iQOO Neo 7 Pro Review: Is it worth its price tag?

Earlier this year, vivo's subsidiary company iQOO released its Neo 7 range. The company has been committed to providing affordable yet performance-oriented smartphones since its inception. With that commitment, iQOO launched the Neo 7 Pro on July 4 in India. The device is meant to be a souped-up version of the existing Neo 7. Let’s look at its detailed specs and price to see whether iQOO Neo 7 Pro 5G worth the price tag.

The design of the Neo 7 Pro is the same as that of the Neo 7. The dimensions are almost exactly the same as well. It's pretty difficult to tell which is which just by holding them.

However, unlike the Neo 7, the 7 Pro has a plastic frame complemented by either glass or leather back. The device comes in at 164.8 x 76.9 x 8.5 mm or 8.9 mm depending on either the glass or leather back. The 193 gm or 202 gm (glass) weight makes for an impressive hand feel thanks to the even weight distribution. The curved back also helps to increase the grip on the device.

This time iQOO went with a uniform bezel design on the front. While it might not seem like much, it makes quite a difference while interacting with the display. The center punch-hole camera brings a sense of symmetry to the display. The dual-tone rectangular camera housing on the back looks unique. It adds to the overall aesthetic of the device, especially on the leather variant.

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The power button and the volume rocker are placed on the left with the secondary noise cancellation mic at the top. The bottom of the device houses the Type C port, sim slot, and primary mic.

The Neo 7 Pro is definitely a breath of fresh air when it comes to designs in the upper mid-range segment. It might even help iQOO establish a new design identity in this segment.

The display on the iQOO Neo 7 Pro is an AMOLED 1080P display with 1B colors, 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ support, and 1300 nits of peak brightness. The 6.78-inch panel is stacked with features that would easily give flagship displays a run for their money.

The uniform front bezel means that the display has an 87.6% screen-to-body ratio. The pixel density comes in at 388 ppi making it a sharp and crisp panel. Viewing angles on the Neo 7 Pro is excellent with no color shifts or hazing. The high peak brightness makes for comfortable legibility even under direct sunlight.

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Overall, the display on the Neo 7 Pro makes for an impressive interaction all around. For anyone looking for a device with media consumption in mind, the Neo 7 Pro can be an easy pick.

There is a triple camera setup on the Neo 7 Pro with a 50 MP main sensor, 8 MP ultrawide, and a 2 MP macro shooter. The main camera is equipped with an f/1.9 aperture and a 24 mm lens. There is no EIS so OIS and PDAF are all that the users will be getting.

In the test, the camera performs as expected from a 50 MP shooter. The pictures look sharp and detailed with a decent amount of dynamic range. It also does a great job at edge detection in portrait shots. iQOO has also fixed the fish eye effect on their ultrawide shots. It now looks much on par with the main sensor shots.

The night photography on the Neo 7 Pro is also great. Shots came out with good details though the exposure was a hit or miss at times. The front features a single 16 MP selfie shooter good enough for casual pictures.

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The videography on the 7 Pro is rated up to 4K at 30 fps. The lack of EIS is visible especially if it shakes too much. But overall it produces decent videos.

The processor on the iQOO Neo 7 Pro is Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 based on the 4 Nm architecture. iQOO has moved away from their usual collaborator MediaTek for the 7 Pro and opted for last year’s flagship processor from Snapdragon.

The switch has also bumped up the overall performance. The SoC has 1 3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3 2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4 2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 chip designs with Adreno 730 as the GPU. In our test, the device performed like any other flagship. The high refresh rate combined with the fast animations of the UI made it hard to differentiate from this year’s flagship devices.

Gaming on the Neo 7 Pro is also very smooth. The device gave a constant 60 fps on titles like COD, Asphalt 9, Genshin Impact, and PUBG. There were no noticeable frame drops or heating issues even after 30-odd minutes of continued gaming. It's safe to say that this is by far the best gaming smartphone on a mid-range budget.

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Funtouch OS has also been significantly upgraded but the problem with bloatware remains. Overall, the performance of the Neo 7 Pro would be more than satisfactory for most users as well as gamers out there.

The battery on the iQOO Neo 7 Pro is 5000 mAh. However, the biggest feature in terms of battery is its charging capability. The device supports 120W wired fast charging. iQOO claims the device would be able to go from 0 to 50% in 8 minutes.

- Great performance - Impressive primary camera - 120W fast charging - Excellent display - Leatherback model - Uniform front bezel.

- Bloatware

- Plastic frame

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The official price of the iQOO Neo 7 Pro in India is 33,999 INR for the 8/128 GB and 37,999 INR for 12/256 GB variant. That roughly translates to 45,080 BDT and 50,384 BDT respectively (1 INR = 1.33 BDT). But expect the price to significantly differ once it becomes officially available in Bangladesh.

The iQOO Neo 7 Pro is a refined version of their existing Neo 7. It brings some subtle changes in the processor and camera department which ends up making a meaningful impact in the overall experience of the device. It still boasts a decent camera, excellent display, and battery.

The only gripe would be that the frame is still plastic and Funtouch OS is still riddled with bloatware. If you can overlook these two aspects, then the iQOO Neo 7 Pro 5G can be an excellent buy at any price point.

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