iQOO Z10 Lite review: a reliable budget phone with solid battery life

• By Dhruv Joshi
Published On: 7 July 2025 | 11:27 IST Last Updated On: 12 August 2025 | 12:56 IST

The latest iQOO Z10 series has bolstered the ranks of the affordable and mid-range segment, much like teh previous-gen Z9 series devices. This time around, all phones in the series have a new key focus: exceptional batteries. The iQOO Z10, in fact, boasts the biggest battery yet in a smartphone launched. And now, there’s a new addition to the lineup, the iQOO Z10 Lite. Launched under Rs 10,000, it’s the brand’s most affordable phone yet.

In this review, I’ll discuss whether the device is a capable contender at this extremely competitive price point. Let’s get started.

A durable build paired with a dated 90Hz panel

The iQOO Z10 Lite’s design is simple and practical. You get a nice brushed-metal finish on the rear panel, with large rectangular patterns checkered across the back. At least, that’s the case with the Titanium Blue colour variant I received for review. The phone feels comfortable to hold and offers a good balance of thickness compared to other devices in this price bracket.

The handset also boasts Military-grade durability, which, at least on paper, adds a layer of protection in addition to the surprisingly high IP64 rating for this price point. I’m quite satisfied with the phone’s design and build quality, especially considering its modest price.

When it comes to the display, there’s some disappointment. The specifications are largely in line with what you’d expect in this segment, HD+ resolution and a 6.78-inch LCD screen, but the panel’s refresh rate caps out at just 90Hz. That’s a missed opportunity, especially since 120Hz panels have become fairly standard even in the budget category. iQOO’s latest entry-level offering feels like it’s trailing behind in this regard.

That being said, it is still a decent screen overall. Colours appear vibrant, and the 1000-nit peak brightness ensures good visibility even outdoors. It just feels a little choppier compared to smoother 120Hz displays.

Good enough for quick snaps

The iQOO Z10 Lite 5G features a dual rear camera setup with a 50MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. In good lighting, the main camera captures sharp, detailed shots with vibrant colours and minimal noise. Objects like buildings and foliage come out well, though dynamic range could be better as it ends up crushing shadows at times.

Portrait mode works reasonably well. Edge detection is mostly clean, and the background blur looks subtle. However, skin tones can feel off, and finer details like hair or fingers blur into the background. The 5MP selfie camera is average at best. Selfies aren’t great, but not unusable either; it just takes a few more well-intentioned tries to pull off a good shot.

I compared the phone’s cameras against one of its key competitors, the Infinix Hot 50 (review). Check it out below:

Daylight

For regular daylight shots, both phones tend to bump up the saturation quite a bit, with the iQOO Z10 Lite’s colours leaning a bit on the cooler side and the Infinix Hot 50’s shots showing warmer tones. In terms of detail and sharpness, the iQOO Z10 Lite does a better job than its competitor, but it loses out when it comes to dynamic range and exposure control, often crushing shadows in the scene. Both phones are fairly inaccurate when it comes to colour accuracy.

Portrait

In portrait shots, the Infinix Hot 50 does a much better job. The iQOO Z10 Lite strangely ended up overexposing images, even after manual adjustments and multiple tries. For that reason, the Infinix Hot 50 ends up being the winner here by default.

Selfie

Selfies can be a tricky area for budget phones, but both do a pretty decent job overall. That said, the Infinix Hot 50 edges ahead again with better skin tones and more accurate colours. It also manages facial details, clarity, and dynamic range much better than its competitor.

Low light

In low light, we tested both phones with their dedicated night modes turned on. Both struggled quite a bit, which was expected, but the Infinix Hot 50 still managed to pull off a more usable shot. It has better lens flare control, higher detail, and more balanced exposure compared to the iQOO Z10 Lite. Although the former did add a green tint to the image, it still managed to bring out more of the scene.

Capable hardware and decent software support

Let’s talk specifications now. At the heart of the iQOO Z10 Lite is a chipset I’ve grown quite familiar with, the MediaTek Dimensity 6300. It has become the go-to processor for almost every brand launching a budget phone, and for good reason.

It delivers a fairly balanced performance output that’s more than adequate for everyday tasks and light multitasking. Paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage, this setup offers a well-rounded experience capable of delivering consistent day-to-day performance for most users.

That was largely my experience, too. Barring a few minor lags and stutters when switching between apps frequently or running too many in the background, the phone remains smooth and responsive.

It can even handle demanding games like BGMI reasonably well, as long as you’re willing to dial down the graphical settings. Benchmark scores echo the same sentiment. While it is not the absolute best performer in its segment, it holds its own comfortably against the top contenders.

Coming to the software, the iQOO Z10 Lite runs Android 15 with Funtouch OS 15 layered on top. It should receive 2 major Android OS updates and 3 years of security patches, which is in line with previous Z-series phones. The interface is quite familiar if you’ve used a Vivo or iQOO device before, and you should feel right at home. It runs smoothly and offers a fair number of useful features.

My only gripe here is the number of preloaded apps. However, many of them can prove to be useful and in case you don’t need them, they can be easily uninstalled too. Worth mentioning that this isn’t unique to the iQOO Z10 Lite and is a common trait among budget phones.

Charge it overnight and forget it

The iQOO Z10 Lite packs a massive 6,000mAh battery, and during my experience, it comfortably lasted over a day and a half with moderate usage. The PCMark battery benchmark also exhibits a strong result. In our lab tests, it registered a total battery drop of about 25 percent for 2 hours of heavy use. This is slightly better than the segment average of 28 percent.

There’s a caveat however, the phone only supports 15W charging, and a full charge from 20 to 100 percent took just under 2 hours. That is quite slow, and you’re in for a bit of a wait when you want to juice up the phone fully. Once again, this is a common trait among budget devices, but one I’m hoping is addressed this year.

Final Verdict

The iQOO Z10 Lite 5G starts at Rs 9,999 for the 4GB + 128GB variant, making it the most affordable phone in the brand’s Z10 lineup. At this price, it competes with entry-level phones like the Infinix Hot 50 (review) and Redmi 14C (review).

The Infinix Hot 50 has an edge in the camera department in comparison, but it falls short on battery life. The Redmi 14C offers similar performance, longer software support, and comparable cameras but again, doesn’t match up on battery.

Overall, the iQOO Z10 Lite is a solid budget device with excellent battery life, decent everyday performance, good software support, and reliable build quality. It does cut corners on charging speed and camera performance, but that’s expected at this price. If you’re looking for a dependable daily driver under Rs 10,000, the Z10 Lite is worth checking out.

Editor’s rating: 7.6 / 10

Reasons to buy:

• The design feels sturdy with an IP64 rating and military-grade durability that’s rare in this price segment.
• The device offers excellent battery life, easily lasting over a day and a half with moderate use.
• The phone offers satisfactory day-to-day performance.
• The phone ships with Android 15 and promises two major OS updates along with three years of security patches.

Reasons not to buy:

• The phone takes about two hours to fully charge the large battery.
• The 90Hz LCD panel can feel choppy at times.