vivo iQOO Z5 hands-on review

Software

The handset runs on Funtouch 12 on top of Android 11, which is a little disappointing given that we are well into the Android 12 era. Also, OriginOS seems to remain exclusive to the Chinese market at least for now.

Otherwise, the system runs smoothly with no hiccups, but we've noticed some small bugs here. Notifications clear up automatically by themselves, for example, while entering the recent apps menu takes a little bit of time after doing the gesture for no apparent reason.

Home screen, recent apps, notification shade, app drawer

Aside from the poor HRR implementation in games, Funtouch 12 handles it very well in other apps and system menus. The Smart Switch Mode seems to produce the best results. If you don't interact with the screen, the refresh rate will go down to 60Hz, and the same goes for pretty much every app we've tried. At least for the most popular ones, that is.

Settings menu

Some apps like Quora and Chrome didn't get past 60Hz. Netflix, YouTube, Google Photos, too, but that's because you don't really need HRR when watching videos or going through your gallery of photos.

Camera

Here are a couple of samples taken with the main and ultrawide cameras. They are all taken with AI scene recognition mode turned on and HDR set to auto.

Daylight camera samples: Main • Ultrawide • Main • Ultrawide

We also recorded a 4K video for you to see.

Verdict

Although the iQOO Z5's upgrade over the predecessor is notable, the increase in pricing makes it a less desirable option, especially when considering the fact that it comes with a slower charging and skips the microSD card slot this time around. More importantly, though, vivo's decision to still run an LCD panel, albeit 120Hz, will surely steer away some potential buyers.

And while the iQOO Z3 was kind of a sensible 5G-enabled solution at the time, things have changed over the last couple of months, and competitors have also boarded the 5G train. This means that 5G can't be the phone's only selling point anymore.