Alongside the Infinix HOT 40 Pro Free Fire Edition, the company also released the standard edition HOT 40 smartphone. This phone is strikingly similar to its bigger brother in terms of external aesthetics and some hardware features. The Infinix HOT 40 is conveniently priced at Php 6,499. Pairing this price with an impressive specs sheet makes the HOT 40 an ideal value-for-money smartphone.
Its marquee features include the large 6.78-inch display, MediaTek Helio G88 processor, 50MP main camera, and 5000 mAh battery. With its promising price and hardware, will it be enough to provide satisfactory real-time performance? Is it worth buying? Let's find out in this review.
Pros
- Great value
- Magic Ring
- Stereo speakers
Cons
- Display lacks brightness
What's in the Box?
The Infinix HOT 40 has a pretty standard box. The outer cover features Garena Free Fire characters, and the Lavender-and-Green themed packaging is uncovered by sliding it outwards. Inside, we have the usual inserts like some paperworks, SIM eject tool, case, 33-watt wall adapter, and the USB-C cable.
You can also check out our Infinix HOT 40 Unboxing below:
Design
The Infinix HOT 40 looks and feels like the Pro version. In fact, we still have the Horizon Gold colorway for our review unit. The back panel mimics a frosted glass finish which shimmers when you try to look at it from a different angle.
We have the ginormous camera module, drawing inspiration from that of an iPhone. This module features three camera lenses and an LED flash. Towards the edge of the backing, we have a subtle Infinix branding. Along the sides, there's the plasticky frame with a chrome color instead of gold. This hue still complements the back panel and looks good in the eyes.
The ports and buttons are in their no-nonsense placements. We have the power button (which doubles as a fingerprint scanner) and volume rocker on the right; and the triple-slotted SIM tray on the left. The bottom side is quite busy with the 3.5-mm audio jack, the primary microphone, the USB-C port, and the speaker grille. Lastly, the top has the secondary microphone.
The front panel features a hole-punch design with chunky bezels and a sizable chin. Apart from that, there's nothing special about the phone in terms of design. But I must admit, this is still a practical design which offers good ergonomics. The fact that it only weighs 196 grams and measures 8.25 millimeters in depth make it a joy to use.
Display
Speaking for the front panel, we have a 6.78-inch FHD+ IPS LCD display which supports 90Hz refresh rate. The display packs a 2460 x 1080 pixel resolution and 270Hz touch sampling rate. The refresh rate can be configured to auto-switch or you can even force it to 60Hz to conserve power. Additionally, users can set the color temperature to their liking.
There are also a number of display features that I find useful, such as the Eye Care mode, which keeps the screen warm to prevent eye strain from prolonged use, and the Inadvertently Mode which manages accidental taps when the phone is in your pocket.
On the get go, you'll notice that the screen is not as bright as other smartphones in this price bracket. Outdoor use may not be as breezy as with other panels but I still find it acceptable. On the other hand, the colors are accurate and sharp. The contrast is also consistent, as well as the viewing angles.
Performance
The Infinix HOT 40 is powered by a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset coupled with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The 12-nm chipset is quite popular in entry-level to mid-range smartphones due to its power-efficient cores and decent performance. Users also have a choice to expand the RAM with another 8GB of virtual RAM for demanding tasks.
In my testing with the HOT 40, I find the phone very capable in handling streamlined tasks. It is also a worker when it comes to casual and light gaming. Games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Garena Free Fire, and Call of Duty Mobile run smoothly with this handset.
I played extensive MLBB sessions with the HOT 40 and I could say that the gameplay is quite smooth with almost zero lag and frame drops. Graphic-demanding titles like Genshin Impact, though relatively playable in low graphics setting, may still struggle in rendering most of the gameplay effects.
The Infinix HOT 40 is also very ideal in multimedia consumption. I had countless of hours using this as my main device in watching shows from my favorite apps. I am also quite surprised that the phone features stereo speakers. Though the sound quality may not be the best, I still appreciate the presence of both bass and treble. Having this feature elevates the overall audio experience of this entry-level smartphone.
