iQOO Z9s Pro Review: The Phone That Checks Most Boxes

The sub-₹25,000 segment for iQOO has been quiet for a while now, and it’s finally been rejuvenated with the iQOO Z9s Pro. It brings a lot to the table—great display, slim body, powerful SoC, great cameras, and of course a large battery to power it all. 

However, there are phones already in this segment that many people consider good devices. So, does the iQOO Z9s Pro hold a candle to the competition? Let us find out in this review of the iQOO Z9s Pro, where I’ll cover everything in detail.

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iQOO Z9s Pro Review – Design & Build

Let’s start with the design and build of the iQOO Z9s Pro. It comes in two colors: Luxe Marble and Flamboyant Orange. I’ve got the Luxe Marble variant here. It has a glass-like finish on the back, though it’s not actually glass. 

The Luxe Marble variant is 7.49 mm thick and weighs 185 grams, while the Flamboyant Orange is slightly thicker at 7.99 mm and tips the scale at 190 grams. For a phone that packs a 5,500 mAh battery, it is still very slim.

The left side is completely clean, while the right side houses the volume rockers and power button. The placement of the buttons is just right, at least for my medium-sized hands. 

The display is curved along the edges, matching the curved back that blends into the frame. The frame itself is plastic, and on the Luxe Marble variant, it has a glossy finish. The camera module features a textured squircle around it with an Aura ring light for the flash.

The iQOO Z9s Pro has an IP64 rating for some protection against dust and splashes. However, there’s no headphone jack, so if you were hoping for one, that’s a bummer. All in all, the iQOO Z9s Pro has a solid build for the price.

iQOO Z9s Pro Review – Display

First off, it’s a curved, 3D curved display. You’re looking at a large 6.77” screen, perfect for watching movies or gaming. The 120 Hz refresh rate ensures everything feels smooth. The display boasts a local peak brightness of 4,500 Nits and it’s super bright, even though iQOO hasn’t specified the exact HBM brightness.

The display comes with different color tuning options—Standard, Professional, and Bright, Standard being the default. The Standard tuning leans towards natural colors without making the display colors look muted.

The display also covers 100% of the P3 color gamut and has 2,160 Hz PWM dimming, which is great if you’re sensitive to screen flicker. There’s also an in-display fingerprint scanner, and the bezels are thin, though there’s a bit of a chin at the bottom, but it’s not a dealbreaker.

For streaming, you’ve got HDR support on Netflix and Amazon Prime, along with Widevine L1 support, which is pretty rare in this price range. Plus, it’s got HDR10+ support. Speaking of which, the iQOO can play 4K videos too, but that gets very choppy when compared to 1080p.

iQOO’s using SCHOTT Xensation Glass for protection—similar to Gorilla Glass, though the exact version isn’t confirmed.

iQOO Z9s Pro Review – Speakers

On the audio front, iQOO has gone with dual stereo speakers this time. There’s a noticeable difference between the bottom and top speakers, with the top one being the earpiece, but it’s still way better than not having stereo at all. The sound is loud and clear, even at 100% volume. 

They’ve even included a 200% and 300% volume option, which I thought was just a gimmick, but it actually works and cranks up the loudness, though there is some distortion at max volume—but it’s manageable.

iQOO Z9s Pro Review - Software and Haptics

Alright, let’s get into the software side of the iQOO Z9s Pro. This phone runs on Funtouch OS 14, which is built on top of Android 14. iQOO’s got your back with 2 years of OS updates and 3 years of security patches. So, you’ll be set up with Android updates until Android 16.

Now, Funtouch OS has a bit of a reputation for its design, but let’s not judge a book by its cover. Once you get past the looks, it’s very customizable and packed with features. This is my first time using Funtouch OS 14, and honestly, it’s totally usable. In fact, it’s way more feature-rich than your typical stock Android experience.

You’ve got a few cool features like App Retainer, which lets you pick up background apps right where you left off. Split-screen, mini-window, hidden album—it’s all here, and there’s a lot to customize, too. 

In the Dynamic Effects section, you can go wild with customizations. You can tweak everything from the touchscreen animations to ambient light effects, home screen transitions, fingerprint recognition animations, and even how the screen looks when it turns on and off. 

The lock screen is also customizable—you’ve got 8 font styles, 3 clock styles, and a ton of colors to choose from. You can even change up the shortcuts on the lock screen. Plus, there’s a sweet always-on display with a ton of customization options.

