Qualcomm Snapdragon 845-powered Vivo iQOO Neo joins the gaming smartphone niche

Vivo is back with a quite affordable phone for gamers that uses a high-end Qualcomm processor from the previous generation. The phablet-sized, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845-driven iQOO Neo is now up for pre-order and a flash sale is scheduled for July 8.

Vivo iQOO Neo has a 6.38-inch OLED full HD+ display with an onscreen fingerprint scanner, a triple main camera (12 + 8 + 2 MP sensors), a 12 MP selfie shooter, dual 4G VoLTE, as well as a 4,500 mAh battery with support for 22.5 W FlashCharge (from zero to 50 percent in 30 minutes). Obviously, there is also full support for today's popular connectivity features such as USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5, WiFi 802.11, and GPS with GLONASS. The operating system is based on Android 9.0 Pie and has Vivo's own UI — known as Funtouch OS — on top.

In addition to the above, the iQOO Neo also features AI Turbo, Net Turbo, Center Turbo, and Cooling Turbo software functions. The hardware in charge of its cooling includes a vapor chamber and two multi-layer graphite slates that cover it. This handset comes in black or purple and starts around US$260 for the 6/64 GB version, but the 8/128 GB variant goes all the way up to around US$335.

Those interested can place their pre-orders already on Vivo's online store (Chinese only) and the websites of most major Chinese retailers. The first flash sale is scheduled for July 8 and based on the specs and price in question, the Vivo iQOO Neo could become quite a hit.