Just like Mercedes, BMW, and Audi make compact cars stuffed with options so much that
7/10Rated by FerraInfinix Note 12 VIP
Table of contents
- Contents of delivery
- Appearance
- Display and shell
- Performance and autonomy
- Camera
- Competitors
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+
- Realme 9 Pro
- Total
Infinix must have read the old joke "In Texaseverything is big,” and even decided to follow it ideologically. Because what we have here seems to be a standard mid-range smartphone, but it has 8/256 GB of memory (for the iPhone X, let me remind you, they offered either 64 GB or 256 GB maximum),? super-powerful and super-fast 120W charging, stereo speakers, a large and fast 120Hz AMOLED display, a solid 108MP in the camera and everything that iXBT likes to paint in the headlines of their news. How cool does it all work in practice and isn't it time to buy such smartphones instead of the more greedy Chinese?
Contents of delivery
Something we don't usually write about, but this timecase is special. While A-brands are confidently selling the kit piece by piece, using several times the amount of packaging (hello, sustainability, huh), Infinix seems to be doing the only right way. Both in terms of customer satisfaction, and in terms of ecology.
Infinix Note 12 VIP
In one box with a smartphone, you can find more thanonly a charger with a power of 120 W (no, I didn’t make a seal, the power is really like that of a charger for a laptop), but at once both a case and a protective glass (this is in addition to the film pasted on the screen), and even a set of stickers. Well, to please you. The box turned out to be awesome, what a hefty one, so it can easily brush off ill-wishers. But we didn't tell you that, if anything.
Appearance
Twelve years after the release of the iPhone 4,smartphone manufacturers have decided that strict edges and straight side surfaces are what buyers lack so much. But if we move away from the ironic undermining of slightly overdue trends, then returning to such a design is really something fresh and pleasing to the eye.
13
Infinix Note 12 VIP
The buttons are inscribed neatly into the case, someI didn't notice any extra gaps. Separately, I was pleased with the power button, which has a built-in fingerprint scanner. It does not dangle, even if you start shaking the smartphone strongly, and during pressing it does not begin to crawl under your finger. The scanner built into it works without errors in the vast majority of cases. But here's the problem. Why a physical scanner and not a sub-screen one? Here, even an excuse in the spirit of “well, right there IPS” will not work, because the smartphone is equipped with an OLED display.
12
Stereo speakers, but not quite equal in power. The sound is directed perpendicular to the edges, and not to the ears. The sound itself sometimes lacks low frequencies
Infinix Note 12 VIP turned out to be a weighty device- without one two hundred grams. Even in a large hand, it feels big. In many ways, because of the side frames, the size of which was almost equated to the size of the “chin”. Yes, 3-4 mm from each edge is a lot, but we can talk about a rather symmetrical design of the front surface. This is still a rarity even today.
The back surface of the smartphone in renders and photographs in online stores is not to say that it is very impressive. However, everything changes when the smartphone falls into your hands.
Now imagine if the hero of the review had the entire back of black glossy glass. Eh, dreams
The renders look a bit too flat, whichwhether, and do not fully convey all the sensations from the device. The camera block often looks matte on them, although in fact glossy glass is used here. Yes, this whole camera panel looks a hell of a lot like a stylish induction cooker, but the bare minimum of unnecessary details makes it quite pretty. Nothing to do with the pictures on these internets of yours.
It is not clear just how much the protruding edge around the main camera will be scratched. But here she acts as the only support, while the smartphone lies with the screen up.
The removable slot was not made hybrid,therefore, you can use both a memory card and two nano-format SIM cards at once. The dimensions of the tray itself are small, about the same as a single slot, but the dimensions here are not the main feature. More importantly, the memory card snaps securely inside the slot. It is impossible to drop it, for this my respect. Sony in its flagships went to this feature in the design for several years, and then presented it as a very important feature for very important professionals.
Separately, I was pleased with the tactile feedback instead of vibration response.A full-fledged haptic simulation of tapping, without a nasty, barely noticeable buzzing.Everything is like in "adult" smartphones.
Display and shell
It's funny that the power values of the chargerdevices and screen refresh rates in the Infinix Note 12 VIP caught up. 120 Hz is more than solid for a smartphone that costs less than thirty thousand rubles. But at an increased frequency, everything does not end there. Here's how things stand with the calibration of that hefty OLED display.
