iQoo 12 Debuts as the First Phone in India With Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC

iQoo 12 was launched in India on Tuesday as the first smartphone in India to be equipped with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. This handset sports a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate and features a triple rear camera setup that includes a 64-megapixel telephoto camera. The iQoo 12 is equipped with a 6,010 sq. mm vapour cooling chamber that is 40 percent larger than the one on its predecessor. It packs a 5,000mAh battery with 120W FlashCharge support.

iQoo 12 price in India, availability

iQoo 12 price in India is set at Rs. 52,999 for the 12GB + 256GB RAM and storage configuration, while the 16GB + 512GB variant is priced at Rs. 57,999. The handset will be available at a promotional price of Rs. 49,999 that is inclusive of bank offers from HDFC or ICICI bank, according to the company. The phone will be available on Amazon India starting December 13 for those who purchased a Priority pass, whereas for others it’ll be available on December 14.  

The handset’s Alpha variant has a rear panel that is made of AG Glass, while the Legend model has a white coloured porcelain enamel glass material on the back.

iQoo 12 specifications, features

The new iQoo 12 is a dual-SIM (Nano) handset that runs on Android 14-based Funtouch OS 14 out-of-the-box. The handset sports a 6.78-inch quad-HD (1,260×2,800 pixels) LTPO AMOLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate and an instant touch sampling rate of 1,200Hz. iQoo also says that the handset supports up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness and 2,160Hz pulse width modulation (PWM) for optimised dimming of the display in low light scenarios.

Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip powers the iQoo 12 — it is the first phone in India to arrive with the chipmaker’s latest flagship mobile processor, accompanied by iQoo’s dedicated Q1 chip that is aimed at improving gaming performance on the phone. The handset is equipped with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. It also features a 6,010 sq. mm vapour chamber with four cooling zones for better thermal management. 

The iQoo 12 is equipped with a triple rear camera setup that comprises a 50-megapixel primary camera with a 1/1.3-inch OmniVision OV50H sensor with an f/1.7 aperture; a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a 120-degree field-of-view and an f/2.0 aperture; and a 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, 100x hybrid zoom, and an f/2.6 aperture.

According to iQoo, the primary camera and telephoto camera support AI-assisted astrophotography and ‘Super Moon’ modes, respectively. The telephoto camera also supports macro photography. For selfies and video chats, the iQoo 12 is equipped with a 16-megapixel selfie camera with a wide-angle lens and an f/2.5 aperture.

Connectivity options on the iQoo 12 include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS, NFC, infrared blaster, and a USB 2.0 Type-C port. The smartphone is equipped with an accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity, compass, and ambient colour sensor. It has an under-display fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication.

The handset is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery with 120W FlashCharge support — iQoo says it reconstructed the battery with a graphite negative electrode along with multiple cold pressing of electrode sheets, micron-scale laser etching, and using a large-pore-sized membrane for improved battery performance. The handset has an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance, measures 163.2 x 75.9 x 8.1mm and weighs 203.9g, according to the company.