iQoo introduced three smartphones this 12 months as part of its premium 9-series lineup. All of us anticipated an iQoo 9 to be launched, however iQoo shocked us with two new telephones. The iQoo 9 Pro (Review), with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and gimbal-stabilised digicam is supposed to compete with top-tier smartphones from Samsung and OnePlus. After which there’s the iQoo 9 SE, a smartphone designed to tackle the competitors on the worth finish of the premium smartphone phase. After testing iQoo 9 SE for every week, I found that it’s not excellent however nonetheless presents good worth for cash. This is why.
iQoo 9 SE worth in India
The iQoo 9 SE is accessible in two variants and finishes. The 8GB RAM and 128GB storage possibility is priced at Rs. 33,990, whereas the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant prices Rs. 37,990. Each can be found in House Fusion and Sundown Sierra. I obtained a Sundown Sierra unit with 12GB of RAM.
iQoo 9 SE design
The iQoo 9 SE within the Sundown Sierra end seems to be premium. It has a slim general profile. The again panel and body are fabricated from polycarbonate, whereas the raised rear digicam module is metallic. The iQoo 9 SE’s matte body and again panel make it fairly slippery however these surfaces are good at resisting fingerprints. This cellphone doesn’t function an official IP ranking, however the firm does declare that it has all the required seals round its ports and the SIM tray to fulfill an IP52 ranking equal.
The iQoo 9 SE 5G’s again panel and body are fabricated from polycarbonate
The iQoo 9 SE has a 6.62-inch full-HD+ Tremendous AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh charge. The bezel is skinny throughout, and the opening for the front-facing digicam is not distracting. The show’s display screen is fabricated from Panda glass and is sweet at rejecting fingerprints. The quantity rocker and energy button sit on the precise, with the SIM tray, Kind-C USB port and first speaker on the backside. The cellphone options an in-display fingerprint reader which is fast and dependable.
iQoo 9 SE specs and software program
The 9 SE has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC, and iQoo says it has additionally applied its personal Clever Show Chip (IDC), which it claims assists the built-in GPU with MEMC (Movement Estimation and Movement Compensation) and SDR-to-HDR video upscaling when wanted. Communication requirements embrace Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and the same old satellite tv for pc navigation techniques. There is not any 3.5mm headphone jack, however iQoo does present a Kind-C to three.5mm adapter within the field. There is a dual-SIM tray and this cellphone helps dual-5G standby, however there is no slot for storage growth.
The iQoo 9 SE 5G runs Funtouch OS 12 which relies on Android 12
The cellphone runs Funtouch OS 12, primarily based on Android 12. Android 12 options, together with the brand new Materials You widgets, the permissions supervisor, and the privateness dashboard have been applied. Regardless of operating Funtouch OS 12, iQoo has not included the theming engine that is out there on the iQoo 9 Professional, so the colors of the keyboard and widgets don’t routinely change to match the wallpaper you select. There are lots of preinstalled third-party apps that I am glad will be uninstalled.
iQoo 9 SE efficiency
The 6.62-inch full-HD+ Tremendous AMOLED show reveals punchy colors on the default ‘Normal’ setting. Whereas many individuals will likely be proud of what they see, there’s additionally a ‘Skilled’ setting with extra natural-looking color tones. Daylight legibility is sort of good, and I had no issues with contact sensitivity with common use.
The iQoo 9 SE 5G has a 6.62-inch 120Hz refresh charge full-HD+ Tremendous AMOLED show
The 120Hz refresh charge setting is adaptive however solely switches between 120Hz and 60Hz relying on content material. The show is HDR10+ licensed, so I did get pleasure from watching supported content material on Netflix and Amazon Prime in HDR. The twin stereo audio system sounded loud, clear and balanced when streaming video and enjoying video games.
Day-to-day software program efficiency felt clean and fluid with no signal of lag or stuttering. Benchmark outcomes didn’t disappoint both and have been on par with the competitors. The iQoo 9 SE managed a rating of 8,54,095 in AnTuTu, in addition to 1,065 and three,414 in Geekbench’s single and multi-core assessments. These scores are comparable even to what even some Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered smartphones have produced.
