The Realme Narzo 80 Pro is a follow-up to last year’s camera-centric midrange smartphone, the Narzo 70 Pro. With the Narzo 80 Pro, the company doubles down on performance by equipping the phone with the MediaTek Dimensity 7400 SoC.
Rivalling the Narzo 80 Pro under the Rs 25,000 segment is the iQOO Z10, which rocks the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 and a colossal 7,300mAh battery. To test the performance prowess of these phones and conclude the winner, both smartphones were put through synthetic benchmarks and our usual gaming tests, and the results are as follows:
Verdict
The iQOO Z10 and Realme Narzo 80 Pro both deliver identical performance benchmark tests, such as AnTuTu and Geekbench. That said, when it comes to sustained and real-world performances, the iQOO 10 outperforms its rival.
| Tests | Winners |
| Geekbench | Tie |
| AnTuTu | Tie |
| CPU throttle | iQOO Z10 |
| Gaming | iQOO Z10 |
Table of Contents
Geekbench
Geekbench evaluates a smartphone processor’s single-core and multi-core performance by running various light and demanding tasks in the background. The Realme Narzo 80 Pro and iQOO Z10 performed as follows:
The iQOO Z10 performs ever so slightly better than the Realme Narzo 80 Pro, indicating similar raw performance in light to heavy tasks.
Real-world context: Given the benchmarking scores, both Realme Narzo 80 Pro and iQOO Z10 should perform similarly when it comes to opening and loading games, running heavy video rendering or multitasking. Since both smartphones carry midrange chipsets, don’t expect these phones to be as swift as other phones with more powerful processors.
Winner: Tie
AnTuTu
AnTuTu is a benchmarking tool that assesses a device’s performance in CPU, GPU, memory, and user experience (UX). The tool achieves this by rendering 3D environments, performing memory read/write operations, and launching demo applications to evaluate the UX.
Similar to Geekbench, the AnTuTu scores delivered by Realme Narzo 80 Pro and iQOO Z10 are on par with each other. Therefore, this test also ends up in a tie.
Real-world context: Going by the AnTuTu scores, it can be concluded that the iQOO Z10 will be a superior performer when it comes to raw performance, but not by a large margin. The iQOO Z10 may render and open programmes a tad faster, and that’s just about it. Since the difference isn’t significant, this test ends in a tie.
Winner: Tie
CPU throttle
The CPU throttling test in the Burnout app evaluates how well a smartphone handles sustained heavy workloads. The test pushes the device to its limits to measure how long it can maintain peak performance before thermal stress causes a drop in frame rates.
The iQOO Z10 scored 68.3 percent in the CPU throttling test, showcasing better sustained performance under continuous load compared to the Realme Narzo 80 Pro. That said, the iQOO smartphone saw a higher temperature rise but managed to deliver better performance.
Real-world context: In activities like video editing, video recording, and playing high-end games, the iQOO Z10 may heat up slightly more, but it will offer consistent performance with higher frame rates than the Realme Narzo 80 Pro.
Winner: iQOO Z10
Gaming test
Average FPS during 30 minutes of gameplay (higher is better)
For our gaming test, we played popular titles, such as COD: Mobile, Real Racing 3, and BGMI, on both handsets at the nominal graphics settings for 30 minutes each.
| Game | Game settings (graphics + frames) | Realme Narzo 80 Pro | iQOO Z10 |
| COD: Mobile | High + Max | 54.1 | 59.4 |
| Real Racing 3 | Standard | 56.3 | 59.2 |
| BGMI | HDR + Ultra | 28.8 | 28.4 |
Thermal performance
Temperature increase (in Celsius) after 30 minutes of gaming (lower is better)
| Game | Realme Narzo 80 Pro | iQOO Z10 |
| COD: Mobile | 2.1 | 5.1 |
| Real Racing 3 | 2.5 | 4.3 |
| BGMI | 2.4 | 5.1 |
The iQOO Z10 delivered higher average FPS in Call of Duty: Mobile and Real Racing 3, while in BGMI it scored 0.4 FPS lower than the Narzo 80 Pro, which is a negligible difference. The Narzo 80 Pro takes the lead in thermal performance, where it consistently maintains lower temperatures than its rival.
Real-world context: When it comes to playing games, while the iQOO Z10 delivered better and higher frame rates in the games we played, its temperatures often went overboard compared to the Realme Narzo 80 Pro. Despite that, the iQOO Z10 didn’t show any signs of overheating as its temperatures remained lower than 34 degrees Celcuis after the 90-minute gaming session.
Winner: iQOO Z10
Final Verdict
The Realme Narzo 80 Pro retails for Rs 19,999, while the iQOO Z10 is priced Rs 2,000 higher at Rs 21,999. In our performance comparison, both smartphones performed well in benchmark tests, with the iQOO Z10 delivering slightly higher scores than the Realme Nazro 80 Pro. Given that the Realme handset is priced a bit lower, the difference in scores is justifiable to some extent.
Things go in the favour of iQOO Z10 when it comes to playing games, as it offers higher frame rates while compromising on the temperatures. The Narzo 80 Pro, on the other hand, maintains lower temperatures and similarly delivers slightly lower frame rates. That said, if you’re okay spending a bit more and can manage with a slightly inferior thermal efficiency in gaming, the iQOO Z10 should be your first choice as it also offers a bigger 7,300mAh battery.
