Infinix Note 5 review: Phone with powerful battery backup in budget segment

Coupled with a powerful battery, huge storage space and a good pair of cameras --all in Rs 9,999-- Infinix Note 5 is definitely a steal

China’s Transsion Holdings backed Infinix Mobile recently launched its first Android One smartphone in partnership with Google. The new model is named Infinix Note 5 and comes in two variants. The 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage variant is priced at Rs 9,999, whereas the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage is available for Rs 11,999. This device comes with the purest form of Android -- absolute stock Android UI. Among many impressive characteristics, the device comes with hardware that many competitors cannot boast of in this price bracket.

The Infinix Note 5 went on sale exclusively on Flipkart from August 31. It comes in three color choices – Ice Blue, Milan Black and Berlin Grey.

Business Standard took a close look at the Infinix Note 5 (3GB Blue Version) that comes powered by a 4,500 mAh battery, cameras infused with AI, and the Android 8.1 Oreo OS, in its purest form.

Design:

At first glance, the Note 5 looks premium and classy. The company has given a lot of attention to the design and its aesthetics. Thus, the device gives out the look of a premium-looking phone, which makes it look like a very expensive one in hand. 

Like most phones in this budget segment, Infinix Note 5's fingerprint scanner is also at the back. The camera is placed at the top of the back panel. The phone also comes with added a dual LED flash on the rear and has aligned the camera sensor and the flash horizontally. 

Although made of plastic, the phone feels solid and the curved edges make it easy to handle it with one hand. The chrome lining surrounding the frame adds lustre and grip to the device.

Not cluttered, power and volume buttons are located on right. It has an interesting slim slot with a triple slot tray for dual SIM cards and a microSD card. This is a good innovation as it does not make a customer go through the hassle of getting the size of the SIM cut or using or using a SIM adapter The jack, charging point and the speakers are placed at the bottom of the phone and the design resembles that of an iPhone's bottom structure. 

Infinix Note 5

Display:

The Infinix Note 5 comes with a 5.99-inch touchscreen display (18:9) and boasts of a 2160 x 1080 resolution and an impressive 85 per cent screen-to-body ratio. The colours on the phone are vibrant enough for both outdoors and indoors and are comfortable to the eyes. The IPS LCD multi touch screen seems to work well under any lighting conditions and the adaptive brightness functions smoothly.

The display is such that it helps in providing adequate brightness to the screen with almost zero dullness, especially when playing games or viewing videos.

Infinix Note 5

Software & Performance: 

Infinix Note 5 operates on the upgraded MediaTek Helio P23 SoC with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. One highlight is the stock Android One UI with Android 8.1 Oreo. Another plus points - the device the Android One banner, so you are likely to get quicker software updates thanks to the light UI and direct support from Google.

The OS occupies 9.72GB of space out of 32GB, so one would get plenty of storage to actually use even on the more affordable variant. It has a dedicated microSD card slot to expand storage up to 128GB. 

Powered by MediaTek Helio P23 SoC processor paired makes the phone a desirable buy. The processor is much more powerful than any of its counterparts giving a completely lag-free, smooth Android experience. The phone hardly lags even when playing high-end games such as Asphalt 8, Asphalt Xtreme. The multitasking function works as smooth as silk. The substantial battery power is another reason that adds to the brilliant performance of the phone as it does not heat up quickly even when playing games or watching videos for more than an hour or so.

Camera: 

The smartphone sports a 12MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and dual LED flash. It also gets AI based Auto Scene Detection (ASD) feature that automatically detects particular surroundings and scene details like lighting condition in a room or outdoors. It also comes loaded with seven shooting modes such as Normal, Beauty, Portrait, Professional, Panorama, Night and Time Lapse.

The selfie camera is quite reliable. Housing a 16 MP front camera, the device gives decent attention to good selfies in well-lit conditions. The front camera is loaded with various modes such as AI Beauty mode and bokeh selfie.

Battery: 

As mentioned earlier, the phone comes with a massive battery backup of 4,500 mAh that can provide more power for at least two days of heavy usage. On standby mode (used only to make phone calls and a bit of social media), the non-removable Li-Ion battery can last up to a week or at least five days.

Contrary to the belief, the powerful battery neither contributes much to the overall weight of the phone nor heats up quickly even after continuous use. With the fast charging facility, the smartphone gets fully charged in less than 2 hours, which is quite impressive and stands absolutely true to its turbo-charging capacity.

Verdict:

The Infinix Note 5 features a great overall performance. Coupled with a powerful battery, huge storage space and a good pair of cameras --all in Rs 9,999-- it's definitely a steal. The performance of the smartphone is excellent due to its fast processor and powerful RAM. However, the Indian smartphone market is already overflowing with similar smartphones at such rates. Therefore, it would be interesting to see how the Infinix Note 5 performs under such tremendous pressure in the online market.