iQoo Z7 series Malaysia: Bang-for-buck midrange smartphones starting at RM999

iQoo, Vivo’s independent sub-brand, started off life in Malaysia with a bang when they debuted here with the iQoo 11—the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone in Malaysia. This time round though they’re taking a different approach with the iQoo Z7 and the iQoo Z7x, a pair of value-focused midrange smartphones that iQoo says was designed specifically with the Gen Z demographic in mind.

iQoo Z7 series Malaysia pricing and availability

Both the iQoo Z7 and the iQoo Z7x are now available for purchase from the Vivo official eStore as well as the iQoo Malaysia flagship store on Shopee and Lazada. Each will come in two variants, and here’s how much they cost:

• iQoo Z7x, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage – RM999
• iQoo Z7x, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage – RM1,099
• iQoo Z7, 8GB RAM, 128GB storage – RM1,299
• iQoo Z7, 12GB RAM, 256GB storage – RM1,499

If you’re keen on one of these phones though, you might want to act fast as from now till the 18th of April, iQoo is giving the 256GB versions of both phones a RM100 discount. At the same time, the iQoo Z7 with 128GB will get a RM50 discount on its Lazada page while the 128GB iQoo Z7X goes down to RM939 on Shopee. These early bird buyers also get free gifts worth up to RM498, which include a year of extended warranty and a year of screen crack protection.

Perhaps as part of their focus on the zoomer crowd, iQoo is also running a student promotion from now till 18 April. Eligible students can get the iQoo Z7 at RM1,199 and RM1,349 for the 128GB and 256GB models respectively, while the iQoo Z7x can also be had for RM919 and RM979 for the 128GB and 256GB models respectively. They’ll also be giving away your choice between a Marshall-branded key holder or an iQoo backpack during the student promo.

iQoo Z7 series specs

At first glance, both the iQoo Z7 and the iQoo Z7x look pretty similar. For starters, both devices come with a 6.64-inch, FHD+ LCD display with a 1500:1 contrast ratio and an up to 120Hz refresh rate. Both phones also come with a plastic back, though the Z7x is slightly thicker thanks to its larger 6,000mAh battery compared to the Z7’s 5,000mAh battery. The latter though does have faster 120W wired charging compared to the Z7x’s 80W fast charging.

Under the hood, the iQoo Z7 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 782G, a relatively new processor that is something like a souped up version of the ever popular Snapdragon 778G. This gets mated to up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The iQoo Z7x meanwhile comes with the Snapdragon 695 processor instead, with 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. Both come with Android 13 out of the box, running Funtouch OS 13.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two devices though is in the camera department. The iQoo Z7 gets a main 64MP, f/1.8 shooter with optical image stabilisation, while the Z7x will have to make do with a 50MP, f/1.8 main camera without OIS on board. Both phones also feature a secondary 2MP, f/2.4 depth sensor. Up front meanwhile the iQoo Z7 packs a 16MP, f/2.5 selfie shooter while the Z7x has an 8MP, f/2.0 front camera instead.

Elsewhere, the iQoo Z7 also has better wireless connectivity, with support for WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC and 5G while the Z7x has just WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and 5G support. Both comes with side-mounted fingerprint sensors too along with a 3.5mm audio jack. You can get either device in black or blue colourways.