Okay, this is the brand new IQOO 15.
Design & Display
First, let’s briefly go over the appearance and screen. It’s still a flat screen on the front with right-angled side frames, but the micro-curved glass on the back has also become flat. The rear camera still has the “Wanderer’s Trail” design. The energy ring within the deco has been moved below the decorative camera ring. The overall lines of the device look sharper compared to the previous generation.
Paired with the new color scheme, the look is quite interesting, elegant, and exquisite. Besides the Lingyun and Legend edition colorways we have, the IQOO 15 also comes in Track and Wilderness colors.
In terms of the screen, IQOO has made significant upgrades this time, debuting a 2K screen. The screen size is 6.85 inches and supports a 144Hz high refresh rate, with improvements in clarity, color, eye protection, power consumption, and touch control.
In our tests, the maximum manual brightness reached 1122 nits, and the peak full-screen brightness reached a maximum of 2730 nits. For detailed specs, we’ve compiled a large table.
Gaming Performance
Alright, for the game tests, let’s first look at a medium-load game, Genshin Impact. The IQOO 15’s average frame rate is 59.8 fps, with an average power consumption of 3.99W, and a maximum body temperature of 40 degrees. Compared to the previous generation, the power consumption is lower. In recent years, with the performance of mobile chips, Genshin Impact tests seem to have lost a bit of that “cricket fighting” excitement.
Let’s quickly increase the pressure and take a look at Wuthering Waves. Now isn’t this more interesting? The IQOO 15 achieved an average of 59 fps, with the lowest power consumption in the test at only 5.22W. The maximum body temperature was 42.9 degrees Celsius, also the lowest in the test. The IQOO 14 could achieve an average of 58.1 fps with a power consumption of 5.72W, and a maximum body temperature of 44.6 degrees Celsius. Compared to two competitor models, the IQOO 15 has pulled ahead by a larger margin.
Next is Honkai: Star Rail at around 980p resolution. The IQOO 15 averaged 58.2 fps with an average power consumption of 8.28W. Both of these power consumption figures are very high, so the maximum body temperature reached 50.4 degrees Celsius. This performance release is quite impressive. The iPhone, because it doesn’t support the new 980p in Star Rail, had much less pressure and achieved the highest frame rate of 58.5 fps. In fact, with the upgrade in SOC power efficiency, everyone should have a good idea of the results of conventional tests.
What is the Q3 Chip?
So next, let’s look at something more interesting: the self-developed Q3 chip that the IQOO 15 is equipped with. This time, let’s talk in detail about this third-generation dedicated mobile display chip and see how it performs. Are we really entering the era of graphics cards for mobile phones? Do mobile phones really need an external graphics card?
Okay, perhaps many, like us, feel it’s best for super-resolution and frame interpolation to be handled by the GPU. Using an external dedicated chip for this seems to just add power consumption and feel troublesome. However, since IQOO has persisted to the third generation, there must be a reason and a purpose. That is to create a true graphics card for mobile, a mobile version of DLSS.
Gaming Performance after Q3 Chip
The IQOO 15 is also the first model in the industry to support ray tracing in Genshin Impact. Let’s compare and see the effect. After turning on ray tracing, there is a difference in lighting and shadows, especially in scenes with reflective light, the improvement in lighting effects is quite noticeable.
Okay, let’s now look at a comparison of the actual screen captures after enabling super-resolution and frame interpolation. First is the super-resolution effect in Genshin Impact, which is very obvious. After enabling 2K super-resolution, the image is much clearer, the look is quite natural, and the sharpening effect isn’t strong. If you also enable 120fps frame interpolation at the same time, the controls feel much smoother. For a mobile phone, actually playing it feels comparable to DLSS 3, without obvious artifacts.
So, we tested the super-resolution and frame interpolation data for four games. Let’s really put the IQOO 15 and this Q3 chip to the test and see if they can handle it.
First is Honor of Kings, with ultra-high resolution and 144 fps enabled. After running the test, the frame rate is close to the maximum, with power consumption reaching 4.8W and the maximum body temperature at 37.8 degrees. Compared to the standard 4G results, the power consumption is over 1W higher.
