Infinix Hot 10 Review

Introduction

After disappearing from the mainstream radar, Infinix is back and is trying to re-establish its position in the Philippine smartphone market.

We got a hold of one of their latest mid-range offerings, the Infinix Hot 10, which was just launched in the country this month, via Shopee. On paper, the device seems like a proper mid-range contender with its large 6.78-inch panel, Helio G70 SoC, triple cameras, and a 5,200mAh battery. The price? PhP6,990.

Design and Build Quality

While mostly plastic, the Infinix Hot 10 doesn’t feel flimsy in the hand, nor does it feel like a cheap knock-off of some sorts. Despite the large footprint, one-handed operation is still possible to an extent.

The phone rocks a distinct textured finish underneath a glossy layer for its back panel. This makes the phone look exquisite and premium, especially when hit by light from an angle.

Infinix has managed to make a camera module that’s as level as possible with the rest of the back panel, contrary to most other smartphones today.

Volume rocker and power button is on the right side, while the SIM/Micro SD card slot is on the left. At the bottom is a Micro USB port along with a microphone and speaker grille.

Remember when any display that’s above 5-inches was considered too big? fast-forward to today, and the tables have turned. In this case, it’s a 6.78-inch HD+ panel. Since there are less pixels packed into such an enormous space, you’ll probably notice that it isn’t as vivid, but text is still legibly sharp, and visibility under direct sunlight is also commendable.

Performance

Under the hood, the Infinix Hot 10 uses an Helio G70 SoC along with 4GB of RAM which is still okay but quite on-the-edge for a 2020 device, and an ample 128GB of storage.

While the phone (as expected) breezes through your typical day-to-day tasks, those who are planning to get this phone for gaming…. will feel ok I guess.

Mobile Legends runs at High + HD Mode On, with occasional FPS drops. Asphalt 9 runs well and noticeably better at default settings. Setting Genshin Impact to Low or Lowest settings will yield the most optimal results.

For those who like action-packed shooters, CoD Mobile will run at Medium + High settings at the most with fairly smooth gameplay.

Camera

The Infinix Hot 10 boasts a 16MP primary sensor, a 2MP depth sensor, a 2MP macro unit, and a QVGA camera. Now, I’m not sure about you, but an ultra-wide camera would’ve in place of say, the macro unit, would’ve made this a more flexible setup.

If you’re shooting mainly in decently-lit places, chances are you’re going to get crisp and detailed photos with good sharpness and texture. The camera is also able to apply a depth of field effect that’s mostly accurate and convincing.

If, however, you’re shooting in low-light, you’ll most likely get average results at best. Photos are slightly smudgy, and the amount of detail is significantly less than favorable.

The macro camera also produces less than likable results, which is expected from such a small sensor to a point that it becomes more of a gimmick than a feature.

Selfies aren’t anything to write home about. They’re a bit too grainy, but they’re detailed enough for your typical social media post.

It’s also important to note that I couldn’t find any way to turn off the AI for the camera, neither are there any options to cancel out its suggestions.

Software

The Infinix Hot 10 runs XOS 7 on top of Android 10. I’m happy that Infinix went for a more trendy, modern, and energetic feel to its own take on Android. As far as performance goes, it’s smooth and snappy in its transitions and animations.

As far as features go, it’s more of an “essentials plus a tiny bit more.” There’s no option for an always-on display, and no option to change the color temperature of the display. In any case, that might be asking for too much, for a phone at this price range.

You do get Game Mode, which lets you do a lot of things like setting how notifications are shown in-game, prevents a sudden return to the home screen by touching the navigation buttons, enables and disables a game assistant panel, and even gives you the option to show a health reminder every 2 hours.

There’s also Social Turbo, which seems to only work for WhatsApp. It basically enhances your experience with tools such as sticker maker, voice recorder, and more.

Smart Panel is a great tool that you can use to quickly take screenshots, record what’s on screen, and a lot more. You can even customize the task list that it will display.

You also get the complete suite of security options including fingerprint scanning and face unlock. Both of which, work fast and are quite accurate.

Battery

On PCMark’s Work 2.0 benchmark that simulates tasks such as video editing and also data manipulation, the Infinix Hot 10 scored an extremely impressive 22 hours of uptime.

While that looks awesome, the drawback is that it charges painfully slow. Using the in-box charger and cable, 3% to 100% took around 3 hours. Personally, I don’t find that a deal-breaker, but people who are always on-the-go might.

Verdict

Infinix Hot 10 is a mixed bag of things to like and things to improve. Its design is a breath of fresh air, it offers great performance as an everyday driver, and also decent performance in gaming, depending on what game you’ll play.

XOS also performs smooth and snappy and offers a number of nifty features. Topping it off is its insane battery life.

On the flip side, the camera’s great for day shoots, but anything less, and it falls apart. In addition, there seems to be no way to disable the camera’s AI, which can be a hassle, and the lack of a wide-angle lens severely cripples the flexibility of the device. The phone is also using a Micro USB port, which is kind of odd for a 2020 device.

Lastly, it’s the choice of SoC. While the G70 is still a decent chip, it shows its age when you compare it to some other devices that were recently launched, and it shows, especially in gaming performance.

So would I recommend the phone? well, that depends. If you want a large screen and a ton of uptime, then this is the device for you, but as far as overall value is concerned there are other choices that you may want to consider.

Emman Tortoza

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Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.