If you recall how I concluded my Nothing Phone(3a) Lite review, you won’t forget a tiny teaser that I included: a hint about an underdog making its way into the market. At the time, I genuinely had no clue what that device would be, but I just had a feeling that the universe(and PR teams) were cooking up something unexpected.
Cut to three days later: I get an unexpected email from IQOO saying, Expect a package today. No brief. No embargo. Just test it in real life. And honestly, for a second, I thought it was one of those scam forwards like Your courier is held at customs texts. But then miraculously, a delivery guy showed up holding a slim, matte-black box with no labels and just a tucked-in card that said:
This is the iQOO 15. Dont bench it, instead life-test it."
And that’s how I was introduced to iQOO as a brand. Zero context. Zero follow-up. Zero instructions on what to do or not to do. Frankly, that’s bold, and I respect that kind of confidence.
And since the card said life-test, I decided to go full force with that action, as coincidentally, a creator friend of mine had asked me to help her shoot a day in the life vlog and instead of general vlogging, I pushed this phone forward as a full day deal; that means early morning prep, BTS of her photoshoots, reel shoots, mid-day cafe work, an evening event, and late-night personal vlogging before dozing off. In short, a perfect real-world chaos lab for any smartphone.
So I carried this unexpected iQOO stranger around like a reluctant guardian, low-key waiting for it to fail. But, spoiler alert: It didnt. And by the end of the day, I wasnt just impressed, I was borderline annoyed at how solid it actually was. Because now I had to admit that this underdog didnt just show up it came ready. So, let’s begin from the beginning:
The Mysterious Unboxing: A Vibe in Itself
The box opened with a kind of understated premium energy, no flashy design language, no look at me theatrics. Inside sat the phone, the charging brick, cable, documentation, and the usual stuff. But what hit instantly was the build. The moment I saw the iQOO 15, it felt confidently premium without trying too hard to be different. No transparent backs. No glitter. No textured experiments. Just clean lines, a solid frame, and a stance that quietly says, Im here to work.
Upon grabbing the iQOO 15, the first two immediate thoughts were:
Damn, this is heavier than I expected. and Oh, thats because they stuffed a 7000mAh battery in here.
Its not bulky, but it definitely has that big phone weight class. Though not in a bad way, it’s more like the reassurance that this thing isnt going to tap out mid-day.
Display: A Screen That Makes the Day Look Better
Once the phone was powered on, the 6.78-inch 2K AMOLED 144Hz display started flexing immediately. The smoothness was ridiculous, and my creator friend took one look while scrolling through her reels and said, WHY DOES MY SCREEN LOOK BROKE NEXT TO THIS?
Outdoor brightness was solid even in the afternoon sun when we were trying to record some clips outside a studio building. Indoor studio shoots popped the crisp colours, contrast was punchy, and the panel genuinely felt flagship-level. There were no weird colour tints, no dullness, and more importantly, no washed-out tones.
This is the kind of display that makes you want to keep watching stuff even when you shouldnt be watching stuff.
Performance: The Phone That Refused to Slow Down
Now, this is where the iQOO 15 started becoming annoying; in the best possible way. It runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is basically Qualcomms new flexing moment, and throughout the entire day, this phone kept up with:
- 4K video recording
- Editing footage on CapCut
- A chrome-tab apocalypse(my usual 20-25 open)
- Hotspotting for her iPad
- GPS
- Background music
- A 45-minute gaming session where I played BGMI at 90 FPS during her wardrobe change breaks.
And not once; let me repeat in bold: "NOT ONCE" did it hang, freeze, or even stutter. There was warmth(not shockingly so), but the thermal control felt stable and controlled, which proves that the internal cooling system clearly isnt marketing fluff.
Cameras: The Real Plot Twist
iQOO phones have always been typecast as gaming-first machines while not being camera-first. So I was ready for the usuals: decent daylight, average or below average low light, and an average telephoto.
But this time the camera department is sizing up to the haters.
The 50MP main sensor delivered fantastic detail and balanced colours during daylight studio shots. Skin tones looked surprisingly accurate, and dynamic range was almost on par with phones that are a chunk more expensive than this offering. But the bigger surprise, if you ask, is the telephoto: Its crisp, its sharp, and it holds edge detail really well. In one behind-the-scenes shot, the telephoto captured the exact moment a stylist fixed a hair strand; leave that picture, even the texture over the hairdresser’s ring was crystal clear, and that’s just facts, Im not even exaggerating.
While the Ultrawide is good enough, but not mind-blowing enough. The Low light is better than expected but still slightly soft in darker corners.
Indoor event lighting was also Passable. Overall, it’s good enough for Instagram-level content, but I wouldn’t advise going cinematic. The videos came out impressively stable thanks to OIS+ EIS working together like hyperactive twins that were keeping each other in check. For her vlog clips, the iQOO 15 actually delivered better stabilization than her compact mirrorless, and her reaction to the outputs needed a separate vlogging altogether
Battery: The Beast That Wont Die
Let me just say this:
7000mAh is an illegal behaviour. We started shooting at 7:30 AM, and by the time we wrapped up her evening event around 9:45 PM, I still had 31% battery left. And mind you, this day involved absurd usage.
Charging is another flex:
100W wired took it from 0 to 52% in 15 minutes during a mid-day coffee break. And the 40W wireless is just icing on the cake. This is a phone built for people who actually live on their phones, you get it: creators, editors, multitaskers, chaos enthusiasts.
Software: Surprisingly Clean & Mature
OriginOS 6 on Android 16 is smooth, animation-rich, and actually fun. It isnt stock Android, but its neither cluttered nor spammy either. No weird ads. No random notifications. Just a clean, polished experience.
A few AI features felt tucked away, but the UI has matured to the point where it doesnt feel like another gaming phone trying too hard and instead feels complete.
The Verdict: An Underdog That Has Rightfully Earned Its Spot
When I ended the last review with a tease about an underdog I had no idea IQOO would deliver something this unexpectedly solid.
The IQOO 15 surprised me not because it tried to be quirky or artsy, but because it showed up with real, grounded strengths that were:
- flagship performance
- genuinely great telephoto
- monstrous battery
- a beautiful display
- premium build
- clean software
In the end, this is not a try-hard device. This is a do-hard device. Its the kind of phone that quietly walks in, does its job better than expected, and leaves you thinking, Wait did this just outperform my daily flagship? Because for me, on that day of complete chaos, it absolutely did.
Final Rating: 4/5
A powerful, well-rounded flagship from a brand that finally stepped out of its gamer, and stepped up confidently with this killer.