The performance is indeed powerful, but the shortcomings are also obvious.

Who would have thought that it's almost December and there are still so many new phones on the horizon. Realme and REDMI have just released their flagship products, and iQOO is quick to follow suit, making the already competitive mid-range market even hotter.

So, can this newly released iQOO Neo 10 Pro help iQOO gain more fans in the mid-range market?

Familiar design, simple yet somewhat mediocre?

The iQOO Neo 10 Pro continues to adopt the familiar design of a single panel with two oversized camera modules.

(Image source: Lei Technology)

It feels good to hold, with a smooth transition between the frame and the back cover. The back cover also uses delicate AG matte glass material, combined with a body thickness of 7.99mm and a weight of 206g.

The screen of the iQOO Neo 10 Pro does not use a 2K high-refresh-rate eye-care display, which is a pity: 6.78 inches, 1.5K resolution, supports flagship-level LTPO, global peak brightness of 1800 nits, 1-144Hz adaptive dynamic refresh rate, 4320Hz ultra-high-frequency PWM dimming, and is made with flagship-level 8T screen material.

(Image source: Lei Technology)

To save costs this year, some phone manufacturers have resorted to using short-focus fingerprint sensors that offer a poor experience. For small-screen phones like the Xiaomi 15 and vivo X200 Pro mini, short-focus fingerprints are barely acceptable. But if they appear on a 6.7- or even 6.8-inch phone, the experience may be flawed.

(Image source: Lei Technology)

Fortunately, iQOO has continued the fine tradition of its previous generation by equipping it with a single-point ultrasonic fingerprint module. Although it's not as convenient as wide-area ultrasonic fingerprints, it outperforms mainstream optical fingerprints in terms of enrollment speed, recognition speed, recognition accuracy, and wet-hand unlock success rate.

(Image source: Lei Technology)

Overall, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro gives me a somewhat unremarkable impression: On the one hand, phones in this price range are indeed competitive, and it's difficult to attract consumers without differentiation. On the other hand, its design is too conventional for today's standards, lacking both recognizability and aesthetic appeal. I hope iQOO will put more effort into the Neo series in the future, as mid-range phones are truly the main force driving sales.

Performance remains exceptional, a mid-range gaming powerhouse?

As a phone that focuses on gaming, I shouldn't have had too high expectations for the overall design of the iQOO Neo 10 Pro. After all, high performance is its true selling point.

The iQOO Neo 10 Pro is powered by MediaTek's latest flagship processor, the Dimensity 9400, which is a flagship chip jointly tuned by MediaTek, Blue Factory, and ARM. In other words, the performance of the Dimensity 9400 on Blue Factory models may be superior to other Dimensity 9400 models. We can verify this through a series of tests.

Starting with theoretical performance tests, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro scored 2.69 million points on AnTuTu. For comparison, the vivo X200, which also uses the Dimensity 9400 processor, scored 2.51 million points. This shows that the iQOO Neo 10 Pro excels in unleashing its ultimate performance.

(Image source: Lei Technology graphics)

In GeekBench 6, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro scored 2763 in single-core and 8817 in multi-core tests. These scores not only surpass those of the vivo X200 but even exceed many models equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

(Image source: Lei Technology graphics)

What about the gaming experience?

Considering the positioning of this device, the test items must include large games like Genshin Impact and Star Rail.

To fully exploit the performance of the iQOO Neo 10 Pro, I set all performance-affecting options to the highest level. It did get warm, but it allowed me to see its performance limits.

Taking Genshin Impact as an example, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro did not disappoint. During nearly 20 minutes of gameplay, its frame rate remained stable around 60 fps, with frame rate fluctuations within an acceptable range.

(Image source: Lei Technology graphics)

Coupled with its impressive cooling system, the phone only felt slightly warm after half an hour of use.

Oh yes, don't forget that iQOO has two chips.

In addition to the Dimensity 9400, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro also has a self-developed gaming chip, the Q2. Its main function is to provide ultra-high-resolution and ultra-high-frame-rate gaming experiences in conjunction with iQOO's self-developed algorithms.

