iQOO Z10 review: performance and battery beast under Rs 25,000

In addition to the mid-range and flagship, iQOO also caters to budget-conscious buyers through its Z-series lineup. The iQOO Z9 (review) was a standout in this category, consistently ranking among the best-performing smartphones under Rs 20,000 since its inception. Now, its successor—the iQOO Z10— has been launched in India, with students being its core audience. The smartphone caters to their needs with its mammoth 7,300mAh battery, 90W fast charging speeds, Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC, 50MP camera, and a 120Hz AMOLED display.

While these upgrades make the iQOO Z10 a worthy successor to the Z9, are they enough to outshine the competition and set a new benchmark in the segment? Read this review to find out.

Verdict

The iQOO Z10 brings compelling upgrades to the sub-Rs 20,000 segment, ticking nearly all the right boxes for students and budget-conscious buyers alike. It blends performance, endurance, and design into a well-thought-out package—without losing sight of its target audience. That said, photography enthusiasts may find better options elsewhere.

Design and display

The iQOO Z10 impresses with its design. Despite housing a large battery, the device remains sleek, slim, and lightweight — it won’t weigh down your wrist or feel bulky in your pocket. At 199 grams and just 7.9mm thick, it matches the dimensions of most competitors in its segment, striking a solid balance between power and portability. The smartphone also has even weight distribution and appears aesthetically pleasing. The gigantic circular camera module, which has been inspired by the flagship offerings, is subjective and might not appeal to everyone. 

The iQOO Z10 is available in two colour options: Glacier Silver and Stellar Black. We received the Stellar Black variant for review, which features a dual-finish design – a glossy camera module paired with a matte rear panel. The matte texture helps resist fingerprints, keeping the device looking clean after use. However, it can still pick up smudges over time, so we recommend using a case (provided in the box) if you prefer a consistently tidy look without frequent wiping. The company has also taken care of the durability of the smartphone, with an IP65 and MIL-STD-810H rating. The handset is touted to survive minor drops and falls, owing to its Shield Glass protection and cushioning structure that can absorb the impact to an extent.

The iQOO Z10 features an in-display fingerprint scanner for security, which performs accurately and unlocks the device reliably. It also comes equipped with a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer, stereo speakers for an enhanced audio experience and a SIM tray that includes a dedicated slot for microSD card expansion. Notably, the iQOO Z10 also incorporates an IR blaster -with an interesting placement on the rear camera module – enabling you to control compatible home appliances, a handy addition. The smartphone lacks NFC support, but that’s excusable given its price.

As for the viewing experience, it has been taken care of by a 6.77-inch quad-curved AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 5,000 nits peak brightness. The iQOO Z10 has one of the brightest displays for the price, ensuring an excellent viewing experience even when you are outdoors under direct sunlight. The device is HDR playback certified, but it can only stream content in FHD resolution from Netflix and other streaming platforms as of the writing of this article. A future software update may unlock higher-resolution playback support.

Be that as it may, the experience is enjoyable and the display colour profile can be tweaked per your preference from the settings menu. The smartphone also features ultra-slim bezels to deliver an immersive viewing experience, along with solid visibility from off-centre angles. However, the punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera could have been smaller to ensure uninterrupted viewing.

Cameras

Talking about the iQOO Z10 cameras, you get a combination of a 50MP primary and a 2MP depth sensor on the back. Up front, it sports a 32MP snapper for selfies and video calling in the punch-hole setup. Unfortunately, it lacks the versatility offered by rivals like the Redmi Note 14 and Motorola Edge 60 Fusion, both of which include an ultrawide lens for broader shooting options. On the plus side, the Z10 supports 4K video recording at 30fps on both front and rear cameras. The result is acceptable for the price. As for its image quality, The iQOO Z10 delivers reliable camera performance with accurate colours, well-preserved highlights, and natural-looking selfies.

That said, while the iQOO Z10 struggles with detail retention—especially in low-light and portrait shots—it still holds its own with relatively realistic tones and clean colour processing. Portraits are slightly muted and underexposed but benefit from pleasing bokeh, and selfies stand out for their balance and lifelike skin tones. Night mode sharpens things up but tends to oversaturate, making the Z10 a solid, if not standout, performer across most scenarios.