Gaming efficiency was fairly good general. The cellphone did get a bit heat when enjoying video games on the highest settings, however efficiency didn’t take a success. Asphalt 9: Legends ran buttery clean with the graphics set to Excessive High quality (60 fps mode). Battlegrounds Cellular India (BGMI) additionally ran easily with HDR graphics and the body charge set to Excessive. Name of Obligation: Cellular appeared to have some optimisation points. This sport stuttered and lagged from launch to the menus and even throughout gameplay. It didn’t run easily even on the lowest graphics settings. Hopefully, this may be addressed with future software program updates.
The iQoo 9 SE 5G has a 4,500mAh battery
Battery life is sort of good, and the cellphone lasted 20 hours, 1 minute in our HD video loop take a look at, which is sort of good. The smartphone’s 4,500mAh battery managed to final a day and a half with gaming and a few digicam utilization. The iQoo 9 SE’s 66W charger takes this cellphone from 0-76% in half-hour and completes the cost in 50 minutes.
iQoo 9 SE cameras
The iQoo 9 SE has three rear cameras and a single 16-megapixel front-facing digicam. The rear digicam setup consists of a 48-megapixel (with OIS) major, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle, and a 2-megapixel mono digicam for capturing depth information. The ultra-wide-angle digicam additionally doubles up as a macro digicam as it’s able to autofocus. The digicam interface is usually iQoo, with essential buttons on the left aspect of the viewfinder. A hamburger menu provides entry to digicam settings, side ratio, a countdown timer, and an on-screen overlay that will help you body pictures. The primary digicam modes proven within the app (photograph, video, portrait, and Night time by default) will be changed with others that you simply use extra steadily.
The iQoo 9 SE 5G has three rear-facing cameras
Pictures taken in daylight confirmed wonderful element with good dynamic vary. Photos shot utilizing the Portrait mode with the rear digicam got here out sharp with detailed textures and good edge detection. The ultra-wide-angle digicam shot first rate images however they appeared sharper within the centre and blurry in direction of the perimeters. Macro pictures got here out with spectacular element since they’re captured utilizing the 13-megapixel sensor of the ultra-wide-angle digicam. Pictures shot utilizing the front-facing digicam additionally got here out clear and sharp with good dynamic vary.
iQoo 9 SE daylight digicam samples. Prime to backside: Extremely-wide-angle digicam, major digicam and macro mode
In low mild, particulars in textures weren’t very clear when utilizing the auto mode. There was some noise in dimly lit scenes, however the general high quality was nonetheless good. Switching to Night time mode brightened up pictures and added a little bit of sharpness, however the high quality remained a lot the identical. The ultra-wide-angle digicam’s low-light efficiency was strictly common, and it captured pictures that seemed gentle. Selfies shot in low mild got here out properly, with good element and noise beneath management. Edge detection was common in such situations, although.
iQoo 9 SE low mild digicam samples. Prime to backside: Selfie digicam, Auto mode, Night time mode
Movies captured in daylight got here out a bit saturated however with good dynamic vary. Video seemed properly stabilised, however not after I went past 4K 30fps. 4K 60fps clips have been good by way of high quality however appeared fairly shaky. In low mild, 30fps footage (1080p or 4K) seemed the most effective, with good stabilisation and noise beneath management.
Verdict
The iQoo 9 SE is a strong contender within the sub-Rs. 40,000 smartphone phase because it presents wonderful worth for cash. This class in India presently has a couple of engaging choices from varied producers, however the iQoo 9 SE’s software program and digicam efficiency make it stand out. There are additionally different significant advantages that improve this cellphone’s attraction, resembling an HDR-capable show, a selfie digicam that works properly in low mild, and the flexibility to take spectacular macro pictures.
After which, there’s the engaging price ticket. Out there beginning at Rs. 33,990 for the 8GB+128GB variant, the iQoo 9 SE appears fairly attractive in comparison with the Realme GT 5G (Review), which has additionally been a very good worth providing. The iQoo 9 SE would even be a more sensible choice than Samsung’s just lately launched Galaxy A53 5G (Review) until you might be particularly searching for that IP67 ranking. These searching for a near-stock Android software program expertise may have a look at Motorola’s Moto Edge 20 Pro (Review).
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