iQOO Z11 5G review: Doesn’t win every battle, but somehow wins you over (HT Tech)

Although this price hike may upset long-standing fans of the Z series, it has given iQOO room to overhaul the lineup with unheard-of features. The Z11 introduces more robust dust and water protection, a 1.5K AMOLED display, an additional ultra-wide camera, and, finally, a vapour chamber.

This stacked list shows that iQOO’s latest smartphone still follows the same playbook that brought prestige to the Z series. But what it hides is that the brand has cut corners on two of the Z11’s most essential aspects: the processor and the battery. While iQOO’s reasoning behind this decision is unclear, it appears to allow the brand to allocate the saved resources towards creating an all-rounder smartphone. So, is the iQOO Z11 truly a well-rounded product? And if so, does it justify its asking price of ₹34,999? Read this review to find out the answer.

Its Dimensity 7500 SoC, which also debuted alongside iQOO’s smartphone, is well optimised to handle everyday tasks, such as scrolling through Instagram Reels or browsing articles in the Brave browser, without stuttering.

The iQOO Z11 continues to deliver a smooth experience even when running moderately intensive games. In BGMI, with graphical settings configured to ‘Smooth’ graphics and ‘Extreme’ frame rate, this is how the phone performed:

As a rule of thumb, the closer the average frame rate is to the 5% frame rate, the smoother the game runs. This was also evident in my real-life experience, as I didn’t experience any frame drops or stutters while chasing enemies throughout the session.

However, it’s worth noting that Nothing managed to configure the CMF Phone 2 Pro to run BGMI at 90 fps on Smooth graphics, even though the device’s Dimensity 7300 processor is a tier below the Dimensity 7500 SoC in the iQOO Z11. So, it’s disappointing to see iQOO only offering a 60 fps option on its new smartphone. I hope the brand works closely with BGMI to enable a higher frame-rate option in a future update, especially given the brand’s performance-first nature

Compared with its BGMI performance, the iQOO Z11 is rather mediocre at handling graphically intensive games, particularly Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves.

In my experience, Genshin Impact was pretty smooth sailing, as I barely encountered lag while solving puzzles and watching cutscenes. That said, the iQOO Z11 stuttered more while running Wuthering Waves, whether it was defeating enemies, exploring the land, or solving puzzles, as the results also corroborate. Despite this, I could still hold the phone comfortably, feeling barely any heat, indicating that its vapour chamber fulfilled its intended role.

All these observations boil down to the fact that the iQOO Z11, with its Dimensity 7500 SoC, excels at moderately intensive tasks but struggles significantly with heavy workloads. However, this doesn’t reflect the current standing of iQOO’s new smartphone in the smartphone market.

To put its performance into perspective, the table below compares the iQOO Z11 with other phones in performance benchmarks, either priced ₹10,000 lower or in the higher segment:

Together, these benchmark results and my experience clearly show that the iQOO Z11 balances capable performance with an accessible price.

First off, it features actual app opening and closing animations. It sometimes uses them creatively to mask the loading time of heavier apps, such as the camera, which I appreciate.

OriginOS 6 on the iQOO Z11 also handles multitasking seamlessly, with minimal jitter, such as scrolling Instagram Reels while checking Google Maps in the floating window.

But the part about OriginOS 6 that stood out to me most was its sheer amount of customisation. For instance, it lets us choose the animation that plays when a USB cable is inserted into the iQOO Z11, and so on.

Keeping up with the times, iQOO has also packed the iQOO Z11 with a useful set of AI features. In addition to the standard AI eraser, the gallery app features Cutout, which allows users to adjust a specific section of the image containing a human subject, such as changing the background or creating an ID photo.

While this may sound unremarkable, it is phenomenal in practice, working as intended almost every time. It mainly remains a feature that other brands have yet to offer.

The AI Captions feature, one of the most heavily advertised features of the iQOO Z11, comes close to delivering the same experience, but its execution holds it back.

To be clear, it transcribes the video within seconds of activation, allows users to save the transcription for future reference, and supports multiple languages for translating the transcription.

However, the AI Captions feature struggles to display the correct words when a person in a video speaks quickly and even loses the intended message during translation. Considering this, I would have much appreciated it if iQOO had fixed these core issues before advertising the AI Captions feature as the iQOO Z11’s headline feature.

But what undermines the iQOO Z11’s software is the bloatware that appears after initial setup. In addition to standard apps such as Instagram and LinkedIn, the brand has incorporated pre-installed apps that raised my guard, and incessantly push notifications at all hours of the day. Fortunately, the good news is that some of these apps can be deleted, while users can disable the others.

