iQOO’s Z9x was a bit competitive in terms of price but only stood out because of its battery life and fast charging capabilities. Its cameras were very basic, and the same can be said about its software, which was loaded to the brim with bloatware and pushed spammy notifications. Nearly a year later, we have a successor, and it’s called the iQOO Z10x. It seems like iQOO did its homework this time, as the Z10x appears prepared to tackle the competition.
The rear panel is made of polycarbonate and has a matte finish, which does not pick up smudges and dust.
Out of the box, the iQOO Z10x’s design looks a lot better than the phone it replaces. Its mid-frame (also made of polycarbonate) has flat sides, but its rear panel has been given a curved treatment near the edges. We received the phone in its Ultramarine finish for review, which has a lavender-like colour. However, iQOO has added some detail in the form of a wave-like texture, which is visible when you twist the phone. I like that it’s subtle and not as flashy as the iQOO Neo 10R I recently reviewed.
Unlike the mid-range iQOO Z10, the iQOO Z10x retains its flat display panel.
While things have improved around the back, it’s not the same with the front. The LCD, albeit having the same 6.72-inch diagonal, FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, has some thick borders. The borders are the thinnest on the sides (although not as thin as those on the iQOO Z9x) but are thicker at the top and the thickest at the bottom. It’s easy to conclude that iQOO has cut a few corners here, but more about this in our review.
The phone also retains its IP64 dust and water resistance rating from the iQOO Z9x. Given its chunky appearance and weight (204g), iQOO decided to omit the 3.5mm headphone jack, which was available on the previous model.
The third smaller camera-like cutout is actually an IR blaster
The camera module appears abnormally complex, given that it only offers one user-accessible camera. It remains as basic as before, with a 50-megapixel (f/1.8 aperture) primary camera (with no OIS) and a 2-megapixel depth camera (for the Portrait camera mode). The selfie camera is also the same as before, and it is an 8-megapixel unit. I’m definitely not expecting a better performance in the photography department this year.
As for core hardware, there are a few upgrades. A newer MediaTek Dimensity 7300 processor offers a 2.5GHz maximum clock speed compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC used in the previous model. The 7300’s GPU is also a lot faster compared to the GPU in the iQOO Z9x, so gaming performance should see some improvements.
iQOO’s Z10x is powered by Vivo’s Funtouch OS 15, which is based on Android 15
Also new is a 6GB base RAM variant, an improvement over the basic 4GB RAM variant the iQOO Z9x offered. The iQOO Z10x is available in 6GB+128GB (Rs. 13,499), 8GB+128GB (Rs. 14,999) and 8GB+256GB (Rs. 16,499) variants. There’s support for several SA and NSA 5G brands and 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 has grown from a 6,000mAh unit to a 6,500mAh unit. Given the more efficient TSMC chipset this time around, I can only expect the iQOO Z10x to perform even better than the iQOO Z9x. Charging remains the same as with the Z9x, which is 44W.
With many upgrades, we are expecting the iQOO Z10x to perform better in some areas compared to the iQOO Z9x we tested last year. We are not too confident about its camera prowess, which remains the same as before. Hopefully, iQOO has taken care of the annoying spammy notifications we experienced on the iQOO Z9x this time. If you are looking for a big battery budget smartphone that won’t break the bank, the iQOO Z10x might just be the right phone. But we recommend waiting for our detailed review before you pick one.
