Vivo’s sub-brand iQOO is back with a bang. The new iQOO 15 has officially launched in China, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most powerful — and surprisingly affordable — gaming flagships of the year. Priced from 4,199 yuan (~$589), the phone combines a cutting-edge Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, a Samsung-built 2K display, and a huge battery aimed squarely at gamers and power users.
The iQOO 15 is available in four colors, each with a sleek AG micro-matte finish and anti-fingerprint coating. The middle frame is slightly curved at the edges for comfortable grip, while the updated halo light strip offers a refreshed look.
Developed over two years with Samsung, the 6.85-inch 2K Everest Display uses M14 luminous material and the world’s first 2K LEAD OLED tech. It delivers up to 6,000 nits of peak brightness, 2,600 nits full-screen, and 1,000 nits manual, making it one of the brightest displays on any phone. The display also supports 3,200Hz instant touch sampling, powered by a custom chip for ultra-smooth response.
At its core is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 built on a 3nm process, paired with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage. It reportedly scores over 438,000 points on AnTuTu’s GPU test — serious power for a phone at this price. A dedicated Q3 gaming chip enables frame rate interpolation and game resolution upscaling.
The phone’s thermal management is equally aggressive: a large vapor chamber filled with 200 million nano-graphene particles, dual graphite layers, and an 8,000mm² VC heat sink help it stay cool. In the company’s testing, the phone reached just 39.3°C after an hour of Genshin Impact, which is impressive.
It runs on a 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, supports 100W wired and 40W wireless charging. It also supports PPS/PD protocols for universal compatibility, and bypass charging to preserve battery during long gaming sessions.
Photography is handled by a triple 50MP setup — Sony IMX921 main sensor (1/1.56″) with OIS, ultrawide, and 3x Sony IMX882 periscope telephoto (1/1.95″) with an M-shaped prism design. A 32MP selfie camera handles selfies and video calling. iQOO’s imaging algorithms add features like Live Photos and AI-enhanced effects for improved results.
In terms of software experience, users get OriginOS 6 based on Android 16, which will also power the phone globally next month. Aside from the hardware improvements, this shift to OriginOS for global users will serve as a big selling point.
Pricing and availability:
- 12GB + 256GB – ¥4,199 (~$589)
- 16GB + 256GB – ¥4,499 (~$631)
- 12GB + 512GB – ¥4,699 (~$659)
- 16GB + 512GB – ¥4,999 (~$701)
- 16GB + 1TB – ¥5,499 (~$771)
The iQOO 15 is already on sale in its home country and has been confirmed for launch in markets like India next month.
(Source: iQOO)
Comments