The camera app is responsive, and despite the phone using UFS 2.2, it feels snappy. You get animations like blurred notification shade and smooth app animations, too. 

But, here’s the thing—there’s bloatware and ads. The first time you boot up the phone, you’re hit with a prompt recommending you open the V-Appstore, which isn’t great. 

You’ll also get a bunch of prompts during setup, and the V-Appstore keeps sending you notifications. My advice? Disable notifications for the V-Appstore and Browser app as soon you as you set up your iQOO Z9s Pro. However, I really wish iQOO also let users simply disable these apps.

Overall, Funtouch OS 14 has been smooth for me. But, not everything’s perfect. There’s no manual rotation option, and when using Bluetooth earbuds, the volume on the phone doesn’t sync with the earbuds. 

AI Features

iQOO has also thrown in some AI features as well. The first is AI Photo Enhance, which is called “Repair” in the Gallery app, for some odd reason. It’s supposed to unblur or enhance low-quality photos. In my usage, it doesn’t work on blurry images, but it does a solid job with low-detail, old photos. 

The second feature is AI Erase, also in the Gallery app. You’ve got two options here: Manual Smudge, where you rub over the object you want to erase, and AI Smart Circle, where you just circle the object, and it erases it. The latter works better overall, but it can struggle in tricky situations. Still, it gets the job done most of the time.

Haptics 

The haptics on the iQOO Z9s Pro are a major letdown. They feel more like what you’d get on a budget phone rather than a premium device. Sure, they work fine for calls, ringtones, and all that basic stuff, but when it comes to typing? It’s just not cutting it.

iQOO Z9s Pro Review – Performance

Now let’s get into the performance. The iQOO Z9s Pro really shines here, especially considering its gaming pedigree. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC: 1x 2.63 GHz core, 3x 2.40 GHz cores, and 4x 1.8 GHz cores, and built on TSMC’s 4nm process. 

In terms of RAM and storage, you’ve got LPDDR4X RAM up to 12 GB, and up to 256 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. In everyday tasks, the iQOO Z9s Pro doesn’t break a sweat. 

Benchmarks

As for benchmarks, the iQOO Z9s Pro delivered some impressive numbers. On AnTuTu v10, it scored 803,131, which is solid for a mid-range chipset. In the storage test, it scored 46,133, with sequential read and write speeds of 916.7 MB/s and 827.3 MB/s, respectively, along with random read and write speeds of 402 MB/s and 302 MB/s. 

Geekbench 6 results were also promising, with a single-core score of 1,127 and a multi-core score of 3,037. The 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test returned a score of 1,455 with an average FPS of 8.71, which is decent for gaming at higher settings. The stress test showed an overall stability of 78%, with a best loop score of 1,465 and a lowest loop score of 1,143.

In AI benchmarking using the newly released Geekbench AI, it scored 581 in the NPU department, 1,158 in the CPU department, and 513 in the GPU department. You can check the detailed scores below.

During a 50-thread, 30-minute CPU throttling test, the Z9s Pro maintained an average GIPS score of 321,183 with zero throttling detected—impressive stability under load.

Gaming 

Now, let’s talk about gaming on the iQOO Z9s Pro. To start with, it’s got a 3,000mm² VC liquid cooling system that ensures efficient heat management, so thermal throttling is pretty much nonexistent here. This means you can game for longer sessions without worrying about performance dips due to overheating.

There’s also Monster Mode, which prioritizes performance, ensuring your games run at their best. You also get a Motion Control feature that adds a layer of interactivity, like finding the enemies behind obstacles in a game. 

Combine that with the 4D game vibration and dual stereo speakers that crank up the volume to 300%, and you’ve got yourself a pretty immersive gaming experience.

Now, let’s dive into some real-world gaming performance. In Asphalt 9, the performance mode delivered an average FPS of 56.15, while the default mode offered 56.31 FPS. The high-quality mode slightly dropped to an average of 55.95 FPS. I recorded a touch sampling rate of around 120 Hz to 150 Hz in Asphalt 9.

The Asphalt 9 experience was decent. While the graphics weren’t mind-blowing, the game was playable, and I could definitely enjoy it on this device.

Call of Duty Mobile performed well at Very High + Max settings, with an average FPS of 58.46. The game ran smoothly with minimal frame drops, and the overall gaming experience was top-notch. The device didn’t get too hot during extended play. I recorded a touch sampling rate of around 300 Hz in COD Mobile.

