Another Snapdragon 8 Elite phone has landed in Malaysia, and this time it’s the iQOO 13. While not being the first to join the market like its predecessor, this beast isn’t here to just be another flagship; it’s here to dominate. Dubbed “Monster Inside”, the iQOO 13 is crafted with the aim to push boundaries in performance, gaming, and everyday usability.
And it isn’t just about being powerful on paper. The iQOO 13 is built for those who want more — more speed, more features, and more excitement. From its cutting-edge hardware to eye-catching design, the iQOO 13 promises to deliver the ultimate experience for every type of user. After trying it out, I can confidently say the iQOO 13 delivers a robust and immersive experience, especially for gamers. Now, let’s explore what makes the iQOO 13 stand out as the true flagship contender.
Appearance: A Racing-Inspired Masterpiece
Taking inspiration from high-performance racing, the iQOO 13’s design is sleek, bold, and packed with details that stand out. The Legend variant we tested, embodies the BMW M Motorsport DNA, and brings a touch of adrenaline with the iconic tricolor stripes each with their own symbols — red for passion, black for innovation, and blue for adventure. Sitting neatly below the camera module, these stripes create a visually balanced look to match its concise design. The iQOO logo is subtly etched, further enhancing its minimalist yet refined aesthetic.
When I first held the iQOO 13, I was quite amazed by how sturdy and lightweight it felt. The matte white glass back is smooth to the touch, almost like holding a finely polished artpiece. With a dimension of 163.37mm x 76.71mm x 8.13mm and weighing 213g, it has just the right heft — enough to feel substantial but not overly bulky. Compared to some of the chunkier flagships I’ve used, the iQOO 13 felt sleek and comfortable, even during longer sessions of scrolling or gaming.
What really impressed me were the smooth transitions between the frame and the back cover. It’s a small detail, it makes the phone feel much more seamless compared to its predecessor and the ergonomic build is definitely a joy to hold. It’s clear the iQOO 13 is designed with both aesthetics and user experience in mind.
Monster Halo: Lighting Up the Moments
The Monster Halo around the iQOO 13’s camera module is a feature that adds flair to functionality. Inspired by the luminous grilles and headlights of high-performance racing cars, this dynamic lighting effect adds an extra layer of personality to the phone. It creates an engaging and interactive experience with customizable light patterns for routine activities like calls, notifications, charging etc. I’m particularly attracted by the way it syncs and reacts to in-game moments like first blood, godlike streaks, multi-kills and victory makes it feel like an extension of the action happening on-screen.
I’ll admit, at first, I thought the lighting was just another flashy gimmick, but once I saw it in action, I changed my mind. It’s not just for you — it’s for the people around you as well. The glowing effects, especially during intense matches, gave off serious esports vibes, almost like the RGB lighting on a gaming PC setup. It added a tinge of that “gamer feel” that made the whole experience more immersive, even for someone like me who doesn’t always pay attention to aesthetics mid-game.
The Monster Halo is also highly customizable with 6 different visual effects and 12 colour options, totalling up to 72 lighting options where you can tweak it to suit your style. The soft gradient glow around the rear camera module feels alive and dynamic, adding a unique touch that’s impossible to ignore whether you’re at a LAN party or just gaming with friends.
Performance: Dual-Chip Powerhouse
Although the iQOO 13 isn’t the first Snapdragon 8 Elite phone to land in Malaysia, it’s clearly determined to be the best. Packed with Qualcomm’s flagship 3nm processor, this monster features an 8-all-big-core CPU that clocks up to a jaw-dropping 4.32GHz, delivering lightning-fast speeds and seamless multitasking. The Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0 further improves image quality and reduces latency, particularly during gaming. iQOO further steps up the game by complementing it with their self-developed Q2 gaming chip to unleash the full potential of this Qualcomm flagship processor. The Q2 chip takes gaming graphics to a whole new level, enabling 2K super resolution and ultra-smooth 144 FPS visuals in games, and I kid you not, the quality is even comparable to PC-grade graphics. The combined efficiency of these chips ensures a phone that is not just fast but also reliable, even under the most intensive gaming sessions, while maintaining minimal power consumption.
iQOO is also very generous with their RAM and ROM configuration, giving options up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The large RAM ensures apps stay open longer in the background, and heavier users can even turn on the option to dynamically extend it by another 16GB. The spacious storage means you won’t have to constantly clear out space for your media and games, considering the size of popular games like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Honor of Kings, etc. All these are more than just numbers on paper. In reality, this configuration allows the iQOO 13 to keep up with the most demanding users, whether you’re gaming, multitasking, or running intensive apps.
Gaming Features: Gaming At Its Finest
The iQOO 13 is the dream for mobile gamers. I’ve always felt that mobile gaming lacked that “wow” factor when compared to PC or console, especially when it comes to multi-platform games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. The iQOO 13 brings mobile gaming into a whole new world, thanks to the 2K super resolution and 144 FPS capabilities. While natively the graphics quality and frame rates are limited with the game itself, the gaming features on the iQOO 13 allows for breaking through to achieve even better performance.
