Infinix Hot S3 Review

Smartphones are being launched one after another in the range of less than Rs 10,000. The trend of display with 18:9 aspect ratio is at its peak and companies are vigorously offering this feature in their budget phones. The next name in this series is Infinix, which has launched Infinix Hot S3 at a price of Rs 8,999. The phone has 3 GB RAM. Storage is 32 GB. Infinix is ​​a company owned by Transition Holdings, which runs brands like Intel, Techno and Spice. As good as Infinix Hot S3 looks, did it impress us with its performance? Let’s find out through the review…

Infinix Hot S3 Design

At first glance, the Hot S3 does not look like a phone priced at Rs 10,000. Made of good quality plastic, this handset comes with curved edges, which makes the phone easy to hold. A cover is also provided with the phone, which will protect the back panel from fingerprints.

The phone has a 5.65-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio on the front, which gives the phone a long and slim look. One has to struggle a little to reach the edges of the phone. Like most smartphones of today, Infinix has provided onscreen buttons in this handset. Above the display is a metal speaker grill, selfie camera and dual LED flash. The loudspeaker, micro-USB port and microphone are provided at the bottom of the phone. The headphone jack is on the top of the phone.

The power and volume buttons are on the right side of the phone. The SIM tray is on the left side of the handset. The power button has a metal texture, which is easily recognized by fingers. The fingerprint sensor present on the back of the phone is placed a little higher than expected.

Infinix Hot S3 specifications and software

Considering the price, the phone has good hardware. The phone runs on Snapdragon 430 processor, which has a maximum clock speed of 1.4 GHz. The phone comes in two variants. One has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage and the other is equipped with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. We reviewed the lower priced variant and more than 22 GB of storage was available for use in the phone. There is also a facility to increase the storage up to 128 GB via microSD card.

The 5.65 inch display has HD Plus resolution. It is also protected by NEG glass. Viewing angles are good. The phone is capable of giving various outputs and there is no problem in reading on the phone even in direct sunlight. The handset has a 4,000 mAh battery, which comes with a 10 watt charger. In terms of connectivity, the phone has Bluetooth 4.2, USB-OTG, GPS and Wi-Fi features. The phone supports dual SIM, which has 2 nano SIM slots. It also has 4G and VoLTE support.

Infinix has used Android Oreo in Hot S3, which is nothing short of good news. The phone has Hummingbird XOS 3.0 user interface. The UI is quite similar to stock Android but overall attractive. In the unlocked state, the phone can be ‘waked up’ by tapping it twice simultaneously and letters can be drawn to launch apps. The phone also has a one-handed mode. Like Huawei’s EMUI interface, the feature can be activated with just a swipe.

Some apps will be pre-installed in the phone. Apart from all the Google apps, the user will also get the company’s own apps like Xclub, Xshare, Xtheme. Xclub is a file sharing app, while through Xtheme you will be able to enjoy different themes. The phone also has Phoenix Browser, Magic Movie and a social networking app made by Transition Mobile. There is also a cleaner to clean the RAM. There is also a freezer app, in which apps can be dragged and moved.

Infinix Hot S3 performance, camera and battery

The Hot S3 is powered by the Snapdragon 430. Despite the 3GB RAM, the phone’s performance is quite good. It is smooth to use and there are no stutters or lags in the user interface. The fingerprint scanner is generally fast. The display panel is also commendable. We would also like to praise Infinix’s previous Zero 5 Pro in terms of screen. The Hot S3 comes with a good display for its price. Playing games and watching videos looks quite impressive on this display.

Big apps and games with powerful graphics take some time to load, but considering the price, this is tolerable. A light game like Missile loaded in a jiffy and ran smoothly. On the other hand, games like Shadow Fight 3 take time to load but do not stutter while playing. Now coming to the battery. The Hot S3 has a 4,000mAh battery, which lasted for 13 hours and 5 minutes in our video loop test. The phone should last a full day with normal use.

The Infinix Hot S3 sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and a 20-megapixel fixed focus selfie camera. The camera app is basic and comes with beauty, time-lapse and professional modes. The professional mode lets you control ISO, white balance, exposure, shutter speed and focus. The phone also has filters that you can apply while taking pictures. There are also quick toggles for HDR and flash.

The pictures taken with the phone really surprised us. Most of the pictures came out beautiful thanks to the vivid display. The exposure was definitely high in landscape mode but correcting it manually gave better results. The pictures came out sharp overall but the pixels became visible when viewed in full size. The macro shots are good and the phone is capable of capturing the colour scheme. However, the speed slows down while taking macros indoors. It takes time to focus.

Photos taken in low light also came with limited noise. Pixels were visible in these images when zoomed in. The Infinix Hot S3 has a 20-megapixel front camera with dual LED flash. Selfies are good. Beautify mode is automatically applied and bokeh mode is also provided. The bokeh effect gave good results on most occasions but sometimes blurred the edges instead of keeping them in focus. Video recording goes up to 1080p resolution. Since there is no stabilization mode, you will have to keep a steady hand while recording.

Decision

Talking about budget smartphones, this segment is getting better day by day. The Infinix Hot S3 is one of the best all-rounder handsets launched in recent times. Even though it is not the most powerful budget phone, it performs all tasks well due to its capable hardware. Like the Infinix Zero 5 Pro, the display is also the strongest feature of the Hot S3. Considering the price, the camera performance does not disappoint. And the battery will also last a whole day. Priced at Rs 8,999, this phone is a good budget handset. It will be interesting to see how it will be able to challenge the recently launched Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.