Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Which One to Choose Under Rs 25,000?

While the Edge 50 Neo is available via Flipkart, Motorola.in and other retail outlets, the Z9s Pro can be bought from via Amazon and iQOO.com.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Design & Build

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo keeps the Edge family design cues intact but impresses with its gorgeous vegan leather finishes available in various Pantone colours. It’s not the thinnest phone in the segment but it is one of the best-built phones in the segment, with an IP68 rating for superior dust and water resistance.

The iQOO Z9s Pro, on the other hand, takes a lot of inspiration from its big brother the iQOO 12, with its big squircle camera array. Measuring 7.49 mm, it is one of the slimmest phones in the segment, and it is also splash-proof, with its IP64 rating. It is certainly a looker; it feels premium with its elegant curves and slim design.

Looks are subjective; both phones look great. But, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo has an upper hand with its better IP68 rating.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Display

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo has a vibrant and contrasty flat pOLED display that’s higher resolution and can get substantially bright. It claims to go up to 2800 nits in peak brightness; it went up to 1979 nits in our testing.

The iQOO Z9s Pro also has a stunning display, but it is curved and much bigger than the Edge 50 Neo, measuring 6.77 inches. It’s rated to go up to 4500 nits in peak brightness; we found it reaches 1831 nits in our testing.

Both phones have impressive displays but the Motorola Edge 50 Neo’s panel impresses more with its higher 1.5K resolution and brightness. The iQOO Z9s Pro’s display is much bigger and curved; if you’re into bigger phones and curved displays, you could choose it instead.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Performance

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo performs well in everyday tasks like calls, messages, social media apps, and more but falls behind in heavy gaming. In our COD Mobile gaming tests, the phone couldn’t keep steady frame rates in High quality and Max frame rates; it hit 60 fps occasionally but dropped to 43 fps with lags and stutters in gameplay. The frame rates dropped even in Low quality with Max frame rates mode, and we had to turn it down to Low quality and Max frame rates to get a steady 60 fps and the best gameplay. Also, we found that the phone kept getting warm while playing just a single session.

As for the iQOO Z9s Pro, we could see that the phone performed well in our gaming tests and the higher benchmark scores translated well into real-world performance. We played COD Mobile and the phone was able to play it at High quality and Max frame rate settings and the phone was able to hit 60 fps with occasional dips to 52 fps. In Low quality and Ultra frame rates settings, the game hit 90 fps, with occasional dips to 87 fps. We did not find any heating issues with heavy gaming on the phone.

As for the benchmark scores, the Edge 50 Neo was a little behind the iQOO Z9s Pro. You can check out the comparison below:

The iQOO Z9s Pro is the clear winner on the performance front, with higher scores in benchmarks and better gaming performance.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Cameras

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo stands out with its set of triple cameras. In our testing, we found that the 50MP primary camera takes bright, colourful, and sharp images in daylight, and it also exceeded our expectations in low-light conditions. We also found that the 13MP ultrawide also does a good job of capturing sharp images, but the 10MP 3x telephoto lens can look a bit over-processed at times. We also found the selfie shooter to be impressive, especially with its skin tones and edge detection.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo Daylight Samples

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We tested the cameras of the iQOO Z9s Pro and found that it comes with impressive camera chops. The primary camera takes sharp and crisp images with great dynamic range, colours, and white balance in daylight. But the camera quality dips when the light goes out. The secondary 8MP ultrawide lens is also decent with great details and colour accuracy. The selfie camera, by default, comes with a filter turned on, which can produce unnatural skin tones; turning it off reveals that the phone can take very natural images with accurate skin tones.

iQOO Z9s Pro Camera Samples

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The Motorola Edge 50 Neo and the iQOO Z9s Pro offer strong camera performance in daylight, but the iQOO Z9s Pro falters slightly under challenging lighting scenarios. The Motorola Edge 50 Neo offers a 3X telephoto lens, which the Z9s Pro lacks. Overall, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo is the better option.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Software

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo runs HelloUI, a clean and bloatware-free skin with close-to-stock aesthetics. Motorola promises to keep the phone updated to Android 19 with 5 years of Android version updates and 5 years of security patches.

The iQOO Z9s Pro runs FunTouch OS 14 based on Android 14, and it is a feature-heavy skin. It also has bloatware, including the likes of Hot Apps and Hot Games. iQOO offers two years of Android version updates, i.e., up to Android 16, and three years of security patches for the phone.

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo trumps the iQOO Z9s Pro on the software front with its clean, bloat-free UI and five years of Android version updates.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Battery & Charging

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo has a 4,310 mAh battery, coming with an in-box 68W charger. The phone took 45 minutes for a full charge from 0%. There’s also support for 15W wireless charging.

The iQOO Z9s Pro is backed up by a 5,500 mAh battery, which gets charged with its 80W fast charger in the box. In our testing, the phone took 48 minutes to go from 0% to 100% charge.

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo can be charged wirelessly, something the iQOO Z9s Pro can’t do. But still, with a much bigger battery and faster charging speeds, the iQOO Z9s Pro wins this round.

Motorola Edge 50 Neo vs iQOO Z9s Pro: Verdict

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo and the iQOO Z9s Pro are great choices under Rs 25,000. There’s no two ways about it; both phones are tailored to different customers.

• Choose the Motorola Edge 50 Neo if you want a handy phone with a great set of cameras and a bloat-free software experience.
• Choose the iQOO Z9s Pro if you want a performance-oriented phone with a big display and battery.