In our benchmark testing, the Infinix HOT 40 scored 275987 in Antutu test. In our Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark test, the phone tallied 430 single-core and 1446 multi-core scores. Running the GPU benchmarks, it scored 575 in OpenCL and 1118 in Vulkan benchmark tests.
Camera
We have a triple camera set-up in the back panel. It is top-billed by the 50MP main sensor with f/1.6 aperture and autofocus features. It is coupled by a 2MP macro sensor and 0.08MP auxiliary lens. On the front, it has a 32MP selfie shooter with f/2.2 aperture.
The 50MP rear camera captures photos with warm tones, decent detail, and sharpness. While the colors are generally accurate, they tend to appear muted even in good lighting conditions.
In low-light, the camera still produces decent shots but with less sharpness and contrast. The overall quality is satisfactory for an entry-level smartphone. Since most users of this phone will primarily share photos in social media, I think the quality would be good enough.
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| Sample Photo |
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| Sample Photos: 1x Zoom vs 2x Zoom |
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| Sample Photo: Lowlight |
The 32MP selfie camera captures adequate details. The Beauty mode produces pleasing shots that's also good for sharing in social media. Even the portrait mode works as expected with good subject and background separation.
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| Sample Photos: Selfies + Portrait |
The Super Night mode is a nifty feature to use; it produces some interesting shots that recover a good amount of details. However, I'd be careful using this in some tricky lighting scenarios as it could overexpose some areas that are already lit.
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| Sample Photo: Super Night |
The camera app also has a Super Macro mode which could be useful in times you need to shoot close-up subjects. Macro photos reveal ample amount of details and sharpness when shot on a 4-cm focal length.
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| Sample Photo: Macro |
Software and Battery
Just like the Pro version, the Infinix HOT 40 runs with the company's proprietary XOS 13.5 that is based on Android 13. By default, the skin comes with a Garena Free Fire wallpaper, but you can easily customize it to your preferred style or even change the entire theme.
The XOS has come a long way in terms of user interface and overall design, yet there remains room for improvements. There is a number of bloatwares that you'd wish to be unincluded; some of those you can't even delete. Other than that, I think the skin still offers a handful of unique features that you wouldn't see in other custom Android skins.
Other useful features include the ability to pull up floating windows, Smart Panel, and Game Mode. You can also expand the RAM using MemFusion which is a very convenient feature, especially when tackling intensive tasks.
The Infinix HOT 40 also has the Magic Ring, inspired by iPhone's Dynamic Island, which displays device status information, Face Unlock animation, background call information, charging status, and more.
The Infinix HOT 40 packs a fairly large 5000 mAh battery with 33-watt fast charging. This is a pretty standard capacity; but for its price, it has a relatively good value. The battery could easily last a full day with fair to moderate use. In our charging test, we tallied a total of 1 hour and 28 minutes to fully charge this smartphone.
Should You Buy the Infinix HOT 40?
As mentioned, the Infinix HOT 40 is only priced at Php 6,499. Considering its impressive set of specs, I am quite amazed with the value that this phone could offer to potential buyers - it has 8GB of RAM, 256GB storage, 50MP camera, large display, efficient processor, and stereo speakers. This combination of features at such an affordable price makes the HOT 40 a standout. So if you ask me, it's definitely a great buy.
This phone is positioned in the budget gaming category; however, I think that it would also serve every consumers looking for a day-to-day smartphone that would not break the bank.
Infinix HOT 40 Key Specs:
- 6.78-inch FHD+ IPS LCD display, 500 nits brightness, 90Hz refresh rate
- MediaTek Helio G88 SoC
- 8GB LPDDR4 RAM (+8GB virtual RAM)
- 256GB eMMC storage, supports microSD
- Dual rear cameras: 50MP main camera + 2MP macro + 0.08MP auxiliary lens
- 32MP selfie camera with flash
- Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
- Gyroscope by software
- XOS 13.5 (Android 13)
- 5000mAh battery w/ 33W FastCharge
- 168.61 x 76.61 x 8.25mm, 196 grams
- Starlit Black, Palm Blue, Horizon Gold, Starfall Green
- ₱6,499 Official Price
- ₱6,099 in Shopee
