REVIEW: Infinix Note 30 5G

The mid-range smartphone market is hotter than ever. O Infinix Note 30 5G it is a smartphone that fits very well into this category and, at no time, tries to be more than that. It has a good processor, good RAM and storage configuration and an excellent battery, but is it worth the investment? Check it out now in our full review!

Design

O Infinix Note 30 5G arrives in Brazil in two colors, the Azul and the Black. The one I got was the black one and I must admit it's a very nice smartphone. Its back is made of plastic, like many other intermediaries. The highlight here is the huge camera module – which I found quite beautiful, by the way – and its finish that reminds a lot of brushed steel.

This is a device that follows the trend of other more square ones, as well as its 6,7-inch size — the same as the Galaxy S23 Ultra. On the right are two volume buttons and a lock button, which also doubles as a fingerprint sensor. 

At the top there is just a space for the microphones and a logo Sound By JBL, something I will go into detail later. On the left of the device we have access to its nano-SIM chip drawer, which holds up to two chips and a memory card. Finally, on the bottom there are one of the stereo speakers, a USB-C input, a microphone and our beloved and forgotten P2 headphone jack.

I know it's the trend of the moment to have big smartphones, but I don't get along with them very well. The grip doesn't look good in my hand, or in situations where I can't use it with both, such as when I need to watch something, or if I need to take a horizontal selfie, for example. It's personal, but I know there are a lot of “small hands troop” people out there who understand me.

Something that needs to be commented here is about the box kit. In addition to the smartphone itself, it also comes with a transparent acrylic cover and TWO skins — one made of glass and a simpler one, leaving the choice to the user. To close the kit, the charger included in the box is 45W, capable of charging the smartphone up to 75% in 30 minutes.

Fabric

O Infinix Note 30 5G it has a giant screen and that in itself already draws a lot of attention. Although I don't follow the market in putting OLED technology here, the LCD display is of good quality and delivers a very satisfactory experience. Because it has Full HD+ resolution, you don't see those pixels left on the icons, for example

With up to 120Hz refresh rate, the device's user experience is great and fluid at all times. Something I noticed is that around here you can choose between modes auto, 60Hz, 90Hz e 120Hz. The 90Hz option doesn't usually appear when we have a higher rate than that in the settings and I thought it was cool, because sometimes you just want a little more fluidity, but you don't demand the 120Hz.

During the conversation I had with Infinix before the launch of the smartphone, I asked about the protection of the screen and they confirmed that it has a protection developed by the manufacturer itself, but nothing Gorilla Glass. 

Now something that I found bad is the device not having the call Widevine L1, that is, even with the screen's 1080p resolution, some streams like Netflix do not release HD resolution or higher. It's something very specific, yet pretty boring too. It becomes a waste of screen for something so big not to run movies and series with quality higher than 480p.

Despite this problem, if you don't use Netflix that much on the device, on all the others, the quality is great. Issues of colors and brightness can be a problem for more demanding users, but let's face it, this type of audience is already looking at devices from a category above the one found here.

Performance

A Infinix has a partnership with Mediatek a few years ago, and she has stuck to that model. The processor chosen to power the smartphone was the Mediatek Dimensity 6080, mid-range processor from the manufacturer and guarantees great performance in all day-to-day things.

There are also 8GB of RAM memory in the LPDDR4X standard which, with the technology memory fusion allows you to have up to 8GB more RAM on the device using storage space — there are 256GB, an excellent size, but here I thought it was lacking in technology, only in the UFS 2.2 version.

Fortunately, in practice, these specifications proved to be quite efficient in all day-to-day tasks, in multitasking and even in games, even if you can't abuse the graphics. At the marvel snap, everything ran with maximum quality and without gagging. At the Asphalt 9 I also got good results. The situation only got more complicated when I went to Genshin impact. In this, the graphics were uglier and with a slightly more suffering performance. However, it is not "unplayable".

And for those of you who like some numbers Benchmark, I tested the device on 3DMark e Geekbench. The results are no different from what is expected for intermediate smartphones. Check out:

interface and system

O Infinix Note 30 comes from the factory with the Android 13 and uses a branded custom interface called XOS extension. It is a very intuitive system and has all the current functions that a smartphone needs. It looks a lot like what we see in MIUI, Xiaomi's custom Android system, so you already know more or less what to expect.

