We were not given too many details of the device itself, which was evidently in the pocket of Gagan Arora, Director – Marketing, iQOO – during a briefing about the brand. However, we were told that it would be the first in the country to come with the Snapdragon 865 chip, 5G connectivity (yes, there is no 5G connectivity in the country but Arora says the feature makes the phone future proof, even as the brand talks to operators), and with best in class battery technology. He also added that the phone would contain a feature that would delight gamers in the country. Interestingly, this phone’s launch will be its global launch (it has not been launched in any other country as of yet). What’s more, we have been told that it will not just be crafted for Indian users, but will also be manufactured in India, using a shared manufacturing facility at NOIDA near Delhi (iQOO incidentally will be based out of Bengaluru). The phone will be released in February and at the time of writing, it seems as if it will initially available online, although the brand says that it has its intentions of being available across all channels in India. We had no other details, other than claims that it would be top of the line in terms of performance. Oh, it would have more than two cameras, but even there, it was not clarified whether these would be in front or on the back! One thing that was, however, clear was that this phone is unlikely to be a budget flagship. “It is an experience-first device,” Arora told us. “A premium experience comes at a price.” That’s all we know for now. Stay tuned for more as and when we find out about iQOO’s debut in India.