Genshin Impact is a more demanding game, and on default (Low) settings, it performed adequately with an FPS close to 30. However, in the Custom 60 FPS mode, while the FPS bumped up to an average of 50.68, there were some frame drops. Still, for the price range, it’s a pretty solid experience, and you’re not going to be disappointed. I recorded a touch sampling rate of around 120 Hz to 130 Hz in Genshin Impact.

BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India) had solid performance too. In the Smooth + Extreme settings, I got an average FPS of 58.86, and in HDR + Extreme settings, the FPS was 58.45. However, in Ultra + HDR settings, the FPS dropped to 39.04, and there were a few moments of choppiness. I recorded a touch sampling rate of around 120 Hz in BGMI.

Unfortunately, none of the popular games run at the claimed 2,000 Hz touch sampling rate, or even 300 Hz. Only Call of Duty Mobile runs at 300 Hz, while BGMI, Asphalt 9, and Genshin Impact run at around 120 Hz. This can be very disappointing if you’re a BGMI player or any other player, for that matter. I hope iQOO fixes this via an update in the near future.

iQOO Z9s Pro Review – Cameras

The iQOO Z9s delivers a well-rounded camera experience. The main sensor is a 50 MP Sony IMX882 with OIS, which ensures your shots are sharp and vibrant, even in challenging conditions. But before we dive deeper into the main sensor, let’s take a look at the cameras specs:

• Main: 50 MP Sony IMX882 f/1.79 1/1.95” 26 mm equivalent focal length 
• Ultra-Wide: 8 MP OmniVision OV08D10 f/2.2 1/4” 16 mm equivalent focal length 
• Front: 16 MP Samsung S5K3P9SP f/2.45 1/3.1” 27 mm equivalent focal length 
• Video: 
  • Main: 4K/1080p/720p at 30 fps, 1080p/720p at 60 fps
  • Ultra-Wide: 1080p/720p at 30 fps
  • Front: 1080p/720p at 30 fps

Main

Now, back to the main camera, the Sony IMX882, with a 1/1.95” type and an f/1.79 aperture, can handle various lighting conditions. In daylight, it delivers bright, detailed images with close to natural colors. 

The saturation levels are not overdone, keeping things on the realistic side. Also, there’s enough detail in both shadows and highlights, though shadows can sometimes appear a bit clipped. 

The low-light performance is also decent, with vibrant colors and good detail retention. The Super Night mode does help a lot. However, you can notice a halo effect sometimes. HDR performance is okay but could use a bit more refinement. 

The portrait mode has good edge detection most of the time, but there are moments when it misses the mark. Background separation is generally smooth, and skin tones are accurate without overshadowing, which is a plus. 

Ultra-Wide 

For the ultrawide camera, you’ve got an 8 MP lens with a 16 mm equivalent. While it doesn’t have autofocus, meaning you miss out on macro mode, it still delivers good results in ample lighting. 

However, you might notice some chromatic aberration and distortion around the edges, and the color consistency doesn’t always match up with the main camera. 

The ultrawide night shots are decent, though they could use a bit more detail. HDR performance is solid across the board, but there’s a noticeable difference in sharpness when compared to the primary sensor. 

Front 

For the front camera, the 16 MP selfie shooter does a decent job. It offers digital zoom options at 0.7x, and 1x, giving you nice selfies, though detail and skin tones can be improved. Edge detection isn’t great, which does affect the background separation in portrait selfies. 

Video 

For video, the iQOO Z9s Pro can shoot in 4K at 30 fps from the main camera, with both OIS and EIS giving stabilization that’s generally okay, though it could have been better. 

In low light, the noise levels are minimal, and colors are vibrant. The ultra-wide and front cameras shoot at 1080p 30 fps, but the front camera’s dynamic range and overall video quality leave room for improvement.

You can read our detailed camera analysis of the iQOO Z9s Pro here: iQOO Z9s Pro Camera Sneak Peek With Daylight, Portrait, and Night Samples

iQOO Z9s Pro Review – Battery Life and Charging

The iQOO Z9s Pro comes with a large 5,500 mAh battery, which is impressive given the phone’s slim profile. The actual battery life, in my usage, was good. I managed to get around 7 hours of screen time, which is solid and should be sufficient for most users. Of course, your mileage may vary based on how you use your phone.

When it comes to charging, the Z9s Pro supports 80W Flash Charge and iQOO claims that the device can hit 50% in just 21 minutes. In my experience, it took about an hour to fully charge the device. 

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the iQOO Z9s Pro?