iQOO 12 series with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and top cameras is here

The design and batteries of the vivo iQOO 12 and iQOO 12 Pro are different, but the chipset and cameras are identical.

November 8, 2023 26 0

vivo has launched its latest gaming smartphones in China: the iQOO 12 and iQOO 12 Pro are here. Apart from a few design details and the batteries, the two cell phones are very similar. The Pro model also has a curved display with a thin bezel. It is available in three colors, each with its own finish.

iQOO 12 Pro

The Pro is available as a BMW Motorsport Edition in white with structured porcelain enamel glass, in black with a back made of Fluorite AG glass and a soft, shimmering texture, and in red with a back made of vegan leather. The camera island on all phones has a Parisian hobnail texture, not unlike that of the new Xiaomi 14.

The iQOO 12 Pro features a 6.78-inch E7 AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,440 x 3,200 pixels and a refresh rate of 144 Hz. The panel also offers 1,440 Hz PWM dimming and achieves a brightness of 1,600 nits and in peak mode 3,000 nits.

The hardware of the gaming phone corresponds to its intended use. The iQOO 12 Pro has the all-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset with 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage under the hood. You also get vivo’s self-developed Q1 chip, which enables smooth gaming at up to 144 Hz at 1080p. Additional tools include low latency frame insertion, superframe and super resolution (DLSS-like supersampling). A 5,705 mm² steam chamber ensures sufficient heat dissipation.

The iQOO 12 Pro also has a pretty sophisticated camera system for a gaming smartphone. The 23mm wide camera is based on a 50-megapixel 1/1.3-inch OmniVision OV50H sensor and features optical stabilization. The telephoto camera has a resolution of 64 megapixels on a 1/2 inch chip. The 70mm periscope lens with f/2.57 aperture is also optically stabilized. The optical zoom reaches factor 3 and the hybrid zoom factor 10. Digital zoom goes up to factor 100. iQOO calls the periscope a 70-230mm camera and also recommends it for macro shots. Finally, there is a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera with 15 mm focal length and its own macro mode, as well as a 16-megapixel f/2.45 selfie camera.

The iQOO 12 Pro has a 5,100 mAh battery with 120 watt wired and 50 watt wireless charging support. iQOO states that the battery still reaches at least 80% of its capacity after 1,600 cycles. vivo’s new OriginOS 4 based on Android 14 is used as the operating system.

iQOO 12

The regular iQOO 12 has the same three color variants, the same chipset and the same cameras. However, the basic model has a glossy frame with flat front and back sides. The display, battery and charging functions are also slightly different, and there is also a variant with 12 GB of RAM.

The display of the iQOO 12 is also 6.78 inches, but only has a resolution of 2,800 x 1,260 pixels. However, the maximum refresh rate is identical at 144 Hz. There are two battery options to choose from – 5,000 mAh or 4,880 mAh. However, it is still unclear what differentiates the two. Both charge via cable with 120 watts and do not offer wireless charging.

Both vivo smartphones can be pre-ordered now, with open sales starting on November 14th. The iQOO 12 Pro starts at CNY 4,999 (€642/$687) for 16/256GB. 16/512GB cost CNY 5,499 (€707/$755) and 16GB/1TB will set you back CNY 5.999 (€770/$824). The iQOO 12 is priced at CNY 3,999 (€515/$549) with 12/256GB, CNY 4,299 (€552/$590) with 16/512GB and CNY 4,699 (€605/$645) with 16GB/1TB . There is no information yet on global availability.