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Ahead of OnePlus Nord CE launch, a new smartphone is heating up the competition
- Vivo’s sub-brand IQOO has launched a Snapdragon 768G-powered phone in India.
- The IQOO Z3 costs as much as the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max and could be cheaper than the OnePlus Nord CE.
- The phone boasts a 120Hz display, 55W charging, and a 64MP triple camera setup.
There’s a new smartphone in the Indian market that seeks to take on the well-established Redmi Note 10 Pro Max and the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE. vivo’s sub-brand IQOO has launched a Snapdragon 768G powered-5G phone in the country at a very attractive price point.
Called the IQOO Z3, the phone was first unveiled in China in March. It features an interesting mix of specs, including a Full HD+ 120Hz LCD display, 55W fast charging, and a sizeable 4,400mAh battery. You also get a triple camera setup consisting of a 64MP primary shooter, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 2MP macro camera. There’s a USB-C port available for charging, but the IQOO Z3 also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
In comparison, the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE will have a 90Hz display. However, it will use an AMOLED panel instead of an LCD one on the IQOO Z3. The processor on the OnePlus phone is tipped to be the Snapdragon 750G which is slower than the Snapdragon 765G. The Snapdragon 768G on the IQOO Z3 is 15% faster than the 765G, so you get a much better processor on the IQOO phone than what you can expect from the Nord CE.
If you compare the new phone to the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max, you’ll find that at almost the same price, you’re getting a more powerful 5G enabled device with the IQOO Z3. However, the Xiaomi phone also boasts a 120Hz AMOLED display, a higher-resolution 108MP primary camera, a bigger 5,020mAh battery. If charging speeds matter to you, the Redmi phone is a tad slower than the IQOO phone with 33W charging.
Nevertheless, at a starting price of Rs 19,990 for the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage model, the IQOO Z3 spells a pretty good deal on paper. Of course, we’ll have to test the phone to see how it performs in real life.
Meanwhile, the OnePlus Nord CE is expected to launch in India at Rs 22,999 and to compete with that, the IQOO Z3 has a model with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage priced at Rs 22,990. There’s also an 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant of the phone available at Rs 20,990.