The latest smartphone from Infinix to launch in Kenya is the S4. This is yet another camera-focused smartphone that is available in two variants of 3GB/32GB and 6GB/64GB. The 3GB/32GB variant is available for Ksh 14,999 while the 6GB/64GB model is available for Ksh 18,999.
The Infinix S4 is the successor to the Infinix S3 and S3X from last year. With the S4, we will be looking at what the company has changed over the last year and if the upgrades are worth it. All that will be shared in the full review that will be up in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, we will be unboxing the phone today to see what it has to offer.
The main selling point of the Infinix S4 is the 32MP selfie camera. This is unheard off at this price range and I am curious to see how good it is. As for the back camera or cameras for that matter, the Infinix S4 has three of them, a 13MP, 8MP and 2MP one. The 13MP is the main sensor, the 8MP is the wide angle one and the 2MP is the depth sensor.
If you are interested in the other specifications of the Infinix S4, you can check them out below.
Read: Infinix S4 Specifications
You can check out the unboxing video below.
With the introduction aside, let us get to the unboxing.
What’s in The Box?
- Phone
- Screen protector
- User guide, warranty card and manual
- USB Cable
- Wall adapter for charging
- Transparent back case
- SIM ejector tool
First Impressions
I got the Infinix S4 in a colour the company is calling nebula blue. It does look good as it is not a plain colour. It does have a sparkly effect with the bottom part of the back cover being a bit darker (almost black) and the top section being lighter. The sparkly look gives it a unique appearance which I am sure those who buy this phone will appreciate.
The overall design feels like that of the Tecno Spark 3, the two are sister companies so that makes sense. The back is flat and this is completely different from what we have with the Infinix S3 series. Still on the back, this is where we find the three cameras, LED flash and fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor is easy to reach and is very responsive and works as expected. This back cover is made of plastic and is not removable. Even though it is plastic, it does not feel like it and you may not notice if you are not keen on that. The Infinix S4 has 2.5D glass on both the front and the back and this makes the phone look even better.
To the front of the display, we also get to see some changes including the waterdrop notch, a first for Infinix. A ‘waterdrop’ notch is just a smaller notch that is designed to look like wait for it…a waterdrop ?. The notch cut out is what houses the 32MP selfie camera with the earpiece being way up top. As with most other Android smartphones, you can hide the notch under settings but as usual, I did not do that. Compared to other waterdrop notches on other smartphones, the one of the Infinix S4 seems a bit bigger and has been pulled down a bit. It is not subtle in any way but this is just me nitpicking as most people will not notice that.
The display used here is a 6.2 inch one with a resolution of 720 x 1520 Pixels. This is not exciting in any way but considering the price of the phone, I will let that slide. I do spend a lot of time-consuming media through my phones and the higher resolution I have, the better. The display feels good and is responsive. It does not feel delicate but just to be safe, Infinix has included a free screen protector to prevent accidental scratches.
Even with such a big display, I still have no problem using this phone with one hand. This will be an issue for those with smaller hands or those people who prefer smaller displays. This is not an issue for me as I can reach all corners when using one hand.
Still on the display, this phone supports adaptive brightness and can automatically adjust the brightness depending on the environment. This feature works well but it is not polished and does not work all the time. One more thing about the display, when the phone is locked but the display is on, you can tap on it twice and you will get a random motivational quote. This is an XOS feature but I am just noticing it today, I am not sure if it is new or has been there.
The headphone jack, Micro USB port and speaker grilles are at the bottom of the phone with the SIM and MicroSD card tray on the left and power and volume buttons on the right. The company is still not using USB Type C for reasons best known to them.
Under the hood, the Infinix S4 is powered by the 2GHz Helio P22 Processor that is paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. I am expecting good results from this as I am not in a position to share that right now since I have been using this phone for less than a day.
We are getting Android Pie on the Infinix S4 together with XOS 5.0 Custom UI. XOS 5 has some UI changes that I have noticed. It has new icon designs that you will notice if you have been using Infinix phones for a while. There is also what the company is calling a ‘Smart Panel’. This is sort of a menu item that you can pull from the right of the display to the left on any screen to access your favourite and frequently used apps. You will see the Smart panel on the right side of the display. You can disable it if you do now want to but I will leave mine there for now. I am planning to do a full review of XOS 5.0 as I have noticed there are other small changes that I do not want to get into in this post.
The Battery used on the Infinix S4 is a 4,000 mAh one. This is a promising battery and I am expecting good results from it. I expect it to last for more than a day or even two with my kind of usage. There are some battery saving options including smart power saving that restricts the power consumption of rarely used app to get the battery to last longer. I will talk more about these in the full review in a few weeks.
Conclusion
The Infinix S4 is a promising device. It has impressive specifications and on paper is the smartphone to have for its price. I am curious to see if these are the same sentiments I will have in the full review. The phone feels like a complete upgrade to the S3 series from last year and my experience so far has been good. I will be using the phone for two weeks and have the full review then.
You can get the Infinix S4 through Infinix Mall, Jumia and other offline retail stores. The phone is currently on pre-order but will go on sale next week.
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