Infinix Note 12 VIPMaximum brightness level(Max/min) 480/2 cd/m2Contrast(more = better)∞Color gamut(sRGB) (90-100% is ideal)115%DeltaE(less = better)5,2Gamma(ideal — 2.2)2.5Colour temperature(ideal = 6500K)8100K
8100K color temperature is a bit too much though
The screen turned out downright cold.The average color temperature of 8000K, although it has become almost the standard for inexpensive devices, still would like to see white in warmer colors, because it will not work to adjust the color reproduction - the smartphone does not provide such an opportunity. There is, of course, an eye protection mode that reduces the intensity of blue, but it will not help much, because only a very desperate person can use a smartphone in this mode, and even on an ongoing basis.
Infinix Note 12 VIP
If you are sensitive to pulse widthmodulation (this is a way of changing the brightness, when it changes not by changing the supplied voltage, but by the frequency of turning pixels on and off), then at very low brightness you should be prepared for not the most pleasant sensations. Although I don’t consider myself to be that part of people who are susceptible to high-frequency flickering, I still noticed how fingers sliding across the screen at low brightness leave behind a barely noticeable trail.
The problem with PWM could be solved by the DC functionDimming, which allows you to adjust the brightness using voltage, but it was not in the smartphone either. It's a shame, because even inexpensive Redmis are trying to provide this.
Almost 500 cd/m2 is higher than the "average temperature in the ward", which is rare for smartphones, the price of which is less than 30 thousand rubles.
Infinix, like Tecno, is part of Transsionholdings. The situation with the software for the two brands is about the same as for Xiaomi with Redmi. The devices use the same firmware, but with minor changes, so that copy-paste does not work out in between: they changed the name of the system itself, changed a couple of icons, slightly redesigned the launcher, and left all the functionality the same both there and there.
1/7
As in HiOS, which is used in Tecno, the developers have collected literally the most useful features from other shells.From setting the control of a locked smartphone, to expanding the RAM due to theThere are also a huge number of functions for WhatsApp: you can change your voice, or turn on the "non-reader".But I would like to see such functionality not only for applications fromWe are decent citizens here, that'sWe don't use it in any way.
And this is how the list of applications that the smartphone offers to install looks like. By the way, you can compare with what other manufacturers offer. We wrote about this in detail in this article.
12
Performance and autonomy
The heart of the smartphone is Helio G96 from MediaTek, whichuses today's standard big.LITTLE core layout: 2 Cortex-A76 cores at 2050 MHz and 6 Cortex-A55 cores at 2000 MHz. The optimal set for undemanding games and fast system operation, but, nevertheless, not for heavy tasks.
13
The usual loading of additional components for the game Genshin Impact led the smartphone to some exorbitant CPU temperatures, which affected the performance of the camera - it simply refused to start until the smartphone cooled down.However, the smartphone "tossed" the game itself quite cheerfully, albeit at low graphics settings.And it didn't even turn into a damn furnace at the same time.The smartphone does not involve graphics and the processor, but the active work of Wi-Fi (furious downloading of the game) and the active work of the drives (installing the game at the same time).
eleven
Oh, the 2015 Sony Xperia with the Snapdragon 810...
It's clear what to expect in heavy gameshigh frame rate is not worth it. But in some simple platformer, you can easily see rendering at 120 fps. Smooth and beautiful, everything is as it should be.
But who cares about frames per second whenIncluded is a 120W charger certified by TUF Rheinland. There is zero practical benefit from certification, and it kind of allows you not to worry that your house or apartment will ignite while you decide to charge your smartphone (we will not point fingers at the Samsung Galaxy Note 7).
In general, with such a power supply, our tableautonomy becomes somewhat useless. Okay, let's say that the smartphone "eats" for four. However, it is worth finding an outlet and 15 minutes of free time - and now you already have 90-95 percent of the charge. And from 0% to 100% charging lasts, by the way, only 20-25 minutes. For a battery with a capacity of 4500 mAh, the result is excellent.
Apparently, Infinix engineers were bitten by engineers from Xiaomi.The Redmi Note 11 Pro , which received the same fast charging, was also left without an "extra" 500 mAh, although all its older brothers with slightly slower chargers received a batteryat 5000 mAh.
