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Infinix HOT 50 Pro Plus Review

The Infinix HOT 50 Pro Plus might be the slimmest smartphone made for gaming we’ve ever had this year. This new entry-level offering comes at a great price and doesn’t skimp on features at all.

This smartphone is equipped with a Helio G100 chipset, making it the first to have it under PHP 8,000. On top of that, it also sports a great display, surprisingly good cameras, and more.

If you’re interested in how it fared with us on a day-to-day basis, let’s dive right into the review. For reference, our review unit comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage.

Design and Construction

Right off the bat, our review unit comes in a muted Titanium Grey colorway. It’s simple yet elegant, and has a really slim 6.8mm profile weighing only 162 grams.

While holding this does feel great, it made me wonder how they fit its battery in the device.

Aside from this, we’ve noticed it sports square-shaped cameras. Personally, I’ve grown to like them a bit. It’s a fresh design compared to other smartphones that have traditional round camera modules.

At the front, users are treated to a curved display. It feels great, like it’s the perfect display size to browse, watch, and game. But of course, we’ll get to these in detail later.

The phone also has an IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance. On top of that, it’s safe from scratches, bending, and wet and greasy touches as well.

For buttons and ports, the volume rocker and power switch can be found on the right side. Meanwhile, the left side is clean from anything.

At the bottom, users will find one of two speakers, a USB Type-C port, and its SIM tray. The SIM tray houses two SIM slots and a dedicated microSD slot. On top, we have the other speaker and what I believe to be the device’s microphone.

Infinix put a lot of thought into the design. It certainly feels premium, with their touches on innovation being evident in how this segment alone turned out.

Display, Multimedia, and Biometrics

The phone boasts a curved AMOLED screen with FHD+ resolution and caps at a refresh rate of 120Hz. It’s even protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

It does alright under direct sunlight, peaking at 1,300 nits should users need it. For the most part, I used the device for Netflix, YouTube, and gaming binges.

Compared to devices under (or even above) its price range, the display quality is a cut above. For context, similarly priced devices would be fitted with an IPS LCD panel. While these panels appear to produce more color accuracy, this phone offers more vibrance.

If we consider that AMOLED panels offer deeper blacks and are less battery-hungry, then it’s pretty much a no-contest. The curved display and tapered edges certainly made for more of an appealing experience as well.

For audio, the device has JBL-tuned dual stereo speakers. It complemented the display with how easy the phone was to hold. It felt louder than I expected it to be.

As for biometrics, the Infinix HOT 50 Pro+ offers the usual means of security. This includes an in-display fingerprint sensor, face unlock, numeric/alphanumeric passcodes, and patterns.

Everything mentioned works seamlessly, and I had no gripes with these features at all.

Cameras

For optics, the Infinix HOT 50 Pro+ has dual-rear shooters that can record videos up to 2K resolution at 30fps. This includes a 50-megapixel main camera paired with a 2-megapixel depth sensor.

As mentioned, the cameras work surprisingly well. It can do wonders even with just a bit of light. From experience, it was able to produce some nice shots with great attention to detail.

For how much the phone is worth, I had low expectations under this segment. Even the selfies with its 13-megapixel shooter turned out okay. However, I did observe that the cameras lean more towards vibrancy over color accuracy.

It doesn’t end there though, as the Infinix HOT 50 Pro+ even has a great AI Eraser tool. I’ve used this a number of times, so I’ll leave a comparison above.

I think erasers are insanely good if it removes things like electrical wiring in between a subject and their background. Plus, even the interface gets a ton of points. It lets you choose a brush size for the eraser and zooms in on what you want to work on.

All I can say is, users will surely enjoy using this device for taking snaps and videos. These are only complemented by the additional modes and tools that the device offers.

OS, Apps, and UI

This device runs on XOS 14.5 based on Android 14 out of the box. We’ll update the review once we have details on how long the phone will get software and security updates.

Okay, so I hope readers won’t be turned off by this, but the phone comes with a ton of bloatware. Fairly enough, these are placed in folders that users could delete. Then again, uninstalling one by one is tedious work.

At the very least, apps like Messenger and Instagram come pre-installed. Considering this is a phone made for gaming, I’m sure most of us need to work on freeing up space from unwanted apps.

There aren’t too many notable features that come with the OS. As for the UI, it’s your standard Android makeup. While the XOS skin does make it feel clean to use, it doesn’t really stand out.

Performance and Benchmarks

Powering this device is a MediaTek Helio G100 chipset. Graphics-wise, it has an ARM Mali-G57 MC2 GPU under the hood. For configurations, our review unit comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage.

The device handles multiple apps and gaming reliably, but does heat up during playthroughs. Notably though, it doesn’t heat up to the point that it’s concerning.

