iQOO 15 flagship phone: Vivo’s sub-brand iQOO has once again set performance and design bars high with the iQOO 15, officially launched in China. Equipped with next-generation hardware and a sleek design, this gaming flagship is a prime competitor in the premium category. Beginning at 4,199 yuan (~$589), the iQOO 15 pairs the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, Samsung-designed 2K display, and whopping 7,000mAh battery, all tuned for gamers and heavy users.
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Design and Build: Sleek, Stylish, and Comfortable
The iQOO 15 is available in four stylish colors with an AG micro-matte finish that is fingerprint-resistant and keeps the texture smooth. Its curved-edge middle frame provides improved grip comfort, while the new rear panel halo light strip gives it a newer, futuristic look. Despite having a huge battery and high hardware, the phone has a thin, balanced profile, and it is suitable for both gaming and general use.
Display: Samsung 2K Everest Technology
One of the iQOO 15’s greatest selling points is its 6.85-inch 2K Everest Display, developed with Samsung over a period of two years. It makes use of M14 luminous material and 2K LEAD OLED technology, providing unparalleled brightness and clarity. The screen offers a maximum of 6,000 nits of peak brightness, 2,600 nits full-screen brightness, and 1,000 nits manual brightness, quite simply, one of the brightest screens ever on a smartphone. Also, the 3,200Hz instant touch sampling rate guarantees ultra-responsive control, a big bonus for competitive gamers.
Performance: Flagship Power at Its Core
Under the hood, iQOO 15 boasts Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on a 3nm process. It’s coupled with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage for lightning-fast data speeds and seamless multitasking. The phone is said to score more than 438,000 points in AnTuTu’s GPU test, a great achievement considering the price segment. It also has a special Q3 gaming chip, which is for frame rate interpolation and resolution upscaling to provide smoother graphics and improved performance in hardcore titles.
Cooling and Battery: Long Gaming Sessions
Thermal management has been considered seriously in the iQOO 15. It comes with an 8,000mm² vapor chamber filled with 200 million nano-graphene particles and two graphite layers. Internally tested, even after playing an hour of Genshin Impact, the phone’s temperature peaked at a mere 39.3°C, remarkable for a gaming behemoth. Firing all this up is a 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery with 100W wired and 40W wireless charging and bypass charging to prolong battery life in extended play sessions.
Camera and Software: Balanced and Upgraded
For cameras, the iQOO 15 features a triple 50MP camera setup headed by a Sony IMX921 primary sensor with OIS, an ultrawide lens, and a 3x Sony IMX882 periscope telephoto sensor with an M-shaped prism. Selfies and video calls are taken care of by the 32MP front camera. On the software front, the phone boots OriginOS 6 over Android 16, which will globally rollout soon as well.
Verdict: A Flagship Built for Gamers
The iQOO 15 is shaping up to be a game-changer in the flagship gaming category. With its next-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, record-breaking display brightness, efficient cooling system, and huge battery, it balances power, performance, and price better than most competitors. Whether you’re a gamer, creator, or multitasker, this phone is built to deliver a flagship-grade experience without the flagship price tag.