Unveiling Pros and Cons of Buying Infinix Phones
Infinix Mobile is a Hong Kong-based smartphone brand that was founded by Transsion Holdings in 2013. The rapid growth of the Infinix brand can be attributed to its consistent delivery of innovative features and robust specifications across its smartphone lineup.
The smartphone products of Infinix are currently available in sixty countries. Even the United States has responded positively to the brand, as have Nigeria, the Middle East, and Asia.
Infinix can be viewed as a competitor to Xiaomi (specifically Redmi) and realme due to its consistent availability of affordable smartphones with above-average quality. Therefore, let's examine the pros and cons of the Infinix brand. Take a look at the following points.
Pros of Infinix Phones
There are several reasons why Infinix continues to thrive in the market today. Here are the key merits:
1. Affordable Phones with Superior Features
One aspect that sets Inifnix apart and makes it an admirable brand is its ability to provide high-quality phones at affordable prices. While other brands often provide basic specifications in the entry-level price segment, Infinix goes the extra mile by offering fantastic features.
For instance, the Infinix Smart 6 has competitive features such as a biometric sensor on the rear, face recognition, a large 5,000 mAh battery, and a body design with antibacterial material.
If you are searching for a low-cost option with a biometric sensor, Infinix phones are worth considering. It's rare to find this security feature on phones at this price point.
Another intriguing Infinix phone is the Infinix Hot 30, which features a punch-hole front camera, NFC, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and stereo speakers.
Therefore, Infinix is a brand that comes to mind when people seek good-quality, budget-friendly smartphones. Whether it's for tech-savvy children or elderly individuals in need of smartphone functionality, Infinix offers more than other brands.
2. Offers Large Screen Sizes
When categorizing brands based on their tendency to release quality phones at affordable prices, names like Xiaomi, realme, and Infinix come to mind.
Infinix is not the only brand that provides value for money, but it stands out by consistently releasing products with large screen sizes, especially in the Infinix Note series.
For instance, the Infinix Note 7, 8, 9, and 10 include IPS LCD panels with screen sizes up to 6.95 inches. This defines Infinix as a brand that offers phablet-like products, which are a combination of smartphones and tablets due to their enormous screen capacities.
Unfortunately, the trend of releasing large screens has somewhat diminished with the Infinix Note 11 series. Prioritizing screen quality over screen size, Infinix began introducing AMOLED panels in an adequate price range following the release of the Infinix Note 11. The Infinix Note 11 and 12 still offer an AMOLED screen with a size of 6.7 inches and Full HD+ resolution.
Despite not being as remarkable as some of its predecessors, a 6.7-inch screen size is still comparatively large in comparison to competing smartphones, which typically have a 6.5-inch display.
3. A Brand that Excels in All Segments with Top-Quality Smartphones
When examining smartphones from specific manufacturers, we frequently find that they prioritize one aspect over others. For instance, OPPO's entry-level phones emphasize the camera but lack performance.
Samsung, on the other hand, places a premium on durability but struggles with the price-to-performance ratio.
Infinix differentiates itself by providing excellence in all areas. Frequently, their mid-range and entry-level phones have impressive specifications and features. These phones meet all user requirements, and Infinix consistently responds to market demands as seen in their distinctive variants with unconventional names.
Infinix serves distinct market segments through four distinct series: Smart, Hot, Note, and Zero. Let's investigate each series in detail.
- Infinix Smart Series
The Infinix Smart Series is a line of entry-level smartphones with affordable prices and specifications suited for daily use.
This series serves to the low-end market segment by offering fundamental features and specifications at a reasonable price. This series of smartphones includes the Infinix Smart 6 and the Infinix Smart 7.
- Infinix Hot Series
The Infinix Hot Series is positioned one tier above the Infinix Smart Series and offers better specifications at an affordable price.
It provides an improvement to the Smart Series, appealing to users who desire additional features on a budget. The Infinix Hot 20 series and the Infinix Hot 30 series are examples of smartphones in this lineup.
The Infinix Hot Series introduces features not typically found in the Smart Series, such as NFC capabilities, more RAM, and larger batteries. In addition, the series includes an Extended RAM feature that enables you to effectively expand the RAM memory capacity of their devices.
These features differentiate the Hot Series from the Smart Series by improving the overall user experience.
- Infinix Note Series
The Infinix Note series is a mid-range smartphone series with a focus on camera and battery features. This series offers better specifications compared to the Hot series at a slightly higher price.
Products from this series usually have advantages in the screen sector, performance, and battery features that are rarely found in other phones in the same price class. For example, the Infinix Note 12 VIP has a 120 W fast charging feature.
