iQOO 13 Will Be First Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Phone In India

The iQOO 13 is all set to be launched in India on December 3. It will be the first phone in the country to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, but the interesting factoid is that this phone will be slightly different from the model that is being launched in China. Most notably, the size of the battery will be smaller in the Indian model as compared to the Chinese model. This has already been revealed in the product page of the Indian model, which will get a 6,000mAh battery as compared to a 6,150mAh battery.

That being said, a 6,000mAh battery is massive, but perhaps the need of the hour considering Qualcomm is using custom high-performance cores called Orion in the chipset and has ditched the big.Little architecture. This is why we are noticing that the latest Android flagship phones almost universally now have battery sizes that are upwards of 6,000mAh. Aside from this, 120W fast charging is also part of the package, which is the same as the Chinese model. 

This will be one of the fastest phones to launch in India as it will also have 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM coupled with up to 1 TB of fast storage. The phone will also get a 6.82-inch AMOLED panel with a 2K resolution and a whopping 144Hz refresh rate, which should ensure it feels super smooth even while playing high-resolution games. In fact, one of the big updates in the new Qualcomm chipset is the GPU, whose performance takes a big leap with significantly faster raytracing.

Other features of the phone include an in-display fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers, a 32-megapixel front camera, and a triple camera array on the back which uses three 50-megapixel sensors each for primary, telephoto, and ultra-wide duties.

The phone is expected to be launched in two colours: Legend, which is part of its collaboration with BMW Motorsport and Nardo Grey. Another aspect of this phone which is unique is its IP69 water and dust rating, which will be a first for a phone launched in India. iQOO's parent company Vivo is also slated to be launching its new flagship phone, the Vivo X200 Pro, in India in December – its focus will be on its incredible Zeiss co-engineered camera system and it will be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset, which will first appear in the Oppo Find X8 on November 21. 

iQOO holds a 2.70 percent share of the Indian smartphone market, as per the latest data compiled by the International Data Corporation (IDC). While this may seem insignificant, its shipments have witnessed a remarkable 31.60 percent increase, ranking second in the Indian smartphone market, behind Motorola’s staggering 179.30 percent gain. However, it’s important to note that Motorola primarily sells mass-market products and has a lower average selling price compared to iQOO. Additionally, Motorola is an established brand, while iQOO is a relatively new sub-brand under Vivo, having launched in 2019.

This is not the first time iQOO has taken the lead with launching the first phone with the latest Snapdragon flagship chipset, as it did the same with the iQOO 12 and 11 in India. This phone could help it further boost its market share as it rides on the premiumisation wave in the smartphone segment in India, which is also the reason behind Apple's meteoric rise.