The Infinix Hot 50 5G is among a few devices I chanced upon that have perfectly embraced the spirit of reliability. The Hot series from Infinix is always about providing youth with phones that suit their spirited lifestyle and have specifications matching their needs. Examples include bigger batteries and smoother displays, among others.
Infinix Hot 50 5G
Rs 9,999
What Is Good?
- Stylish and modern looks
- Headphone jack
- Good lowlight camera performance
- Smooth 120Hz refresh rate
- Reliable battery life
- Consistent performance
What Is Bad?
- The camera colour processing needs fixing
- Brightness outdoors could have been better
With the Infinix Hot 50, Infinix aims to make the Hot series a dependable option for value-oriented customers. But, will Infinix’s new strategy succeed in putting this phone on the map, preoccupied with formidable players such as the Realme C65 and the POCO M6 Plus? Let’s dive in and find out in the review.
Infinix Hot 50 5G Review: Pricing and Availability in India
The Infinix Hot 50 5G is available via Flipkart. You can avail of a discount of Rs 1,000 using a selected credit or debit card. Here’s a look at the pricing:
| Variant | Price |
| 4GB+128GB | Rs 9,999 |
| 8GB+128GB | Rs 10,999 (Reviewed) |
Infinix Hot 50 5G Review: Design and Build Quality
The design choices made by Infinix have lent the Infinix Hot 50 quite an eye-grabbing look. One such reason is that this phone comes in four colours: Dreamy Purple, Sage Green, Sleek Black, and Vibrant Blue. I got the Sage Green for this review — it caught my eye in a heartbeat. I generally maintain a distance with anything green as I tend not to gel well with it.
| Design | Specifications |
| Weight | 188g |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm |
| IP rating | IP54 |
| Port and Button placements | Bottom: Primary microphone, USB port, speaker grille, and headphone jack
Right Side: Power button and volume buttons Left Side: SIM tray |
The blend of this colour and matte finish gives this phone a premium touch, making it appear pricier than it is. It also feels amazing to touch and keeps smudges at bay.
The build quality is equally satisfactory as its slim profile and balanced weight make lugging it around a breezy experience. Additionally, you won’t panic much if it doesn’t have a protective case on as it feels durable and sturdy. It is a nitpick but its tall aspect ratio complicates one-hand usability for folks with tiny hands like me.
The Infinix Hot 50 comes with an IP54 rating. Using it in drizzle won’t concern you, yet it is advisable not to take it near water for good measure.
Infinix Hot 50 5G Review: Display and Audio
At the price point, it comes in, searching for a new phone with an AMOLED screen is like reaching the office on time in Bangalore/Gurugram, which is almost a pipe dream.
The display you get here can satisfy your craving for watching content. It is also important to note that looking for the best picture quality here will undermine your enjoyment given it is a 720p display and lags in handling the colour saturation correctly.
That’s not surprising as most phones come with an HD+ display in this price segment. However, the Hot 50 comes with Widevine L1 certification out of the box. So, you can watch movies or series on streaming services at their best quality, something which is missing on the Realme C65 despite being priced similarly.
| Display | Specifications |
| Size | 6.7-inch |
| Type | LCD |
| Resolution | HD+ (1600 x 720) |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz |
| Peak brightness | Claimed: 500 nits, Tested: 377 nits |
| Minimum brightness | 02 nits |
| Other features | Wet touch support |
Talking about brightness, it was comfortable to watch videos on YouTube at 75 per cent intensity indoors. Outdoors, cupping the hand around the display or finding shade became a necessity since either could make the screen legible enough. This is something Infinix could have made better.
An interesting facet about its display is that Infinix has provided the phone with a 120hz refresh rate to compensate for the low-resolution display, a rare sight in the budget segment. This makes scrolling through UI much smoother.
The phone is equipped with a mono speaker setup. The audio experience was decent, though lacked punchy bass whilst fumbling to get highs right.
