Infinix is going to turn 10 later this year. They have been operating in the country for a decade and the Hot series has evolved over the years. The Hot lineup which targets the 18-25 demographic is their best-performing series in comparison to the midrange Note and flagship Zero series.
The Hot 30 was launched in early April and showcases how the company has progressed as it now boasts of having modern features while still remaining affordable to the youth.
The series includes the Hot 30i, Hot 30 Play and the Hot 30. The latter is the one we’re reviewing but we’ll include relevant comparisons with the other two.
UNBOXING
Hot 30 ships in a green box with a blue bottom. Inside the box is the phone, a back case, a 33W power brick, Type-C charging cable, sim ejector pin, and a set of earphones.
DESIGN
Infinix Hot 30 looks pretty fantastic – both front and back and feels premium as well. It’s a refined and a beautiful smartphone.
We have a large 6.78 inch 1080p display that has 90Hz refresh rate and 270Hz touch sampling rate. The screen supports 96% DCI-P3 rich color and WideVine L1 for FHD+ streaming.
You also get 600 nits peak brightness.
The screen is delightful to use – its bright and vivid and with 90Hz refresh rate, its plenty fast. It’s fluid and sharp which not only made the gaming experience really good but also generally interacting with the animations and buttery smooth scrolling on social media and the web.
It was still usable outdoors so you can definitely use when you’re out and about.
The back has a glass-like holographic design which I really loved. The Hot 30 comes in various colours including Sonic White, Surfing Green and Racing Black.
Hot 30 has stereo speakers with DTS sound which paired with the excellent screen made binge-watching Netflix shows and movies enjoyable.
Other features include a speedy side-mounted fingerprint reader and a headphone jack.
PERFORMANCE
We get new silicon with the Hot 30. Infinix upgraded the processor and we now have a Helio G88 chipset which is much more powerful than the Helio G85 of its predecessor. RAM is also upgraded to 8GB onboard and up to 8GB of virtual RAM.
Storage options start at 128GB and there’s an option to increase with an external microSD card up to 1TB.
Running the phone is Android 13 and XOS 12.6 user interface. XOS features Dar-Link gaming assistant engine that delivers a truly immersive gaming experience. Intelligent temperature control has been introduced in Dar-Link 3.0.
All the RAM and software combination delivered speedy performance for my day to day tasks – gaming included. Nothing I threw at it slowed the phone which I really appreciated.
BATTERY LIFE PERFORMANCE
Infinix Hot 30 has a 5000mAh battery which supports 33W fast Type-C charging. The phone is a battery champ with its long lasting performance. On average, I was getting about a day and a half of mixed usage plus seven hours of screen-on time.
It can pull a day of heavy use without breaking a sweat.
If you run out of charge, the 3W fast type-C charging will get you juiced up in no time. 30 minutes will get you to 55% from empty.
CAMERAS
Hot 30 comes with an 8MP selfie camera housed at a punch-hole cutout.
At the back, we have a 50MP main with a complementary lens.
Video recording is capped at 1080p 30fps for the selfie camera and 1440p(2K) at 30fps and 1080p 30fps for the primary camera and the video qualit is acceptable.
The pictures come out really well even in lowlight scenarios. I was getting shots with decent exposure, saturated colours, sharp and bright.
Overall, you are getting dependable camera performance with the Hot 30.
VERDICT
The Infinix Hot 30 is an outstanding choice for a budget device. It has a high-quality display, high refresh rate and speedy processor not only optimized for gaming but heavy multitasking as well and a long-lasting battery which supports fast charging.
It a definite pick for anyone in the market shopping a smartphone that ticks those checkboxes and you won’t have to dig deep in your pocket to purchase it.
Pricing and Availability
Infinix Hot 30 series is available at the company’s retail stores countrywide and online too at XPARK – their official online store.
- Hot 30i: Ksh 15,499
- Hot 30 Play: Ksh 18,399
- Hot 30: Ksh 22,899