Going into detail, I played games like Teamfight Tactics, League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Genshin Impact. TFT isn’t too graphics intensive, so it worked well as it just needs about 30 frames to run.

For Wild Rift, it was pretty consistent as well. I was able to enjoy games without worrying about performance dips, battery draining too fast, or frame drops.

For Genshin Impact though, I do have some notes. Upon booting up the game, it says I’m overclocked even under low to medium graphics settings.

I also noticed the device heating up from playing this game in particular. Noticeable frame drops only occur when you’re at either high or the highest graphic settings. Either way, it’s definitely playable.

TL;DR: I recommend this phone for games with moderate requirements like MOBA games. If any reader is into games like Honor of Kings and Mobile Legends, you should definitely check this phone out.

While it can handle games like Genshin and Honkai: Star Rail, you’re tying yourself to the metaphorical low-medium graphics anchor. If you’re in it just for dailies, go ahead. If you want something more in terms of graphics and performance, look elsewhere.

Our general consensus on its performance is that it’s moderate yet consistent. As always, we’ll leave our synthetic benchmark scores below for those interested.

Battery and Connectivity

Wrapping up, the phone packs a 5,000mAh battery with 33W of wired charging support via USB Type-C. It even supports 10W of reverse wired charging as well.

The phone can last users more than half a day with heavy usage. This includes video streaming, a bit of gaming, etc.

In PC Mark’s Work 3.0 Battery Test, our review unit lasted 13 hours and 53 minutes. This test was conducted with 50% brightness, muted volume, and in airplane mode.

As for our video loop test, the phone provided 23 hours and 8 minutes of media playback. For this test, we played a full HD movie with the same variables mentioned above.

As for charging, the Infinix HOT 50 Pro+ needs 1 hour and 17 minutes to get from zero to full. If users are in a pinch, then they could get 42% of power in 30 minutes.

Connectivity options include dual nano-SIM, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5, NFC, and 4G LTE. Call and network quality on the phone works as intended. Frankly though, I’m not sure why this device in particular skimped on 5G connectivity as a gaming device.

I think some of us might have appreciated having 5G enabled for mobile gaming. After all, the low latency and value of real-time gaming matters in competitive matches.

Conclusion

I’m not sure if readers would’ve noticed, but my review for this device kind of fluctuates a bit. Full disclosure, I believe that the Infinix HOT 50 Pro+ can throw punches above its weight class.

However, it does die down a bit per segment as I progressed through my experiences. Overall though, the pros very much outweigh the cons, all things considered.

Users will get a gaming-tailored smartphone with a slim build, smooth display, and great cameras. Things like its performance and battery are decent at best. If readers didn’t mind the bloatware and absence of 5G connectivity, then it’s fine.

It all comes down to price, and the Infinix HOT 50 Pro+ only costs PHP 8,499. Even with its downsides, users will get a ton of value for money with this phone.

Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G

Compared to the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G 34 released this year, which costs PHP 13,999, this device wins out. The HOT 50 Pro+ has around the same Antutu score, camera quality, and battery life with just 5G connectivity missing.

Sure, it charges faster. But hey, you save around PHP 5,000 to wait for 30 more minutes. If you’re looking for your next budget-friendly daily driver, then you should definitely check the HOT 50 Pro+ out.

What we liked:
Slim build
Smooth, curved display
Cameras
Price

What we didn’t like:
Bloatware
Absence of 5G

Infinix HOT 50 Pro+ specs:
6.78-inch FHD+ (2436 x 1080) 3D-Curved AMOLED display
120Hz refresh rate, 1,300 nits (peak brightness)
Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
MediaTek Helio G100 (6nm)
2x Cortex-A76 (2.2GHz)
6x Cortex-A55 (2.0GHz)
ARM Mali-G57 MC2 GPU
8GB RAM
128GB, 256GB UFS 2.2 storage
microSD card support (dedicated slot, up to 1TB)
50MP main camera (f/1.6)
2MP depth sensor (f/2.4)
Dual LED flash
Up to 2K at 30fps video recording
13MP front camera (f/2.2)
Dual stereo speakers
JBL audio
4G LTE
Dual nano-SIM
Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth 5
GPS
NFC
FM Radio
USB Type-C
Fingerprint sensor (in-display)
Face unlock
XOS 14.5 (Android 14)
5,000mAh battery
33W fast charging, 10W reverse wired charging
IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance
164.10 x74.43 x 6.80mm (dimensions)
162 grams (weight)
Sleek Black, Titanium Grey, Dreamy Purple (colors)

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1 Response

  1. Avatar for Niño Anthony Murcia Niño Anthony Murcia says:

    gsmarena wannabe type review

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