Infinix Hot 30i review: solid design and features

Name: Infinix Hot 30i
Item: Infinix Hot 30i
Rating: 7.0
Author: Ashish Kumar

Here's my take on Infinix's new budget smartphone - Infinix Hot 30i

By Ashish Kumar

Published On: 13 April 2023 | 08:00 IST

Last Updated On: 11 March 2024 | 10:32 IST

Review Summary

Expert Rating

7.0/10

Up to 8 gigs of RAM, up to 128GB storage, a 90Hz refresh rate screen, and a 50MP primary camera are some of the specs of Infinix’s new sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone, the Hot 30i. The handset also features an eye-catching design that surpasses even some of the more expensive smartphones. But is the Infinix Hot 30i worth buying based on the specs sheet alone, or is there more to consider? In this review, I’ll attempt to answer that question and more. Keep reading to find out.

Verdict

While the Infinix Hot 30i falls short in some areas like cameras and performance, it excels in the design and display departments. The extra RAM provides seamless switching between the apps to an extent, though that might not be sufficient for heavy multitasking. Worth a look if you’re on the hunt for a stylish phone under Rs 10k.

The lowdown

The Infinix Hot 30i boasts a striking design. I got the Glacier Blue colour variant for review, and it looks appealing with its diamond pattern back panel that subtly shifts colour when light hits it at an angle. The phone also comes in a Mirror Black colourway. Both variants feature rings instead of a dedicated camera housing for the lenses and an LED flash, giving the device a clean and minimalist appearance. Moving on, the Hot 30i has flat edges for a comfortable grip, and sports a USB Type-C port along with a 3.5 mm headphone jack and speaker grille located at the bottom edge. The handset weighs 191 grams and is just 8.4mm thick, making it easy to hold for long hours.

The Infinix Hot 30i sports a 6.6-inch HD+ display that bears a 90Hz refresh rate and 500 nits brightness. It is an IPS LCD panel with a waterdrop notch atop, thin bezels on the sides, and a thick chin. It is a fairly large screen, and reaching for the corners may require some finger gymnastics. Nevertheless, the display quality is good, and it’s readable even under direct sunlight. Additionally, the colours look vivid, and the viewing angles are satisfactory. The images and text may not look their sharpest due to low resolution, but given the price, it is reasonable to expect some compromises. The handset supports Widevine L3 certification for streaming in SD (480p) quality from Netflix and other streaming platforms.

Under the hood, the Infinix Hot 30i rocks MediaTek Helio G37 SoC, and I reviewed the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant. The phone comes with MemFusion technology that adds up to 8GB of virtual RAM using a portion of the device’s storage. This does assist with some multi-tasking as claimed by the company; however, there were a few lags while doing so with a bunch of apps running in the background. The chipset can handle basic smartphone usage like casual browsing, social media activity, and some light gaming. Attempting to run demanding tasks, such as consecutive games, may cause the smartphone to stutter and experience performance issues.

The Infinix Hot 30i packs a 5,000mAh battery with Power Marathon technology. The latter is said to sustain the power of the smartphone and ensure more than 25 hours of calling and standby time of 30+ days. Considering the phone will not be used for any heavy task, it should comfortably last for a day with some GPS navigation. However, the handset scored 14 hours and 52 minutes in the PC Mark battery test, which is below average for a budget smartphone. The Hot 30i supports 10W charging, which takes over two and a half hours to fully charge the battery from 0 to 100 percent.

Coming to the software, the Infinix Hot 30i runs XOS 12 based on 2021’s Android 12 OS out of the box. The UI has some ads and pre-installed apps, but it is quite feature-rich. The phone has peak proof, eye-care, focus mode, and kids mode, among other features. Additionally, users can disable or remove some of the pre-installed apps to further customise their experience. As for security, the Hot 30i ships with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which can be iffy at times. After successfully registering the fingerprint, the scanner takes a fraction of a second to unlock the device. The bottom-firing mono speaker is average, and just about gets the job done.

In terms of optics, the Infinix Hot 30i packs a dual camera setup with 50MP primary sensor and an auxiliary unit. The primary sensor has AI mode that detects the scene and adjusts the photo settings accordingly. For instance, it will automatically add bokeh effects to portrait shots. This is not a camera-focused smartphone, and the images it offers are ordinary in sufficient lighting conditions with HDR. While the details look good, the sharpness goes for a toss, and the colours look unsaturated. The sensor may require manual adjustment to get the focus and exposure level right for more likeable shots at times. The front camera of the Hot 30i is a 5MP unit that delivers some appealing selfies in daylight conditions. However, it tends to smoothen out the details and may not capture accurate skin tones.

The handset delivers decent portraits when the sun is out. That said, the low-light performance of the Infinix Hot 30i is underwhelming. The images lack details and the colours often appear washed out. There is no dedicated night mode as well to help reduce the noise level. While the company has provided LED lights for both the front and rear cameras, they overexpose the subjects resulting in smoothening of pixels and loss of details.

Final verdict

Rs 8,199 is the starting price of the Infinix Hot 30i equipped with 4GB of RAM. The top-end 8GB RAM variant is selling at Rs 9,999. The handset has a lot going for it, but there are a few limitations. The Infinix smartphone is equipped with a slightly underwhelming chipset when compared to other devices in a similar price range, such as the Redmi 12C and POCO C55 (review), which offer more powerful SoCs. The Hot 30i also needs improvement in terms of software and camera performance.

Be that as it may, the handset is one of the better-looking devices in the budget segment. And if you are in search of a budget phone with a good screen, all-day battery life, and extra RAM, the Infinix Hot 30i could prove to be a decent buy.