Vivo has launched the iQoo 9 series in India – phones designed with gaming in mind. The flagship model in the series is the Vivo iQoo 9 Pro, which comes with a sleek design and some serious performance via the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor.
I have been testing out the Legend Edition of the phone, which is made in partnership with BMW M Motorsport. If you would like to see how this phone performs in day-to-day life, then keep on reading.
Design & Build
- Unique BMW design
- No IP rating
- No headphone jack
Vivo produces some of the sleekest looking phones on the market right now and the iQoo 9 Pro Legend Edition continues with this trend.
The most striking thing about the Legend Edition of the 9 Pro is the design inspired by BMW M Motorsport. It comes in a white carbon fiber finish that catches the light and overall, looks sleek and high-end.
The rear features a tri-color stripe on the right-hand side – through the paintwork on this does feel like it may be susceptible to scratches.
If the racing-inspired colorway is not for you, then you can also get the iQoo 9 Pro in Dark Cruise – Vivo’s fancy term for basic black. Both phones come with matching protective cases to protect them from drops and knocks.
The back of the phone features a large camera module that stretches across the width of the phone – one of the biggest design differences between the model and the older iQoo 7 Legend.
At 8.83mm thick, it is a slim device but does sit on the taller side – something to consider if you need to slip the phone into small pockets or bag compartments.
While this is part of Vivo’s gaming phone range, it doesn’t have a typical gaming design. You won’t see the extra buttons and triggers that you’d find on the Asus ROG line.
Screen & Speakers
- 120Hz refresh rate
- Bright, 2K AMOLED display
- 300Hz touch-sampling rate
For playing games and watching videos, the 6.78in display on the iQoo 9 Pro Legend is brilliant. It comes with a 2K E5 AMOLED panel with HDR10+ and quoted 1500nits peak brightness. It is clear and produces rich colours, even when used under direct sunlight.
The phone boasts a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, though you can swap this down to 60Hz to conserve battery power or use ‘Smart Switch’ – a dynamic refresh rate between 1 and 120Hz that chooses where to give those optimum graphics and where to conserve them.
Specs & Performance
- One of the first phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
- Either 8/12GB RAM
- More strenuous games cause phone to heat up
The iQoo 9 Pro is fitted with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the newest flagship chip from Qualcomm at the time of writing. There’s only a handful of phones on the market that also sport this chip, including the Samsung Galaxy S22 series (in the US, that is)
The chip is paired with either 8 or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 256GB worth of storage. I tested the 12GB configuration. The phone also supports 5G connectivity.
Read More: https://www.techadvisor.com/review/vivo-iqoo-9-pro-legend-3814012/