The Infinix Note 30 continues the trendiness of this Note series. In this series, Infinix offers specifications that are exceptional for its price class. For example, the Infinix Note 30's front-facing camera can record 1080p video at 60 frames per second. Something that is difficult to find on other cellphones in its price range.
There is also the Infinix Note 30 Pro. This phone has wireless charging and reverse wireless charging capabilities, a feature that even mid-range phones or above rarely have. In fact, the wireless charger comes in the sales box.
- Infinix Zero Series
The Infinix Zero series is the company's flagship smartphone line. This series offers the best specs at a higher price than other series. It is often referred to as a flagship because the Zero is the highest series, but in terms of price and features, it cannot be considered a true flagship.
This series of smartphones includes the Infinix Zero X Pro, the Infinix Zero X Neo, and the Infinix Zero 5G. Nevertheless, the Infinix Zero series has advantages such as a premium design, high performance, advanced cameras, and other outstanding features.
Infinix Zero may no longer be produced. This series will be replaced with the Infinix GT series, which apparently presents better specifications and features than flagship phones, but the price is still affordable.
With the various series presented, you're more free to choose the variant that suits your interests and needs. Each series also strives to fulfill all aspects so that you can experience decent quality without sacrificing any one aspect.
4. Good After Sales Service Thanks to Carlcare Service Center
Source: Selular.idInfinix has significantly improved its after-sales service by partnering with the Carlcare Service Center. You can easily access this service by visiting the official website, Carlcare.com, or downloading the Carlcare application.
The Carlcare Flagship Service Center is the place to go for premium service. Here, you can take advantage of express repairs, with simple repairs completed in just an hour and complex repairs requiring no longer than 72 hours.
5. Gives "Surprising" Features
Each of Infinix's products includes features that are rarely seen on competitor phones, for which the company is well known. For instance, take the Infinix Zero X Pro.
It has a 108 MP main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a Moonshot Camera telephoto periscope lens for capturing moon views at night. Telephoto periscope lenses are typically exclusive to more expensive smartphones.
As mentioned previously, the Infinix Note 12 VIP's fast charging capabilities of up to 120 W are impressive. This is one of the quickest charging speeds in the industry and is typically reserved for flagship smartphones.
In addition to its remarkable charging speed, the Infinix Note 12 VIP features 108 types of security to safeguard the phone, cable, and adapter from injury. This combination of a reasonable price and exceptional features makes it an enticing choice.
The Infinix Note 30 Pro is one of the first smartphones in its price range to offer wireless and reverse wireless charging. Generally, these features are exclusive to flagship phones, and the charger is frequently not included in the sales box. However, both a 68 W charger and a 15 W wireless charger are included with the Infinix Note 30 Pro.
These features contribute to Infinix's reputation for providing exceptional value for the price. Even when compared to other budget-friendly brands such as realme and Xiaomi, Infinix consistently provides users with different surprises.
6. Rich in Camera Features
Infinix phones, especially those released in 2023 and beyond, generally boast high camera resolutions. For instance, the Infinix Hot 30 offers a 50 MP camera at a remarkably affordable price, accompanied by a quad-LED Flash on the back.
In addition, Infinix phones typically offer superior video recording capabilities compared to many other devices. While most smartphones only support 1080p recording, the Infinix Hot 30 is capable of recording in 2K (1440p) at 30 fps. This increased video recording resolution produces footage that is ideal for editing because it is more detailed.
The integration of a quad-LED Flash and 2K recording differentiates Infinix in the smartphone industry, especially in the entry-level price range. In addition, Infinix offers a "movie" mode with aesthetically pleasing presets such as sport, vintage, party, motion, performance, and super star.
In today's era of growing content production, these camera features are becoming increasingly important. While only a small number of smartphones offer 60 FPS mode, Infinix aims to keep up with the times by providing users with tools for capturing and editing their content.
Cons of Infinix Phones
In addition to its advantages, Infinix has a number of downsides that limit its competitiveness. Here are the detailed explanation of cons of Infinix phones.
1. Limited Brand Recognition
Infinix struggles to establish itself as a trustworthy brand in the eyes of the general public despite offering phones with competitive features. When ordinary people consider upgrading their phones, brands such as Samsung and iPhone come to mind before Infinix.
At best, people may consider Xiaomi or realme when on a budget, overlooking Infinix. Infinix has yet to position itself as the go-to brand for excellent value for money, which Xiaomi successfully achieved when entering the market.
Instead of being recognized for affordable, high-quality phones, Infinix is frequently associated with the term "cheap." Despite consistently increasing quality while maintaining affordability, Infinix continues to face obstacles in building a strong brand presence relative to its larger competitors.
In addition, Infinix tends to neglect offline marketing efforts in favor of online marketing. As a result, the brand awareness of Infinix still lags behind that of major players in the market.
