INFINIX Note 30 Pro review: a true VFM winner is here!

INFINIX is moving on, with their ongoing struggle to take a market piece in the mid-range section from competitors and it looks as if they’re doing an excellent job. The Hong Kong-based company has proven to be one of the top in the planet in growth rate. It is well known for their VFM devices, but their latest smartphone – Infinix Note 30 Pro – might actually be of interest to you!

The company does an amazing job bringing uniquely designed smartphones and tries to localize the software to the market. The design is now the top sale point of the company and is going all through their products. Infinix Note 30 Pro is this year’s sequel of a very successful line and we got the phone for a full review.

The new model features a slew of specs typically reserved for pricier devices such as an AMOLED display and even wireless/reverse charging—all while being comfortably sold at a reasonable price.

INFINIX Note 30 Pro – Specifications

First look 

The handset arrives inside the usual striking box with a huge font announcing the model. The bottom part has the smartphone’s specifications, a huge sticker advertises Google compatibility and another sticker has specific smartphone and production details. The model in our hands is the 8/256 GB version in Variable Gold color.

Inside the box we can see an impressive package – full of everything any hard core user might need!

• INFINIX Note 30 Pro smartphone
• USB-C to USB-A data transfer / charging cable
• 68W Wall charger
• 15W Wireless charger
• SIM tray ejection pin
• User manual, Quick Start Guide
• Silicone soft case
• Tempered glass

A plastic screen protection film is pre-installed on the phone. The huge wall charger comes in white color and it provides up to 68W of power, offering impressive charging times when needed. The charging cable is quite chubby and works along the charger to provide the flash charge. The silicone soft case is very nice with extensions to protect the camera and the corners. The corners of the phone are not easy to place inside the case but the extra protection is worth the effort spent.

INFINIX Note 30 Pro – Design

INFINIX has invested a lot of money and attention to the exterior and has managed to design some of the best looking phones in the market. The front is simple with minimal bezels in three sides and a wider “chin”. There is a hole on the top of the display for the selfie-cam – one of the smallest in the market. The display itself is flat and big. Over the display there’s a wide hidden horizontal line for the earphone, perfectly designed to listen to your caller without having to center a smaller earpiece to your ear. There is nothing else in the front.

The back panel is amazing! The smartphone has an amazing iridescent texture. There is a logo on the lower side “Infinix” in futuristic font and the contrast of materials has the effect to show it intensively. While the front area is a smudge magnet, the rest of the device is completely impervious to smudges. The camera setup is on the top left with 3 lenses visible in a rectangular pattern and on their lower right side we see a LED flash.

The phone is thinner than the previous generations and feels light and compact. Remember we mentioned that the phone has new materials in order to keep its price low. The major part is the water-repellent coating. So you will not find any protection internally – you can understand this from the SIM tray, because there is no rubber seal. So guys, be careful with water and in heavy rain.

Decent performance

Focusing on performance, the NOTE 30 Pro is equipped with powerful internals specifically designed to empower the user to get more out of their day. It uses a powerful MediaTek Helio G99 processor, with a 6nm process for energy efficiency and high performance. With Vapor-Chamber Liquid Cooling technology on the NOTE 30 Pro, the device stays cool under pressure, thanks to a patented 10-layer material with a 2,000mm² chamber area.

The NOTE 30 Pro also supports Infinix’s self-developed Ultra Power Signal (UPS) technology. Designed specifically for weak signal environments, this groundbreaking technology is optimized for weak signal user scenarios, including basements, elevators, suburban areas, and landscape handheld. With a new antenna design and proprietary algorithms, UPS technology greatly improves signal performance in signal jitter, signal dense, and signal weak conditions. It can intelligently switch antennas, accelerate the network, and reduce the lag rate when using low-latency applications such as gaming, downloading content, and watching videos.

Impressive Display

The device features a 120Hz refresh rate display that benefits from Infinix’s Smart Refresh and Magellan Engine. These features enable the device to adjust its refresh rate based on the user’s scenario, providing a smoother experience while consuming less power. Whether gaming or watching videos, the NOTE 30 Series’ display enriches the viewing experience. Moreover, the INFINIX Note 30 Pro comes with an eye-care mode with TUV Rheinland Certification, which protects users’ eyes during extended screen time.

Infinix’s NOTE 30 Pro offers a viewing experience like no other. The 10-bit AMOLED display has a peak brightness of 900 nits, a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 1920Hz PWM Dimming, and 360Hz Touch Sampling Rate. This means users can expect a responsive, vibrant display in every situation. The ultra-thin bezels and stereo dual speakers, which are sound by JBL and certified by Hi-Res, make the NOTE 30 Series an industry standout for its audio capabilities.

However, the aforementioned panel is great for improved resolutions and the picture quality is very sharp and maybe that can help you forget the high contrast of AMOLED. Although the viewing angles are still pretty decent and no darkening of screen was visible even at almost 90-degree angles. One downside is that the display is not too bright and this is noticeable in bright sunlight.

INFINIX Note 30 Pro Software

The customization options of the XOS (based on Android 13) are rich with many features as themes, skin themes, icons, dark mode tones that guarantee that you will not get bored of the phone. The launcher is good – reminds us of other good launchers like POCO launcher and the notification shade is full with options and versatility. Settings menu has a plethora of options but keeps itself minimal in view as to not tire the user. However the software is filled with pre-installed apps which sadly cannot be removed and share a lot of notifications throughout the day, which became somewhat frustrating for me.

