Vivo subsidiary iQOO has introduced its first Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered smartphone after teasing the device earlier this month. Like its predecessors, the iQOO 15 attempts to close the gap between mid-range and flagship smartphones without compromising on price. To that end, the handset starts at CNY 4,199 (~$590) with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.
For context, that starting price makes the iQOO 15 6.6% cheaper than the Xiaomi 17 and 16% cheaper than the Xiaomi 17 Pro, which feature the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset as iQOO's latest high-end smartphone. Nonetheless, the iQOO 15 also includes a 7,000 mAh battery that supports 40 W wireless and 100 W wired charging.
Additionally, the IP68-certified handset contains a 144 Hz AMOLED display that measures 6.85-inches diagonally with a 3,168 x 1,440-pixel native output and 6,000 nits peak HDR brightness. As a result, the iQOO 15 measures approximately 163.6 x 76.8 x 8.1~8.28 mm and weighs 215~221 g depending on the colour option chosen. In other words, the iQOO 15 is about as large and heavy as the iPhone 17 Pro Max or the Galaxy S25 Ultra (curr. $1,049 on Amazon).
Moreover, the iQOO 15 features a trio of 50 MP rear-facing cameras that iQOO complements with a 32 MP front-facing camera. The device's rear-facing cameras contain different sensors though, with a 1/1.56-inch primary sensor, a 1/1.95-inch telephoto sensor that delivers 3x optical zoom and a 1/2.76-inch ultra-wide-angle camera sensor. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen whether or when iQOO will offer the iQOO 15 globally.