Vivo’s gaming-focused subbrand iQOO has launched its new iQOO 13 smartphone in China. The gaming-centric smartphone comes with subtle improvements over the iQOO 12 smartphone.
Speaking about the design, it retains the same design as its predecessor. However, iQOO added a customizable Energy Halo light around the rear camera module, which makes it slightly unique from its predecessor. The halo light adapts to the atmosphere effect of game scenes and offers 72 effects. Additionally, the frame now has a subtle curvature to it, which the iQOO 12 lacked.
Under the hood, the iQOO 13 is equipped with Qualcomm’s newly announced flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset based on 3nm architecture, paired with Adreno 830 GPU. It packs up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB UFS 4.0 flash storage. iQOO also packs its self-developed supercomputing Q2 chip, which is iQOO’s in-house chipset that succeeds the Q1 chipset. The vapor chamber also gets larger than before, featuring a 7000 mm² VC heat chamber for better heat dissipation.
With dimensions of 163.37 x 76.71 mm, and a thickness of 7.99mm, the iQOO 13 isn’t a compact smartphone. The device also gains some grams weight, it now weighs 213 grams, a step up from 204 grams iQOO 12.
The smartphone features a 6.82-inch 2K+ BOE-made LTPO 2.0 AMOLED display with a 144Hz variable refresh rate. There’s a punch-hole 32MP selfie camera and an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner. The iQOO 13 has a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 50MP 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX921 primary camera with OIS, a 50MP ultrawide shooter with 119.4° field of view, and a 50MP 3x periscope telephoto camera.
The battery life is bigger than before. The smartphone now boasts a massive 6150mAh battery with 120 W fast charging support. Unfortunately, this time too, iQOO doesn’t pack wireless charging support.
iQOO 13 starts at CNY 3,999 ($560) for the base 12GB RAM + 256GB variant, and the high-end 16GB RAM + 1TB storage will set you back CNY 5.199 ($730). The smartphone is now available for purchase in China, while shipping starts on November 10. There’s no word yet on the international availability from iQOO. But, the phone is expected to make its international debut in December 2024.