Comparison Review: Infinix Hot 8 vs TECNO Spark 4

The Infinix Hot 8 and the TECNO Spark 4 were recently launched for the Kenyan market and if you’re still unsure of which smartphone to pick, you’ve come to the right place. These two devices go head to head in our definitive comparison review. The Infinix Hot 8 and the TECNO Spark 4 are both from Transsison and are aimed at the budget segment and we’ll unpack their pros and cons to see which of them brings the most value

Before we begin here’s the  Infinix Hot 8 and the TECNO Spark 4 measure specs-wise?

Brief Comparison Specifications Sheet

Infinix Hot 8 vs TECNO Spark 4

Design

It is quite impressive that we can get budget devices that come with modern designs such as gradient backs that give the phone a premium feel.

On the back, you get triple camera setups on both with the Infinix Hot 8 rocking a 13MP, a 2MP depth sensor and a dedicated low light sensor while the TECNO Spark 4 features a 13MP primary camera, a 2MP camera and a VGA camera.

They’re both slippery and you’ll need to a case to give you good grip and protect against hairline scratches.

The buttons are well placed although the Infinix Hot 8 added texture to the power button. The speaker grill, micro-USB charging port and a headphone jack are all at the bottom for both phones. You’ll also get slots that hold the dual nano-sim card tray and the external MicroSD.

You’ll find the LED flash, earpiece plus other sensors including a facial one next to the notch that houses 8-megapixel selfie shooters for both phones.

The TECNO Spark 4 is much lighter than the Infinix Hot 8. The added weight on the latter is because of the 5000mAh battery that gives the Infinix Hot 8 absolute power but we’ll talk about that below.

For biometrics, both phones come with a rear fingerprint scanner and face unlock that are pretty quick and accurate.

The TECNO Spark 4 wins because of its lightness but the Infinix Hot 8 holds it own, literally as that battery comes in handy.

Display

The Infinix Hot 8 comes with a 6.5″ display while the TECNO Spark 4 boasts a similar 6.5″ display but with relatively better resolution at 1600 X 720 pixels when compared to 1500 X 720 pixels. Both displays offer decent viewing angles but struggle under direct sunlight. Other than that, you’ll enjoy binging most videos or movies or just scrolling lazily on your social media timelines or browsing the web.

If you’re looking to enjoy higher quality movies or tv shows, you’ll have to skip these two phones.

You also have the option to change the placement of the on-screen navigations buttons or switch to gestures to fully immerse yourself when using the phones. However, gesture navigation isn’t the best on both phones.

I preferred the display on the TECNO Spark 4 rather than the one on the Infinix Hot 8.

Software and Performance

Both phones come with Android 9 Pie and HiOS 5.5 for the TECNO Spark 4 and XOS v5.2 Cheetah for the Infinix Hot 8. Under the hood, you’ll find 2GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage expandable to 256GB using an external MicroSD for both phones. There’s a 3GB/32GB version of the Infinix Hot 8.

When it comes to processors, the Infinix Hot 8 is powered by a MediaTek Helio P22 chip which is relatively faster than the Mediatek Helio A22 chip so performance on the former was much better.

Day to day tasks will be handled well with both phones. They’re not gaming phones but can play light to moderate games  – when you throw graphics-heavy apps, you’ll experience lag and dropped frame rates.

Also if you store alot of music or videos or apps on your phone, you better get an external MicroSD card as the phones’ storage get used up quickly. 32GB won’t be enough for you.

You’ll be served ads intermittent ads from both HiOS and XOS. The best thing you can do is to uninstall bloatware and install custom launchers like Nova.

In my experience of using both phones during this comparison, the Infinix Hot 8 is my pick as its much faster than the TECNO Spark 4 especially since I’m a heavy multitasker and I don’t want to wait to get things done as the TECNO Spark 4 tested my patience.

Performance should even be better on the 3GB variant of the Infinix Hot 8.

Cameras

Infinix Hot 8 has a 13MP, a 2MP depth sensor and a dedicated low light sensor while the TECNO Spark 4 features a 13MP primary camera, a 2MP camera and a VGA camera for the main cameras and 8MP selfie camera for both.

Their performance is a hit and miss as they are not versatile enough and will only shoot decent photos in well-lit scenarios.

Here are some samples[Click to Expand]:

Selfies

Portraits

Normal photos

Bokeh shots

Overall, camera performance is relatively better on the Infinix Hot 8.

Battery Life

The TECNO Spark 4 comes with a 4000mAh battery while the Infinix Hot 8 comes with a huge 5000mAh battery.  Both batteries will hold their own between light and moderate usage. I heavily taxed both phones for two days and the Infinix Hot 8 pushed through and wins it for me.

As I said in my review of the battery life on the Infinix Hot 8, this is the phone you’d want to pick if you don’t want to keep checking that battery percentage icon.

Connectivity

The TECNO Spark 4 and the Infinix Hot 8 come with dual 4G VoLTE. The TECNO Spark 4 has support for Faiba 4G network.

So which should you pick?

It will all come down to your preference. The Infinix Hot 8 carries more value and is cheaper than the TECNO Spark 4 – you get better performance, relatively better cameras and excellent battery life. The 3GB RAM version of the Infinix Hot 8 promises to offer more in terms of performance so look out for that. The other phone that beats these two is the TECNO Camon 12 Air which you can read its full review here.

Pricing and Availability

The Infinix HOT 8 (4G) goes for Ksh 10,699(2GB RAM) while the Hot 8 Lite(3G) goes for Ksh 9,699 on Xpark(formerly Infinix Mall). On Jumia, the Infinix Hot 8 goes for Ksh 11,999.

The TECNO Spark 4 is available online and at TECNO retail stores for Ksh 12,000.

Read More: Infinix Hot 8 Review & TECNO Spark 4 Review.