Then there’s Delta Force: Hawk Ops, also with ultra-high resolution and 144 fps enabled. The average frame rate after the test was 142.6 fps, with an average power consumption of 4.65W, and a maximum body temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius. Compared to the standard test, the power consumption is 0.6W higher, and the maximum body temperature is about one degree higher. All we can say is that for low-load games, enabling super-resolution and frame interpolation is quite easy. We also recommend everyone to turn it on when playing to get a better gaming experience.
Okay, next let’s increase the intensity and move to the super-resolution and frame interpolation test for Genshin Impact. After enabling very high resolution and ultimate frame rate, the IQOO 15 can run at an average of 109.9 fps. At this time, the average power consumption reached 6.03W, and the maximum body temperature was 43.2 degrees Celsius. Compared to the default very high graphics quality, the power consumption is directly higher by nearly 2W. It’s probably because of the significant increase in power consumption that currently, ray tracing and super-resolution/frame interpolation in Genshin Impact cannot be enabled at the same time.
So we also separately tested Genshin Impact with ray tracing enabled at very high graphics quality. The average is still 59.5 fps, with an average power consumption of 4.92W, and a maximum body temperature of 41.4 degrees Celsius. Compared to not having ray tracing on, the increase in overhead is not that large. Moreover, based on the IQOO 15’s body cooling capabilities, it should be able to handle enabling ray tracing and super-resolution/frame interpolation simultaneously. We hope IQOO will release a firmware update that unleashes its full power.
Okay, finally let’s look at the data for Honkai: Star Rail. We still have ultimate resolution and ultimate frame rate enabled. For Star Rail, the inherent pressure is already very high, so the ultimate frame rate is only open up to 90 fps. After the test, the average frame rate is 86 fps, with an average power consumption of 6.69W, and a maximum body temperature of 42.1 degrees Celsius. Compared to the Genshin test at around 980p, the power consumption is reduced by about 1.6W, and the maximum body temperature has also dropped by several degrees.
So in Honkai: Star Rail, it seems they are reducing the natively rendered 60 fps down to 45 fps, and then interpolating it to 90 fps. And this is the scenario where the Q3 chip can really solve a problem: using less power to achieve a better actual gaming experience. Okay, so from the tests above, we can see that for low-load games, you can freely turn on super-resolution and frame interpolation. But for medium to high-load games, like Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves, if you want to max out the experience with super-resolution and frame interpolation, you might need to prepare a cooling fan.
Charging And Battery Life
Okay, regarding charging and battery life, the IQOO 15 is equipped with a 7000mAh large battery, which is 850mAh larger than the previous generation. It supports 100W wired and 40W wireless charging, compatible with PD and PPS protocols. In our test, a full charge took about 56 minutes and 40 seconds, with a trickle charge of about 40 seconds. In our “test-to-death” battery life model, the IQOO 15 lasted for 11 hours and 21 minutes, an improvement of nearly two hours compared to the previous generation, which is quite impressive.
Cameras
Although the IQOO 15 is positioned as a performance flagship, its camera configuration is not bad at all. It also has a triple-camera setup and includes a periscope telephoto lens. The main camera is a 1/1.5-inch IMX921, and the periscope telephoto is a 1/2.51-inch IMX882. The camera configuration is worthy of a flagship.
Final Verdict
OK, so after seeing the overall performance of the IQOO 15, are you all satisfied? Everyone should have witnessed IQOO’s models in recent years, with powerful configurations and performance, combined with the stable and top-tier tuning of OriginOS. The IQOO 15 can be said to have become a benchmark product for performance flagships. A product that seriously focuses on its positioning as a performance flagship is also the most profound impression IQOO has left on everyone.
This year’s IQOO 15 has a better SOC, a top-tier 2K screen, a larger battery, and the powerful and unique Q3 chip. Dual X-axis linear motors and dual-axis vibration motors, along with the very smooth and stable OriginOS 6, put it in a leading position whether it’s for gaming or daily use. Especially for gamers who have high requirements for graphics quality and frame rates, you should seriously consider the IQOO 15 when buying a phone.
