iQOO’s Neo 10R may not end up being the successor to last year’s
The Nothing Phone 3a’s primary camera (below) performs better in a basic daylight photo comparison
Off the bat, there seems to be a colour consistency problem both between the two rear-facing cameras and even when using the primary camera itself. In the Natural colour mode, photos show slightly muted colours compared to the ultrawide camera, which showed the most true-to-life colours. At the same time, when shooting objects up close, I noticed that the primary camera randomly boosts saturation levels, so you may notice a strong red or green tone when using it, depending on what you capture.
The Nothing Phone 3a’s primary camera (below) shoots photos with better colour accuracy when shooting close-up photos
Colour accuracy aside, the photos from the primary camera do a bit of post processing, adding a bit of contrast. While I like that this processing adds some emotion to the images captured (despite cutting down on the overall dynamic range), the hardware somehow is unable to pull much detail from a scene even in daylight, leading to reduced detail and increased softness, especially near the edges of the frame.
In low light or street-lit scenes, the iQOO Neo 10R’s primary camera suffers from the same issues with softer images that are low on resolved detail. Nothing manages better. (Top: iQOO Neo 10R, bottom: Nothing Phone 3a)
As for the iQOO Neo 10R’s ultrawide camera, it produces poor images, which are a bit too soft, lacks any resolved detail whatsoever and also show a lot of purple fringing in the bright areas.
When shooting in low light, the photos from the iQOO Neo 10R (top) are primarily unusable versus what you get from the Nothing Phone 3a (below).
Portrait mode selfies captured in daylight have decent edge detection but are a bit low on detail, even though they appear a bit oversharpened. Low-light selfies also cut down on detail and, despite using the display flash, have an over-processed look.
Video recordings in daylight are surprisingly good. 1080p video recordings (30 and 60fps) showed accurate colours have a smooth framerate along with good stabilisation. 4K video recordings appear cropped and mimic the 1080p footage in terms of character but with slightly better quality. Shooting at 4K at 60fps offers the best quality but will limit you to the primary camera only. Sadly, in low light, noise creeps in, and the videos appear soft and blurry at best.
iQOO Neo 10R Battery: Fantastic
Battery capacity – 6,400mAh
Wired charging – 80W
Charger in the box – Yes
With a massive battery and good standby time, the iQOO Neo 10R easily lasts a whole day and a bit more with heavy usage. With casual use, expect this one to last more than 1.5 days on a single charge. Our video loop test, which runs an HD video in a loop at 50 percent brightness till the battery runs out, lasted an impressive 34 hours and 56 minutes. Running the PC Mark Work Battery test saw the phone last an equally impressive 24 hours and 38 minutes, far ahead of its rivals.
The iQOO Neo 10R charges very fast, given the high capacity of its battery
Charging speeds are equally impressive, given that this phone packs a high-capacity 6,400mAh battery. The bundled charger managed a 26 percent charge in 15 minutes, 55 percent in half an hour and 100 percent charge in an hour, completing the charging process 3 minutes later (1 hour and 3 minutes).
iQOO Neo 10R Verdict
Indeed, the iQOO Neo 10R packs quite the punch given its attractively low price tag. The phone delivers when it comes to software performance, gaming, battery life, and charging, but it comes up short in the camera department.
It’s here that the recently launched Nothing Phone 3a (Review) shines, keeping in mind its lower price, coupled with its arsenal of cameras that are rare for this price segment. While its software experience is unmatched in this segment, the Nothing Phone 3a is not a performance-oriented device like the Neo 10R.
A direct competitor to the iQOO Neo 10R is the Poco F6 (Review), which retails at a lower price. Fortunately for the Poco, it also packs good camera performance (primary only). However, it also cannot match the Neo 10R when it comes to battery life or charging.
At an additional Rs. 5,000, is the elephant in the room, the iQOO Neo 9 Pro (Review), it packs a powerful, premium-grade Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, an excellent set of cameras and even offers a better finish with a vegan-leather option. Battery and charging are top-notch, though not as good as the Neo 10R. If you can stretch your budget a bit, I highly recommend skipping the iQOO Neo 10R and reaching for the Neo 9 Pro instead.