(Image source: Lei Technology graphics)

The official claims that its theoretical frame rate can reach 144 fps, and the resolution can reach 1.5K. It's worth noting that ordinary Android phones can barely run Genshin Impact at 720P/60 fps, while the iQOO Neo 10 Pro doubles that performance.

So, how effective is it in practice? Let me reveal the results first: Don't have too high expectations.

When the scene doesn't change, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro can indeed maintain the maximum frame rate. However, once the perspective changes, the entire screen may experience stuttering or tearing, significantly affecting the overall gaming experience. I believe this feature is only suitable for some small games. For large games that are already very demanding, this feature may not provide a significant advantage.

However, it's understandable. If a phone could smoothly run Genshin Impact at 1.5K resolution and 144 Hz, its power consumption would be incredibly high.

Since we're talking about power consumption, we have to mention the battery life of the iQOO Neo 10 Pro. Large-capacity batteries have become a standard feature of recent phones.

The iQOO Neo 10 Pro is equipped with a 6100mAh dual-cell battery. Yes, it uses the same technology as the older vivo X series. In terms of service life and charging speed, it outperforms traditional batteries. Coupled with support for 100W PPS fast charging and 120W private fast charging protocols, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro's performance in battery life and charging is arguably the best in its class.

I conducted a simple test and found that using the original charging set, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro charged from 1% to 80% in just 42 minutes.

Other standard features like NFC, infrared remote control, dual speakers, and IP54 rating are all included.

In terms of photography, although the iQOO Neo 10 Pro benefits from Blue Factory's algorithms, it cannot spend as much time on tuning as a flagship camera phone. Therefore, its imaging performance can only be described as unremarkable, but it's sufficient for daily use.

(Image source: Lei Technology)

The configuration is decent. The main camera uses the same IMX921 sensor as the X200 series. With 50 megapixels, an F/1.88 aperture, and a 1/1.56-inch sensor, as long as the algorithm doesn't fail, its performance won't be bad. The ultra-wide-angle lens is also a flagship 50-megapixel sensor that supports interesting shooting modes like fisheye, macro, and planetary.

(Image source: Lei Technology)

Judging from the sample photos, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro does a good job of controlling highlights, preventing the entire image from being overexposed due to a single bright source. Additionally, the saturation of the image is not excessively increased, striking a good balance between pleasing and realistic.

Summary: Performance remains outstanding, but not enough to surprise

Finally, following Lei Technology's convention, here is a summary of the iQOO Neo 10 Pro:

Advantages:

1. Aggressive performance release, unafraid of various games;

2. Compatible with non-proprietary charging protocols;

3. Decent overall texture and grip feel;

Disadvantages:

1. Stagnant screen technology;

2. Outdated design with no innovation.

In terms of pricing, the iQOO Neo 10 series comes in two versions with the following prices:

iQOO Neo 10:

12+256G version: ¥2,299;

16+256G version: ¥2,499;

12+512G version: ¥2,699;

16+512G version: ¥2,999;

16+1T version: ¥3,499;

iQOO Neo 10 Pro:

12+256G version: ¥3,199;

16+256G version: ¥3,399;

12+512G version: ¥3,499;

16+512G version: ¥3,799;

16+1T version: ¥4,299;

Although the iQOO Neo 10 Pro didn't bring many surprises in terms of experience, my evaluation of it isn't bad: a comprehensive mid-range gaming powerhouse.

In terms of performance, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro is indeed impeccable, even surpassing most flagship phones on the market. Years of accumulated gaming optimization technology have given it some unique advantages. Although the upgrades to peripheral configurations are not significant, in this period of cost reduction to ensure profits, the iQOO Neo 10 Pro is still commendable.

(Image source: Lei Technology)

However, I must say that iQOO has not brought us surprises or innovations in design for too long. Nowadays, there is little difference in the overall experience of phones. If you can't even create highlights and differentiation in the most basic aspect of design, it will be difficult to convince consumers to pay for your product.

Source: Lei Technology