Here’s how the phone compares against the POCO X7 and Motorola Edge 60 Fusion:

Daylight

The iQOO Z10 captures more balanced and accurate colours compared to the POCO X7, which tends to oversaturate images. Highlights on the iQOO Z10 are well-defined, and shadow details are preserved without being crushed. In contrast, the POCO X7 produces brighter images, which can give the impression of sharper details, but this comes at the cost of colour accuracy.

The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion’s images lean slightly towards saturation, but overall detail reproduction is noticeably superior to both the iQOO Z10 and POCO X7. It also retains more shadow detail, something the iQOO smartphone struggles with.

Portrait

The iQOO Z10 defaults to a 2x zoom for portrait shots, but the results tend to be slightly underexposed, with muted details and colours. Under similar conditions, the POCO X7 delivers sharper, more defined portraits. However, its skin tone reproduction isn’t entirely accurate, often adding a reddish tint that, while boosting vibrancy, may not reflect natural tones. While both smartphones struggle with edge detection, the iQOO Z10 stands out with a more natural-looking bokeh effect.

The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion delivers more natural-looking skin tones but struggles to clearly separate the subject from the background. The bokeh effect also comes across as slightly artificial. While the overall detail is better than what the iQOO Z10 manages, the image lacks the crispness one would expect – at least from the shot taken at 2x zoom.

Selfie

Selfies captured with the iQOO Z10 appear more balanced and vibrant compared to its portrait shots. The front camera delivers better dynamic range and more natural skin tones, with noticeably improved exposure handling. In terms of detail and overall image quality, the iQOO Z10 outperforms the POCO X7, offering results that are closer to real-life textures and tones.

Selfies from the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion exhibit noticeable saturation, which may appeal to social media enthusiasts looking for punchier visuals. The images also show better detail retention and improved handling of shadows compared to those from the iQOO Z10. However, if you prefer a more natural and true-to-life look, the iQOO Z10 might be the better choice for selfie lovers.

Low-light

In low-light conditions, the iQOO Z10 delivers a more accurate depiction of the scene compared to the POCO X7. The latter tends to overexpose shots, often rendering the sky an unnatural blue instead of grey, while its white balance appears noticeably off. Be that as it may, both smartphones struggle with details and keeping the graininess under control.

The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion produces a more visually appealing low-light image without Night Mode enabled. While it enhances colour vibrancy, the result remains pleasing thanks to superior detail retention, minimal noise, and well-controlled light flare. That said, the iQOO Z10 still has the edge when it comes to colour accuracy.

Low-light (night mode)

Both iQOO Z7 and POCO X7 show a clear improvement with Night mode enabled. However, the iQOO tends to oversaturate colours, resulting in a scene that appears brighter than it should. It also renders the sky unnaturally blue and enhances green tones to create a more vibrant, but less realistic, image. That said, the Z10 images are sharper than the POCO X7, which struggles to keep the noise level down despite the long exposure.

The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion delivers comparable results with Night mode enabled but continues to outperform the iQOO Z10 and POCO X7 with sharper, more pleasing images that exhibit less noise. That said, all three smartphones struggle to maintain focus around the edges of the frame.

Performance and software

Under the hood, the iQOO Z10 is powered by Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, paired with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. This hardware combination delivers strong performance, starting with AnTuTu where it scores over 8,00,000. Its Geekbench results are equally commendable, outperforming several competitors in its segment in both single-core and multi-core tests. The smartphone also demonstrates better consistency under sustained workloads. In the Burnout CPU throttle test, the iQOO Z10 throttled to 68.3 percent of its peak performance—lower than both the POCO X7 and Motorola Edge 60 Fusion.

The iQOO Z10 doesn’t feature an active Vapour Chamber cooling system, owing to its Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, which is said to be thermally efficient. To test that, we played the three most popular and graphically demanding games: BGMI, COD: Mobile, and Real Racing 3 on the device. After a total duration of 90 minutes, the iQOO smartphone heated up by 14.5 degrees Celsius. On the contrary, the gaming-focused POCO X7 and the Motorola Edge 60 Fusion heated up by 19.5 and 25.2 degrees Celsius respectively. These results suggest that the Z10 handles heavy usage well without significant thermal throttling.

