iQOO Pad 5C launches in China with Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and a 144Hz display — but don't expect to buy one
iQOO launched the Pad 5C in China on July 1, 2026, slotting it into the company's Pad 5 lineup with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip, a 12.1-inch 2.8K LCD running at 144Hz, and a 10,000mAh battery with 44W wired charging. Starting at the equivalent of around $400, it lands in a competitive price band — but no global availability has been announced, per Gizmochina. For US and UK buyers, that means it simply isn't on sale.
The rebrand underneath
The Pad 5C is, in substance, the iQOO Pad 5e — itself a rebranded vivo Pad 5e from 2025. The main change between old and new is the processor: MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ swapped out for Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. Everything else is largely identical, from the 6.62mm slim chassis to the four-speaker setup and the graphite cooling system. RAM is LPDDR5X across all configurations; the base 128GB model uses UFS 3.1 storage, while the 256GB variants step up to the faster UFS 4.1.
Software is OriginOS 6, iQOO's Android skin, which bundles AI productivity tools including a PC-level WPS office suite and an AI-assisted presentation builder. Face recognition, wireless printing, and gaming features like super resolution round out the package. The tablet comes in Silver Wing and Grey Crystal finishes.
iQOO Pad 5C in Silver Wing — one of two available colors at launch.
No path to Western shelves
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 sits in a useful middle ground — above entry-level, below full-flagship territory where Snapdragon 8 Elite devices run $600 and up. At $400 for the 8GB/128GB version, $440 for 8GB/256GB, and $515 for 12GB/256GB, the Pad 5C would be a genuine rival to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE or the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro in the US and UK.
The Pad 5C ships in China from July 2026; no Western release has been confirmed.
The catch: iQOO has no authorized US or UK retailers, no local service centers, and no carrier certifications for Western markets. Gray-market imports are technically possible, but they void any warranty and may face network compatibility issues. The rebranding pattern — Pad 5C is the third name for what is fundamentally the same hardware — also raises questions about how long software support will continue. Until iQOO signals a global rollout, this one stays firmly out of reach.