The Infinix Hot 30 is a phone that is trying to be an all-rounder. Unlike the Note 30 (with its 108MP camera), or the GT 10 Pro (gaming-focused), the Hot 30 doesn’t have any USP. It’s trying to be a jack of all trades.
Priced at Rs 12,999, Hot 30 is a good smartphone for those who need to buy something on a super tight budget. The problem is that Xiaomi and Poco have come out with even cheaper 5G smartphones. The competition is fiercer than ever. There isn’t a whole lot to talk about with respect to the Hot 30, because I think it gets lost amongst the other two smartphones that Infinix has recently launched. Nonetheless, let’s get into the meat of it.
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What’s cooking?
The retail packaging includes the Infinix Hot 30 5G smartphone, plastic case, SIM ejector, USB-C to USB-A cable, 18W charger, user guide and warranty card. The Hot 30 has a punch-hole display with a thick chin and a fingerprint sensor embedded into the power button. Overall, the phone looks good and gets a thumbs-up from my side.
There’s the 6.78-inch FHD+ display (with a 120Hz refresh rate). It clocks in at a resolution of 2460x1080 and up to 580 nits of brightness. It has everything you’d need in a smartphone (unless you’re a gamer or someone with a specific requirement). To add to the display is the stereo output. This is thanks to the dual-speaker set-up.
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There’s the MediaTek Dimensity 6080 chipset under the hood that provides adequate performance in all areas except gaming. The Hot 30 comes with up to 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage., Plenty of RAM for most consumers.
The best part of the Hot 30 is its 6,000mAh battery. The smartphone easily lasted 1.5 days and sometimes even more.
When it comes to cameras, the Hot 30 just about gets the job done. Under well-lit conditions, it’s the 8MP front camera that performs the best.
The primary camera on the rear is the other sensor that consumers should be using. Under good lighting conditions, one can capture shots worthy of putting up on their Instagram profiles. The photos are sharp without much noise and the colour accuracy is there. Even low-light shots turn out pretty decently well. This is thanks to the Super Night Mode.
What isn’t cooking?
The speakers are unbalanced. The bottom speaker is louder than the one at the top. Not by much, but it is very much noticeable and disrupts the media consumption experience. Along with this, the smartphone takes well over two hours to fully charge, the software is a hot mess, as I’ve talked about in previous reviews. The Hot 30 5G comes with XOS 13 (based on Android 13). There are several apps preloaded, which isn’t a pleasant experience for the consumer. The portrait mode is also a letdown on the Hot 30 5G. The smartphone struggles with edge detection.
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The competition
Back when it launched, the Infinix Hot 30 5G was the only 5G-ready smartphone in the segment. Now that the competition has caught up, the Hot 30 5G isn’t that straightforward a recommendation.
The competition in the budget 5G smartphone segment is fierce. There’s the Redmi 12 5G, POCO M6 Pro 5G, Realme 11X 5G and some smartphones from Motorola (including two upcoming smartphones in the G-series).
What Infinix has done, vis-a-vis these competitors, is to create a jack-of-all-trade smartphone that is affordable to the end user. Yes, it gets lost amidst its two other, more powerful, smartphones. Nonetheless, looking at what is available and doing some research is always recommended.
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Verdict
The Infinix Hot 30 5G comes in two variants: 4GB RAM + 128GB storage at Rs 12,499 and 8GB RAM + 128GB storage at Rs 13,499.
Two factors, which are the back panel feeling cheap and the underwhelming performance, may deter potential buyers. However, Infinix has two better smartphones in their portfolio. For a budget buyer who just needs a smartphone for daily tasks, the Infinix Hot 30 5G is a compelling option. It doesn’t stutter and the battery life is one of the best in the segment. For everyone else, there are plenty of smartphones on the market to look forward to.
