iQOO 13 offers Snapdragon 8 Elite and 144Hz for under $700

December is traditionally a slow time for consumer tech releases in the West. In Asia, especially China, releases are coming fast and furious. The latest is iQOO 13, a mid- to high-end product from the Vivo sub-brand.

Like Chinese sub-brands, you get great value, arguably a better value proposition than the parent brand's flagships, and make Samsung and Google phones seem overpriced.

iQOO 13 (the brand name means “I keep pursuing”) is equipped with a 144Hz OLED screen, 2K resolution, and is equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. This is the latest chip launched by Qualcomm. It has been launched for only one month and will be used in all Android flagship phones in 2025. In fact, North American consumers won't see the chip until Samsung launches its $1,000 flagship phone in late January.

Meanwhile, the iQOO 13 will cost around $670, which is based on prices in India, the first country outside of China to sell the phone. The program will be gradually rolled out across Southeast Asia and parts of Europe over the remainder of the year. Prices in Europe should be higher, but still well below the $1,000 you'll have to pay in North America to experience this silicon.

There is also a Q2 chip customized by iQOO (even Vivo phones don’t have this chip), which allows games to run at 144 fps to accommodate the 144Hz update rate.

My device comes with this extra bit of BMW branding that I honestly don't care about (there's another color option that doesn't have it), but the overall design does look nice, with a matte glass back and aluminum frame.

iQOO 13 aims to be a high-performance phone for gamers. However, I am not a gamer. I tested PUBG and the game did run smoothly at 144 fps and had a great tactile feel to boot. But I ultimately use the phone for productivity and photography, and the iQOO 13 is priced above $650, thanks to Vivo's top-notch imaging capabilities. I've been outspoken in calling the Vivo X series the best camera phones for a few years now, and the image processing pipeline is mostly concentrated in the iQOO 13, even if the camera hardware isn't that great.

There's a triple 50-megapixel camera setup here, all with very respectable apertures and sensor sizes compared to big-name phones like Apple, Samsung, and Google. But the sensor size here is small compared to the extremely high standards set by Vivo. Therefore, motion blur happens more often than I thought because the phone has to compensate for the smaller sensor by slowing down the shutter speed. But with a steady hand and a little more effort, you can still get great images with the iQOO 13.

In terms of software, the machine runs Vivo’s international software FunTouch 15, which is based on Android 15. I am neutral about this software. I prefer Vivo's Chinese software OriginOS – it has smoother animations, more features and a snappier look – but FunTouchOS is also good. It just looks a little dated, with Android's aesthetics feeling stuck in 2019.

The software is very efficient and works well with Google apps, which is not the case with OriginOS. The large 6,150 mAh battery gives it long battery life.

Ultimately, the iQOO 13 is a great value for anyone who loves gaming on their phone or is looking for flagship performance at a more affordable price. Personally, I will always choose the absolute best camera phone available, even if it means spending an extra $300-400. But for most people, you don't need those $1,000-$1,200 phones. iQOO is more than enough for under $700.