The Infinix Note 30 VIP is the company’s top-of-the-line midrange smartphone and leads the rest of the Note 30 series in the country.
After checking out the Infinix Note 30 Pro[Our Full Review], I switched to the VIP version and used it as a main device for a little over three weeks.
I’m happy to report that the Note 30 VIP is the first Infinix phone in years that’s so well-rounded, it’s almost to the point of perfection – it doesn’t get more premium than this.
The Note 30 VIP ships with incredible features and nice additions that make it a significant upgrade over the Note 12 VIP from last year.
Its great perks make it so easy to recommend and here’s our full review.
UNBOXING
Infinix is generous with the whole package. The Note 30 VIP comes in a neat green box packing the phone with a pre-applied screen protector, a 68W power brick, a Type-C cable, earphones, and sim ejector pin.
Alongside the smartphone and its contents, Infinix included its new 50W wireless charger. It’s flat and circular with a charging indicator and a Type-C port.
There’s a stand version of the wireless charger. Both of them are air-cooled.
DESIGN
Infinix went with an all-new glass design for the Note 30 series, elevating the midrange lineup to premium levels. They sport IP53 rating for dust and water splash resistance.
The phone is light – lighter than the Note 30 Pro and its predecessor. I’ve handed the phone to a few people and they were pleasantly surprised at how light the phone is.
The back is frosted glass and feels premium to the touch. It’s so comfortable to use the phone without worrying about the phone slipping while using it.
Our unit comes in Glacier White which is blue in white. You can get it in Magic Black too.
The screen is better than its predecessor. It’s a 6.67-inch 1080p AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate and 900 nits brightness.
This is a 10-bit(1B colours) 100% DCI-P3 certified display.
Overall, this is a gorgeous and crisp screen.
The high refresh rate and touch sampling rate make for smooth scrolling and animations.
The side, bottom and top bezels are really slim which I really loved. We have stereo speakers at the top and bottom sides tuned by JBL making the sound quality coming out of them so appealing.
The multimedia experience is perfect for movie-watching and listening to music. Its brightness and high resolution make for a pleasant viewing experience even when outdoors.
When it comes to design, Infinix nailed it with the Note 30 VIP.
PERFORMANCE
Infinix not only revamped the outside but the inside as well. The Note 12 VIP had a MediaTek Helio chipset but we now have a MediaTek Dimensity chipset ticking inside its successor.
At the heart of the Note 30 VIP is the MediaTek Dimensity 8050 processor – this is the same chipset powering the Transsion’s other top midrange smartphones like the Camon 20 Pro 5G[Our Full Review].
This is a 5G smartphone and with Airtel 5G and Safaricom 5G already available in most places in the country, you’ll be well-sorted when you’re out and about.
The chipset is paired with 12GB of onboard RAM and 256GB of storage. There’s an additional slot for expandable storage via microSD. The Note 30 VIP ships with Android 13 and XOS 13 straight out of the box.
XOS 13 adds 9GB of virtual RAM. This combination gave me excellent performance. It handled everything I needed the phone to do and I’m a huge multitasker and mobile gamer.
The phone keeps its cool thanks to the 11 layers of cooling material inside.
While Infinix has a dedicated gaming smartphone, the GT 10 Pro, the Note 30 VIP has a neat gaming feature called Bypass Charge that lets you charge the phone while gaming and it doesn’t heat up. It works by supplying power to the main board instead of the battery to keep the phone cool.
The high-grade processor, fast refreshing display and Vacuum Chamber cooling not only make for a great gaming experience but also for everyday work.
The Note 30 VIP can handle the most demanding tasks you throw at it.
BATTERY LIFE
The phone is easy on the battery as well. The Note 30 VIP has a massive 5000mAh battery that pulls a day of moderate use. I was getting between 7 and 8 hours of screen-on-time.
Fast charging is supported by the 68W wired charging(PD) and 50W wireless charger. The wireless charger outputs at 15W.
Wired charging is really fast as 26 minutes can top up the phone from empty to 73%. 32 minutes is needed to go from 0% to 86% while 40 minutes charges it to full.
The wireless charger is equally fast compared to other wireless chargers but its slow – you have to give it time to fully juice up your phone.
The phone itself supports reverse wired and wireless charging so you can top up accessories or phones that support wireless charging.
CAMERAS
We have four cameras for the Note 30 VIP – a triple setup made of a 108MP main, 2MP depth sensor and 2MP macro and a 32MP front-facing camera for selfies.
Video recording for the rear cameras is capped at 4K 30fps and 1080p 60fps while selfie videos are capped at 1080p 30fps.
The phone shoots really good videos for Instagram reels, TikTok and YouTube.
Photos are excellent as well – from daylight to lowlight shots – and the Note 30 VIP rose to the occasion. The colours, sharpness, details, exposure, dynamic range and background blur on shots were perfect for social media sharing.
Here are some samples.
Selfies and Portraits
Regular Shots
Night Shots
The only gripe I have with the cameras is that Infinix could have included OIS on its main camera to make its photos and videos even better but that’s me nitpicking.
Overall, the Note 30 VIP is a more than dependable camera smartphone.
VERDICT
The Note 30 VIP is a true midrange contender coming with a ton of great perks that push it into the spotlight.
You are getting a high-resolution screen, a great camera system, excellent battery life, ultra-fast wired and wireless charging, a top-of-the-spec processor and software crowned by a sturdy build and beautiful design.
All these features make the Note 30 VIP upgrade-worthy smartphone not only from its predecessor but also from other mid-rangers in this price category.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Infinix Note 30 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.
Here’s how much the three models cost:
- Infinix Note 30 Pro: Ksh 33,999
- Infinix Note 30 VIP: Ksh 45,999
- Infinix Note 30: Ksh 27,999