We also tested the device under everyday usage scenarios, including streaming, browsing, scrolling, editing, and multitasking. The handset remained smooth throughout, without any stutters or signs of slowdown. Part of this could be attributed to the streamlined software as well.

The iQOO Z10 runs on FunTouch OS 15 layered on top of Android 15. While the software isn’t the cleanest – shipping with 61 pre-installed apps – it delivers smooth animations, a stutter-free experience, and no noticeable app crashes or freezes. On the plus side, the OS offers a wide range of customisation options and practical AI-powered features. These include AI Super Doc, which can scan, crop, and automatically correct skewed or distorted documents; Instant Document Converter, which compiles PDFs from images or document files; and AI Eraser, a photo-editing tool that seamlessly removes unwanted elements from images.

On the updates front, the company has promised two years of major OS and three years of security updates for the smartphone.

Battery and charging

The iQOO Z10 is equipped with the latest Silicon Carbon battery, which offers a higher energy density than standard Lithium-Ion cells, allowing it to store more power within the same footprint. This advancement enables iQOO to pack a sizeable 7,300mAh battery into the device without sacrificing its lightweight and sleek form factor. The synthetic benchmark and real-world statistics both work in favour of the smartphone. On the PCMark battery test, the iQOO Z10 scored 16 hours and 41 minutes, which is significantly better than the smartphones with 6,000mAh batteries.

Moreover, in our 30-minute video streaming test, the smartphone’s battery dropped by just 1 percent, setting a new benchmark in our in-house evaluations. The iQOO Z10 also manages heavy usage such as gaming efficiently During our lab test, the handset consumed 4 percent battery on average after playing BGMI, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Real Racing 3 for 30 minutes each. To give you a perspective of how good this is, competitors had an average battery consumption of 6 percent playing the same games in similar settings.

This makes the iQOO Z10 a battery powerhouse – not just in its segment, but even beyond. The handset easily lasts a full day, and then some, even with moderately heavy usage. Furthermore, you will not have to spend hours charging this battery powerhouse. iQOO has thoughtfully incorporated 90W charging tech on the device and a compatible charger is provided in the box. The tech can take the device from 20 to 100 percent in just 42 minutes. This is faster than smartphones with less than 4,000mAh battery. 

The smartphone also supports bypass charging, which directly powers the motherboard while the device is in use during charging. This reduces strain on the battery, helping to improve long-term health and extend its overall lifespan.

Final verdict

The iQOO Z10 is a value-for-money smartphone, offering features that even the ultra-premium offerings don’t have. Its 7,300mAh battery will appeal to students and everyday users who value longevity and responsiveness in a smartphone. Furthermore, the iQOO Z10’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 ensures smooth multitasking, and the AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate makes it ideal for content consumption and casual gaming.

That said, it’s not a phone meant for photography buffs – the dual-camera setup feels limited compared to rivals with ultrawide or macro sensors. And while it holds its own in most scenarios, low-light photography and detail retention could use some improvement. The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion delivers more appealing results overall, although it does come at a slightly higher price point.

However, if your priorities include excellent battery backup, fast charging, smooth software, solid day-to-day performance, and a bright, vibrant display, the iQOO Z10 easily earns its stripes as one of the top contenders within its segment. The handset has been priced in India starting at Rs 21,999. 

Editor’s rating: 8.4/10

Reasons to buy iQOO Z10

• Powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, the iQOO Z10 handles everyday tasks and gaming with ease.
• Whether it’s online classes, binge-watching, or casual gaming, the Z10 keeps up without users needing to hunt for a charger by evening.
• The phone can go from near-empty to over 100 percent within an hour with its 90W charger.
• The display is impressive for watching videos, reading, and creating casual content.

Reasons not to buy iQOO Z10

• The absence of an ultrawide sensor limits the phone’s photography versatility.
• While daylight shots are respectable, the Z10 struggles in dim environments.