iQOO Neo3 5G gets you a 144Hz screen, Snapdragon 865, and more for just $380

Vivo-owned iQOO just released its latest flagship offering in China. Dubbed as the iQOO Neo3, it comes with all standard flagship hardware such as Snapdragon 865 SoC and a 144Hz screen. Calling it an upgrade over its predecessor -the iQOO 3- would be incorrect, though. Let's take a look at what the iQOO Neo3 is all about.

For starters, the iQOO Neo3 comes with an HDR 10-ready 6.5-inch 1080p IPS LCD panel. An AMOLED panel would have been ideal, and IQOO likely downgraded it to get the desired refresh rate at the same cost. The triple camera array at the back consists of a 48MP primary sensor assisted by an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro camera. Lastly, there is a 12MP hole-punch front-facing camera nestled at the top-right corner of the screen.

Unlike its predecessor, iQOO is branding this as a gaming smartphone, as is evident with the high-refresh-rate screen. There is also an '11-layer cooling' system incorporated in the phone to help bolster the device's performance under load. It also comes with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage to make things snappier. The base configuration starts at 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which can be bumped up to 12GB and 256GB, respectively.

iQOO's official Weibo handle showcased some of the device's battery specs on Weibo yesterday. The 4,500mAh cell supports wired charging at 44W. It is quite the downgrade compared to its predecessor that packed the same battery but could be charged at 55W. It is quite evident that iQOO had to cut some corners to keep the prices low.The phone retains a headphone jack and comes with front-firing stereo speakers to round off the multimedia experience. 

The iQOO Neo3 is priced at CNY 2698($380) for the base variant, while the maxed-out version retails at CNY 3398($480). It is available for sale in China and should make its way to other markets in the coming weeks. Prima facie, the phone checks all the boxes for an affordable gaming device. It is the world's second smartphone to come with a 144Hz screen and should be well-received by the gaming community. It'll be interesting to see how iQOO prices the international versions of the phone, especially in markets such as India, where the competition can get quite stiff.