Camera
"Such a hefty should shoot decently."And it shoots a smartphone really well.But there is something to complain about
Main module (Samsung HM6) with 108 resolutionMP performs in a smartphone, mainly a marketing function. Apparently, a smaller number would not look so solid on the box. Especially among the values of the power of the charger and the frequency of updates.
The pixel size of the HM6 is small - only 0.64 microns, but when shooting, they are combined in nine pieces, giving output photos with a resolution of 12 megapixels, not 108 megapixels. Is there any benefit from this when shooting? According to the manufacturer - of course. But in fact, we see that in flagships and other camera phones, everyone has long put large modules with large pixels into the pixel race. And what, in fact, is wrong with binning?
Each small pixel captures muchless light than its larger counterparts. Shooting in full resolution at night is a so-so idea. This is where programmatic pixel merging comes to the rescue. Yes, it is software, because the resulting large pixel turns out to be virtual. The smartphone collects information from nine pixels and multiplies the signal received by them. A frequent result of such manipulations is a drop in detail.
In this regard, large physical pixels are muchmore attractive. They simply record information without further debayerization algorithms (gluing small 108 megapixels into large 12 megapixels), which are not given to all manufacturers.
13
Wide module
13
Another progression of focal lengths
The lack of detail in the shots is sometimes noticeablewhen shooting on the main camera module Infinix Note 12 VIP. But here it’s not even so much the binning’s fault as the noise reduction algorithms. Well, their combination, yes. The noise itself is difficult to discern, but the reduction in sharpness is quite. This is especially noticeable on the edges of objects caught in the frame. In terms of colors, the pictures come out pleasant, albeit with a slight departure towards cold shades.
15
The main module
13
Another progression of focal lengths, but already at night
eighteen
Infinix Note 12 VIP: night
The camera did not receive a zoom module, but the high resolution of the main module allows you to crop the frame without losing quality.
The second module is a "wide" with a resolution of 13 megapixels and an aperture of f/2.2.It even has an autofocus system, which isn't often seen.The pictures are sometimes too sharp and again with a loss of detail.There is a feeling that the local software is very actively trying to draw something that does not exist.If you don't look at the photos too much and immediately "upload" them to your friends, then together with the compression when sending the result,After all, no one will see the details on the Gipeg if they are not there20 KB in size.
12
There is almost no dynamic range (it can be seen from the brightened sky and a minimum of details on it). And it's portrait mode. I would like to see blurs, for example.
The third module is used to determine the depth andhelp with portraits. Well, in theory. For the life of me, I still don’t understand why they are used if normal algorithms give better results than the combination of this sham sensor and my own software developments (although something tells me that only the software part is used here).
13
They did not let us down in Infinix with the front camera.This time there were no 32 megapixel modules. The usual 16 megapixels, but they shoot like competitors with twice the resolution. Even at night, the result is tolerable, although not always.
The main sensor, outside the context used insmartphone processor, can shoot up to 8K video. But the limitations built into the Helio G96 allow it to shoot at a maximum resolution of 2K. That is, there is no smell of 4K with 60 fps here. Actually, like optical stabilization. The result is… ok, better see for yourself.
Infinix Note 12 VIP: Full HD
Infinix Note 12 VIP: 2K
And wouldn't it be easier to use instead of freshmodules of budget sensors are slightly older, but with fewer pixels and their increased size? For example, a 50 MP Sony IMX766 sensor with optical stabilization, like in Realme 9 Pro +, would look great here. Well, I would like to see a processor with the ability to unleash the potential of the camera, it is capable of much more here than it currently demonstrates on the July 2022 firmware.
