The Infinix Hot 7 went on sale in Kenya this week through the Infinixmall, Jumia and through offline retail stores. This is the first smartphone from the company to be launched in the country this year as the Zero 6 Pro was announced but is not easy to find.
The Infinix Hot 7 is available in two versions, a 1GB RAM option with 16GB of internal storage space and a 2GB RAM option with 32GB of internal storage space. The 1GB RAM model is an Android Go variant that is available for Ksh 9,999 while the 2GB RAM model will be available from Ksh 10,999. I am meant to understand there will be a Pro model with 3GB of RAM but that one is not available in Kenya at this point and I am not sure when we will get it.
With the Infinix Hot 7 models we have in Kenya, the company is going after the Huawei Y6 Prime 2019 which has been in the country for a couple of weeks. I have the 2GB RAM model for review and I have to share what I think about it.
In this post, I will share my first impressions of this phone and what you should expect if you are planning to buy it.
Two Boxes, One Phone
As you may have noticed, I got two boxes with the review unit that I have. Only one box has the phone though, the other one has a gift hamper that you should get when you buy this phone. In the gift hamper box, we do get a key holder chain, iring for a comfortable and secure grip and an Infinix bag.
You should get this gift hamper when you buy this phone and no one should sell it to you. Demand for one when you buy the phone.
In the main box, we get the following items.
- The Phone, obviously
- Earphones (The same one Infinix has been using for years and they are horrible)
- Wall adapter for charging
- USB Cable
- Screen protector
- Phone case
- User manual/ X Club user information/ customer service card
First Impressions
Since this is the first smartphone from Infinix I am reviewing this year, I was excited to see what it offers. The design and build quality of this phone are upgrades from what we had with the Infinix Hot 6 but they do not stand out. When you put the Infinix on the table, there is nothing about it that stands out and if you did not know which phone it is, you cannot correctly guess it from the design. It looks like most other smartphones we have on the market and this can be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.
I got the blue version that I love and believe looks better than the black version or even the gold one. The back cover is not as shiny as what we got with the Infinix Note 5 but it is a fingerprint magnet and that is where the free case Infinix provides will be useful.
Still on the back is where we get the dual camera setup of 13MP and 2MP. The 13MP sensor is for the main camera while the 2MP one is for creation of a pseudo bokeh effect when taking portrait shots. These are the photos where the background is blurred and the main subject is in focus. From the few minutes I have spent with this phone, I have tested out the cameras and they are not bad at all. These are AI cameras by the way so they will recognize what you want to take a photo of and adjust the setting to ensure you have the best settings for that scene.
The back cover of the Infinix Hot 7 is removable to give you access to the two SIM card slots and MicroSD card slot but the battery is non-removable.
We also have the fingerprint sensor at the back and the speaker grille at the bottom right section. The fingerprint sensor is very easy to setup and is quick when it comes to unlocking the phone. The speaker is very loud, louder that I expected them to be. I will be using the phone for the next couple of weeks so I will be able to test out if these speakers are any good as so far I am not impressed.
Flipping to the front of the Hot 7, you are greeted with the 6.2-inch display that is bright, vibrant and welcoming. I am a big fan of big smartphone displays and the Hot 7 has the perfect size. This display has an HD+ resolution, is very responsive with very accurate colour reproduction. So far I have nothing to complain about this display as it is exactly what I want it to be, I will share more in the full review in a few weeks.
Above the display we have the outdated notch that you will notice no matter what. With devices such as the Huawei Y6 2019 coming with better looking notches, I wonder why Infinix decided to stick with this 2018 style. The good thing is that you can disable the notch under settings if you really want to. The notch holds the 8MP selfie camera, the LED flash, earpiece and some sensors.
The Infinix Hot 7 supports Face unlock to help you unlock your phone with your face if you want to. The setup process is equally as easy and it works very fast in different lighting conditions.
What’s Inside?
Powering Infinix Hot 7 is a 1.3GHz MediaTek (MT6580P) processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage space. It does not look like a bad combination for this price. The Infinix Hot 7 comes with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box and this is a bit disappointing. It is 2019 and I was expecting the company to release this smartphone with Android Pie but it looks like that is not happening. I am not sure if it will get updated anytime soon and I am not holding my breath for that.
The Infinix Hot 7 also has a massive 4,000 mAh battery which I do not expect to disappoint. Given the fact that this smartphone does not have a powerful processor and the display does not have a very high resolution, I expect this battery to easily last for up to 2 days. I will share the exact numbers in the full review but so far I am impressed.
Read: Infinix Hot 7 Specifications
Initial Thoughts
So, what do I think about the Infinix Hot 7 so far? It is a very promising smartphone and at its price, it does offer value for money. It is not very expensive and even though it may not have the most powerful processor out there, it does handle day to day tasks without any issues. Of course, the phone is still new and that is expected and that is why you should come back in a few weeks to read the full review. You can follow our Telegram channel to know when that is the case.
I am excited to test out the cameras, both the back and front ones, and the battery. The display also looks promising and would love to see how the experience is. Infinix also says this phone has a Dirac mode which I will explore as I review the phone.
Now Read: Huawei Y6 Prime 2019 First Impressions
