The iQOO Neo5 is portrayed as a Snapdragon 870 device in new leaks

Vivo has established the iQOO Neo series of smartphones as speedy devices with premium specs at reasonable prices (albeit mostly in China). Then again, it may have been overtaken as its brand's flagship by the 7, now officially the January 2021 AnTuTu champion (even if it is also the January 2021 overheating champion as well).

Then again, should some new leaks prove accurate, the Snapdragon 865-powered Neo3's successor may be able to carve itself a niche of its own by becoming the series' first 870-based device. These rumors are mainly based on the discovery of a device called the Vivo V2055A on the Google Play Console.

This phone is apparently powered by 12GB of RAM and a platform called the SM8250. It has 8 Kryo 585 cores, 1 of which is clocked at 3.2GHz, whereas 3 are 2.4GHz, leaving the remaining 4 at 1.8GHz: almost definitely the Snapdragon 870, in other words.

This "V2055A" also thus has a triple-core Adreno 650 GPU, which will drive an FHD+ screen of unspecified size. The idea that this all adds up to the iQOO Neo5 may be bolstered by another new claim from the Weibo leaker Arsenal that this phone will have these specs, right down to a display of the same resolution - which, according to the tipster, is also to have a high-end 120Hz refresh rate.

Arsenal also now projects that this device will launch in March 2021, and will start at just 2998 yuan (~US$464) for an 8GB/128GB SKU. The 12GB option spotted on Google's database, on the other hand, might have 256GB of internal storage instead and go for 3598 yuan (~$556).

This sounds ultra-competitive, until one remembers Motorola has just released this putative Neo5's only known peer at a price of just 2399 yuan for an 8/128GB model. Then again, the iQOO phone's leaks also hint at a new dual-cell battery with an ultra-fast 88W charging rate, whereas the Edge S is stuck at 20W (not to mention a slightly disappointing 90Hz for its IPS-LCD display).

Unfortunately, this "Vivo V2055A" has yet to surface elsewhere, on Geekbench included, to date. This is a shame as its performance with all its rumored high-end advantages might make for interesting scores. All in all, it remains to be seen if iQOO can indeed pair the 870 with more flagship-threatening specs in the next Neo, and if it can beat Motorola in terms of sales if so.

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