Infinix Hot 50 5G Review

The Infinix Hot 50 5G is a budget-friendly smartphone that offers good specifications and 5G connectivity. It could be a good phone for people looking for an affordable 5G  smartphone. I have been using this phone for over 10 days and here’s the detailed review of Infinix Hot 50 5G. In this review, I will talk about the key aspects of the Hot 50 5G, including its design, performance, camera capabilities, battery life, and overall user experience. So, keep reading.

Design

The Infinix Hot 50 5G sports a modern and sleek design that is typical of budget-friendly smartphones. The phone has a plastic construction that is common for budget-friendly smartphones. While it may not have the premium feel of glass or metal, plastic offers durability and keeps the device lightweight. I got the Sage Green version and it has a matte finish on the back to prevent fingerprints and smudges.

At the front, you see a 6.56-inch display with a hole punch for the selfie camera and narrow bezels for a budget phone. The power button and volume rocker are located on the right side. This placement is standard and buttons are within easy reach of your thumb. Buttons offer decent tactile feedback when pressed. At the bottom, it has a Type-C port for charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The rear camera module is housed in a slightly protruding camera bump. This design protects camera lenses from scratches and impacts.

Display

The Infinix Hot 50 5G comes with a large 6.56-inch LCD display. It offers only HD+ resolution which is relatively low compared to some competitors. Still, it offers decent clarity for everyday tasks like browsing, watching videos, and playing games. The colors look good and brightness is also sufficient for indoors, but not as good in outdoors. The display is also not as sharp or detailed as higher-resolution displays. The LCD panel also offers good viewing angles.

Software

The device runs on Android 14 with XOS 14.5 custom UI. The software offers a clean and intuitive interface with a variety of customization options. There are some bloatware pre-installed that can be uninstalled. However, you cannot remove the PalmStore app. PalmStore is a PlayStore alternative that is popular in the African region. I am not sure why there is no option to uninstall PalmStore. The overall software experience is generally smooth and responsive.

Since most companies are now including AI features, this phone also has some AI features such as an AI wallpaper generator. The AskAI feature provides quick summaries across apps. This feature is helpful to get summaries of long articles. The UI also has one-tap access to Google’s Gemini assistant.

It also has a Dynamic Bar that shows animations during charging, music playback, calls, and more. See the screenshot below to understand how it looks. If you do not like it, you can also disable the feature from the settings.

Performance

The Infinix Hot 50 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 810 processor. Dimensity 810 features an octa-core CPU with two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores and six power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores. It also includes an integrated APU that can accelerate AI-related tasks. The SoC also has an Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU that is capable of delivering smooth graphics performance. In this price segment, Dimensity 810 seems a good option. The phone offers a decent performance for daily usage like browsing, streaming, and moderate gaming. You also get 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM that provides good multitasking. It also supports up to 8GB virtual RAM expansion to enhance multitasking capabilities. You can also play games on the phone but don’t expect powerful performance. It is fine for playing casual games, but not for serious gamers.

The phone has 64GB of internal storage, that can be expanded up to 1TB. So, you get sufficient space for documents, videos, and photos. The device uses UFS 2.2 storage that offers good read and write speed.

Camera

The Infinix Hot 50 5G features a dual-camera setup on the back. It includes a 50MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor.

The phone comes with a user-friendly camera app with several shooting modes. The camera app also has a Pro mode for people who want to use a camera with manual control. The notable option is the Film mode where you can record videos for several scenarios. It could be a good option for people who are into content creation. The app also has a dedicated mode for recording Short videos.

Now let’s talk about camera performance.

The main camera performs well in daylight, producing photos with good detail, color accuracy, and dynamic range. However, the quality may deteriorate in low-light conditions. The camera’s autofocus is generally reliable, but it may struggle to focus quickly in some situations. The portrait mode utilizes the depth sensor to create a bokeh effect. The camera app also lets you control the bokeh by selecting the aperture value. While the results can be pleasing, the quality may vary depending on the lighting conditions and the distance between the subject and the camera. The Edge detection isn’t inconsistent. Sometimes it provides unnatural-looking blur effects.

The front-facing camera is suitable for selfies and video calls. It captures decent photos in good lighting conditions, with reasonable detail and color accuracy. The quality may be limited in low-light conditions.

The Hot 50 5G can record up to 2k videos at 30fps, which is sufficient for most users. But for best results, I suggest people record 1080p videos at 60fps from the rear camera and 1080p videos at 30fps from the front camera. The video quality is fine with good colors. However, the quality drops in low-light conditions.

Connectivity and Sound

The phone supports 5G connectivity. It also supports dual SIM functionality, allowing you to use two SIM cards simultaneously. Other connectivity options are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, and USB-C. The fingerprint sensor is on the side button and it works well.

There’s a single bottom-firing speaker that is loud enough for daily use. The sound clarity is just fine. It also has a standard 3.5mm audio jack. So, you can connect wired headphones or earphones. The audio quality through wired headphones is better than the built-in speaker.

Battery

The smartphone packs a 5,000mAh battery that offers a full-day battery backup. Under normal usage conditions, I was consistently able to achieve around 7 and a half hours of screen-on time, which is quite impressive for a device in this price range. The phone supports 18W charging but is shipped with a 10W charger. With the given charger, it takes more than 2 hours and 30 minutes to charge the phone. Slow charging could be an issue for many people. It would have been better if Infinix had included an 18W charger in the box.

Wrap Up

The Infinix Hot 50 5G is a solid budget-friendly smartphone offering good value for money. It has a good design, a large and vibrant display, a capable processor, and good battery life. Although camera performance is not really good, but decent for the price. It also has 5G connectivity which makes it notable. If you are looking for a reliable and affordable smartphone, the Infinix Hot 50 5G can also be a good option to consider.

Pros

• Modern design
• 5G connectivity
• Large battery
• Decent performance
• Affordable price

Cons

• Average camera quality
• HD+ display resolution
• Slow charging