Infinix Note 12 series launched late last month and we got our hands on its premium offering – the Infinix Note 12 VIP which is the company’s sleekest smartphone. This is a significant step up in the build quality and Infinix has refined that look for its latest smartphone.
The Note 12 VIP is every bit a premium device and shows how Infinix has matured as a brand and their flagship midrange offering creates a compelling identity for them.
The Note 12 VIP showcases Infinix’s best-in-class features. The company has steadily been stepping up its game in the midrange segment with the Infinix Note 10 series and Infinix Note 11 series from last year and finally delivered a genuinely excellent midrange experience.
We don’t have the Infinix Note 12 5G and the Infinix Note 12 powered by Helio G99 processor in the market for now which means the Note 12 VIP is the top dog in the new Note series that also includes the Note 12(G96) and the entry-level Note 12i.
The Infinix Note 12 VIP improves upon its predecessor and its flagship Zero series in every way offering significant improvements and making it a noteworthy upgrade.
There’s more to the Infinix Note 12 VIP than the super-fast charging. Yes, the 120 watts can juice up the phone in under 20 minutes and the blazing fast speed may be its highlight but there’s much more that the Infinix Note 12 VIP gets right – they have finally joined the big boys.
Before we begin our full review, here’s what you get the in the box
Design
Right off the bat, the Infinix Note 12 VIP boasts a sleek and minimal design that looks clean and elegant and the matte finish feel makes it scream premium. I loved how it felt in my hand and it sure drew attention when I was out and about with friends and strangers inquiring about the phone.
It’s an attractive design that radiates quality that fits the premium mid-range smartphone market. The back panel is clean and the matte finish makes sure that no fingerprint smudges stick to the phone.
It’s slim and the rounded smoother corners make the phone easier to use and hold.
You get a type-C charging port, microphone, and headphone jack at the bottom. On the right side are the volume rocker and side-mounted fingerprint reader embedded on the power button. The reader is fast but you can use face unlock also for biometric login.
On the left side is the slot for dual nano-sim cards and expandable storage. At the top are a secondary microphone and top facing speakers which complement the bottom facing speakers and the stereo sounds fantastic – loud and clear with no distortion even when you increase the volume.
If you’re streaming music or watching videos, you’ll love the audio performance.
The star of the show is the phone’s screen.
Infinix went all-in on the Note 12 VIP display.
It has a 6.7″ FHD+ AMOLED screen rocking a 10-bit panel with 100% DCI-P3 coverage, 120Hz refresh rate, and 360Hz touch sampling rate.
The screen is bright, vivid, and vibrant and the colors are excellent, packing volume and punch and the high refresh rate makes it genuinely beautiful. The screen is the right size for consuming multimedia content – anything you do on the phone will feel a little nicer compared to other displays. Browsing the web, gaming, streaming video, scrolling through social media feeds, checking email, and switching between apps was simply stunning and rounded the whole experience making it a pleasure to use the phone.
You are definitely going to enjoy the Note 12 VIP as a primary entertainment gadget as the screen performs really well in most circumstances. The display comes with a pleasing color profile straight out of the box. The Note 12 VIP screen proved itself more than capable of handling pretty much any multimedia content your throw at it.
Another cherry on top is the dual X-axis linear motor haptic feedback Infinix included on the Note 12 VIP. The vibrations feel pretty sharp and really responsive – perfect for when you’re typing or gaming for that immersive playthrough.
The Infinix Note 12 VIP features aerospace-grade ultra-thin glass fiber material with the texture of glass and the strength of carbon fiber. The Infinix Note 12 VIP comes in Cayenne Grey(as seen above) and Force Black. The Infinix Note 12(G96) will come in Saphire Black, Force Black, and Snowfall.
Overall, the Infinix Note 12 VIP left me impressed with the physical hardware and design.
Performance
Infinix Note 12 VIP brings competitive performance to the Note 12 lineup. It packs the Helio G96 chipset like its sibling the Note 12(G96) albeit with different layouts. The Note 12i has a Helio G88 chipset.
There are tiny tweaks Infinix added as the processor on the VIP version has 9 layers of graphene cooling and a vapor chamber while the G96 version lacks the vapor chamber and has 10 layers of graphene cooling.
Android 12 and XOS 10.6 power all the Note 12 series.
The Note 12i has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the Note 12(G96) ships with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and the Note 12 VIP comes with 8GB of RAM with 5GB of virtual RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage.
This combination makes the phone fly when it came to my everyday apps and I didn’t experience any issues when multitasking and kept several apps open in the background. The Infinix Note 12 VIP also handled gaming performance gracefully and ran graphic intense games maintaining good framerates throughout. Games like Alto’s Adventure, Alto’s Odyssey, Asphalt 9, Civilization VI, Genshin Impact, Life After, Ninja Arashi 2, and PUBG: New State played at their max graphic settings at 120fps.
