Vivo iQOO Z7i Smartphone Review – The Vivo iQOO Z7i smartphone is a performance-oriented budget smartphone that was launched in China on March 2023. The words performance-oriented and budget don’t resonate together usually and that’s because the inclusion of newer processors increases the smartphone cost. But that’s going to change now, thanks to this smartphone.
The iQOO Z7i smartphone included a decent chipset that is usually not found in this price range. The iQOO Z7i is the downgrade version of the Vivo iQOO Z7 smartphone but performance is not the only strong point under its belt. It has a few other surprises for us so let’s begin with the review of the Vivo iQOO Z7i. Please keep in mind that this review is for the Vivo iQOO Z7i launched in China and not the global model as the company is yet to share its plan for the global launch of the smartphone. However, we can’t judge a book by its cover so let’s head toward the Vivo iQOO Z7i review to find out more details about this phone.
Table of Contents
Vivo iQOO Z7i Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Vivo iQOO Z7i features a 6.51-inch IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio.
- The smartphone is powered by the 7nm Mediatek Dimensity 6020 chipset, clocked at 2×2.2GHz.
- The phone comes pre-loaded with Android 13 OS and OriginOS Ocean user interface.
- The main rear camera sensor is a 13MP sensor, and the selfie camera is a 5MP sensor.
- The smartphone has a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery with 15W wired fast charging support.
Design and Display
The Vivo iQOO Z7i smartphone was designed to be performance-oriented, so the outer body design was kept simplistic. It features a flat plastic back that comes in two colors, Black and Blue. It features a classic plain back design and has no pattern or bold outline. It is honestly refreshing to the classic simple design back in the smartphone world.
The back of the iQOO Z7i phone also features a dual camera island with a flash. The sides are also made out of plastic. On the front, you get a gorgeous display with a 6.51-inch IPS LCD display panel with HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The panel has a lower resolution of 720p, but the good color accuracy of the panel makes up for it. As a budget smartphone, there are no extra features like gorilla glass or a high refresh rate feature.
Memory and Internal
The internal specs of the Vivo iQOO Z7i smartphone are where the magic lies. The smartphone has a new and decently powerful chipset. This chipset is the 7nm MediaTek Dimensity 6020, which was released just a couple of months ago. This chipset is clocked at 2x 2.2GHz and can easily handle most day-to-day apps, unlike chipsets found in other smartphones in the same price range. The chipset is built on a 7nm manufacturing process, making it an efficient chipset. This should help reduce battery drain and the GPU of the smartphone is no slouch either.
The GPU inside this chipset is Mali-G57 MC2 and it decently plays games, such as PUBG, CODm, or even Genshin Impact. But don’t expect the chipset to provide high frame rates. It’s not a gaming chipset, but it can still run your favorite games decently. In heavy gaming, you might notice some heating issues on this phone. The chipset also has a 5G modem. When it comes to RAM, the phone is available in three variants, 4GB, 6GB, and 8GB RAM, along with a single 128GB of storage. There is support for a shared SIM MicroSDXC card as well. As for the OS, the smartphone is running on Android 13 with OriginOS Ocean user interface.
Camera
The Vivo iQOO Z7i sports a dual rear camera system with a 13MP main sensor and a 2MP secondary macro camera. The pictures coming out of the main rear camera is actually decent in daylight. The 13MP camera manages to capture captured some really decent pictures in daylight with true-to-life colors and great levels. It is quite surprising to see a performance-oriented budget smartphone having decent image quality.
It manages to capture nighttime pictures with a good amount of details and colors, but it comes at the cost of shutter lag. There is also LED flash, HDR, and Panorama support in the rear camera. The selfie camera is below average. They should have included an 8MP sensor at least but instead went with a 5MP sensor. The selfie image has a lot of noise and the colors look washed out. As for video recording, the phone can only shoot at a maximum of 1080P@30fps from both rear and selfie cameras.
Battery and Others
The iQOO Z7i smartphone has a Li-Po 5000 mAh huge battery that can easily power the smartphone for 2 full days with moderate usage. But, if you are a gamer or run a lot of heavy apps, then it can last for a day. But when you do run out of charge, you can quickly recharge the battery as the smartphone has support for 15W wired fast charging. It may take 1 hour and a half to fully charge the battery.
Apart from that, the phone also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a 3.5mm headphone jack support. The smartphone also has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner to keep your phone secure. The Vivo iQOO Z7i smartphone is available at a starting price of $182 (Rs 14,490 in India approx).
Vivo iQOO Z7i Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Vivo iQOO Z7i smartphone.
| Specifications | Vivo iQOO Z7i |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | March 2023 |
| SIM | Hybrid Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.46 x 2.98 x 0.32 inches |
| Weight | 186 g |
| Size | 6.51 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 20:9 ratio ~270 PPI density |
| Protection | No |
| Resolution | 720 x 1600 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, Origin OS Ocean |
| Chipset | 7nm – Mediatek Dimensity 6020 |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G57 MC2 |
| Card slot | microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 4GB, 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB UFS 2.2 |
| Camera | 13 MP (wide), PDAF 2 MP (macro) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Selfie | 5 MP (wide) |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band |
| Bluetooth | 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS |
| NFC | No |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C, OTG |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 5000 mAh 15W wired |
| Colors | Black, Blue |
| Expected Price | $182 (Rs 14,490 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Vivo iQOO Z7i is a decent smartphone that is available at a budget price with 5G support. A decent smartphone in this price range has been hard to find in the last few years, whether that’s due to chip shortage, lockdowns, or inflation. Most smartphones at this price don’t come close to this spec, which is a really sad thing, but it’s good to see that things are changing. The chipset and camera are more than decent specs considering the price, which was a nice surprise.
When we say the camera is good, we mean the rear camera and not the selfie camera. That said, we hoped to see support for a high refresh rate or a higher resolution panel, but can’t ask much at this price range. We are impressed with the smartphone and it falls on our recommendation list for those looking to buy a decent smartphone without needing to turn over the wallet. In case you are looking for an alternative option, you can definitely check out the Realme 10T 5G smartphone that comes with a high refresh rate, a dedicated micro SD card slot, and a triple camera in almost the same price range.
