iQOO Z9s Pro first impressions

iQOO expanded the Z9 lineup in India today by launching two ‘s’ models – iQOO Z9s and iQOO Z9s Pro. We were invited to a media briefing in Baku, Azerbaijan last month, where we got to explore the Z9s Pro’s cameras. But now that the smartphone is officially unveiled, let’s see what it’s all about.

The iQOO Z9s Pro comes in a black-colored retail box with a protective case, a SIM ejector tool, a charging cable, and an 80W power adapter.

The iQOO Z9s Pro is built around a 6.77″ curved AMOLED display of 2,392×1,080-pixel resolution, having a 120Hz refresh rate and 4,500 nits local peak brightness. It comes with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG codecs, and has Widevine L1 support for 1080p video streaming on compatible apps.

The Z9s Pro’s screen is protected by Schott Xensation glass and supports Wet Touch technology. It can also display 1.07 billion colors and has a centered punch-hole for the 16MP selfie camera using Samsung’s S5K3P9SP04-FGX9 sensor.

The display also has a fingerprint scanner embedded, which worked well during our usage. However, it should have been placed slightly higher for ease of reach.

Around the back, we have a squircle-shaped camera island housing a circular flash and two working cameras – 50MP primary (Sony IMX882 with OIS) and 8MP ultrawide (OmniVision OV08D10-GA5A-001A, 120° FOV).

We received the Luxe Marble version, which, as evident from the name, has a marble-like pattern on its back cover. It’s made of plastic but has a glass-like feel.

The other model is Flamboyant Orange with a vegan leather back – a first for the Z series. At 190g, it’s 5g heavier than the Luxe Marble model but provides a better grip. Regardless, both versions have an IP64 rating.

Regarding ports and controls, the iQOO Z9s Pro has the power button and volume rocker on its right-side frame, and at the bottom is the USB-C. It’s flanked by the SIM card slot, primary microphone, and speaker grille. Up top is the secondary mic. The smartphone features stereo speakers but doesn’t sport a 3.5mm headphone jack. It does have Hi-Res Audio support for earphones, though.

iQOO Z9s Pro’s ports and controls

Under the hood, the iQOO Z9s Pro has the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. It runs Android 14-based Funtouch OS 14 out of the box. iQOO has promised two years of Android version upgrades and three years of Android security updates but hasn’t committed anything regarding the rollout frequency of the latter.

Fueling the entire package is a 5,500 mAh battery with 80W charging support. iQOO says the bundled 80W adapter can fill the cell up to 50% in 21 minutes.

The iQOO Z9s Pro has a base price of INR24,999 ($300/€270) and will be available in India starting August 23 through iQOO’s Indian website and Amazon.in.