iQOO 13: The Performance Light of the Gaming Flagship

iQOO 13: The Performance Light of the Gaming FlagshipOctober has arrived, and the competition in the smartphone market is heating up. Driven by the early release of flagship chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek, smartphone manufacturers are releasing their flagship products ahead of schedule

iQOO 13: The Performance Light of the Gaming Flagship

October has arrived, and the competition in the smartphone market is heating up. Driven by the early release of flagship chips from Qualcomm and MediaTek, smartphone manufacturers are releasing their flagship products ahead of schedule. The vivo X200 series, OPPO Find X8 series have been released recently, and flagship new products from brands like Xiaomi, Honor, and OnePlus will also be launched at the end of the month. There are already a dazzling array of flagship products available in the market, making it difficult for consumers to choose.

With such a wide variety of choices, many users may find themselves struggling to make a decision. Those who prefer a smaller screen can choose the vivo X200 Pro mini or Xiaomi 15; those who prioritize photography can choose the vivo X200 Pro or OPPO Find X8 Pro; and those who want a balanced experience can choose the realme GT7 Pro and OnePlus 13. However, there seems to be a lack of a flagship product that focuses on performance gaming experience.

iQOO has identified this market demand and launched the latest flagship in its digital series, the iQOO 13, on October 30th. This product aims to be the "performance light" in the flagship price segment, as well as a pure gaming flagship. It pushes the boundaries of gaming technology, offering an unparalleled user experience for those who crave cutting-edge technology and are passionate about gaming.

Dual Flagship Cores for Powerful Performance

As a device dedicated to gaming and gaming experience, the iQOO 13's performance is naturally the most important consideration. It is one of the first to be equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip, which adopts the first "2+6" self-developed full-large-core CPU architecture. It includes two super-large cores with a frequency of up to 4.32GHz and six large cores with a frequency of up to 3.53GHz. Compared to the previous generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with a peak frequency of 3.3GHz, the performance improvement is significant.

The biggest upgrade in this processor comes from Qualcomm's self-developed Oryon core, which delivers impressive high frequency, high performance, and low power consumption. Compared to the ARM architecture used previously, Oryon has greater advantages in terms of autonomy and subsequent optimization.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is built on TSMC's N3E process. Compared to the commonly used TSMC N5 process, N3E reduces power consumption by 34% at the same performance level. At the same power consumption level, N3E improves performance by 18%, and increases the logic transistor density by 60%, reaching an unprecedented 29.1 billion.

In addition to the comprehensive CPU innovation, the GPU is also stacked with features. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy uses the latest Adreno 8 series GPU, with a frequency of up to 1100MHz, improving energy efficiency by 25%. It also features Adreno Graphics Motion Engine 2.0 and Ray Tracing 2.0 technology, delivering better image quality and a smoother gaming experience.

In terms of performance, the iQOO 13 easily surpasses 3 million points in AnTuTu benchmark, not only 600,000 points higher than its predecessor, but also surpassing all other Android flagship phones on the market, placing it at the top of the industry in terms of comprehensive performance.

In CPU performance testing, Geekbench 6 achieved a single-core score of 3044 and a multi-core score of 9539. Compared to the previous generation, single-core performance improved by approximately % and multi-core performance improved by approximately %. This is attributed to the significant improvement in single-core performance brought by Qualcomm's self-developed Oryon core, and the multi-core score also ranks among the top tier.

In GPU performance testing, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy achieved a score of 339FPS in the GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 1080P off-screen test, a 10% improvement over the previous generation. In the Aztec 1440P Vulkan test, it achieved 128FPS, a 20-30% improvement over the previous generation.

In the general testing of modern graphics APIs, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy achieved a score of 2541 in the 3DMark SteelnormadLight test, a 26% improvement over the previous generation iQOO 12.

The new Ray Tracing 2.0 technology can simulate real-world lighting effects through real-time rendering, more realistically reproducing the reflection, refraction, and shadowing of light. In the 3DMark SolarBay test, the iQOO 13 achieved a score of 11858.

Gaming Experience: Absolutely Incredible

Besides benchmark tests, we also ran multiple games to experience the actual performance.

In the "Genshin Impact" test, running with original graphics + high quality, 60 frames for 20 minutes, including running through Sumeru and boss routes, the average frame rate reached 61.24FPS, ensuring stable game running. The CPU super-large core frequency is kept at around 1GHz, and power consumption is controlled at around 4.3W.

It is worth mentioning that iQOO has adopted a "dual-chip" strategy. In addition to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, iQOO 13 also features a self-developed esports chip Q2, which is the only one of its kind in the industry. Combined with its superior self-developed algorithms, it can achieve industry-leading super-resolution + super-frame effects.

After enabling game super-resolution, the game images become visibly sharper, and the jagged edges around the scene and object models are significantly reduced. With game frame insertion enabled, you can clearly see that an interpolated frame calculated by the machine is inserted between every two frames of the game during continuous movements. However, when walking or rotating the camera, you can find that the surroundings of the characters are a little blurry, which is a limitation of frame interpolation technology that relies solely on image capture.

Running "Honkai: Star Rail" at high quality, 60 frames for 20 minutes, including running through the Stargazer Sea Station, the average frame rate reached 59.79FPS, with almost no frame drops. Power consumption is only around 4.8W, and the body temperature is well-controlled.

In the "Tower of Fantasy" test, running at high quality, 60 frames for 20 minutes, the maximum temperature reached 41.7C, and the average frame rate reached 60.63FPS with a power consumption of 5.3W.

"PUBG Mobile" can run at full frame rate with default graphics. After enabling game super-resolution and frame insertion, the game can run in 2K+144FPS mode. Real-world tests showed that after 20 minutes of gameplay, the iQOO 13 can ensure perfect super-resolution + frame insertion running throughout the whole game, guaranteeing a high-frame rate gaming experience with almost pixel-perfect game images, and even the overall heat generation is lower than with original graphics.

Overall, the iQOO 13 may be the current leader in mobile gaming experience.

Still Comprehensive, Truly Flagship

iQOO is always keen on exploring new possibilities. The iQOO 13 retains the familiar oval-shaped camera Deco module located in the upper left corner of the back of the device, unlike the mainstream central placement, offering a clear advantage in terms of grip comfort.

The newly upgraded "Energy Light Ring" brings a unique flavor of esports elements, with up to 72 light effects. These effects can not only light up with corresponding effects at important moments like startup, ultimate ability, and victory, but users can also edit and combine the light effects according to their preferences, creating their own personalized light effects.

In terms of color options, iQOO offers four choices: Racing Edition, Legend Edition, Nardo Gray, and Manx.

The front screen of the iQOO 13 adopts a newly customized straight screen, with BOE's Q10 light-emitting device. It boasts an industry-leading 2K resolution and 144Hz refresh rate, supporting 8T-LTPO, a global peak brightness of 1800nit, and upgrades to circularly polarized light eye protection technology, AR anti-reflection layer technology, and a more flexible dimming mode.

The iQOO 13 still features ultrasonic fingerprint recognition, a major highlight.

In terms of imaging, the iQOO 13 does not offer too many surprises, featuring a triple camera module consisting of a 50MP IMX9211/1.56" main camera + 50MP IMX8161/2.93" 2x telephoto camera + 50MP JN1 ultra-wide-angle camera. The performance is decent.

Thanks to the same software algorithms used in the vivo X series, the iQOO 13 delivers impressive daytime shooting results.