I’m pretty sure the phone will handle upcoming games like Valorant and Call of Duty Warzone for mobile.
Infinix Note 12 VIP proved to be robust for my everyday tasks including gaming and switching between apps. It isn’t a slouch and will crunch through the tasks of most users and then some more without blinking an eye or batting a lash.
You get all the sweet Android 12 features such as an updated privacy dashboard, revamped new widgets, direct share, scrolling screenshots, enhanced privacy indicators, smarter auto-rotate, redesigned power menu, redesigned lock screen, share Wi-Fi passwords with Nearby Share, and more.
Infinix’s XOS 10.6 brings with it RAM Expansion feature, Storage Optimizer, Smart Scenes, Master of Language(MOL), AI Gallery, Visha Player, XArena, and Privacy Guardian among others.
Android 12 Material You design doesn’t show up here so you don’t get to experience the visual overhaul that is brought by Wallpaper-based theming.
Also, XOS 10.6 ships with unnecessary bloatware you have to either disable or uninstall.
Overall, horsepower isn’t going to be an area of concern with the Infinix Note 12 VIP from emailing, browsing the web, streaming Netflix or YouTube, scrolling social media, multitasking, and running heavy games.
Battery Life
Infinix Note 12 VIP top arsenal is the 120W HyperCharge charging. You can go from empty to full in 20 minutes. Infinix added 103 protection features to ensure safe charging. These features are on the charging brick and the phone with 18 temperature sensors.
To help achieve fast-charging capabilities, they incorporated a dual-charge pump and dual-cell battery. This enables the Infinix Note 12 VIP to adjust the voltage and amperage to the optimal ratio, as well as doubles the available input.
The Infinix Note 12 VIP’s charge cycle counts up to 800 with up to 85% battery capacity retained. Also, the 120W HyperCharge is certified by the TüV Rheinland Safe Fast-Charge System certification.
The battery life is pretty strong and I was ending the day with around 20% of charge and I’m a heavy user. I’m pretty sure it can pull two days with less consistent use. I appreciate the 4500mAh battery and the battery-saving features included with XOS 10.6.
There are faster-charging speeds in the smartphone world but I’m always excited knowing you can go from 2% to 85% in 15 minutes.
It’s worth noting that you need to actually enable the Super Fast Charge option to achieve these speeds.
When it comes to the Note 12 VIP, Infinix kills two birds as you’re getting ultra-fast charging and solid battery life.
Cameras
When it comes to photography, we get a 108MP triple setup accompanied by a 13MP ultrawide and a 2MP depth camera, and Laser Detection Auto Focus.
16MP front-facing camera sits housed in the center punch-hole for selfies.
Infinix has made some major strides in their camera departments, especially for their midrange and flagship range of devices and that refinement is evident on the Note 12 VIP not just in photo but also in video. The Infinix Note 12 VIP has the 108MP main camera that trickled down from its flagship Zero X Pro.
Infinix Note 12(G96) and Note 12i have a 50MP triple camera setup that includes a 2MP depth sensor and an additional VGA camera. They also rock the 16MP selfie camera.
The cameras on the Note 12 VIP took really pleasing photos outdoors and indoors. Pictures taken from the primary, ultra-wide, and selfie cameras turned out sharp, contrasty, and colorful – perfect for sharing straight on social media. HDR worked pretty well in most shots with good focus, exposure, and detail.
It shines for night shots too and took surprisingly good photos. Modes to shoot in include AI Cam, Beauty, Portrait, SuperNight, HDR, 108MP Mode, Ultrawide, Google Lens, and Video maxes at 2K and at 1080p stabilized.
Here are some samples.
Selfies and Portraits
Regular Shots
Lowlight and SuperNight Mode Shots
Overall, I loved the camera setup and its versatility makes it easy to recommend for a camera smartphone.
Verdict
Infinix latest smartphone is a noteworthy upgrade and it gets a resounding yes from me. The Infinix Note 12 VIP is a solid mid-range smartphone that checks a lot of boxes – it goes extra with basics and some more. You are getting an excellent display, stereo sound, solid sustained performance, refined and slim design, more than capable cameras, insanely fast charging, and impressive battery life performance.
Given the overall package the Infinix Note 12 VIP is, the price tag is justified and sets the bar not only for its siblings in the Infinix line but also for rival midrange smartphones from other brands. Infinix Note 12 VIP keeps the competition on its toes.
Pricing and Availability Details
Here’s how much the three models cost:
- Infinix Note 12 VIP: Ksh 41,999
- Infinix Note 12(G96): Ksh 27,999
- Infinix Note 12i: Ksh 20,999
Infinix Note 12 VIP and the rest of its siblings are available offline at the company’s retail stores countrywide and online too at XPARK – their official online store and other online e-commerce partners like Jumia.