2. Gimmicky Features
The attractive features of Infinix phones have outstanding specifications on paper. However, some of these features may appear gimmicky because they don't always satisfy users' expectations.
For instance, the Infinix Note 7 and 8 were marketed with a large, tablet-like 6.95-inch screen. The HD+ resolution, however, resulted in suboptimal screen sharpness, which disappointed users.
Similarly, the Infinix Zero X Pro uses an AMOLED display panel, but users found the color accuracy to be disappointing, lacking specific color modes found in competing AMOLED phones.
According to GSM Arena, it boasts only Widevine L3 DRM certification, making it ineligible for Full HD resolution streaming on platforms such as Netflix. The Infinix Zero 8, featuring a 6.85-inch IPS LCD display with a 90 Hz refresh rate, initially seemed promising with its high refresh rate trend.
However, GSM Arena's assessment revealed a slow pixel response time, resulting in a subpar visual experience. Even the triple camera configuration of the Infinix Note 12 includes a QVGA sensor, which provides no actual benefit to the photography experience and appears to be more of a strategy to increase camera count.
Despite the fact that Infinix phones may appear enticing based on their specifications, the phones' actual quality must be evaluated in more detail to determine if they offer a satisfactory user experience. Thus, some of the promised features can come across as gimmicks designed solely to attract buyers.
3. Build Quality Concerns
According to a user's post on the Quora forum, after a year of use, the Infinix Hot 8 developed a number of issues. Despite having 6 GB of RAM, it was reported that the Infinix Hot 12 had software issues, including sluggish performance and frequent background kills. In addition, using the interface with a screen protector was difficult.
Moreover, the XOS operating system interface from Infinix contains an extensive amount of bloatware and intrusive advertisements. Also reported, there were charging port malfunctions requiring service center replacement. These concerns regarding build quality contribute to a lack of consumer trust and belief in the durability of Infinix products.
As a result, consumers gravitate toward the Redmi series, which has a reputation for prioritizing solid build quality. realme, another brand that prioritizes build quality, has a rigorous quality-control process that includes extensive testing of components such as the power button, charging port, and audio jack.
4. Limited Use of Qualcomm Chipsets
Source: realmeInfinix is well known for producing high-quality phones with large batteries and immersive displays for enhanced viewing experiences. However, it utilizes MediaTek chipsets more frequently than Qualcomm Snapdragons.
While this choice doesn't necessarily result in inferior performance compared to Snapdragon-powered phones, developers often prioritize optimizing their apps and games for Qualcomm chipsets. Infinix did release the Infinix Hot S3X in 2018, which featured a Snapdragon chipset.
However, the majority of Infinix phones utilize MediaTek Helio chipsets. Prior to the release of the Infinix Zero 5G, no Infinix devices were equipped with Dimensity chipsets, which provide performance comparable to that of the most recent Snapdragon chipset.
The absence of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips in Infinix phones is not necessarily a drawback. It is possible that Infinix has established a special partnership with MediaTek, allowing them to optimize the performance of MediaTek chipsets in their devices.
5. No "Real Flagship" Series
The Infinix smartphone line is segmented into various categories, such as the Infinix Smart and Infinix Hot series. The Infinix Note series is well-known for its large screen size and good specifications; the Pro and VIP variants are slightly more expensive.
Infinix's most expensive segment is the Infinix Zero series, which includes the Infinix Zero 5G, the first Infinix phone to support 5G networks, and the Infinix Zero X series, which is known for its superior camera capabilities.
However, none of these series actively compete in the flagship smartphone market. In comparison, brands like Xiaomi and realme offer a range of products in the premium segment. Infinix seems to position itself as an "affordable" brand, but without high-end products, it has been associated with being a "cheap" brand.
If Infinix aimed to enter the market for "real flagship" smartphones, it could establish a more solid reputation by offering a wider range of options to its fans.
6. No Clarity About Software Updates
Similar to its sister companies, itel and Tecno, Infinix often neglects software updates. Most of their budget seems to be focused on delivering value for money in terms of design, performance, and features, while software updates receive little attention.
For example, it's unknown how long an Infinix phone with Android 13 will continue to receive update support. Whether it will be able to support Android 15 or future versions remains uncertain.
Despite the fact that Infinix offers software update guarantees for the Infinix Zero series, the support period is usually relatively short. For example, the Infinix Zero 20 and Zero 20 Ultra receive support for only one Android version update. If the support period were extended, it would enhance competitiveness with most other phones in the market.
These are the pros and cons of Infinix smartphones. While the brand may still struggle to surpass others in terms of being a quality, affordable option, Infinix devices offer competitive features.
If you're not someone who prioritizes having a Snapdragon chipset and can tolerate some of its limitations, you'll likely find that Infinix offers great value for your money.