iQOO 13 has made it's debut to India on Tuesday 3rd December 2024 powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Chip. This has several upgrades from last year's iQOO 12 in terms of display, performance, battery life and lots more with almost the same price as last year's. iQOO is clearly making a habit of delivering significant upgrades on a yearly basis. Let dive in to find out more about the new iQOO 13.
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Quick Specs
| Specifications | iQOO 13 |
|---|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm) |
| Memory | 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM UFS 4.1 |
| Display | 6.82" LTPO AMOLED, 144Hz, 1B colors, HDR10+, 800nits, 1800nits(HBM), 4500nits(peaK) |
| OS | Android 15, up to 4 major Android upgrades, 5 years of security updates, Funtouch 15 |
| Rear Camera | 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS 50 MP, f/1.9, 50mm (telephoto), 1/2.93", 0.6µm, PDAF, OIS, 2x optical zoom 50 MP, f/2.0, 15mm (ultrawide), 1/2.76", 0.64µm, AF |
| Selfie Camera | 32 MP, f/2.5, 28mm (wide), 1/3.15", 0.7µm |
| Battery | 6150mAh, 6000mAh(India Only) 120W wired |
| Connectivity | WI-FI 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, Infrared port, USB type-c 3.2, OTG |
| Video Capture | 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps |
| Misc | Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, color spectrum |
Style and Design
The iQOO 13 visually is that different from its predecessor iQOO 12 in terms of design. Both the phone share the same overall aesthetic with minor differences. Even though the iQOO retained the same design, it still looks elegant and much more comfortable.
The sides are made out of aluminum which has a glossy coat. The glass back has a matte texture that feels great, and it doesn't pick up smudges. The iQOO 13 is wider than the iQOO 12 and that's because of a larger 6.82- inch panel. Impressively, the phone is 0.4mm thinner while still featuring a massive 6,150 mAh battery. It is 10g heavier but still 8g lighter than the Pixel 9 Pro XL while still giving you a much bigger battery.
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The power and volume buttons are on the right, and you get the USB-C port and SIM card tray at the bottom. The iQOO 13 has stereo sound, and you get a dedicated channel up top that makes a considerable difference. The IR blaster is also located at the top. iQOO went with an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor which is actually fast. The iQOO 13 has a IP68/IP69 dust and water resistance. There is also wet finger screen control enabling calling, shooting, and gaming with a wet or sweaty hands. While you don't get a brand new design with iQOO 13 the device is still stylish.
Display
The iQOO 13 sports a 6.82-inch (3168 × 1440 pixels) 2K 20:9 aspect ratio 8T LTPO AMOLED display with BOE Q10 Light-Emitting Material and 144Hz refresh rate. The screen has up to 1800 nits brightness in HBM mode, so the sunlight legibility is good, and it has up to 4500 nits peak brightness. The colour output good as well since it has 1.07 billion colors.
You can select between 1080p and 2K display options with up to 144Hz refresh rate which offers a smooth user experience during gaming or when scrolling through the UI. You can select from standard (default), professional and bright screen colour modes. You can select smart switch or force it to 60Hz or 144Hz. There is 2592 Hz PWM Dimming that is automatically activated when you are using the phone in low brightness for eye protection. The screen has SCHOTT Xensation Alpha glass protection.
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It also has HDR 10+ support, which works for YouTube, and Netflix. The phone has an Always on Display (AOD). There is also a new Monster Halo LED light around the camera module that acts as a notification light. The light turns on and off, matching the rhythm of games and music. It also shows real-time notifications for calls, messages, and charging status. It can be customized for different games, and there are up to 72 different lighting options.
The Phone has an ultra-narrow bezels around the screen. Even the bezel below the screen has reduced. The haptic feedback is good as well, thanks to the ultra-wideband vibration motor.