Speed and animations are fast and in no case the phone stalled or seemed to slow down. Excellent job from INFINIX – a very promised product seems to rise up to the world of Android skins!

With a MediaTek Helio G99 processor and 8GB RAM that is further expandable to another 8GB through virtual RAM, performance is where the Note 30 Pro makes a stand! I played for several hours some very demanding games like Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) in HDR ultra mode and got consistent 60 FPS for a sustained period. I also played Call of Duty (COD) Mobile at high settings and Genshin Impact, which is a very high graphics game and faced neither any frame drops nor any heating issues.

INFINIX Note 30 Pro – Camera

This is something that a lot of you want to know about and it has kept me torn on opinion. It comes with a triple rear camera setting with a whopping 108MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor.

When drowned in the bright afternoon sunlight, the primary shooter is able to deliver crisp shots with delicate detailing that look over sharpened in areas with shadows. Auto HDR kicks in effectively and allows the blues of the sky to seep into the frame while compensating exposure from the sun. The 2X telephoto lens works well in good lighting but falls apart at night. Shutter speeds are quite slow which introduces some amount of shake unless your hands are extremely still. Infinix also allows you to adjust the f stop values for variable depth of field while using portrait mode, although the background separation is not too good.

It does have a 2X telephoto zoom and that’s welcomed. The images have good sharpness and colors are more or less consistent. However, I found the images to be a bit on the softer side. This effect is more prominent in night time photography, where even the details of the image are lost. Overall, while the camera is decent, I would have expected better performance in this price range.

Sample Photos

The camera capabilities of the NOTE 30 Series are further enhanced with features such as Dual View Mode, which allows users to capture moments with both front and rear-facing cameras simultaneously. Sky Remap adjusts the sky in photos, while the Street Photography Filter helps users master the art of street photography. With all these features, users can capture stunning images that meet their exact specifications.

On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera. While generally decent, in my experience the images felt a little over-processed. The good thing is both the rear and front camera support 4K 30FPS video recording which is a really nice feature in the price range. Zooming is possible but not without losses. There’s a Super Night Mode and a Night Filter feature for low-light images, the main camera supports 960fps slow motion, and there’s a Sky Remap editing feature for turning hazy skies to blue.

Generating fuller colors automatically with the help of Auto Scene Detection, whether when shooting landscapes or portraits, gives bluer skies and more vibrant plants. It manages to catch sharp portraits and outlines in low light, and maintain details at night. One of my favorite features however was the Sky Remap, that enables you to turn a hazy day into cloudless sunny noon in seconds via software, or the Film Mode that let’s us create our own story. INFINIX mentions on this: Shoot like a director with the film mode. Various fantastic templates are on offer to make video creation much easier and editing more efficient. Such capabilities would tempt even professional camera holders.

INFINIX Note 30 Pro – Battery

Even with a slim design, the Infinix Note 30 Pro packs a powerful 5,000 mAh battery. Helio G99 optimizes battery life quite well and even after my moderate to heavy usage of the phone, which included playing games, watching videos, going on voice and video calls and more, the smartphone easily lasted me 1.5 days on average.

Infinix’s NOTE 30 Series comes packed with groundbreaking new charging innovations. The NOTE 30 Pro features 68W All-Round FastCharge, which can charge its 5000mAh battery from 1% to 80% in just 30 minutes. It also supports a 15W wireless FastCharge, a first in its price segment. The NOTE 30 and NOTE 30 5G support a 45W All-Round FastCharge which rapidly powers up the devices on the go. All models have unparalleled durability, exceeding the industry average by withstanding 1,000 full charging cycles while retaining 80% of their energy.

The Fast Charge Revolution

The NOTE 30 Series introduces Infinix’s all-in-one solution for charging. Reverse Charge enables the device to work as a power bank for other devices in emergency situations. Bypass Charge filters the current to supply power directly to the main board, which controls the phone’s temperature, resulting in an average temperature drop of 2℃ – 7℃.

These advances in temperature control keep the device cool, allowing users to charge and play games simultaneously. The series also includes Intelligent Power E-IQ further advancing the charging experience with AI algorithms and security measures that protect users from overcharging. Finally, PD 3.0 is fully supported, allowing the charger to fast charge other smart devices alongside the user’s NOTE 30 Series device.

INFINIX Note 30 Pro review – Conclusion

The NOTE 30 Pro will cost $269 and is available in Classic Black or Variable Gold with a sleek and durable glass back cover. INFINIX nailed it with the great pricing of the device while providing a fast chipset with decent response during heavy duty usage. And the really sleek design and great battery life adds to the overall value. Add also the 68W Fast Charge support, the wireless charging compatibility and the reverse charging feature. However the software needs improvement, the speaker requires a boost, and the main 108MP camera is good but not the best.

We can’t wait to see what INFINIX’s plans are for the future.

Pros

• Excellent design
• Capable performance
• Impressive display
• Good battery life
• Reverse charging – Wireless charging

Cons

• Poor software
• Cameras could be improved