Infinix smart 4 plus

A Perfect Device for Remote Learning at Affordable Price

Infinix recently launched a new smartphone for the India market called Smart 4 Plus, which is a successor to the Smart 3 Plus that earned good reviews last year. Unlike its predecessor, it has some improvements in the form of a larger display, a bigger battery and a better chipset. Priced at Rs 7,999, the smartphone arrives in a single 3GB/32GB variant and is aimed at offering worth in the sub-8k segment.

The phone comes in three colour options- Ocean Wave, Midnight Black, and Violet. So should you buy this phone? Let’s find out.

Design

Design is something Infinix has always been particular about. The same goes with the Smart 4 Plus, which looks fairly decent. Having a dewdrop notch on the front, rounded corners and curved edges at the sides, the smartphone sports a new dual-coloured gem-cut design at the back. It houses a quadrear camera set up along with a fingerprint scanner at the back, which looks good. Below the scanner is an Infinix logo.

There is a SIM card tray on the left side, whereas the power button and volume rockers are located on the right side of the device. The handset features a charging port and 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom. The company has also bundled a transparent hardcover in the box as opposed to the usual silicone case.

Taken as a whole, the Infinix Smart 4 Plus is not prone to fingerprint smudges, kudos to its texture, which is again a good thing, as most of the handsets under the same price range are glossy and slippery. The flip side of this device is that it’s a bit heavy and bulky, hence it cannot be operated with one hand if your fingers are short.

Display

Having the biggest screen ever from the house of Infinix, the smartphone flaunts a 6.82-inch HD+ display with a 90.3-per cent screen-tobody ratio, a 20:9 aspect ratio and thin bezels. The screen appears to be perfect in case you are looking for a tablet to watch videos and movies. You will appreciate its large screen size. The screen is also

brighter than most devices at this price point, although it struggles in the direct sunlight as viewing angles are not that satisfying. However, it’s not a big issue, as you will experience this in almost all affordable smartphones.

The Infinix Smart 4 Plus is powered by the 12nm-based octa-core Mediatek Helio A25 SOC, an entry-level processor. The smartphone runs Android 10 with the company’s custom XOS 6.2 on top. The XOS is a highly customizable skin on top of Android. There is a Game Boost mode, Bike-mode that features auto-call rejection and auto-replies.

There’s a lot of bloatware here, such as apps like Opera, PHX News, Flipkart, and games like Danger Dash and Mayan Jump. However, most of these pre-installed apps can be removed, which definitely is a good thing. Thankfully, the smartphone doesn’t have the apps that were banned by the government recently.

As discussed above, the smartphone comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage which is expandable up to 256GB. The 3GB RAM is barely enough for smooth operation and Infinix’s memory management here keeps the phone running.

Although the smartphone is good for browsing, watching videos and playing light games, it’s definitely not good for

high-end games and multitasking because of its entry-level processor. You can easily play non-graphicintensive games like Tetris, Subway Surfer, etc. without hiccups. On the other hand, playing heavy games like PUBG Mobile will invite heating issues and it’ll lag.

The viewing experience offered by this phone is backed by a powerful audio experience enabled by DTS surround sound in four modes for maximum engagement. However, this feature doesn’t make this phone exceptional.

Cameras

The all-new smartphone by Infinix flaunts a dual-camera setup on the back. This includes a 13MP primary camera with f/1.8 aperture and phase detection autofocus (PDAF) which is coupled with a depth sensor and a triple LED flash.

The pictures shot in daylight conditions are quite decent with a good amount of detail in them, however, in low-light, the camera doesn’t perform as good as expected. In spite of that, the triple-led flash gets very bright and gets the job done in dim-lit

conditions.

In terms of the front camera, the 8MP selfie shooter produces aboveaverage shots justifying its price. There are standard Ai-assisted modes for tuned selfies. You also get two LED flash modules placed on the top bezel of the display that further helps in getting better selfies.

Battery

This is the most remarkable department of Infinix Smart 4 Plus. Backed by a colossal 6,000mah battery, the smartphone is capable of delivering two full days of life with heavy usage on a single charge. Interestingly, it lasts for over five days with basic work. The negative aspect of having a massive battery is its charging time, which takes very long, as it doesn’t support the USB Type-c power delivery.

Conclusion

It’s one of the best-looking phones at the given price point. Housing a large screen and an outstanding battery, the Infinix Smart 4 Plus is a perfect smartphone for watching movies and web series. It’s also a great device for students for remote learning. Even cameras are not bad, as they perform well in daylight conditions. This is definitely not a gaming device. It could have been better, from performance point of view, had Infinix gone with a smaller battery and maximized the RAM and storage. ■ ramesh@mymobile.co.in