The Pros and Cons of Infinix Smart 10 Plus

Battery life is an important thing in entry-level phones, and this trend is still going on when this article is written. One phone that quiet stands out in this category is the Infinix Smart 10 Plus. It has a big 6000 mAh battery that can last all day for various activities.

This phone is a slightly upgraded version of the Infinix Smart 10. The word "slightly" fits well because most of the specs are still the same. The differences are actually in memory options, battery size, and design. If you want to know more, here are some pros and cons of the Infinix Smart 10 Plus.

Pros of Infinix Smart 10 Plus

Even though it offers more memory, the Infinix Smart 10 Plus is still sold at around $230. This feels like a fair deal, especially with its bigger battery. Here are some of its strong points:

1. Fresh Design and Water Resistance (IP64)

Although it's in the same series, the Infinix Smart 10 Plus looks a bit different from the regular Smart 10. Its design feels newer, even compared to other phones in the same price range. Normally, entry-level phones have camera modules placed vertically, but this one places them horizontally.

It reminds me of a rumor that Apple might also use a horizontal camera design in the future. It's kind of funny that Infinix already used this idea first, especially for a budget phone. Even if it came out earlier, it looks like the Smart 10 Plus is inspired by the iPhone 17 Series, based on the news.

The camera area on the Infinix Smart 10 Plus is more square-shaped, similar to the Infinix Hot 50 Series. The phone also comes with two-tone color finishes! You can choose between Titanium Silver, Iris Blue, Ruby Red, and Sleek Black.

For durability, this phone has an IP64 rating. So, it’s protected from dust and can handle water splashes. The screen still works even when your fingers are a bit wet or oily. It's also said to survive falls from up to 1.5 meters. But of course, you should not drop it on purpose. The feature is just there as a safety measure.

2. Smooth Screen with 120 Hz Refresh Rate and Dynamic Bar

The Infinix Smart 10 Plus keeps the same screen quality as the previous series. It comes with a 6.67-inch IPS LCD panel. The resolution is only HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels), but the colours still look good with a 72% NTSC colour range.

The brightness can reach 560 nits (typical) and up to 700 nits at peak. This makes it comfortable to use outdoors, as long as it is not under direct sunlight.

One of the best parts is the refresh rate that goes up to 120 Hz. This is still rare for phones in this price range. You can also choose 60 Hz or 90 Hz to save battery. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother the movement on the screen.

Another nice touch is the Dynamic Bar feature. It makes the punch-hole design look more lively. The bar changes shape, like stretching or getting wider, when you get a notification.

3. Stereo Speakers with Ultra Volume up to 300%

Finding stereo speakers on a phone priced around $200 is still rare. That’s why having them on the Infinix Smart 10 Plus is a strong selling point. The speakers are placed at the top and bottom of the phone to give a more balanced sound.

Infinix also adds a feature called Ultra Volume. It can boost the sound to more than 100%, up to 300%. This is useful for phone calls in noisy places like stations, markets, or even concerts!

But this feature is not good for music, videos, or gaming. When the volume goes above 100%, the sound detail usually drops.

4. Powered by UNISOC T7250 with Large Memory

For performance, the Infinix Smart 10 Plus uses the same chipset as the regular Smart 10, the UNISOC T7250. This chipset is good enough for daily use and can even handle some games with adjusted settings.

The UNISOC T7250 is basically a rebranded version of the T615. The chipset is also used in other budget phones such as the Redmi A5, itel City 100, and realme C71 NFC.

This chipset is built on 12 nm technology and has eight CPU cores. Two Cortex-A75 cores (1.8 GHz) handle heavier tasks, while six Cortex-A55 cores (1.6 GHz) take care of lighter ones. For graphics, it uses the Mali G57 MC2.

To support performance, the phone comes with LPDDR4x RAM and either eMMC 5.1 or UFS 2.2 storage. The Smart 10 Plus offers 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory, which is bigger than the Smart 10. There’s also a dedicated microSD slot if you need more storage.

