A good reminder of why competition matters is the iQOO 15 which was written in response to this question. This makes it better than the non-Pro iPhones in all of the places that actually matter, such as charging speed, battery life, display brightness and gaming performance.
I have been a long time iPhone user, but the Android phone that I’ve tested for ages now (iQOO 15) blows my iPhone 17 out of water. And for it, there is a lot going on with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, an impressive battery of 7000 mAh and even very fast charging. Unfortunately, I will never be returning my iPhone for the rest of this year.
Design and Build Better than Most Flagships
iQOO 15 maintains a clean, understated design that is distinctive in the right ways of being used by . The Legend, Alpha and Grey finishes serve a variety of tastes; the Grey variant uses ‘a laser holographic pattern that looks different every time the light hits it’ with an identical Laser Hologram. I have been testing the black Alpha, which looks pretty good. Its transparent edges give the camera module a floating effect, and the Monster Halo light around it gives ‘a subtle glow during games or notifications’.
Moreover, it also has IP68 and IP69 protection so that the phone can handle deeper immersion and even high-pressure jets (although the iQOO rightly reminds you that water resistance isn’t permanent).
An ultrasonic fingerprint scanner sits under the display and unlocks faster than the iPhone’s Face ID in low light or awkward angles. The scanner sits where your thumb naturally falls when you hold the phone. The Xiaomi 15 T Pro I tested recently puts the sensor too low, making it a bit awkward to reach.
It is one of the best screens in 2025 for iQOO 15 easily. If you’re first struck by this, it is how bright the Samsung 2K M14 LEAD OLED panel gets. With 6000 nits of peak brightness, it is brighter than most flagships and more under the sun. The 3000 nits-top iPhone 17 doesn’t come near the top of outdoor visibility.
The display has a refresh rate of 144 Hz, but since most apps only support 120 h (and so many other apps don’t support it), the display doesn’s not breaker with deal-breaker. It’s noticeably better on the iQOO to watch HDR content, gaming or even scrolling.
Performance Close to iPhone Pro
It is 32 percent more responsive than the previous generation and 23 percent GPU uplift, with iQOO 15 running on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 which provides an impressive 32 per cent of its performance.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Apple A19 were very close in performance, with the Snapdragon chip leading multi-core performance and the A 19 a little behind single- core performance (at least on benchmarks like Geekbench). The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a performance-based device that has been shown to be more efficient and better for everyday use, while the A19 Pro (which was tightly integrated with hardware and software) is much more effective.
In addition, a Snapdragon’s strengths are higher multicore scores (and possibly more powerful GPU performance) and – 37% faster NPU-based AI engine; the A19 Pro still holds the lead in single-core performance but is better at its peak per Watt performance.
The iQOO 15 also includes a Supercomputing Chip Q3 with the. This is supposed to work with super resolution, frame interpolation and even full scene ray tracing. I have seen supported games that look better here, from what I’ve read, but still doesn’t provide hardware-accelerated ray tracking on the iPhone 17, which isn’T just as good. Other names, such as the iQOO, can hit an FPS of 144 with constant frame stability. Honestly, I don’t really like mobile gaming; but if you are, you’ll love these things.
iQOO 15 has a Dual Axis Vibration Motor with high quality, accurate feedback and typing feel much more premium than other performance-focused devices.
Cameras Are Respectable
The iQOO 15, on paper, is a serious camera setup, accompanied by – 50 MP main camera, an advanced 60 MP periscope telephoto with 3x optical zoom and – the 50mp ultrawide.
In the periscope lens, the iPhone 17 is expected to be ahead of the next generation by the IQOO. While Apple still maintains optical zoom improvements for its Pro Max models, the base iPhone retains modest zoom performance. This is the 85 mm equivalent of an iQOO 15’s natural portrait, clean separation and strong stabilization. But even 10x images are sharper than they should be, and look sharpr.
I have an iPhone 17 Pro Max, which would cost me $1,199 for optical zoom and a few better camera features. Having phone cameras like an periscope lens is nice to have, but I’m not very much in touch with phone camera options. I’m going to a concert. If I want slam, what is the best phone that can zoom well enough for good shots? My trip is to zoom in and take pictures of things that are far away. The iPhone 17 barely lets me do that, while the iQOO 15 does it without any trouble.
Main camera captures well balanced, stable shots with detailed. iQOO’s 2K Live Photo upgrade makes motion shots look smoother, and low-light performance matches what I’ve been expected to see from Vivo’.
Battery and Charging Absolutely Embarrass the iPhone
A surprising surprise The iQOO 15 is a large battery of anode (7000 mAh) and has 100W wired and 40W wireless charging. Real-time The iQOO goes from zero to near full within about half an hour.
What this means is that the battery barely drains through the day, and even if I forget to charge it, I can plug it in for 15 to 20 minutes, and I’m set for the entire day.
I pushed the iQOO through long gaming sessions, streaming, maps, and photography, and still ended the day with charge left.
One of the biggest reasons I left Android for an iPhone was the ecosystem, which is one of my biggest frustrations with it. As everyone in my family has an iPhone or a Mac and I can share things with friends and colleagues through AirDrop without thinking about it. a decent fix for that (to the extent of this is corrected by the iQOO 15) and to.
A one-tap transfer option is available between iQOO phones and iPhones, and the Office Kit allows you to move files and mirror your screen to a Mac. Apple still leads in ecosystem integration, but the gap is smaller than before it was a step toward an earlier split.
iQOO is also promising five years of major Android updates, along with seven years of security patches from Google.
Availability of the IQOO 15
The best all-rounder you can buy right now is iQOO’s top-end phone (if it’s available where you live). Pricing varies by region, and the company has not disclosed exact figures for each market. Where it is sold for about $800, in the regions where it’s available.
The iQOO 15 (which is clearly the price, hardware and everyday usefulness) does not have to be more expensive than other s but it has been seen as this year’s jump in prices. It’s easier to accept the higher price once you look at the upgrades, but it does push the phone into the same bracket as more established flagships. And that’s what makes things harder Phones such as the OnePlus 15 are all in the same range and go even further in some areas, so phones like the one above sit at the exact same distance.
And yet the iQOO 15 is an excellent reminder of why competition matters. This makes it more effective than the iPhone 17 in all of those places that actually matter, such as charging speed, battery life, display brightness, gaming performance and overall flexibility during day-to day use.
If you’re still on the fence about whether to get an Android, we have the perfect Android vs. iPhone comparison.
Thanks for reading This iQOO 15 is the Next Best Android Phone You Should Get