Infinix Hot 50 5G Review: Performance and Software
This aspect of the Infinix Hot 50 has made it a reliable smartphone, in my opinion. The phone is powered by Mediatek Dimensity 6300, shared with Realme C65, Vivo T3 Lite, and iQOO Z9 Lite.
| Hardware | Specifications |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 6300 |
| RAM | Up to 8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128GB UFS 2.2 |
| Storage Test | 31754 |
| CPU Throttling Test | 82% of its maximum performance |
| Geekbench 6 | Multi-core: 1981, Single-core: 740 |
| Software version | XOS 14.5 based on Android 14 |
| Connectivity details | Dual SIM, dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS |
In terms of synthetic benchmarks, it managed to secure a decent score for what it is priced at. Yet, it slightly trailed behind the Realme C65 which is priced similarly.
For average Joe’s usage, the phone hardly encountered hiccups while running routine tasks consisting of social media surfing, calling, texting and binge-watching.
Moreover, it perfectly suits people who indulge in occasional gaming since it can run games like Call of Duty: Mobile and BGMI at medium graphical settings with frame rates seldom dropping beyond the set margin combined with consistent performance.
The Hot 50 runs on XOS 14.5 based on Android 14. The software is tweaked brilliantly as each animation or transition creates an appearance of smoothness, similar to punching above its weight. What’s equally impressive is that it barely has any bloatware, an uncommon sight at this price.
Keeping in line with the booming trend of AI in the smartphone landscape, the phone is armed with a few AI features as well. The “AskAI” feature can be considered the headline feature as it lets you summarise dense paragraphs, making it easy for us to grasp the content instantly, and it is not limited to any app. The next interesting feature would be the AI wallpaper generator given that you are getting a full-fledged prompt-to-image generator on a budget phone that outputs decent pictures.
While we are on the topic of getting to experience premium features at an affordable price, the Hot 50 has a dynamic bar that fascinatingly displays certain notifications.
Infinix Hot 50 5G Review: Camera
The Infinix Hot 50 sports a dual camera setup. The third camera is more of an accessory for aesthetics than a usable component.
| Camera | Specifications |
| Primary camera | 48-megapixel |
| Secondary camera | 2-megapixel depth sensor |
| Selfie camera | 8-megapixel |
| Video recording capabilities | Up to 2K at 30 fps |
The primary camera is competent at taking detailed photos in daylight. However, it is challenging for the phone to get saturation and contrast right, resulting in washed-out images in some instances. It also tended to function at a lower shutter speed even when the setting was quite luminous outside, which may result in missing out precious moments.
There is a twist though as it redeems itself in low-light photography. I took this phone for an evening walk to examine its low-light performance. The images outputted by the Hot 50 had most of the details it could see with nearly natural colours. That said, it inclined towards reducing the shutter speed to capture more light in dimly lit scenarios. An important thing to highlight is that it tends to add lens flare when taking photos of bright light sources.
The portrait mode on the Infinix Hot 50 is decent. It lets you take pleasant photos with accurate skin tone and good edge detection. For selfie fanatics, it is adept at taking detailed shots yet, the white balance is hit or miss against the direct source light in general.
Infinix Hot 50 5G Review: Battery and Charging
The Infinix Hot 50 packs a 5,000 mAh battery. As a result, it excels at lasting an entire day of clicking multiple photos, casual gaming, and endless shorts/reels scrolling.
| Battery | Specifications |
| Battery | 5,000mAh |
| Charging Adapter | 18W charging support, 10W charger-in-the-box |
| Charging Time | 1 hour and 42 minutes (using a PD charger) |
The battery backup is great, but the charging speed is a major area of improvement. The numbers in the table above have been achieved using a 68W PD charger, which was able to juice it up at 18W of power. The included 10W charger will take more than two hours to fully charge. Therefore, I recommend you opt for a faster PD charger, if the budget supports.
Infinix Hot 50 5G Review: Verdict
The Infinix Hot 50 offers reliable performance, an almost clean UI, great low-light photography and an excellent battery that easily lasts for a day and a half. What makes this phone a lot more appealing is its attractive design and terrific build quality.
Nonetheless, it has a few drawbacks: The camera colour processing could do with minor tweaks. Besides, its slow charging speed may fail to match youths’ dynamic lives.
Overall, the Infinix Hot 50 is an ideal choice if you need a reliable smartphone that checks all the necessary boxes. However, if daylight camera performance is crucial for you, the Realme C65 might be more suitable. For everything else, the Infinix Hot 50 can be a brilliant option.
