Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro Smartphones Review

Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro Smartphones Review – The sub-brand iQOO brings exceptional and affordable gaming phones without lacking that many specs. Moreover, smartphone makers utilize everything that will make their devices more performance-driven and grant a stable gaming experience. Usually, premium gaming phones cost quite high, but if you want a balance of hardware, performance, software, and gaming, then iQOO devices are something that you need to keep an eye on.

Recently, the company released two new phones known as the Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro. Both of them oddly have similar specs with a minor difference in storage and battery section. But still, they look quite interesting in the first impression. Therefore, let’s not delay any further and dive into the following Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro review!

Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro Smartphones Review

Highlights

1. Both of the devices arrive with a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel with 144Hz refresh and HDR 10+ crispness.
2. As for the hardware, both smartphones have a Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset under the hood.
3. As for the software skin, it brings Android 14 OS with the Funtouch 14 for international and OriginOS 4 for the China variant.
4. A decent flagship level 50MP triple camera will appear with a 16MP selfie at the front.
5. Lastly, the Vivo iQOO 12 offers a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery with 120W wired charging, while the Pro version equips a Li-Po 5100 mAh battery with the same charger speed a 50W wireless charging support.

Design and Display

Let’s start with the overall design layout of the Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro. The first impression of both devices is quite decent as you are getting a premium back panel in elegant color options of Black, Red, and White. The black and red variant does look a bit standard with the new camera module design. But if you are looking for something different, the special BMW M branding edition would be a before choice for you.

On the other hand, the huge camera module does give a unique appearance to the phone, while at the same time, the device offers a lightweight build. Aside from this, the company also ensures that the users are getting the best holding experience. Moreover, the Vivo iQOO 12 smartphone has an IP64 dustproof and water resistance will grant a bit more security to the users.

You are getting a 6.78-inch AMOLED panel on both of the models. But, the Vivo iQOO 12 arrives with a flat-screen with a thick side panel, whereas the 12 Pro variant obtains a curved LTPO AMOLED display with a slim side panel. But still, the visual experience would be pretty much the same since the 144Hz refresh rate, advanced brightness nits, and HDR support will handle everything precisely.

Memory and Internal

Under the hood, the Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro are powered by the 4nm Qualcomm SM8650-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which is designed to support the latest software and offers various in-house features. For example, this chipset will grant a better performance, less frame drop, and smooth visuals so that games like CODM and Genshin Impact experience be enhanced more.

All of those things become possible thanks to the Adreno 750 GPU that grants subtle visual support. Alongside this, the users can enjoy playing their favorite games without any delay. Not to forget, the single-core performance is also improved along with the multi-core performance as compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. As far as the software is concerned, the Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro are equipped with the Android 14 OS-based Funtouch 14 or OriginOS 4.

If you are purchasing these phones from the Chinese smartphone market, you will receive OriginOS 4 custom skin, whereas the Funtouch 14 skin offers an international storage variety. Now let’s talk bout the storage options, the devices come with UFS 4.0 storage, which ranges from 256GB to 1TB space. Following this, it’s possible to pick the phones from 12GB to 16GB RAM configuration.

Camera

The Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro brings identical camera setup, which didn’t have a single different spec. Both bring a stunning photography experience with the 50MP triple camera. With the 50MP primary sensor, the colors, contrast, and saturation are on point, while the white balance is accurate. Daylight photography brings natural colors and lowlight photos don’t have that much noise.

Next, both models offer a 64MP periscope telephoto lens, which brings 3x optical zoom ability. Besides this, you won’t lose details or notice any pixelation during the zooming. Moreover, the 50MP ultra-wide lens thoroughly supports users to click the wide-angle images with crisp details and accurate colors. As far as video recording is concerned, both phones bring up to 8K recording abilities.

At the same time, the front display offers a 16MP dot-notch selfie camera configuration. At first, it’s quite difficult to notice the selfie lens since it’s quite small. But still, the selfie camera can capture your life moments using the advanced features offered by the camera app. Alongside this, the videography levels can push up to 1080p resolution.

Battery and Others

The Vivo iQOO 12 comes with a standard Li-Po 5000 mAh battery configuration that can render up to 6+ hours of screen time without any hassle. Plus, the device can handle up to four hours of gameplay with no worries. In general, the phone offers up to a day’s worth of battery endurance, while it only takes less than 30 minutes to refuel the battery through the 120W wired charger.

On the other hand, the Vivo iQOO 12 Pro has a Li-Po 5100 mAh battery with a slimmer build. The new generation batteries are slim and offer more screen time. Therefore, 7+ hours of screen time is achievable for daily activities. Alongside the 120W wired charging support, the Pro version also brings 10W reverse wireless charging and proper 50W wireless charging.

Overall, the battery life of both models is great. As for the additional features, the company delivers all of the latest sensors so that the users don’t face any trouble during their usage. Apart from the in-display finger scanner sensor, the non-Pro variant offers an optical sensor while the Vivo iQOO 12 Pro attains an ultrasonic sensor as a security attribute.

In terms of the sound output, both of the devices won’t disappoint as you are getting a decent loudspeaker configuration. From this, it’s confirmed both models are great choices. Now, let’s have a look at the price point. The Vivo iQOO 12 base variant costs around $550(Rs 45,990 in India) approx and the iQOO 12 Pro is priced at $840 (Rs 69,990 in India) approx for the starting variant.

Vivo iQOO 12 Pro Pros and Cons

Vivo iQOO 12 Pro Specifications Detail

Down below you can see the full specifications of the Vivo iQOO 12 Pro smartphone.

Conclusion

The Vivo iQOO 12 and 12 Pro smartphones are a perfect combination of impressive display, astounding gaming, fast hardware, long-lasting battery, and a beautiful camera experience. With all of those factors combined, you won’t have to worry about anything. But at the same time, there are some downsides like the device didn’t have a proper cooling solution. Although, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset often handles everything smoothly.

But when you are trying to chime a few hours of multi-tasking and long hours of gaming sessions, then heating issues are prone to occur. Still, the overall gaming compatibility does bring down that shortcoming. But still, if you are looking for a full-fledged gaming experience, consider checking out the ZTE Nubia Red Magic 9 Pro. After going through alternative options, make a final decision according to your needs.