Vivo iQOO U3 Review, Pros and Cons – The creation of Vivo’s sub-brand led to the production of very innovative and cost-effective smartphones on the market and with the best performance in the category for professional games. If you’re looking for an incredibly fast device for heavy use, iQOO smartphones should be one of the devices on your wish list.
Table of Contents
Vivo iQOO U3 Review
Highlights
- The 7 nm-based Dimensity 800U 5G chipset would open up new possibilities in terms of efficiency, performance, and connectivity.
- The iQOO U3 features a 6.58 inches FHD+ IPS LCD display powered with an improved 90 Hz refresh rate for super-fluid motion.
- The 5000mAh connected with AI technology will provide a fantastic screen to enjoy various contents.
- The game will be at its peak with a 5-layer liquid cooling system.
- The stylish colors of the iQOO U3, such as Aurora, White, and Gray are available.
Design and Display
One thing you can’t get away from is the rich gradient texture at the top with a stylish camera relief. Despite not having a rear window, the use of a plastic frame means that the device is actually lighter. Thanks to the curvaceous rear layout, the iQOO U3 is really sticky and comfortable in the hands. In addition, you would have no problem using the device with one hand. Now, the fast side-mounted fingerprint reader is able to unlock the device in the blink of an eye. As mentioned above, the device is ready to be sold in three attractive flavors – Aurora, White, and Gray.
Moving to the front, the iQOO U3 smartphone shines with a 6.58 inches FHD+ IPS LCD display with a tiny drop notch. To be precise, the best part of this screen is its 90 Hz refresh rate that allows for smoother scrolling and reduces motion blur. As a result, both playing and watching videos end up being quite enjoyable, providing incredible clarity and decent viewing angles. In addition, the maximum brightness of 460 nits is at the same level to help you, even on extremely sunny days.
Memory and Internal
On paper, the versatile SoC Mediatek Dimensity 800U looks quite captivating with tons of exceptional features, such as dual 5G support, Mediatek 5G UltraSave for better efficiency, and striking A76 cores. With this capable chipset, the device offers reliable navigation and fast, seamless user interface transitions. To prove itself, the Dimensity 800U scores above 300K in Antutu benchmarking. In addition, the built-in graphite-powered liquid cooling system is responsible for controlling the high temperature while playing without interruption.
With regard to software, the device has an iQOO user interface based on Android 10, which in fact will open a horizon of new experiences. In addition, it can provide smooth and fluid transitions, as well as proprietary features such as Monster mode, dynamic effects, Jovi assistant, etc.
When it comes to the memory partition, Vivo offers a lot of RAM, choosing between 6 GB or 8 GB. However, they used only 128 GB of UFS 2.2 internal. On the negative side, the iQOO U3 does not come with external SD card support.
Camera
Technically, iQOO’s camera team focuses on the camera’s algorithm as well as optimization, rather than attaching too many sensors. Either way, the rectangular module houses a 48MP primary sniper along with a 2MP depth sensor lens.
The specific aspect that most impresses with the skill of the camera are the impeccable color, capturing the true colors of the objects seen in the viewfinder. With HDR mode enabled, you can extract enhanced colors from beautiful scenes. In addition, you would love the splendid bokeh effect in the background, which improves the overall quality. Regarding video capabilities, the competent chipset paves the way to record stable videos with resolution up to 4K.
A 20 MP selfie shooter takes its position inside the front notch that can focus quickly to take pictures in great detail even indoors, you don’t have to worry enough.
Battery and Others
In the smartphone’s power section, a 5000mAh Li-Po battery drives the power supply for the entire device and Vivo’s smart energy-saving technology ensures that you can take advantage of the full potential of the high-capacity. Moving to the charging port, a Type C-enabled 18W charger will ease the burden of slow charging to some extent.
Let’s talk about some latest information, the iQOO U3 is expected to sell for $ 245 (Rs 17,000). Thus, it becomes one of the cheapest 5G phones and would certainly get people’s attention same as ZTE Blade 20 Pro.
Vivo iQOO U3 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Vivo iQOO U3 smartphone.
| Specifications | Vivo iQOO U3 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | December 2020 |
| SIM | Nano Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.46 x 2.97 x 0.33 inches |
| Weight | 186 g |
| Size | 6.58 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD touchscreen 90Hz 460 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~400 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 10, iQOO UI |
| Chipset | 7nm – MediaTek Dimensity 800U 5G |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G57 MC3 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB |
| Camera | 48MP (wide) 2MP (depth) LED flash, HDR, Panorama 4K@30fps |
| Selfie | 20MP (wide) HDR 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Yes |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO |
| NFC | No |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh 18W fast charging |
| Colors | White, Gray, Aurora |
| Expected Price | USD 245 (17,000 INR) |
Vivo iQOO U3 Pros and Cons
Down below you can see the list of pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) of the Vivo iQOO U3 smartphone.
Pros
- 90Hz refresh rate.
- Mediatek Dimensity 800U gives impressive performance.
- Custom iQOO UI based on Android 10.
- Easy to use the side-mounted fingerprint reader.
- 18W fast charging.
- 5G connectivity enabled.
- Suitable for multitasking and high end gaming.
- Huge 5000mAh battery.
Cons
- No external SD card slot.
- Without a gyro-EIS sensor for video stability.
- Average camera performance.
- Only a single 128 GB internal storage option.
- Without wireless charging support.
- Without any Gorilla Glass protection.
Conclusion
Finally, we saw all the specs in detail, and keeping them in mind, it is clear that the Vivo iQOO U3 smartphone is an absolute best 5g phone mainly due to its versatile 5G Dimensity 800U chipset. Although the phone’s camera hardware may not be up to par, we must accept but it outperforms its rival in terms of performance. At the end of the day, the future-ready 5G phone takes competition to a new level. Vivo tries to decrease the price of the iQOO U3 5g enabled smartphone as much as possible by reducing some unnecessary specifications. In our opinion, iQOO U3 smartphone is the value for money smartphone.
