Hi fellow iQOO Questers,

On Sunday, 14 January 2024, iQOO chose the people of the east Indian city of Kolkata to be the lucky ones to have experienced its upcoming smartphone, the iQOO Neo 9 Pro, first-hand, at its exclusive Sneak Peek session hosted at the Westin Kolkata hotel, Rajarhat. In fact, the iQOO Questers at Kolkata became the first set of people who got to experience this much-anticipated device on their palms among anyone!

The excitement around the city was building up as soon as iQOO announced on this iQOO Official Community forum post regarding the Sneak Peek session for iQOO Neo 9 Pro devices happening at Kolkata on 14 January, therefore at Vijayawada on 21st, Pune on 28th and the final Sneak Peek session at Kochi on 4th February. As I reached the 5-star hotel that was the venue for the event around 10 am, the charming winter morning atmosphere turned into a buzzing one with the presence of about 100 tech enthusiasts from all around the state of West Bengal. Some of the attendees travelled from distant towns like Singur, Hooghly or Siuri, Birbhum to be part of this special event. We had one guy flying all the way from Delhi to attend! A large part of the attendees were young students studying in schools and colleges, that made the event more colorful with such vibrant enthusiasm from all corners of the hall where the show took place.

The attendees started off the day with some veg sandwiches and non-veg starters along with hot tea or coffee, while the registration process was being held smoothly to provide the hall passes, along with some exciting rewards for all attendees.

Once we went inside, the session began as @parakram_h, the iQOO Senior Marketing Manager donned the microphone to welcome the large audience to this special event, discussing about the agenda, the iQOO Community programs and introduced the top iQOO Questers from 2023, among which 3 Questers were from Kolkata itself, such as @KrishnaQ. With his unique style of hosting, Parakram made the attendees involved into the event with unaverted attention in a very short time. This followed the introduction session of attendees, where each one of us talked in brief about ourselves, what we do, what we love to do, our passions and the smartphones we use in our daily lives. This bit was really interactive, and some of the attendees also showcased their talents on stage, like an attendee performed beatboxing live amidst cheers from the audience.

Following the introduction session, it was finally time for the showstopper to arrive! @ShankarSingh, the iQOO Deputy General Manager (Product) unveiled the iQOO Neo 9 Pro device, and explained all the features and specifications of the device that this beast is gonna bring, once it is launched on some secret date in the mid-February.

Look out at this space for the highlights of the device that will be revealed after January 26.

We were provided with one of the Conqueror Black variant of the device, on which hands-on was performed by the attendees. The leather design and the camera output happened to be my personal favourite on the first glance. Take a look at the much-awaited iQOO Neo 9 Pro device from its first public appearance:-

It was therefore time for some lucky draw as about 15 attendees got rewarded with hefty gift vouchers. There was a contest for the best social media content from the event, that was won by yours truly! 🥳

The crowd broke therefore for the lunch served by Westin Kolkata. The menu was filled with local Bengali delicacies such as Sorshe Mach (Fish in Mustard Curry), Chicken Dakbungalow, Aloo-Kopi (a tasty veg dish involving potato and seasonal cauliflower), Notun Gurer Rosogolla alongside Jeera Rice, Jhal Frezi Vegetables, Paneer Curry, Salad, Dahi, Raita, Pickles, Papad, assorted breads, fruit custard,Tiramisu and hot chocolate mud pudding.

After lunch, it was time to have a battle between the gamers present at the event, as 3 rounds of duo-mode faceoff was played on BGMI, as the whole battle was showcased on the large screen live! Some of the attendees came prepared with their gears for this battle, and with their energy, craze and skills on the game, the session turned equally competitive and enjoyable for all the people present at the venue.

The gaming session was divided with a snacks break with some delightful chicken kababs and hot samosa alongside tea/coffee that helped the gamers recharge their fire. The non-gamers used this opportunity to indulge into photoshoots and networking among themselves at the beautiful front lawn of the venue.

At the end of the gaming session, it was time to find out the best 3 duo BGMI teams with most kills and best rankings attained from the three rounds, who were gifted with some exciting rewards. With that, the grand event was concluded as the attendees approached the hosts and the organizers for some selfies and discussions on the upcoming iQOO devices, community events planned and future contests on the forum. The event turned out to be so amazing than no one really wanted to leave the venue!

Here's the group photograph of all the attendees at the iQOO Neo 9 Pro Sneak Peek Kolkata event:-

Kudos to team iQOO for gifting us such an elegant joyride with the exclusive opportunity to explore the iQOO Neo 9 Pro device, before any city in the country. I am sure that the following Sneak Peek events at Vijayawada, Pune and Kochi will be equally fantastic. Wishing all the best to the team ahead of the launch of this killer smartphone this February!

Have a look at the Official Recap Post here.