The Infinix Note 12 VIP was recently unveiled in Kenya as one of the three devices in the Note 12 series. The Note 12 VIP is the most expensive of the three and you can get one for Ksh 41,999. This price is quite high considering the fact that the standard Note 12 is available for around Ksh 28,000. The biggest question most people will be asking is, is the extra money to get the Note 12 VIP worth it considering that the two devices have so many similarities.
I have been using the Note 12 VIP for a few weeks now and I believe I am in a better position to say if it is worth your money or not.
Being an upgrade to the Infinix Note 11 series, the Note 12 has a number of new features. The upgrades are not that major and this might not make the Note 12 ideal to anyone who has the Note 11.
Have a look at some of the Infinix Note 12 VIP specifications below.
- Display: 6.7-inch, 1080 x 2400 pixels
- Front Camera: 16 MP
- Rear Camera: 108 MP + 13 MP + 2 MP
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256 GB
- Battery Capacity: 4,500mAh
- OS: Android 12
Read: Infinix Note 12 VIP Specifications and Price in Kenya
Design and Build Quality
This is one of the areas where you will see huge upgrades with this phone compared to its predecessor. The phone feels well built and sturdy. This build quality is even better than the one on the Infinix Zero series in my opinion. It is what you expect from a smartphone within its price range and that is what you are getting.
The phone has a boxy design with a flat back which does look very classy. We are used to seeing Infinix Note devices being this big but the Note 12 Play is not just big, it looks good while at it. You can use the phone with one hand but this might not be the case if you have smaller hands.
The power and volume buttons are on the right and even though they are within easy reach, they don’t protrude out that much so you may not know when you have pressed them. They still work well though.
At the back is the camera module that you will not miss. It has a dark shade with the main camera lens taking a bigger space. This does look different from other smartphones from Infinix and even most other smartphones on the market.
Display
The Infinix Note 12 features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. This display is more than enough to view media on and even edit photos.
The higher refresh rate is also a nice addition as it ensures you have a quick and responsive display that will not feel slow, jitter or lag. That is what you expect from a phone within this price range and it is what Infinix is offering.
Performance and Software
This is where I feel like Infinix took some shortcuts with this phone. The Note 12 VIP is powered by the MediaTek Helio G96 processor which is the same one powering the standard Note 12. I don’t get why they decided to use the same processor as they could have used the Snapdragon 680 on this or even better, the MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor. These could have differentiated the Note 12 VIP from the standard variant and give it that premium and exclusive touch.
For the software, it does come with Android 12 with XOS version 10.6. You do get bloatware on this phone and there are some apps that you cannot uninstall. One such app is called Folax which looks like a voice assistant. The scary thing is that the app requires access to call logs, contacts, SMS, and Phone and by default, these permissions are enabled. There is no way to deny these permissions as the option to do so is disabled. To be honest these are sensitive permissions that I should be able to deny any app from accessing unless I really want to use that application.
Also Read: How to remove XOS Launcher on your Infinix smartphone and use a third-party launcher
Cameras
You cannot go wrong with the Infinix Note 12 VIP cameras. The back camera is made up of a main 108MP lens accompanied by a 13MP Ultrawide lens and a 2MP depth sensor.
With the powerful hardware, the shots you get are clear, colourful with good saturation.
Your selfie game will not suffer with the 16MP front-facing camera with Dual LED flash. The shots you get are quite good too.
Battery
This is another sector where the Infinix Note 12 VIP shines. The phone has a 4500 mAh battery that may not be that massive but it does support 120W fast charging. This is the fastest I have used on an Infinix smartphone and should get from 0 to 100% in less than 20 minutes. These speeds are very fast and you honestly have to try them to appreciate how advantageous they can be.
Conclusion
The Infinix Note 12 VIP is quite a good phone. The design and build quality is exceptional and very different from what we have come to expect from Infinix. It does stand out even from its competitors and feels premium to hold. The display is big and bright and perfect for all your needs.
The camera is equally as good and you will be taking photos that don’t need much editing before posting online. As for the battery, it is really good and 120W fast charging is a lifesaver.
The one area I am not a big fan of has to be with the software and some of the bloatware that I cannot uninstall. The permissions given to these apps are also ridiculous and the fact that I can’t deny said permissions is very scary. The good thing is these can be fixed with a software update and hope Infinix fixes the issues through that.
Also Read: Huawei Nova 9 SE Review
