We recently took a brief look at one of India’s front runners in the flagship killer segment. There was a lot to like about the Mi 11X Pro, both in terms of hardware and design. However, it isn’t the only competitive smartphone in the sub-40K segment, the other one being the iQOO 7 Legend, which is coincidentally the subject of today’s brief hands-on review. The iQOO 7 Legends features a starting price of Rs 39,990 in India. So without any further delays, let’s take a brief look at the iQOO 7 Legend.
2/15
iQOO was developed the iQOO 7 Legend in partnership with BMW Motorsport, giving it a unique aesthetic. In terms of the build, both the back and front of this device is protected by Gorilla Glass, while the back of the phone curves nicely into the matte aluminium frame. The phone has a matte finish, ensuring fingerprints don't ruin the overall look of that back panel. The while colour back panel also boasts the BMW Motorsport tri-colour stripes, while the iQOO logo sits under the camera module.
3/15
The phone was slightly on the heavy side, with an overall weight of 209 grams and felt a tad bit heavy. The iQOO 7 Legend has a hole-punch camera cutout on the front and a box-shaped camera module on the back. The phone has a speaker grille, a USB Type-C port, and a SIM tray at the bottom. Additionally, the power button and a volume rocker on the right. You also get a phone cover, a pre-applied screen protector, and a 66W charging adapter in the box.
4/15
In terms of the display, you get a 6.62-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen supports Widevine L1 and HDR10+ playback and has a peak brightness of 1300 nits. Apart from the high-refresh rate, you also get a touch sampling rate of 300Hz, all tailored towards enhancing the overall gaming experience. In my brief time with the iQOO 7 Legend, I have to say that this is one of the most exciting smartphone displays at this price.
For performance, the iQOO 7 Legend is powered by the Snapdragon 888 SoC paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. When it comes to gaming, the iQOO 7 Legend handled most titles with little effort on max settings, including Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9: Legend, and Black Desert Mobile. In Geekbench, the iQOO 7 Legend managed a single-core score of 1126 points and a multi-core score of 3714 points.
6/15
The cameras on the iQOO 7 Legend have got a nice upgrade from the iQOO 3 (Review). You get a 48 MP primary Sony IMX598 sensor, a 13 MP ultrawide shooter with an f/2.2 aperture and a 120-degree FOV, and a 13 MP, f/2.46 telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom. The main camera features OIS, while the telephoto camera is designed for portrait shots.
7/15
The primary camera takes good photos in daylight, maintaining a ton of detail and sharpness.
8/15
The ultrawide camera maintains colour consistency across the main sensor in daylight, but I’ve yet to use it in other scenarios.
In low light, the night mode does a great job of reducing noise and maintaining detail in shots.
10/15
4K video also looks good on the iQOO 7 Legend. And OIS offers excellent stabilisation when recording video. Frame rates for 4K video max out at 60fps.
11/15
The hole-punch cutout on the front houses a 16 MP selfie shooter with an f/2.0 aperture.
12/15
My initial impression of camera performance was positive for the most part. However, I'd hold out for the full iQOO 7 Legend for a better look at camera performance.
13/15
The 4,000 mAh battery on the iQOO 7 Legend may not be the best around. The powerful performance and high-refresh-rate display take a major toll on battery life, but the silver lining here is the super-fast 66W charging. The iQOO 7 Legend takes less than 30 minutes to gain full power, which was quite impressive.
14/15
The iQOO 7 Legend runs Android 11 based FunTouch OS 11. Software was one of the least pleasant parts of this device, especially in terms of bloatware. There are tons of features here, but the skin feels a bit too heavy. It was also disappointing to see no custom theme, considering the BWM partnership. iQOO has promised two years of major OS updates and three years of security updates for the Legend.
15/15
With a starting price of Rs 39,990, the iQOO 7 Legend is the cheapest Snapdragon 888-powered smartphone in India, picking up where the iQOO 3 left off. However, in my brief experience with the iQOO 7 Legend, I have to say that it felt nothing short of premium. The phone definitely punches above its price in almost every area, barring software and battery life, although the super-fast charging is a good substitute for shorter battery life. Additionally, there are general improvements on the performance and display fronts, while the camera department gets some significant improvements. Lastly, the iQOO 7 Legend is also one of the best-looking phones I’ve seen in 2021. All things considered; I’d say that the iQOO 7 Legend is a serious contender for the title of best flagship killer of 2021. Stay tuned for our full iQOO 7 Review for a deep dive into the cameras, performance, and more.
