With a specialty for low-cost smartphones with incredible specs, Infinix showed its love for the budget smartphone community. Can they win the hearts of the entire PH market yet again?
Now, on its 13th iteration (NOTE 11 is the last of the NOTE series in which they follow the numbering quite before jumping to a 20 and then 30), we are hopeful that Infinix’s current trend of delivering good phones for less continues.
For the unboxing, design review, and first impressions of its display, click here.
DISPLAY
The Infinix NOTE 30 5G has a 6.78-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1080 x 2460 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz which is hard to come by around this price point. The display is also bright and clear, with good viewing angles. It also supports HDR10, which provides a wider range of colors and a more immersive viewing experience.
An AMOLED display would be better, but it is ideal for watching videos, playing games, or browsing the web.
CAMERA QUALITY
The Infinix NOTE 30 5G has a triple rear camera setup, consisting of a 108-megapixel main sensor, a 2-megapixel macro sensor, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. Again, such camera specs like this from a sub-10K smartphone are really hard to come by.
Image quality in outdoor settings is decent. The 108 MP main camera captured sharp and detailed images with good color reproduction. The 8 MP ultra-wide camera also takes good photos, with a wide field of view that is perfect for capturing landscapes or group shots. Even in less than preferable conditions, its cameras found a way to make it look prettier and easy on the eyes.
Next is the portrait mode. The quality is generally good for the most part, the camera is able to blur the background and keep the subject in focus, even in challenging lighting conditions. The colors are also well-reproduced, and the skin tones are natural. There are some minor light bleed after the blur effect has been applied but nevertheless, this doesn’t feel like a sub-10K camera sensor.
The Infinix NOTE 30 5G’s night mode can deliver respectable results. Despite the low light settings, the photographs are properly exposed and contain enough details to recognize whatever you’re shooting. However, it is still inadequate since when it is too dark, details tend to be missing. Not the best overall, but it gets the job done.
The Infinix NOTE 30 5G’s 16MP selfie camera has a f/2.0 aperture that’s located in a punch-hole cutout in the center of the display. In well-lit conditions, this phone’s snapper can capture IG-worthy selfies. The colors are accurate and the details are sharp. However, there is one problem, the camera struggles in low-light conditions; the images are grainy and the details are lost. Not quite the workhorse in terms of selfies.
Video-wise, the Infinix NOTE 30 5G can record video in 2K at 30 frames per second max and 1080p at 30 or 60 frames per second. In well-lit environments, the video quality is strong, with alright colors and fine details. In low light, the video quality isn’t as nice, though. The footage lacks information and is blurry for the most part. The Ultra-Steady mode function (EIS) helps to a degree to help the video stabilized to an extent.
PERFORMANCE (Gaming + Battery)
The Infinix NOTE 30 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6080 processor. It is an octa-core processor with a maximum clock speed of 2.2 GHz. It is based on the 6nm manufacturing process, which makes it more efficient than older processors. It also has a powerful Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, which is good for gaming and graphics-intensive tasks. It is capable of scoring 379,003 in the AnTuTu benchmark which is pretty good.
The MediaTek Dimensity 6080 is a good processor for gaming and multimedia consumption. It can handle demanding games like Genshin Impact (albeit in low settings) and Call of Duty Mobile without any issues. It can also play high-definition videos smoothly.
Well, what are all these texts without the gaming tests?
Gaming
The phone is capable of handling Mobile Legends at a high refresh rate and with the highest settings. Meanwhile, even though Call of Duty Mobile only has medium graphics settings, the high refresh rate we’ve chosen makes the game incredibly fluid. Genshin Impact, on the other hand, is at the lowest graphics settings for a smoother and less stressful gaming experience because the phone suffers when the graphics levels are increased.
Battery
The Infinix NOTE 30 5G has a 5,000mAh battery with 45W fast charging support. Infinix claims that the battery can be charged from 0 to 75% in just 30 minutes. The battery is also said to last up to 2 days on a single charge. During our battery test, it reached full capacity in just three minutes shy of one hour.
The Infinix NOTE 30’s battery is a large capacity battery, which means that it will provide long battery life. The 45W fast charging support is also a welcome feature, as it will allow you to quickly charge the battery when you need to.
SOUND
The phone has a dual-speaker setup with DTS Surround Sound support. Oh and by the way, the speakers are tuned by JBL, which makes it more loud and clear, and with a good amount of bass.
It’s not the best sound quality you’ll ever hear, but it’s good for a mid-range smartphone. If you’re looking for a mid-range phone with good sound quality, the Infinix NOTE 30 5G is a good option. The mids are great, the bass is kind of there, but we’re not sure if the dual speakers have a dedicated mono and stereo output or just two equally tuned speakers.
USER EXPERIENCE
The Infinix NOTE 30 5G runs on Android 13 with Infinix’s custom XOS 13 user interface on top. It is the latest version of Infinix’s custom user interface for Android smartphones. It was released in February 2023 and is based on Android 13. Designed to be more user-friendly and intuitive than previous versions of XOS, it also offers a number of features and customization options. Some of the key features of XOS 13 include:
- Smart Panel: This is a floating panel that gives you quick access to a variety of features, such as your favorite apps, contacts, and settings.
- Themes: XOS 13 comes with a number of pre-loaded themes, or you can create your own.
- Privacy Protection: XOS 13 includes a number of privacy features, such as app lock and fingerprint sensor authentication.
- Game Zone: This mode optimizes your phone’s performance and settings for gaming.
- Shot Cut: Infinix has added a new Shot Cut feature in XOS 13. This feature allows you to take screenshots and record screen videos with just a few taps.
- Smart Assistant: This feature provides you with quick access to a variety of information and services, such as weather, news, and traffic updates.
Overall, XOS 13 is a good user interface. It is not that user-friendly, feature-rich, and customizable. However, it does come with some bloatware and Infinix is not known for being very good about updating its phones. We just wish that they can fine-tune their OS more in the future.
What we like:
- 120Hz refresh rate display with good viewing angles, and HDR10 support
- 5000 mAh battery capacity and 45W fast charging
- JBL tuned audio quality
- Powered by a fairly fast Mediatek Dimensity 6080
- Decent rear and selfie camera quality
What we don’t like:
- A rather large camera island
- The display is an IPS LCD which is inferior to AMOLEDs
- Bloatware
- Poor software support from Infinix
- Only with dual loudspeakers
CONCLUSION:
The Infinix NOTE 30 is a great phone for anyone looking for a powerful and affordable device. It has a large display, a powerful processor, and a long-lasting battery. The camera is also good, and the phone comes with some useful features.
BUT! It has bloatware which is fairly annoying but good thing it can be removed. The camera island is also a bit large which is somewhat off, and its display is only an IPS LCD. Infinix is also not well known for great software support so keep that in mind. Also, albeit being tuned by JBL, the phone only has two loudspeakers, impacting the audio quality by a margin.
With that in mind, the phone scored a stunning 4 stars in our review! Well done by Infinix!
For more information about the phone’s specs, click below:
