iQoo Neo 7 5G First Impressions: Lots of Upgrades, One Downgrade

iQoo Neo 7 5G is the latest premium mid-range smartphone that is the successor to iQoo Neo 6 (review) and will be launched in India on February 16th. The iQoo Neo 6 smartphone was well received as it offered good performance at a competitive price. On paper, the iQoo Neo 7 5G brings significant improvements in many areas over its predecessor, which should make it an interesting proposition. Official pricing and sales details will be announced at launch, but for now, here are our first impressions of the phone.

iQoo Neo 7 5G will be available in two storage options. The base model will have 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The company sent us the top variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The retail box contains a TPU case, some documentation, a SIM eject tool, a USB Type-C to 3.5mm audio jack adapter, and most importantly, a charging adapter.

iQoo Neo 7 5G looks premium at first glance. I have with me the color Frost Blue, matte matte. There is also an Interstellar Black color for those who want a less flashy option. Despite the polycarbonate body, the phone doesn’t feel cheap. iQoo Neo 7 5G weighs about 193g and is 8.58mm thick.

iQoo Neo 7 5G has a curved frame and back panel.

There are power and volume buttons on the right edge of the phone, while the left side is completely hidden. At the bottom is a USB Type-C port sandwiched between the main speaker grille and the SIM tray. Top notch microphone and IR emitter.

The iQoo Neo 7 5G display is slightly taller than the previous model. It features a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The phone also has a 93.11% screen-to-body ratio, with a chin thickness of 2.65mm, while other bezels are about 1.65mm thick.

No support for Dolby Vision HDR playback like Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G (review), but iQoo Neo 7 5G is HDR10+ certified. The phone also has a flat display with a notch at the top center for the front camera. iQoo says they opted for a flat screen rather than a screen with curved edges as it would help avoid ghost touches while gaming. If you want a screen with curved edges in this segment, there’s the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G (Review). Read more about display features and performance in the iQoo Neo 7 5G review.

Where the iQoo Neo 7 5G has a clear advantage over the two phones mentioned above is performance. The phone ships with a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC. With a peak clock speed of 3.1GHz, the SoC is currently the only one in the segment based on a 4nm process. The phone is also equipped with a powerful 5000mAh battery with support for 120W fast charging.

iQoo Neo 7 5G has a taller and brighter display compared to its predecessor.

iQoo has confirmed that popular games like PUBG: New State and Call of Duty: Mobile will support 90fps gameplay. With more power in phones, there are concerns about throttling and poor battery life, and that’s something we’ll be keeping an eye on in the full review.

We will also be testing the performance of the iQoo Neo 7 5G camera. The phone is equipped with a 64-megapixel main camera with support for optical image stabilization (OIS). The triple camera is also equipped with two 2-megapixel sensors for macro and depth detection. The camera department is a clear downgrade from the iQoo Neo 6 5G, which comes with an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera sensor. For selfies, the iQoo Neo 7 5G has a 16-megapixel front camera sensor.

iQoo Neo 7 5G does not have an ultra wide-angle camera

In terms of software, the iQoo Neo 7 5G runs Funtouch OS 13 based on Android 13 out of the box. The device is confirmed to receive two major Android updates and three years of security support.

Should the iQoo Neo 7 5G be your next upgrade? Find out in the full review coming very soon to Gadgets 360.