Infinix Hot 10 Review: Blew My Expectations

Infinix Hot 10 is finally here. This is the company’s latest budget device in the Hot series following the launch of the Hot 9 series early this year.

The Infinix Hot 10 joins the Infinix Zero 8 and the Infinix Note 7 which were also recently launched in the country.

The Infinix Hot 10 blew my expectations and actually raised the bar for entry-level smartphones at least in the price category it sits on.

The spec upgrades make the INfinix HOt 10 a value buy

Before we begin, here’s what you get inside the box:

• the device
• 10W power brick and USB cable
• a set of earphones
• Sim ejector tool
• a plastic case
• a screen protector
• warranty, user guide information booklets

Design

Infinix Hot 10 is actually sizzling hot in terms of looks. I mean look at that back.

That colour gradient back is to die for especially in this Amber Red model. You can get yours in Obsidian Black, Ocean Wave and Moonlight Jade.

Infinix says that the back is crafted with laser engraving to create a visual perception of interlaced light and shadow to give that colour gradient premium feel and look.

There’s a fingerprint sensor and a rectangular camera bump at the top left that houses the AI-powered quad-camera setup that features a 16MP primary camera, 2MP macro camera, 2MP depth and an AI lens and a quad-LED flashlight.

At the bottom is the microUSB charging port, speaker grill, a microphone and a headphone jack.

The volume rockers and the power button are on the right side, tactile and easy to reach.

At the front is the immersive 6.78″ Infinity-O display rocking a resolution of 720 by 1640 pixels. 

The display gets interrupted at the top left corner with the 8MP selfie camera.

At 6.78″, the display is huge and comes in handy when you’re multitasking with split-screen, gaming or binge-watching tv series or movies coupled with the stereo speakers with DTS audio processing technology that offer personalized sound effects to better enjoy the audio experiences.

The thin bezels offer an almost all-display viewing experience. I didn’t mind at all except for how notifications are pushed to the side.

The display is decently bright and colorful so you’ll enjoy scrolling social media, browsing the web and watching YouTube or Showmax, Netflix or other streaming platforms.

Software and perfomance

Infinix Hot 10 comes with Android 10 and XOS 7.

With Android 10, you get system-wide dark mode, Focus mode(a compliment to Digital Wellbeing), new gesture navigation systems, boosted privacy, security and notifications (Grouped silent notifications)controls, better location permissions, Google Assistant “handles”, native screen recording, native desktop mode, QR codes to connect to Wi-Fi plus more features.

XOS7 also has nice-to-have features including Social Turbo and Game Mode. There’s also the smart sidebar to easily access frequently used apps and tools.

Performance is not bad at all as Infinix bumped the specs, putting a MediaTek Helio G70 processor, coupled with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which you can expand with an external microSD card.

This combo decently holds apps in memory long enough to assist with app switching and there’s almost no lag ever.

Gaming and multitasking was a breeze.

Apps and games open up snappily and quickly switching between them proves to be just as Fast

It’s worth noting that you’ll have to play graphic intense games at their balance settings for smooth game play experience.

You will experience the occasional stutter if you are a heavy multitasker. However, its not as frequent enough to be frustrating using the phone.

XOS 7 tops off the android 10 experience with a bit of its own features and flavour

Bloatware is present and at time you’ll get served ads in the form of pop-up notifications to download recommended apps.

You’ll have to take your time to delete or disable some of the apps. You should also go throw the notification settings to disable these notifications too.

I went with the option of using a third-party launcher such as Microsoft Launcher to enjoy using the phone.

Infinix needs to dial down with the ads because their recent phones are so good.

Overall, I loved the overall responsiveness of the Infinix Hot 10 and the bumped up specs are a welcome change in the budget segment.

Camera

Infinix Hot 10 comes packed with an 8MP punch-hole selfie camera and a quad-camera setup at the back that includes a 16MP primary camera, 2MP macro camera, 2MP depth and an AI lens and a quad-LED flashlight.

There’s plenty of modes to shoot with including Short Video, Video, Wide selfie, AI cam, Beauty, Bokeh, AR Shot, Google Lens, Panorama and Super night mode that actually works.

When you turn on the selfie camera, a colourful ring light surrounds the punchole and I think that’s a nice addition.

You can shoot video at 720p, 1080p or 2K resolution.

In terms of photography, these cameras delivered – not only in ideal lighting situations but also in lowlight.

The camera app is slick and opening the camera, focusing on an object or person and then snapping a shot is plenty fast too.

This also includes tapping on different objects in the viewfinder to change your focus.

If you were anywhere near when I was taking any photo with the Infinix Hot 10, you would have definitely heard an audible wow.

Infinix Hot is a solid shooter

For a phone at this price point, one can definitely say budget phones are getting pretty good.

Infinix Hot is a solid shooter and you’ll enjoy taking photos with it including portraits.

Overall, Ive enjoyed taking photos especially the main camera and here are some samples:

Selfies and Portraits(including lowlight) – check caption for details as you swipe

Regular Shots and Bokeh shots – check caption for details as you swipe

Lowlight and Super Night mode shots – check caption for details as you swipe

The cameras the Infinix Hot 10 pack make the phone my favourite 14K smartphone at the moment.

best Budget camera phone for Instagram

Battery Life

Infinix Hot 10 comes with a beefy 5200mAh battery that promises to offer two days battery life with light use.

Battery size and life is definitely a major positive for the Infinix Hot 10.

I was getting about 15 hours of screen on time with heavy usage – that’s pretty impressive.

No more battery anxiety with the Infinix Hot 10

Sadly though, its takes forever to charge the Infinix Hot 10. You’ll have to give close to 2 and half hours for a complete charge from empty.

Verdict

Definitely get this phone. It doesn’t get better than this as the Infinix Hot 10 is a value buy.

Infinix really stepped up their game(pun intended) with the Hot 10 this time round and it blew our expectations.

Impressive overall performance including the camera performance, excellent battery life and stunning design.

If you are in the market for a 14K smartphone, I highly recommend you to consider getting the Infinix Hot 10.

Definitely a contender in the best budget device of the year under 15K.

Pricing and Availability

Infinix Hot 10 will be available in two variants including the regular Hot 10 which will start selling from Ksh 13,999 and the Hot 10 Lite for Ksh 10,499.

The Infinix Hot 10 Lite uses a MediaTek Helio A20 chip, 2/3 GB of RAM and 32/64 GB onboard storage configuration respectively. You also get a 13MP triple rear camera and a smaller 5000mAh battery.