The Infinix Hot 7 is the first smartphone from the company to launch in Kenya this year. The phone was officially launched in the country a couple of weeks ago and is available for Ksh 9,999 through Jumia, Infinixmall and most offline shops. This is the successor to the Hot 6 and 6X from last year and since these phones impressed me so much, I was curious to see what the new one has to offer.
At its price, the Infinix Hot 7 is competing with the new Huawei Y6 Prime 2019, Tecno Spark 3 Pro, Xiaomi Redmi 6A just to name a few. The Infinix Hot 7 is available in three different variants, one with 2GB and 16GB of internal storage space, the other one with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage space and the Infinix Hot 7 Pro (not yet available in Kenya) that will have 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage space.
I have been using the 2GB/32GB variant since it was launched and in this review I will point out its strengths and weaknesses.
Before we get to the Hot 7, let us first look at the Infinix Hot series. It is the company’s budget friendly series. It is not the cheapest line up as that crown is taken by the Infinix Smart which I am not sure if the company is still actively working on. The Hot series has been around for years and together with the Infinix Note series helped make the brand popular in Kenya. The Infinix Hot series devices have always been available in the Ksh 10,000 price range and the Hot 7 is not any different. These devices are meant for those looking for good and recent smartphones that they can rely on without breaking the bank.
Before getting to the review, I did an unboxing post which you can check out here to see what you will be getting in the box when you buy this phone.
If you ae interested in the specifications of this phone, you can find those using the link below.
Also Read: Infinix Hot 7 and Hot 7 Pro Specifications and Price in Kenya
Design and Build
Let us start by looking at the design and build quality of the phone. The back cover is made using plastic that does not feel bad at all. The back cover is removable to give you access to the two SIM and microSD card slots. The battery is not removable though.
At the back is also where we get the dual camera setup of 13MP and 2MP. We also get the fingerprint sensor and the speaker grille at the bottom right section, I will get to the speakers later in this post. Infinix has provided a free phone case to help protect the back of the phone.
The overall build quality if the Infinix Hot 7 feels good for its price. It does not feel cheap but does feel bulky and thick, a bit thicker compared to the Hot 6. I know they had to find a way to accommodate the 4000 mAh battery but I am not used to such bulky smartphones so I had to point that out. This is not a deal breaker for me and will not be for many people but I just had to mention it so you know what you are getting into when buying this phone.
Even with its 6.2-inch display, I did not have any problems using this phone with just one hand. The corners and edges are slightly curved and these make the phone comfortable to carry around.
The power and volume buttons are on the right and within easy reach, the micro USB port is at the bottom and the headphone jack at the top.
The Display
6.2 inch, HD+ resolution
The 6.2-inch display of the Infinix Hot 7 is just amazing. It looks really good and using it is a fun experience. It feels better than the display the company used on the Hot 6 from last year. This display has a HD+ resolution (720 x 1500 Pixels), not the highest resolution they could have gone with but it is good enough for its price.
I am used to having smartphones with very big displays and the one on the Hot 7 is just the perfect size. I can easily reach all corners of the phone without struggling. If you have never used a smartphone with a huge display, the size may seem overwhelming in the beginning but you will get used to it very fast.
For media consumption, this display is just the best, it gets bright for using outdoors and has great colour accuracy. You can set the brightness to adjust automatically depending on the ambient light but I noticed that it does not work well all the time. I have come to expect this from most smartphone within this price segment but even with that said, it does not happen all the time and will not be an issue for everyone.
The Infinix Hot 7 has the notch at the very top that you can disable if you do not want it there. In 2019, we have seen smaller notches but Infinix has decided to stick with a very wide one. The notch houses the 8MP front facing camera, sensors, front flash and the earpiece. The front facing flash also doubles up as the notification light. I am not a big fan of this as there are no ways to customize the notification colours and it is not as subtle as most notification lights on smartphones.
There is the eyecare mode that tints your screen amber to make it comfortable to use in dim light. This is perfect at night if you always have trouble falling asleep as you tend to use your phone right before going to bed. This mode works really well and you can set it to turn on and off automatically at specific times every single day.
To protect this display, Infinix has included a free screen protector inside the box. This is not anything new but something the company has been doing for years.
Software and Performance
2GB RAM, 32GB storage, 1.3GHz Mediatek MT6580P
The Infinix Hot 7 variant I have has 2GB of RAM AND 32GB of internal storage space and is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek processor.
Using this phone for about two weeks, I do not have serious performance issues but it does slow down sometimes and has trouble handling basic tasks. There are isolated incidences where I have problems using certain apps or switching to different apps as the phone is way to slow. I am not sure if the issue is with the software or if the processor can’t keep up. Either way, I hope Infinix looks into that and improve on the same with its next smartphones.
On the software side, the Hot 7 comes with Android 8.1 Oreo for some reason and not Android Pie. I do not know why this is the case as this is a 2019 phone and I was expecting the most recent version of Android. Infinix is never fast when it comes to updating its devices with the latest versions of Android and I am not sure if the Hot 7 will ever be updated. You get Face
Now to the speakers, they are just not that good. They sound flat with no rich sound and I stopped using them the first day. The phone is optimized with dirac speaker technology, first seen on the Infinix Hot 4, but that does not help with the sound quality but rather makes them louder from what I have experienced. This is not a mode I will be using and I really hope the company looks at the quality of sound its speakers produce.
The Infinix Hot 7 does not support 4G LTE but the company says that the Hot 7 Pro, which is coming very soon, will. At the moment we are stuck with 3G speeds that are not bad but can be disappointing for some people.
Camera
13MP + 2MP at the back, 8MP for selfies
The Infinix Hot 7 is not a camera centric smartphone but still has some good cameras. Do no expect anything out of the ordinary here but you can still get some really good shots. I found out that the shots I take outdoors are much better that those taken indoors. This is sort of expected with most smartphones but I just had to mention that. The main camera has an AI mode that can identify what you want to take a photo of and will adjust the settings to help you get the best shot.
The selfie camera is also good, great detail and color accuracy especially outdoors. Below are some samples.
The Battery
4,000 mAh non removable
If you are looking for a smartphone for less than Ksh 11,000 that has a good battery, the Infinix Hot 7 is worth checking out. The phone has a 4000 mAh battery that in many occasions could last an entire day. This is not a powerful smartphone so it will not drain the battery so fast so getting up to 7 hours of screen on time is not that hard. I am used to charging my smartphones everyday but with the Hot 7, I do not have to do that every single day.
You are not getting any form of fast charging with the Infinix Hot 7 but no one is going to complain about that at this price. Be prepared to sit around as you wait for it to fully charge.
What I Like
- The Display is quite good
- The Battery is very good and reliable
- Its build quality may not be the best but is good for its price
- The price of the phone is really good.
- The cameras do a fairly good job
What I did not like
- No 4G support
- The speaker is disappointing
- Performance is not the best and can be disappointing at times.
- Running an old version of Android (Android Oreo)
Also Read: Huawei Y6 Prime 2019 Review: Does It Live Up to Expectations?
