Vivo confirms iQOO Neo budget gaming smartphone with Snapdragon 845 SoC

The one driving force behind gaming smartphones is their no-compromise approach to performance. Smartphone makers have always opted to use the latest chipsets on their gaming handsets to ensure their devices offer flagship performance.

Vivo was particularly successful in the gaming smartphone arena with its iQOO handset selling over a million units since its release earlier in March. And, while the first smartphone Vivo launched under the iQOO branding packed 2019-worthy flagship grade hardware and offered more-than-decent value for money, it lacked a pocket-friendly price tag.

Vivo seems poised to address that issue with a second iQOO smartphone with a previous generation flagship Snapdragon 845 SoC. The Chinese smartphone maker recently confirmed the iQOO Neo, uploading a poster of the device on Chinese social media website Weibo.

The iQOO Neo recently showed up on TENAA, revealing several specs including the previously confirmed Snapdragon 845 SoC, a 6.38-inch OLED display and a 4420mAh capacity battery. The iQOO Neo will reportedly feature 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage with a CNY1,998 (Approx. Rs 21,000) price tag.

Qualcomm recently released a Snapdragon 730G SoC designed explicitly for gaming. However, Vivo’s decision to go with the Snapdragon 845 SoC may be the best move for both company and consumers. The last-gen 845 SoC will likely cost less to integrated into a phone than the latest Snapdragon 730G SoC while matching or marginally surpassing the 730G in performance.

The flagship iQOO smartphone features a Snapdragon 855 SoC, up to 12GB of RAM, an OLED display with 420 ppi and a 4,000 mAh battery, specs which will undoubtedly put it over the Rs 30,000 mark when it launches in India in July 2019. However, the iQOO Neo with a Snapdragon 845 SoC will likely fall in the under Rs 25,000 category, making it the first budget gaming smartphone in the market.