It seems that we too often start reviews of Infinix smartphones with a story about how young and (yet) not
7/10Rated by FerraInfinix HOT 12i
Table of contents
- Design
- Display
- Performance
- Autonomy
- XOS 7.6
- Main and front cameras
- Conclusions and competitors
However, a cheap smartphone is a loose concept.It’s worth mentioning right away that the focus is not on those sad models for 6-8 thousand rubles (they are taken only for very great need or from complete hopelessness), and certainly not smartphones on the shelves in Bristol liquor stores, which can only be bought for one drunken call from an ex.
Given the current supply situation, policysellers and exchange rate fluctuations, an acceptable budget class starts from 10,000 rubles. The chances of getting "top for the money" in this category is not enough, and any fun models now start with noticeably higher marks. It should be understood that it is flagship buyers who easily overpay 20-30 thousand just for doubling the memory, while among state employees an additional payment of 5000 is almost half the price of a smartphone. And not every buyer is ready to afford such a trick with a personal budget.
Of course, there is an option when it is very cheap.A smartphone is not bought with the last money. For example, a gouging son who lost or broke a decent middle peasant after school or inherited the flagship of past years. However, such purchases happen quickly and on emotions, so it’s unlikely that a strict father will sit down to read reviews and choose which smartphone is most beneficial to “punish” a negligent offspring.
However, no one takes away from buyers cheapsmartphones the right to be completely satisfied with them. Watch your hands: there are at least three scenarios when such a purchase would be appropriate. Firstly, these are the most undemanding people by nature with a minimum number of user scenarios, for example, the elderly. Secondly, someone may need a simple spare smartphone - for work or situationally on some kind of trip. Finally, budget models are great for the youngest users, so that they can work out a responsible attitude to gadgets without much regret. And now let's see what Infinix HOT 12i offers with the official Russian price of 12,000 rubles.
Design
The appearance of the Infinix HOT 12i turned out to beas if the smartphone exists outside of time. Budget 2022? Inexpensive smartphone from 2020? Or maybe some mid-level model from 17-18 years? In each case, its design would look appropriate. The front is a flat screen, where a small “chin” of thickening of the frame draws attention from below, and at the top in the center there is a drop-shaped cutout for the front camera. The frame is made of plastic, the back too. The layout of the elements on the case is classic: on one side are the power and volume buttons, on the opposite side there is a tray for SIM cards and a memory card, at the bottom there are ports for charging (alas, microUSB) and headphones, as well as a tandem speaker with a microphone. The fingerprint scanner is located on the back panel in the old fashioned way.
As for me, Infinix HOT 12i looks more expensiveits price due to an elegant back with a striped texture, as well as a catchy mirror platform of the triple camera module. Plastic, glossy, therefore very easily soiled. However, it cleans effortlessly, is quite scratch resistant and generally promises to be practical over a long distance. By the way, there are no complaints about ergonomics either: the smartphone is moderately plump, fits comfortably in the palm of your hand due to the lack of sharp edges and does not strive to slip out of your hand. There are four colors to choose from: black, gold, blue gradient, rich green. In general, the design is very reminiscent of the slightly more expensive Infinix Hot 12 Play, which was recently tested (and praised for the exterior) by Denis Rusakov.
Display
You can’t exactly call the local screen a treat for the eyes,it's been better. Infinix HOT 12i is equipped in every sense of the budget IPS panel 6.6 inches with a resolution of 720x1612 pixels. The maximum brightness of 480 nits is declared (in manual mode, the actual one is much less, in auto mode it will most likely be 400-420 nits, which is approximately at the level of the aged Xiaomi Poco M3), the screen-to-front surface ratio is 83.1%, the pixel density is 267 ppi. An increased refresh rate, of course, is not provided. Moreover, even within the standard 60 Hz, there is a feeling of some kind of inhibited rendering of animations.