On AnTuTu v10, the UNISOC T7250 scores around 260,000. This is enough to run games like Mobile Legends or PUBG Mobile smoothly.

One downside is the gyro sensor, which is software-based. The response is not great for FPS games, especially in competitive play. Mobile Legends runs best here since it doesn’t need very high specs.

5. Big 6000 mAh Battery for All-Day Use

The battery is another thing that makes the “Plus” model different. This phone has a large 6000 mAh battery, while most budget phones still use 5000 mAh. This means longer power life.

According to Infinix, the Smart 10 Plus can last up to 36 days on standby. For calls, it can run up to 47 hours, and for music playback, up to 121 hours.

The only drawback is charging. Even with its 18W fast charging, filling up a 6000 mAh battery still takes quite a long time.

6. AI Features and Easy File Transfer

You don’t need an expensive phone to enjoy AI. Even at a low price, the Infinix Smart 10 Plus already gives some useful features. Infinix calls it Infinix AI with the tagline Leap Into AI. The features include Summarize, Query, Write, and performance optimization.

The phone also has Folax, an AI assistant similar to Apple’s Siri. With Folax, you can play music, make calls, or even plan trips.

Another useful feature is Touch Transfer. It works like Apple’s AirDrop. Using NFC, you can send files instantly by just touching another phone.

7. Decent Cameras with 2K Video Recording

The Infinix Smart 10 Plus has two cameras on the back, but only the main 8 MP camera is practical. It has an f/2.0 aperture and supports autofocus. On the front, there’s also an 8 MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture. This one only has fixed focus, so it can’t switch focus between objects automatically.

Even with its low price, the photo and video results are decent. The phone can record not only in 1080p but also in 2K (1440p) at 30 FPS. Both the front and rear cameras can do this. The quality is good enough for making social media content.

Cons of Infinix Smart 10 Plus

Here are a few things to consider before buying the Infinix Smart 10 Plus:

1. Slow Charging for a Large Battery

As mentioned earlier, charging this phone is still quite slow. The battery has a large 6000 mAh capacity, but the charging speed is only 18W. In the same price range, the realme C71 NFC already supports 45W fast charging, even with a bigger 6300 mAh battery.

The good side is that the 6000 mAh capacity on the Smart 10 Plus is real, not just a claim. So you won’t need to charge too often.

Charging at night or while sleeping should be fine. There’s no need to worry about battery damage since modern batteries are made to handle long charging times, even on budget phones.

2. No Ultrawide Camera

Even though it has two rear cameras, the Smart 10 Plus basically only uses the main 8 MP camera. The second one is just a depth sensor, which is less useful. It would have been better if Infinix added an ultrawide camera instead of a depth sensor. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here.

Still, the lack of an ultrawide lens is understandable for a phone at this price. Brands often remove extra features to keep the cost low, and most users in this segment will likely accept that.

3. Still Using eMMC Memory, Slower than UFS

The Infinix Smart 10 Plus comes with a large 128 GB of internal storage. Sadly, it still uses eMMC 5.1 instead of UFS.

eMMC storage has some drawbacks. The transfer speed is slower compared to UFS, so copying, moving, or extracting files can take longer. You’ll need a bit more patience when handling larger files.

On the bright side, the phone provides a separate microSD slot. This means you can expand storage without giving up the dual SIM function. So while the memory type is slower, at least the storage capacity is still spacious and flexible.

Conclusion

With the word “Plus” in its name, this phone does bring some upgrades compared to the Infinix Smart 10. The most obvious one is the bigger 6000 mAh battery, which makes the phone last longer for daily use. However, charging is still slow.

Another upgrade is the memory, now 8 GB RAM with 128 GB internal storage. The downside is that it still uses eMMC instead of UFS. Even so, the larger capacity and the dedicated microSD slot help support the chipset’s performance.

The design also feels fresh, with a horizontal camera module instead of the usual vertical one. In short, the Infinix Smart 10 Plus does have improvements, but some of the old limitations remain. So, are the extra features enough to make this “Plus” model more appealing?