iPhone 16 vs iQOO 13 full comparison – design, performance, gaming test, AnTuTu score, Pro & Plus models. Find out which phone is better in 2025.
iPhone 16 vs iQOO 13 Comparison: Performance, Gaming & Camera
Introduction
I know everyone is lusting after that killer iPhone 16 deal this sales season, but why? Especially when you have awesome Android flagship alternatives for much lower price. By the way, take the iQOO 13 for example.
Firstly, it's been discounted down to around 50,000. And for that price, you get some killer specs. You get Snapdragon 8, you get 144 Hz LTPO AMOLED display. You get a 6,000 mAh silicon carbon battery. You got a proper triple camera setup, an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, and a whole lot more.
So, should you actually go for the iPhone 16 or pick something like the iQOO 13 instead? Well, stay tuned with me and I'll help you make that decision in our first sales season comparison.
iQOO 13 Vs iPhone 16 Design Comparison
Fundamentally, the iQOO 13 is a larger phone than the iPhone 16. So the device size preference will completely depend on you.
Both are built really well and both have like a glass and metal sandwich design along with a boxy design as well. But what I like about the iQOO 13 is that there are these slight curves on the rear. So it makes it easier to hold considering that it's a large phone, right?
With the iPhone, what you get is IP68 rating and ceramic shield protection. Whereas with the iQOO, you get a slightly better IP69 rating and short sensation alpha glass protection.
The iPhone 16's scratch resistance is not good, which is possibly the reason why Apple had to improve the scratch resistance by up to 3x with the iPhone 17. With the iQOO 13 Shot Sensation Alpha, we have not seen any such problems.
The iPhone does have a couple of extra buttons: the action button (kind of useful, can be repurposed) and the camera control button.
The iQOO 13 doesn’t have these, but it has other useful features like a faster USB Type-C 3.2 port, an infrared blaster, and RGB LED lights around the camera module that work as a notification light.
👉 Don’t miss our full breakdown of Vivo X200 FE vs iPhone 16 to see how it stacks up against Apple’s latest
iQOO 13 Vs iPhone 16 Display Comparison
And even when you look at the display of both these phones, the iQOO 13 has superior specs for sure. because what you get is a superior resolution. You get higher brightness both indoors and outdoors. Of course, you get 144 Hz refresh rate with LTPO technology over iPhone's 60 Hz, which is so old school now. And you get much, much better PWM dimming as well.
The good thing with the iPhone display is that the color accuracy is obviously going to be fantastic because Apple, cares about those things. So, if you're watching Netflix or YouTube, it's going to be great. Especially the HDR tuning is also going to be great. But that's also true for the iQOO display.
And you know that watching content is not just about the display experience. You also need good sound. And both these phones come with stereo speakers and both do sound really good. But iQOO has one proper advantage. Now if you're somebody like me who prefers listening to music with, LSDC or LDAC codecs, then the iQOO supports it. Apple does not.
iQOO 13 Vs iPhone 16 Performance and Gaming Comparison
Now performance of the iQOO 13 with the Snapdragon 8 LPDDR 5X ultra RAM type and UFS 4.1 storage is top tier obviously. And when you compare the Snapdragon 8 to the A18 Pro, all of 2025 Snapdragon 8 Elite has actually outperformed the A18 Pro in terms of raw performance.
Yes, the iPhone 16's A18 has a higher single core performance in Geekbench, but the multi-core performance is higher with uh the iQOO 13. Even the gaming performance, especially when you compare the 3D Mark numbers, is better on the iQOO 13 compared to the iPhone 16.
In fact, the iQOO 13 also has a supercomputing Q2 chip which is like an extra chip which allows you to do a bunch of different things.
For example: There's a super resolution mode which scales up the resolution dynamically. You also do get game frame interpolation which is damn cool. because you get extra frame rates and with bypass charging you can actually use the phone even when it's charging without the phone getting hot.
In fact, the iQOO 13 performed really well in our Genion Impact test 2.It has the highest graphics targeting 60 fps.
Of course, the iPhone 16's performance is also equally good. And the bigger advantage is that the iQOO 13 has a larger display and a flat display which makes it, perfect for gamers who are looking for a better gaming experience compared to the iPhone 16's 6.1inch display.
The gaming experience should be better on the iQOO 13 unless you want to play AAA titles like Death Stranding, which is currently available only on the iPhone.
There are a bunch of folks who've tested out PC emulation for the same games. For example, Dead Stranding or Resident Evil with Snapdragon 8 Elite phones, just like the iQOO 13. And they found out that Snapdragon 8 offers better performance at higher resolution than the iPhone 16 despite not having an official port.
Imagine if the official port did come to Android. The performance would be much better. And I don't even have to say this, you will get better battery life and faster charging speeds with the iQOO 13 compared to the iPhone 16.
👉 If you’re curious about Android rivals, check out iPhone 16 Pro vs Pixel 10 Pro for a closer battle.
iQOO 13 Vs iPhone 16 Camera Comparison
Now, if you compare the cameras, iPhone does capture better video recording than iQOO. And iPhone's primary camera also captures more details and better skin tones, especially with the primary camera and the selfie camera.
However, the one distinctive advantage with the iQOO camera is that you get a proper 2x optical zoom lens. And the iPhone doesn't have a telephoto camera. And with that 2x, you also can crop into 4x without, too much loss of details.
And the advantage of having that 2x camera plus the 4x lossless is that you get multiple focal lengths if you're shooting portrait shots. And in general, the portraits from the iQOO 13 actually do look pretty impressive. So does the iPhone 16.
But one area where I do prefer iQOO performance in terms of camera, you know, experience over the iPhone is definitely in the HDR during. Moreover, AI erase supports on both the phones. And that's where iQOO actually does a better job than iPhone.
In fact, iPhone's AI erase is not that great compared to most other Android flagships out there. So, if I have to break it down, keep it simple for you. iPhone for videos, iQOO for camera versatility.
iQOO 13 Vs iPhone 16 Software Comparison
if you've used an iPhone with iOS all your life, you're not going to like the FunTouch OS experience. And if you've used an Android phone all your life, then you're not going to like the iOS experience.
But if we have to compare the two in terms of which one feels more premium, I would say that iOS feels more premium compared to Fun Touch.
What we've generally noticed with FunTouch on not just the iQOO 13, but every other Vivo iQOO phone is mostly been a bug-free experience. The same cannot be said about iOS anymore.
Whether it's iOS 18 or the new iOS 26 beta, bugs are galore on the iPhone. Do iPhone users agree about this or not? Let me know in the comments
👉 Thinking about an alternative? Read our full OnePlus 13s Vs iPhone 16 comparison.
Conclusion
Now, truth be told, I know that it's very difficult to convince an iPhone fanboy or fan girl to buy an Android flagship. In fact, it's next to impossible.
But for anyone who has never purchased an iPhone and probably the iPhone 16 is going to be their first iPhone, why just, you know, picking up an Android flagship like the iQOO 13 instead? Because the amount of hardware that you get for the money is just leaks better than what the iPhone offers. At least the iPhone 16 offers.
And in fact, if you do want to buy an iPhone, I would suggest picking up the iPhone 17 instead because this year Apple has leveled up with the iPhone 17 by giving you promotion displays, right?
Now, the iQOO 13 on the other hand, still a very good recommendation and still an underrated phone.
So, what do you guys think of the iQOO 13 over the iPhone 16? Or do you still think that the iPhone 16 is a better buy? Let me know. I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments.
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