Infinix HOT 12iMax brightness341cd/m2 Contrast (higher = better) 1500:1 Color gamut (sRGB) (90-100% - ideal) 90% DeltaE (less = better) 6.5 Gamma (ideal - 2.2) 2.4 Color temperature (ideal = 6500K) 8500K
8500K is, I would say, “blue frost”, like from a song, and not a reference white color
In fact, the display brightness is low and drops even morestronger when you look at the screen at an angle. The white balance is more correctly called the blue balance, because it is in these shades that the Infinix HOT 12i desperately gravitates. The color balance almost reached the standard sRGB palette, but the color accuracy is low. Alas, for this smartphone, XOS 7.6 (Infinix's proprietary shell based on Android 11) does not provide for screen adjustments.
Choosing a color palette, adjusting the white balanceand other compensating jambs of the screen options are not available to state employees. The user can only activate the eye protection mode and the black and white theme. Both, again, without additional adjustments.
Performance
Price difference between HOT 12i and HOT 12 Playthe minimum, literally a thousand rubles, but technically smartphones differ greatly from each other in screen size, number of cameras, battery capacity, type of charging port, the presence of NFC ... The list is as if we are talking about products not from the same line, but about classmate smartphones. Finally, the Unicos T610 and Helio P22 processors also provide a significant performance gap between the two devices. The HOT 12i runs on the latter, a 12nm process chip with four 2.0GHz Cortex-A53 cores and a PowerVR GE8320 graphics accelerator.
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I would say that this is a smartphone for those who go nowherenot in a hurry. It's a bit brooding, clumsy even in simple tasks, and doesn't provide any headroom for the future at all. And to be honest, even today the performance of the Helio P22 is clearly not enough.
On the other hand, besides Realme C21Y smartphones withThere is no longer a normal speed of work in this budget. Xiaomi Redmi 10A is still not officially sold in Russia (and competing with prices on Aliexpress is a separate discipline, let’s not do it now). Unless the Xiaomi Poco C40 will be 15 percent faster. But with 4/64, such a Xiaomi costs at least 13 thousand rubles in official retail, and in terms of the quality of the display, as well as the selfie camera, it would turn out to be no worse than the hero of the review…
For the rest of the iron, the situation is as follows:the nominal amount of available memory is 64 GB, approximately 48 GB is available to users for data storage. RAM is 4 GB, but it is also possible to use virtual memory: you can add 1-3 GB at the expense of the drive. However, I'm not sure about the effectiveness of this maneuver, since the type of drive is eMMC 5.1 with a slow read and write speed relative to the more modern UFS 2.X standard. There is no NFC module in the smartphone, an electronic compass (it shows the direction of movement in navigators) is also not provided. But there is a fingerprint scanner. Surprised by such a dubious achievement? The similarly priced Realme C30 cannot boast of this. And Realme and, for example, TCL 30E do not support Wi-Fi ac (5 GHz), while Infinix can connect to networks in both bands. That is, at least at home you can download games or movies at normal speed.
Autonomy
Built-in battery capacity is 5000mAh Due to the limitations of the microUSB standard, fast charging is not provided; from zero to one hundred, you will have to wait noticeably more than two hours. In haste, such a smartphone cannot be recharged, so a power bank will not be superfluous.
In general, the configuration here is undemanding toenergy: a dim screen and a rather weak processor. The quieter you go, the further you will be. In general, the budgetary situation is normal, the smartphone is tenacious and will rarely ask for a power outlet.
XOS 7.6
Explore features and capabilities in detailI won’t have a proprietary shell, I’ll just show it in screenshots for a general idea. In general, the feeling is that the budget smartphone was not awarded with an abundance of settings and options, but this is probably for the best. Infinix HOT 12i does not make you fiddle for a long time after the first turn on and therefore is quite friendly to users far from gadgets.
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For example, there is even a default navigation systeminstalled with three buttons at the bottom of the screen, not gestures. This can be changed through the settings, but the product is clearly aimed at those who have not changed their smartphone for a long time and who find it difficult to learn new ways of interacting with gadgets.
Main and front cameras
The rear camera in the Infinix HOT 12i is, as it were, triple,but in reality, no. The main sensor has a resolution of 13 megapixels, f / 1.8 aperture optics and an autofocus system. Two more "eyes" are auxiliary, they do not have a tangible effect on the quality and shooting scenarios. Dual LED flash, video recording is supported in 1080p at 30 frames per second.