Camera and Photography
The iQOO 13 comes with a triple 50MP cameras at the back which includes, a 50MP Sony IMX921 with 1/1.56" sensor and OIS, 50MP Samsung JN1 wide- angle lens with autofocus, and a 50MP Sony IMX816 telephoto with 2X optical zoom and OIS. The camera design and interface is identical to last year. The camera UI is the same which includes several features like AR stickers, Pro Sports mode, long exposure, 50 MP mode, supermoon, astro, fisheye and more. Even though the phone has a 50MP rear camera, the final output is 12.5 MP. The front camera is 32 MP.
When it comes to videos, all the lenses at the back can shoot 4K60. There's decent stabilization, and while the resultant footage isn't quite on the same level as other flagships it is better than the iQOO 12. The iQOO 13 takes brilliant photos in daylight scenarios, producing shots with great dynamic range and color accuracy. The phone does just as well in low-light shots but you don't get the same color vibrancy compared to other flagships phones such as Vivo X100 Ultra. The wide-angle lens also does a great job in its own right, as does the 2x lens. The iQOO 13 does a pretty good job compared to its predecessor.
Performance
The iQOO 13 comes with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite which makes it a performance beast while still being affordable around $630 considering most phones having the Snapdragon 8 Elite costs more than $ 1,000 + .
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The phone works perfectly with daily use cases without any problems and can handle demanding games and tasks without breaking a sweat. The phone doesn't have any noticeable overheating issues causing it's performance to throttle same like it's predecessor. The phone comes in 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB variant and doesn't run into any issues with memory or storage. Multitasking is handled effortlessly, and the software is stable and optimized. The phone supports WI-FI 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, and dual-band GPS. The Vibration motor has been overhauled, and delivers much better feedback this time around beating most of it's competition.
Battery and Charging
The iQOO 13 comes with a huge 6, 150 mAh battery, although the Indian variant has a slightly smaller 6,000 mAH battery. This is 1, 150 mAh bigger battery compared to its predecessor iQOO 12. Even with heavy usage you still get a longer battery life, 24 hours +. It is one of the best phones with a good battery life.
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The increase in battery size is attributed to the switch to a silicon-carbon anode. Going this route allows brands to increase battery density, and that's why most Chinese-branded phones in 2025 have heady gains in this area. The limitation is that there's a single cell, but as the iQOO 13 uses Vivo's 120W charging tech, it takes just 34 minutes to fully charge the device.
The phone can charge to the 50% mark in just 15 minutes and a complete 100% in around 35 minutes making one of the fastest charging smartphones out there than last you up to 2 days. One major downside of this phone is that it doesn't have Wireless charging nor reverse charging considering it's a flagship phone.
Software
The Phone runs on Funtouch OS 15 based on Android 15. The phone comes with security patch for October 2024. The iQOO will get 4 years of Android OS updates and five years of security updates.
Funtouch OS 15 brings vivo’s Priority Scheduling model for 15% faster app startup time, has zRAM compression algorithm, resulting in a 40% boost in compression speed, vivo’s Origin Animation for a more natural and intuitive user experience. The Lightning-Speed Engine offers faster app launches, and Aqua Dynamic Effect adds a visually pleasing touch to system interactions.
AI Image Lab uses artificial intelligence to automatically improve photo quality, remove shadows from documents, erase unwanted content with AI eraser and image cutouts. Live wallpapers are now seamless, and there is also customized call background. There is Link to Windows that enhances collaboration between your vivo device and PC. It also has Circle to Search feature.
Since the phone has an IR blaster, it comes with a Smart Remote app. Apart from the usual set of utility and Google apps, it comes preloaded with a lot of apps such as Facebook, PhonePe, Netflix, Snapchat, Myntra and LinkedIn. These apps can be uninstalled, but they come back after reset.
Prices and Availability
The iQOO 13 was unveiled in China on October 30, and the phone made its global debut on November 28. Now the phone is available in India and Indonesia as from 3rd December. The global variant is available in 12/256GB and 16/512GB which both feature LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage.
iQOO 13 costs 9,999,000 IDR ($630) for the 12GB/256GB version and 11,999,000 IDR($757) for the 16GB/512GB version. In India the iQOO 13 is priced as INR 54,999 ($650) for the 12GB/256GB variant and INR 59, 999 ($710) for the 16GB/512GB variant.
