iQOO Z10x review: Feature-rich budget Android phone

The iQOO Z10x is a well-rounded budget Android phone. It delivers good on long battery life, decent camera hardware and smooth performance.

Just a couple of weeks ago, iQOO launched the new new Z10 series phones in India.

It comes in two variants-- top-end iQOO Z10 (review) and a standard iQOO Z10x-- with prices starting at Rs 13,4999 in India.

I have been using the iQOO Z10x for a week and here are my thoughts on the latest Android phone from iQOO.

Design, build quality and display:

iQOO Z10x comes in visually appealing design language. This particular 'Ultramarine' colour variant is one of the best-looking phone in the budget segment. It has very beautiful wavy design with matte finish.

It does a fantastic job of repelling the dust and also sweaty fingerprint smudges.

iQOO Z10x.

Also, the dynamic Ring LED on the back flashes halo-like light whenever the device is charging or receive message notifications or calls. When the battery is down, it flashes red and let the owner know it is time for charging.

It has curved edges that cascades to the mid-rail. It offers a good grip for the fingers to hold on to the device and the matte finish ensure, there is less chance of slipping out of the hands.

Besides ultramarine blue, the company offers iQOO Z10x in titanium colour.

It is not just a pretty phone, but also a very sturdy phone. The Z10x boasts MIL-STD-810H military-grade durability and IP64 dust-and-water splash-resistant rating.

iQOO Z10x with transparent cover case.

Further, the display comes pre-fitted with a screen guard and the company is offering free cover case with the retail box. iQOO has covered all bases to ensure the Z10x be able to serve the customer for several years at least for three-to-four years.

iQOO Z10x.

On the front, the iQOO Z10x features a 6.72-inch full HD+ (2408×1080p) screen with 120Hz refresh rate and offers up to 1050 nits peak brightness.

Be it on OTT apps or short videos on social media platforms, the big display is great for consuming multimedia content.

It also offers an Eye Protection feature. Once turned on, it makes the display turn warm and significantly reduces the blue light emission to lessen the strain on the eyes while watching movies or reading e-books at night.

iQOO Z10x.

There is an Anti-fatigue brightness option, which will adjust the brightness to further reduce the strain on the eyes. This comes in handy for users who have the habit of reading e-books before going to sleep. This feature once turned on, will ensure the user can slip in to sleep faster than before.

Settings >> Display & brightness >> Eye Protection >> Anti-fatigue brightness

The device also comes with an infrared sensor, which can be used to control Internet-of-Things (IoT) gadgets at home including compatible smart TVs and air conditioners.

It supports dual SIM slots and there is no option for microSD card.

The device also boasts a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which by the way works fine with a low rate of false rejection issues.

Performance

iQOO Z10x is powered by a 4nm class 2.5GHz MediaTek Dimensity 7300 octa-core processor with Mali-G615 MC2 GPU, Android 15-based FuntouchOS 15, 6GB/8GB LPDDR4x RAM, and 128GB/256GB (UFS 3.1) storage.

In terms of day-to-day usage, it works amazingly smoothly. Be it switching between multiple apps or operating camera or running Gemini AI applications and in-house photography tools. It waltz through the day without any noticeable lag-ness as such.

It also supports several gaming titles available on Google Play Store.

iQOO Z10x.

It runs Android 15-based FuntouchOS 15. It has a familiar UI, very easy to navigate through the phone's settings and applications. It is guaranteed to get two years of Android OS update and three years of software security patches to protection agains the new emerging cyber threats.

iQOO Z10x houses a massive 6,500mAh capacity cell. It consistently delivered more than a day of battery life. The device comes with a 44W charger in the retail box. It takes a little over one and half hours to charge up from zero to 100 per cent mark.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

Photography

It boasts of dual-camera modul-- 50MP wide camera with f/1.8 aperture, support Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAC), gyro Electric Image Stabilisation (EIS) and a 2MP (f/2.4) depth sensor with Ring-LED flash on the back.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

iQOO Z10x takes pretty amazing photos in the sunlight. The colours, particularly the flowers and human faces appear vibrant and lively.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

It does not have ultra-wide mode, but as you can see the sample photo, it can accomodate the gigantic Yashobhoomi convention centre within the frame.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

It supports 2X zoom and can digitally zoom up to 10X.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample with 5X zoom.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample with 10X zoom.

The iQOO phone does a neat job with macro close-up photos as well.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

It can also take pretty decent portrait photos with the background nicely blurred to deliver a bokeh effect.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

The device also supports AI Eraser. It does a fine job with removing the unwanted people or objects from the frame.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

At night, iQOO Z10x does a fine job with sharp photos.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

Even under controlled light conditions, the image quality is admirably good.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

It can record decent quality 4K and full HD (1080p) videos.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

On the front, it houses an 8MP (f/2.05) camera. It takes pretty nice selfies in the sunlight, good enough for Display Picture (DP) on social media platforms.

iQOO Z10x's camera sample.

Final thoughts

iQOO Z10x is a great value-for-money budget Android phone. It has gorgeous design language and comes with US military grade durability features in addition to water-splash resistance capability.

Performance wise, it does a fine job and even gaming too, it works good. Even photography too, it takes pretty good images in almost light conditions.

iQOO Z10x.

And, most importantly, it excells in terms of battery life. It can easily last one and half days with normal usage.

It comes in ultramarine and colours and will be available in three configurations- 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage- for Rs 13,499, Rs 14,999 and Rs 16,499, respectively.

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