

The iQoo 9 Pro's panel has 10-bit color reproduction, HDR10+ support, and Widevine L1 DRM certification for HD video streaming. In our review unit, however, HDR did not work in streaming apps such as Netflix. The standard content was sharp and featured deep blacks. For some reason, Amazon Prime Video only played video in blurry SD quality. YouTube was the only app that was able to display HDR content. The iQoo 9 Pro's stereo speakers were loud and clear, making gaming and watching movies enjoyable. However, they weren't balanced, and the primary speaker produced more bass than the earpiece.

The iQoo 9 Pro addresses the main issue with the iQoo 7 Legend – poor battery life – and adds a slew of new features, justifying its higher price. My main complaint is the lack of an IP68 rating, which is common in smartphones in this price range. The software is up to date, and gaming performance is excellent. The still camera performs well, as does video recording, though low-light videos could have been better. The 120W charging speed is the cherry on top, and wireless charging is available.

Overall, because there is little direct competition at the moment, it is easy to recommend the iQoo 9 Pro. The OnePlus 10 Pro, on the other hand, is expected to launch in India near the end of March, which will make things a lot more interesting. If you're not in a hurry, it might be worth your time to see what the competition has to offer.