I also appreciate that the iQOO Z11 is promised to receive 3 years of software updates and 5 years of security patches. That said, given the ongoing severe issues with iQOO smartphones, including the iQOO Neo 9 Pro, following its latest software update, the extended software support for the iQOO Z11 seems less appealing.

But its slender 20:9 chassis and the camera bar’s top placement give the design a distinctive touch. Speaking of the camera visor, although it protrudes significantly from the rear, the phone doesn’t wobble when pressure is applied to the corner of the screen with the back facing a flat surface.

The Celestial Matte colour and its matte texture further lend a premium touch to its overall appearance. My only gripe with this colour variant is that it attracts a lot of fingerprint smudges, which instantly show up when the light hits the rear panel.

With everything said, it is the iQOO Z11’s in-hand feel that has left a strong impression on me. iQOO has sculpted its new phone to be narrower than most, making it feel natural to hold. Curved edges and a 7.99 mm thickness further make it comfortable to grip, without causing any sharp pain. At 199g, the iQOO Z11 doesn’t feel tiring to hold, even after extended use. The only caveat is that its 20:9 aspect ratio forces my tiny hands to do acrobatics to reach the notification centre.

Despite its slim profile, the iQOO Z11 gives the impression of a sturdy smartphone when held in the hand. That impression held when it slipped from my clumsy hands. Although curved glass is more prone to cracking than a flat screen, the Scott Xensation Up protective layer still prevented the display of iQOO’s new smartphone from shattering.

Similarly, the brand has paid equal attention to accidental water damage, making the iQOO Z11 the first in the Z series to offer IP68 and IP69 protection against dust and water. However, most companies don’t honour warranty claims if a phone is water-damaged. So, be mindful when using the iQOO Z11 underwater. And remember, say no to seawater at all costs.

It’s a nitpick, but the iQOO Z11’s 20:9 aspect ratio introduces black bars on the left and right of a 16:9 video, which can sometimes detract from immersion.

The 144Hz refresh rate makes the phone feel snappy to use. It’s worth noting that some apps run at 90Hz or 120Hz, which isn’t a dealbreaker but should be highlighted.

Watching content has also been a pleasant experience on the iQOO Z11. Its screen renders the dense colour palettes of my favourite anime series, including One Piece and Tensura, beautifully without oversaturating them. This allows each visual element to stand out, even in complex scenes. The 1.5K resolution, the first for any Z-series smartphone, further helps the iQOO Z11 deliver sharp clarity when watching live-action series.

Using iQOO’s new smartphone outdoors has been an equally pleasing experience, as it remained legible in direct sunlight. What enables it to achieve this result is its ability to reach 2000 nits in high-brightness mode.

More importantly, the dual-speaker setup on the iQOO Z11 does a decent job of handling music across the frequency range. While the phone handles mids and highs well, it slightly falters in delivering the punch expected from the low end.

The haptic feedback is just as pleasing as the dual stereo speakers. When typing, adjusting the volume, or swiping back, the iQOO Z11 produces vibrations that are not overly strong, yet feel adequate for its price point.

Its 50MP primary camera renders colours accurately, while the larger sensor helps deliver good clarity. Its HDR processing also strikes a good balance between darker and brighter areas, retaining details in shadows without excessively brightening the frame.

The 8MP ultra-wide camera is surprisingly capable too, retaining colours close to the original scene and sufficient detail in darker areas. Its lower resolution, however, prevents it from matching the primary camera’s level of detail.

Low-light photography is also largely satisfying, with both the primary and ultra-wide cameras retaining good colour accuracy and sufficient detail. However, in dimmer scenes, the cameras lower the shutter speed, which can introduce blur when there is sudden movement.

The selfie camera captures pleasing photographs with sharp detail, including fine textures such as stubble. However, in dim lighting, it softens these details.

However, iQOO has done a commendable job with optimisation, more than making up for the reduced capacity. With the PCMark Battery test started at 70% brightness with Wi-Fi enabled, the phone lasted 15 hours and 3 minutes, which is impressive for its size.

In real-world use, it easily lasted a full day of moderate usage, including scrolling Reels, browsing articles, and some gaming, with 40–45% remaining for the next day.

The charging experience is somewhat disappointing. The included 45W charger took 1 hour and 23 minutes to fully recharge the battery, which feels slow compared to iQOO’s standards and the performance of previous Z-series phones. I suspect that iQOO may have chosen slower charging to allocate resources to more critical features of the phone, and I actually support that decision.

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