iQOO 9 Rumoured To Launch in February With Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and 120W Charging

Last Updated on December 6, 2021 by Anu Joy

If you have been waiting for the iQOO 8 smartphone series, you might want to reconsider because rumour has it that the Vivo subsidiary plans to shelve the entire iteration in favour of its successor iQOO 9.

“Industry sources” privy to 91mobiles claim that the Chinese smartphone brand won’t launch iQOO 8 phones this year and instead focus on getting the iQOO 9 series to Indian shores next year. The launch window is purported to be sometime between late January and early February of 2022.

The rumoured line-up is expected to consist of a plain-vanilla iQOO 9, in addition to the usual Pro and Legend models sporting improved specifications. One of the upcoming iQOO 9 phones is also rumoured to be equipped with an imposing 120W fast charging capability.

It would be fascinating to see the battery top-up times and the impact on long-term battery durability given the magnitude of charging currents involved.

Moving on from rumours, iQOO has recently confirmed that it will be incorporating the newly announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC in an upcoming flagship product. This will likely come in the form of the iQOO 9 range, if the aforementioned rumours have any credence.

Although the brand hasn’t officially mentioned the iQOO 9, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise the fact that the upcoming phone will pack in improvements across the board over the specifications promised for the iQOO 8 India launch that might never happen. That means, the phone will incorporate Android 12, AMOLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, bigger camera sensors, and a potentially larger battery—all in a descending order of probability.

These specifications aren’t remotely far-fetched because the iQOO 8 itself was outfitted with all the aforementioned display specs, and it would be downright improbable for a phone to launch without Android 12 in 2022.

Coming back to speculative reality, the inordinately delayed launch of the iQOO 8 phones can be attributed to chip shortages that have hit virtually every consumer durable industry across the board. And such delays are something that’s absolutely inexcusable in the fast-paced world of smartphones.

There’s definitely some merit to the rumours suggesting that the brand might skip the delayed iteration for the iQOO 9 next year.