The Game Super Resolution feature supports more than 20 games, enhancing the original quality of the games with ultra-clear visuals. For PUBG and Genshin Impact, it even supports up to 2K super resolution, literally matching those of PC-level quality. Running in the world of Teyvat on ultra settings with crisp textures and smooth frame rates felt like I was playing Genshin Impact on a gaming PC — only this time, it was right in the palm of my hand.
For most games whose native FPS are capped at 60 or 90FPS, good news is that the iQOO 13 has this Game Frame Interpolation to help break through this limit. The iQOO 13 can push those supported games to run smoothly as high as 144FPS. It’s one of those upgrades you don’t realize you need until you experience it, especially in fast-paced games like PUBG: Mobile. Everything feels snappier, from quick camera turns to fast-paced gun fights, making the gameplay so much more immersive.
During my gameplay tests, everything is just smooth like butter. The touch is just super responsive, making every action right on point. Throughout the whole session, the games are consistently running stably at their best settings without any noticeable lag.
I’m also pretty impressed by how the iQOO 13 is able to keep its cool throughout such a long gaming session. This is mainly contributed by the newly upgraded 7K Ultra VC Cooling system, iQOO’s largest vapour chamber to date. It literally just covers the whole phone, allowing for a more even heat dissipation to achieve balanced cooling, perfect for your heavy gaming sessions and multi-tasking scenario. Besides, the bypass charging option is also a very QoL feature, as the ability to bypass the battery and draw power directly from the adapter not only reduce heat generation, but also helps to extend the battery life.
Display: Ultra-Eyecare 2K 144Hz Brilliance
With a 6.82-inch 2K screen and a 144Hz refresh rate, the iQOO 13’s display delivers stunning visuals that are vibrant, crisp, and incredibly smooth. Using this display for gaming is just a whole new experience. The 144Hz refresh rate made every swipe, tap, and animation feel incredibly responsive, while the 2K resolution made everything felt more lifelike with popping colours.
The Q10 light-emitting material enhances brightness, color accuracy, and motion clarity, reducing motion blur by 15% for a more fluid viewing experience.With a HBM brightness of 1800 nits and advanced ambient light recognition, the display adapts effortlessly to different lighting conditions. Even under the blazing sunlight, the screen remains perfectly clear and I didn't have to squint or struggle to see the content, making it a plus for outdoor use.
The iQOO 13’s display also incorporates advanced circularly polarized light technology. This complex eye-protection layer mimics natural light to make visuals appear more lifelike while reducing glare and reflection, offering a more comfortable viewing experience. With the TÜV Rheinland Full Care Display Certification and TÜV Rheinland Circular Polarization Certification, it does make a noticeable difference during long gaming sessions. I could easily game for hours without experiencing the usual eye strain I get with other devices. Whether gaming, streaming, or browsing, the iQOO 13 does set a new benchmark for flagship displays.
Battery: Power For The Action
With a massive 6150mAh capacity, the iQOO 13 packs a battery that can easily power through my day even with heavy usage like gaming, streaming and social media browsing. Actual battery test shows a consumption of 23% for an hour plus of Honor of Kings which is pretty impressive given I'm pushing the limits by running the game at Max FPS, Ultimate Graphics, MONSTER mode, Game Super Resolution and Game light effects on.
Thanks to the third-generation silicon-carbon anode technology, the iQOO 13 is able to maintain a slim profile despite the large battery. I honestly didn’t expect such a sleek phone to pack this much power, but it manages to strike a perfect balance.
When it comes to charging, the 120W FlashCharge technology is just as good as it gets. A short 5-minute charge brings the battery back to 24% and another 10 minutes to 51%. It took just 32 minutes to go from near empty to 100% fully charged. This is definitely perfect for those moments when you’re having some rush hours and still need enough juice to last through the day.
Camera: A Flagship Photography Experience
The iQOO 13 features a triple-camera setup, consisting of a 50MP main lens, a 50MP ultra-wide lens and a 50MP telephoto lens, all powered by the same vivo’s flagship imaging technology.
The 50MP IMX921 main sensor captures stunningly detailed shots in both daylight and low light, while maintaining rich and accurate but not overly saturated colours. The 50MP ultra-wide lens is a huge plus as there is no more need to sacrifice quality just for the bigger picture. The 50MP telephoto lens also delivers crisp zoomed-in shots, making distant subjects look closer and clearer as if they were right in front of you.
The Portrait Mode deserves its own shoutout. The background blur is smooth and natural, making the subject stand out beautifully. You can see how the details are perfectly captured even at a closer zoom level, and the colours had a nice warmth that felt true to life.
Verdict: Monster Inside, Excellence Outside
The iQOO 13 isn’t just another smartphone; it’s a monster device that excels in every category. From the racing-inspired design that turns heads to its cutting-edge performance and immersive gaming features, this phone pushes the boundaries of what a flagship can do.
Whether you’re a hardcore gamer, a content creator, or simply someone who wants a powerful, stylish device, the iQOO 13 has something for everyone. Its blend of power, reliability, and premium aesthetics makes it stand out as one of the most well-rounded flagships on the market.
The iQOO 13 packs all of this innovation at a competitive price of RM3,699 for the 16GB+512GB model and RM3,499 for the online-exclusive 12GB+256GB model. For the features and experience it delivers, the iQOO 13 offers incredible value for money, making it a no-brainer for anyone looking to upgrade their smartphone experience.
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