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Talk about some outstanding quality here is notnecessary, autofocus is not very accurate, the dynamic range is very small, the detail is low. If during the day you can still take something normal for a family chat in WhatsApp, then in difficult lighting you can’t talk about satisfactory quality. In general, just a budget camera for shooting in a home archive rather than on a social network.
The front camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels, equipped withflashlight due to the presence of a white diode hidden near the speaker. It also shoots without a hint of high detail and a wide dynamic range. Suitable for video calls or to take a selfie in the kitchen and send to mom as a report: I came home from school and now I had lunch.
Conclusions and competitors
If you look at gray retail (these aliexpressyours, and so on…), with a small surcharge instead of Infinix, you can even get Xiaomi POCO M3 Pro 5G 4/64 GB, which will have a large FHD 90 Hz screen, a MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor, 6000 mAh and even a decent camera. But this is gray retail; it has recently developed a colossal price gap with official stores.
However, the services of AliExpress and small localnot everyone wants to use stores (moreover: you, Vasyan, who buys with coupons for Ali, are in the minority relative to all sorts of M. Video-Eldorado, most are too lazy to bother), so we will compare the HOT 12i with its actual competitors - officially imported smartphones that costs about the same 12,000 rubles in stores.
Infinix HOT 12irealme C30TCL 30EOperatingsystemAndroid 11 + XOS 7.6Android 11 + Realme UI GOAndroid 12Screen6.6'', 720×1612 pixels, 20:9, IPS, 60 Hz, 267 ppi6.5'' , 720 x 1600 pixels, 20:9, IPS 60 Hz, 270 ppi6.52'', 720 x 1600 pixels, 20:9, IPS, 269 ppiProcessorMediatek Helio A22 (12 nm), 4 coresUnisoc Tiger T612 (12 nm), 8 cores MediaTek Helio G25 (12 nm), 8 cores Graphics PowerVR GE8320 Mali-G57 PowerVR GE8320 RAM 4+3 GB 2/3 GB 3 GB Storage 64 GB + MicroSD32 GB + MicroSD64 GB + MicroSD Communications LTE, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802. 11n), Bluetooth 5.0, GPSLTE, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.0, GPSLTE, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS Cameras Main triple 13 MP f/1.8 + 2 MP + 1 MP video quality: up to 1080@30 FPS Front: 8 MP Main single 8 MP f/2.2 video quality: up to 1080@30 FPS Front: 5 MP Main dual 50 MP f/1.9 + 2 MP video quality: up to 1080@30 FPS Front: 5 MP Battery 5000 mAh 5000 mAh 5000 mAh Dimensions 164.8 x 76.4 x 8.8 mm 164.1 x 75.6 x 8.5 mm 165.2 x 75.5 x 8.9 mm Weight 190 g 182 g 190 g Protection class no no no Price 12 thousand rubles 12 thousand rubles 12 thousand rubles
In the course of the text, it might seem to someone that forthis money Infinix turned out to be a very compromise and can lose to classmates, but in fact this is not entirely true. We are looking at realme C30 with a faster Unisoc Tiger T612 processor, however, in the list of minuses there will be a stripped-down realme UI Go shell, no fingerprint scanner, Wi-Fi ac, no more than 3 GB of RAM and a drive of only 32 GB. The main and front cameras are also simpler: 8 and 5 megapixels, respectively.
TCL 30E on a Helio G25 chip seems to be more interesting and runs on Android 12, but 3 GB of RAM is quite sad, plus network connectivity is also only in 2.4 Hz networks.
In general, Infinix HOT 12i is quite possibleconsider purchasing, especially since its design is quite good for a budget smartphone. Just keep in mind that for 12 thousand it will be about the same smartphone as for 8 thousand, only tuned with 4/64 (instead of 2/32) GB of memory and a fingerprint. For a camera, a powerful processor and a display that can resist the summer sun and remain readable, today you need to go to the category “from 18 thousand rubles and more” in official retail, or “from 15 thousand and more” on Aliexpress. But that's a completely different story…