INFIINX NOTE 5 ANDROID UNFILTERED
You know Infinix as the
online-only brand of Transsion Holdings — a company that also sells others like
Tecno, Spice and iTel. Over the past year, Infinix has built up a portfolio of
devices, starting from the entrylevel Smart 2 going up to their flagship Zero 5
series. But this device — it’s something different — a refreshing change, even.
This is the first Infinix phone that’s part of Google’s Android One program.
You get the promise of a stock Android experience, zero bloatware and the
latest security updates direct from Google. There aren’t too many Android One
certified phones in India but we do need more of these. It’s also the first
smartphone under ₹10k with Android One.
Infinix wants to bring a premium look
and feel down to the sub ₹10k segment. The back looks like polished glass (but is actually
polished plastic) and you can get it in three colours: grey, black or blue.
There are also two storage variants: 3/32GB for ₹9,999 and
4/64GB for ₹11,999. The processor is a Helio P23 — a mid range chip that’s suited to
most tasks including a little bit of gaming. It would offer similar performance
to a Snapdragon 625.
If you’re not into the notch type
displays, you’ll like this ‘standard’ 18:9 display. It’s a 5.99-inch IPS LCD
with a FHD+ resolution. The display is sharp and bright, offers good colours
and high viewing angles. Other specifications include dual SIM support (4G on
both SIMs), dedicated microSD expansion (up to 128GB cards) and a large
4,500mAh battery.
Coming to the camera, there is a
12MP f2.0 primary with dual LED flash and large 1.25 micron pixels.
The front camera is a 16MP f2.0
unit with AI features and diffused LED flash (front flash has adjustable
brightness). The camera app includes a pro mode, 1080p video, time lapse,
beauty mode and software enabled portrait/bokeh modes for both front and back
camera. Since there is no secondary lens, the edge detection is a hit and miss.
However, the quality of photos captured is great for the price. It manages to
capture a good amount of detail even in low light which we were not expecting.
Highlight is the built in Google Lens which you can use for visual search,
translations and identifying practically anything.
We know that the screen and back
are prone to scratching because we saw several light scratches after just one
week of careful use. Luckily, a soft case and screen protector are included in
the box, if that’s important to you. Our small gripe with this phone is the
fingerprint scanner that requires precise placement of finger to work.
In our short time with the phone,
it received three major updates which shows that Google is serious about
Android One. If you want to consider the competition, there’s always the Redmi
Note 5 (priced exactly the same for both variants). The Redmi has the SD625 and
similar camera performance. However, it has a full metal design (which most
people prefer), IR emitter and faster fingerprint. If you can spend a bit more,
Asus’ Zenfone Max Pro M1 is ₹1,000 more but includes a dual camera, more
powerful SD636 and largest battery of the lot at 5,000mAh.
Hitesh.Bhagat@timesgroup.com
ET20SEP18
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