In India, the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G costs Rs. 13,999.
In India, 5G has been officially released. As telecom operators hurry to make 5G accessible throughout the nation, smartphone manufacturers are offering a variety of handsets at various price points that enable the next-generation network. Even before 5G was accessible in India, customers had a profusion of smartphone alternatives to select from, particularly under Rs. 20,000. The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G, which launched on sale in early September, was one such recent alternative. This smartphone costs less than Rs. 15,000 and is the company’s most cheap 5G smartphone in India right now.
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G is presently India’s sole smartphone with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC, which is built on a 6nm technology. iQoo says that their 5G smartphone outperforms rival handsets. It also has a 120Hz display, twin cameras, and a large battery in the aim of providing a nice all-around experience. Is the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G the finest smartphone under Rs.15,000 in India with everything on offer? More importantly, should you consider purchasing it? We can assist you in determining this.
Price of iQoo Z6 Lite 5G in India
The lowest edition of the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G costs Rs. 13,999 and comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Our variation costs Rs. 15,499 and comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. A hybrid microSD card slot allows for 1TB storage expansion.
5G iQoo Z6 Lite design
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G is available in two colors. iQoo provided us the Stellar Green variation, which we believe is more blue than green. The rear panel features a gradient finish that catches the light. The color palette makes the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G seem much more expensive than it is. The rear panel is also resistant to fingerprints and smudges. For those who prefer a more traditional color, the phone is also available in Mystic Night.
Similar to the Vivo V25 series, the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G has a flat frame design with a huge rectangular camera module on the back. The phone’s flat frame design makes it seem much lighter than its actual weight of 194g. Although clicky, the power and volume buttons on the right side are a little too recessed for my comfort. The USB Type-C connector is located at the bottom, wedged between the 3.5mm headphone socket and the speaker grille.
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G boasts a 6.58-inch IPS LCD display with a full-HD+ resolution on the front. Except for the large chin at the bottom, the bezels surrounding the display are tiny. There is substantial backlight leakage along the screen’s borders.
I would have preferred an AMOLED display for a brighter, more colorful viewing experience, but iQoo seems to have sacrificed this in exchange for a 120Hz refresh rate. Despite the high refresh rate, it is not the smoothest software experience I’ve had, but for the price, I can’t complain too much. When you push the brightness bar to its extremes, the screen is reasonably bright for outdoor usage. The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G, like its elder sister, the iQoo Z6 5G, has a water-drop notch at the top of the display, which regrettably gives the phone a rather antiquated appearance.
Specifications and software for the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC, developed on a 6nm technology, powers the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G. The phone has a 5000mAh battery and enables rapid charging up to 18W. It is one of the few cellphones in this price range that does not come with a charger. Instead, iQoo has included a remark thanking users for “contributing to the earth by minimizing carbon pollution.” Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, FM radio, and other features are supported by the gadget.
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G is powered on the Android 12-based Funtouch OS 12. It includes a few third-party programs that may be deleted if desired. While Funtouch OS 12 has gone a long way, it still has a long way to go before it can compete with rival skins. Some of the features include the option to personalize the interface by changing the animation effects, adding themes and wallpapers, and so on. The latest version also allows users to match the color of the system and app UI to the background.
In my experience, the default Browser app sends at least five alerts every day. The only method to turn off spam notifications is to access the ‘App Info’ box and then uncheck the option. If iQoo had enabled users to mute alerts straight from the notifications shade, this could have simply been a one-step operation.
Battery life and performance of the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G
The performance of the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G is its most notable feature. The phone is perhaps one of the finest performers in its pricing range. While day-to-day chores went without a hitch, the games I played on the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G functioned flawlessly on most days. On the gadget, I played games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 Legends. The former was extremely excellent for a phone in this price range, running on ‘Max’ frame rate and ‘High’ visual settings. While playing, I didn’t notice any severe lag or stuttering, but I did notice slight stutters at times, which was reasonable for a phone priced at Rs. 15,499.
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G scored 3,85,763 points in AnTuTu, which is more than the costlier Moto G72 (First look) with a MediaTek Hello G99 SoC and the similarly priced Redmi 11 Prime 5G (Review) with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC. The phone also did not overheat when stressed, which might be attributed to the four-component cooling mechanism working well.
The solitary bottom-firing speaker is rather loud. While there is a 3.5mm headphone socket, there are no wired earbuds included in the package. The phone sports a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for rapid authentication and unlocking. As an alternative, you may use less secure AI facial recognition. Finally, the phone only supports two 5G bands, n77 and n78, which is disappointing.
The phone’s battery life is not disappointing, as it comfortably lasts a full day on a single charge. On days when I played games and used the camera, the phone lasted around nine hours on a single charge. On other days when I used it less, the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G provided me with more than 10 hours of screen time. The iQOO Z6 Lite 5G operated for 15 hours and 2 minutes in our battery loop test. Because the phone did not come with a charger, we charged it using the 22.5W fast charger that came with the Redmi 11 Prime 5G. It took roughly two hours to fully charge the smartphone.
5G cameras iQoo Z6 Lite
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G boasts a dual-camera arrangement on the rear, however only one of them is functional. A 50-megapixel main camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor are included. There is an 8-megapixel front-facing camera for taking selfies.
Surprisingly, the main camera performs well. The photos feature excellent clarity and somewhat saturated colors. The post-processing procedure also contributes to the final result’s dynamic range. That being said, the white balance is erratic at times, and colors are either colder or have a pink tone to them.
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G’s night mode guarantees that the sky appears black and grey (rather than dark blue), but it screws with the white balance by adding a pink hue. One significant concern I have with the phone is that the 4GB RAM edition does not include Night Mode. Given that up to 2GB of extra (virtual) RAM is supported, iQoo should not have overlooked this functionality in the basic model.
The front camera captures both colors and details well. Even when the beauty mode toggle is switched off, portrait mode smoothes the skin much too much. Selfies shot in regular Photo mode, on the other hand, generate more natural skin tone and texture.
The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G’s rear camera can record films at up to 1080p 60fps. The video recording capability of the front camera is restricted to 1080p at 30 frames per second. While the overall colors are nice, the dynamic range performance falls short of some of the phones in this category.
Verdict
When it comes to an inexpensive 5G smartphone, the iQoo Z6 Lite 5G does most things right without sacrificing much. The 120Hz refresh rate display is among the fastest in the market, and the camera performance is excellent for the price. I was especially delighted with the phone’s gaming performance, which is by far the finest in this sector in my experience. The battery life is also very good, lasting all day.
That being said, the lack of a charger in the package is a shame, but it may be seen as a trade-off for the phone’s superior hardware and performance. What I didn’t like was that iQoo left off features like Night mode on the lowest 4GB RAM model. Finally, although the phone does support 5G, it only supports two bands, which will be supported by all Indian telecoms. However, iQoo should have included support for additional bands in the Z6 Lite 5G.
If you want basic 5G capability without sacrificing overall performance, we suggest getting the phone with 6GB RAM. The iQoo Z6 Lite 5G also costs Rs. 500 less than the Redmi 11 Prime 5G (Review) while providing superior hardware, making it a fantastic buy. It is also less expensive than the Realme 9i 5G 6GB RAM edition, which costs Rs. 16,999 in India.
5G has arrived. Should you get a 4G phone? On the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, we explore this. Orbital may be found on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music as well as wherever you receive your podcasts.
pic by – iQoo Z6