The Infinix HotS, the dual SIM smartphone that doesn’t break the bank

I got a chance to play with the Infinix HotS from Infinix Mobility Limited.Infinix phones are built by the joint venture company between Mobiwire (formerly Sagem wireless) and Earning way (Chinese company) in Hong Kong. Why did I mention that corporate history? For the important fact that Infinix handsets are designed in France and manufactured in China, the same recipe all the marque brand follow be they clothing manufacturers or car makers. Let us see if it works in the work of mobile handsets.

The Infinix I got my hands on is the Infinix HotS or for the super geek out there the Infinix X521. The HotS model I got is a champagne gold coloured handset, maybe an ode to its French heritage. The HotS is the mid-tier phone from Infinix aimed at people who want a smart phone that will not break the bank. My first thoughts as I looked at the box and I unboxed was, attention to detail. The front of the packaging highlights the phone’s main selling points, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and 4G LTE connectivity. The rear lists all the primary hardware specifications of the phone without fluffy consumerism, this is a great thing, quite a few of the big brands could learn from Infinix.

Infinix Hot S looks premium with curves on the edges, metal frame, and is available in Rose gold, gold, black, silver, and blue. Infinix Hot S features a 5.2-inch display with 1080 x 1920 pixels resolution with HD display. On the back of the device, you have a 13 megapixels camera with dual LED flash and on the front is an 8 megapixels wide-angle camera with a soft LED flash. Infinix Hot S is powered by a 64-bit Kirin 650 SoC. The processor offers 8-cores and it clocks at up to 1.5GHz. The smart phone is available in two versions; one offering 16GB storage and 2GB of RAM and the other with 32GB storage and 3GB of RAM. I tested the 16GB version.

Key Specs

• 5.2 inches full HD display
• Fingerprint scanner
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow
• MTK6753 processor
• 2GB/3GB RAM
• 16GB/32GB internal storage
• 13MP primary camera with double LED flash
• 8MP secondary camera with LED flash
• 3000mAh battery capacity.
• Can take an SD card

In my week of using the Infinix Hot S I did go through the initial my Android is better than your Android moments but that soon passed. This is an Android phone built with practicality and affordability in mind. All the usual apps installed and ran without an issue. I ran WhatsApp, Instagram, Flickr and Facebook several times a day and at no time did I experience any lag or problems with the handset.  The 3GB RAM makes multitasking a breeze. The 3000mAh battery had no problem taking me through the day, I tended to end the day with between 20 and 30% battery capacity left. For connectivity testing I used MTN and Airtel and both networks worked perfectly from 2G to 4G (MTN).

The one negative I had with the phone is you need an SD card with the 16GB model. No alternative. XOS plus the plethora of apps consumed all the storage space resulting in the phone unable to do an OS update. I installed a 32GB SD card and ran it as storage with no problems. Not sure why XOS insists on taking up so much storage!

If you are looking to upgrade from a feature phone or a blackberry then this makes a great case to be your first smart phone. The phone and its siblings are available now in Zambia at the following retailers:

• Mobile Monsters (Cairo Road)
• Mobile City (Cairo Mall, Cairo Road)
• Mobile City (Cairo road, Cosmopolitan)
• Telefonika (East Park, Levy, Arcades)
• Tigmoo (online)
• Sub Zero Electronics (Cairo Road)
• Mellow Mobile Zambia (Carousel Mall)
• Connect (Manda Hill)
• Telefonika (East Park, Cosmopolitan)

• HOT S – K1450 to K1700
• HOT 4 Lite – K950 to K1100
• ZERO 3 – K1875 to K2200