Many features included in this system appear here under a different name, but they're things we've seen on other devices and are essentially the same. O XClone, for example, serves to make a copy of social network apps and use another account of them on the same device. The same situation is repeated with the Energy Marathon which is just the area where you configure everything about the device's battery.

Something I don't really like here is that, in addition to the screen being gigantic, everything has an overly square design on the system. The icons are square, the widgets are more square and it's not something that catches my attention positively. It's possible to change the size of everything in the settings, but there's something about the system's design that doesn't appeal to me.

About updates, the Infinix guaranteed that there is at least one Android update, that is, it must go up to Android 14. I think that guaranteeing 2 years would be great, but it was not this time, so it remains to wait for news of future versions.

Front camera (SELFIE)

The new smartphone from Infinix has a 16MP camera on the front. Like most of the selfie cameras we see out there, it will fulfill its role of taking pictures well, especially if you are in brighter places.

On the other hand, the night mode surprised me. Even using only artificial intelligence, it manages to adapt well in more difficult situations. You can't compare it to top-of-the-line models, of course, but it sure is something quite competent and interesting.

In the video we also have some different options. The quality goes up to 2K, even if only at 30 frames per second. At 1080p you can record at 60 frames and that's great. In addition to these conventional options, slow-motion, time-lapse video options are also available.

Rear cameras

The main rear camera is a 108MP lens with f/1.75 aperture in wide standard. This translates to good photos in favorable situations, although I was surprised by the colors and details. Night mode really works, however, it's nothing that will blow our minds.

The second lens is the famously tired 2MP depth camera. Its aperture is f/2.4 and it only serves to help in the portrait mode of the photos. It's something quite common in simpler models, but we know it's an old-fashioned solution for today.

Finally, the specs say that the device also has an AI lens, but we don't know exactly what it does, just that it's a QVGA lens. Even though I don't have a top-of-the-line proposal, I found the camera decisions very questionable and the competitors, for the same price range, offer something more interesting.

A Infinix sells this smartphone as a device with a set of 3 rear cameras and then we get into a complicated situation. In fact, we saw that there are three lenses, but only the main one is really important. The depth one is only for help in portrait mode and the AI ​​is a QVGA lens, that is, it really is not a nice camera.

In terms of videos, the rear camera follows the same pattern as the front, with quality up to 2K. There are some bonus functions here, like Movie, where you can choose a predefined pattern and the software itself will create all the aesthetics, sounds and even editing. It's cool, but it's also not what will define the purchase of this device, in my opinion.

Audio

Good speakers are essential in smartphones, for me. Not only because I consume a lot of stuff on them, but also because I think it's terrible when someone decides to leave some music on the last volume and the only thing you can hear is an annoying hiss.

O Infinix Note 30 5G, fortunately it has two stereo speakers, which in itself is great. However, unlike competitors, we don't have Dolby Atmos here, but a partnership with JBL, speaker manufacturer. With this, the smartphone guarantees much more defined bass and a good quality sound experience.

Although they are not the loudest speakers I've ever tested on a smartphone, they are very competent and guarantee a clean sound, even at the last volume. In the sound settings, you still have access to an equalizer and, if you understand a little about the subject, you can make the sound very personalized.

Because it has a conventional P2 headphone jack, here you can decide whether you prefer to use wired or wireless headphones.

Price and availability

O Infinix Note 30 5G was launched in Brazil on August 21st and can already be purchased for R$2.231,07 in cash on PIX at Magazine Luiza.

Conclusion

O Infinix Note 30 5G it is a smartphone that has divided my opinions a lot. In terms of performance, it is quite competent and does not disappoint in terms of storage and memory settings, even if it is a little outdated in terms of storage technology.

On the other hand, the camera-related decisions were things I really didn't like. It is even common in simpler devices the idea of ​​putting a lot of cameras, but only the main one is minimally good. What really bothered me was the choice of these lenses.

It could be an Ultrawide and a macro, for example, but depth lens was a decision that I can't let go and I think it should end. The device is also very successful in bringing good quality audio, even more so when we have a JBL certification in the set.

To conclude, the value of the device is also not very competitive. Currently, with the same price, we have incredible devices such as the Galaxy A54 ou Galaxy M54, better in everything. This smartphone becomes very interesting in possible promotions with a value below these two mentioned, for example.

Data sheet – Infinix Note 30 5G

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