Competitors
Infinix Note 12 VIPXiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5GRealme 9 Prooperating systemAndroid 12 + XOS 10.5Android 11 + MIUI 12.5Android 12ScreenAMOLED, 120 Hz, 6.7", 1080 x 2400 p., 20:9, 393 ppiAMOLED, 120 GHz, 6.67", 1080 x 2400 p., 20:9, 395 ppiIPS, 120 Hz, 6.6", 1080 x 2412 p., 20:9, 400 ppiCPUMediatek MT6781 Helio G96 12nm (2 cores 2.05GHzCortex-A76 + 6 cores 2 GHz Cortex-A55) MediaTek Dimensity 920 6 nm 8 cores (2 cores 2.5 GHz Cortex-A78 + 6 cores 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G 6 nm 8 cores (2 cores 2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold + 6 cores 1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver)GraphicsMali-G57 MC2Mali-G68 MC4Adreno 619RAM8 GB8 GB8 GBStorage device256 GB + MicroSD 256 GB + MicroSD (combo slot) 128 GB + MicroSD (combined slot)ConnectionWiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, Beidou, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ 6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavICWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band , hotspot, Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, NFCCamerasMain: 108 MP, f/1.8, 1/1.67", 0.64 μm, PDAF, Laser AF Main: 108 Mg, f/1.9, 26 mm, 1/1.52", 0.7 μm, PDAF Main: 64 Mg, f/1.8, 26 mm, PDAF Wide-angle: 13 Mg, f/2.2 Wide-angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 1.0 µm Wide-angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚, 16 mm, 1/4.0", 1.12 µm Depth sensor: 2 MP, f/2.4 Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4Front: 16 MP, 1/2.76", 1.12 µmFront: 16 MP, f/2.5, 1/3.06", 1.0 µmFront: 16 MP, f/2.1, 26 mm , 1/3.09", 1.0 µmBattery4500 mAh, 120 W 4500 mAh 5000 mAh, 33 WDimensions163.5×76.7×7.9 mm163.7×76.2×8.3 mm164.3×75.6×8.5 mmWeight199 g204 g195 g27 thousand rubles with shares at the start of sales, 33 thousand rubles without shares34 thousand rubles24 thousand rubles
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+
Almost a twin brother in terms of technicalequipment. It also has the same fast screen, the same fast charging, but it all works in conjunction with a more powerful processor. Instead of Helio G96, DImensity 920 is used here with an additional cooling system, which makes it quite a gaming smartphone.
Among the interesting features worth noting is the sound,tuned in partnership with engineers from JBL and the screen is slightly brighter, which can accelerate from a maximum brightness of 600-700 cd / m2 to a completely flagship 1200 cd / m2.
At the same time, the smartphone is slightly cheaper than the hero.review, but only if you buy it from “gray” retailers and not in the same configuration as the hero of the review (the version with 256 + 8 GB of memory will cost even a little more). Yes, and it seems that this is generally the only way to acquire it. Because in official stores you will find such goodness of figs today.
Realme 9 Pro
Realme 9 Pro
Realme GT Neo 2 could easily be here, butits current price in Russia is absolutely sky-high. You can turn to AliExpress and find it there for a sane 25 thousand rubles. But it’s difficult, it’s a long wait, and this option is suitable only for brave buyers. It remains domestic retail and ... Realme 9 Pro, built on the basis of Snapdragon 695. It costs about the same as the Infinix Note 12 VIP. And even offers a similar performance, which ... is only suitable for very very simple games.
Yes, there is a “game” screen at 120 Hz, but it worksincreased hertz only in system applications and those utilities that have managed to optimize for an increased update frequency. From good news: the battery was not castrated, but the charging speed was reduced. Kritichino “on paper”, but in reality the phone will charge only 15-20 minutes more.
Total
By combining some features and price, InfinixNote 12 VIP turned out to be a really VIP smartphone. But this is only until you decide to play the conditional Genshin Impact or start the device's camera at night. But otherwise, the smartphone is really normal.
If you do not know about the camera and about not the mostproductive MediaTek under the “hood”, then the smartphone will not even hint that it costs less than thirty thousand rubles. Here you have a screen with support for a refresh rate of 120 Hz, and incredible tactile feedback instead of vibration. If you use your smartphone only to chat with colleagues and scroll through social media feeds, then finding something better for these purposes will be difficult in today's conditions. The screen is large, there are a lot of them, but at low brightness I managed to get acquainted with PWM. Although before that I did not notice a susceptibility to increased frequency. There is also no smell of voltage regulation here.
In general, I would like Infinix to adopt the experienceXiaomi finally decided to use chips from the Dimensity line, which would have expanded the capabilities of the camera so well (because in theory, the sensor is hoo, even in 8K it can). For a better chip, you could forgive slower charging if there was such a choice.
It's very interesting what Infinix will show nextgeneration, because they evolve at a breakneck pace. And it will be enough to correct a small number of shortcomings (read how to “finally switch from Helio to Dimensity and fix the camera algorithms”) to turn into a “killer” of these xiaomis and “real selves” of yours. in terms of price and quality ratio.