Late last year saw iQOO, Vivo's stylish and cheap sub-brand, launch the iQOO Neo 9 and Neo 9 Pro, which were both pretty good phones in looks and on paper. The Pro model came with MediaTek's top chip at the time, which was the Dimensity 9300.
Now, the iQOO Neo 9S Pro is the official mid-cycle upgrade for last year's phone, and it brings the expected improvement in the processor department by bringing the Dimensity 9300+ as its chip. Surprisingly so, it does this without an increase in price, despite this chip being the current king.
The iQOO Neo 9S Pro Comes With A Flagship Chip For (Relatively) Cheap
I'm not shy to say that I'm a sucker for iQOO phones. I've never owned one but I love how they look. They've got very simplistic yet stylish designs. If I wasn't such a power user, I'd certainly get one for myself. The iQOO Neo 9S Pro retains the same design as its predecessor with a mostly flat back with a vertically-oriented dual camera setup, a flat display, and a flat frame.
The major upgrade that this device has over its predecessor is that it upgraded last year's Dimensity 9300 to the Dimensity 9300+, which is currently the top Android chip at the moment, as far as benchmarks go. This phone starts with a 12GB/256GB configuration but can be specced up to a 16GB/1TB configuration. It also retains the 5,160 mAh battery and 120W fast charging of its predecessor. It also retains iQOO's Q1 chip that supposedly improves your gaming experience.
The screen stays as a 6.78-inch 144Hz LTPO AMOLED unit with a 1260 x 2800 resolution and HDR10+ certification. On the back, both cameras are 50MP units, which means you get the same primary lens, but the ultrawide gets upgraded significantly from last year's 8MP unit. The selfie camera sticks to a 16MP module.
You still get Android 14, an IR blaster, NFC, an under-display fingerprint sensor, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth gets stepped up to v5.4. Rather notably, the phone actually keeps the same price as its predecessor, at an equivalent of $415. This is rather interesting, considering you get a better processor and one rear camera gets upgraded quite significantly.
iQOO Is Also Releasing Two Tablets: The iQOO Pad 2 And Pad 2 Pro Soon
iQOO is also planning to release the Pad 2 series on May 31st, and this should include the vanilla Pad 2 and the Pad 2 Pro. From what we know at the moment, the vanilla model should come with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and the Pad 2 Pro should bring MediaTek's Dimensity 9300+ into the mix. That's two high-end chips, so there's little to complain about.
We know the Pad 2 will be a 12.1-inch tablet with 1968 x 2800 resolution and 144Hz refresh. It'll also have a 10,000 mAh battery and 44W fast charging. Not too shabby. The Pad 2 Pro will step the screen up an inch to 13.1 inches and a 2064 x 3096 resolution and 144Hz refresh. The battery will get a boost to 11,500 mAh and will get 66W charging.
