The Infinix Hot 30 Play is one of the devices in the Infinix Hot 30 series. This series was launched in Kenya a few months back and I have already reviewed one of the devices in the lineup, the Infinix Hot 30. The Infinix Hot 30 Play is available in Kenya for Ksh 16,400. This is one of the cheapest smartphones from the company to launch in Kenya this year. At this price, you do have some other options but Infinix wants you to go for the Hot 30 Play because of its battery. This phone has a 6,000 mAh battery that has really impressed me during the review period.
The Infinix Hot 30 Play shares some key specifications with the standard Hot 30 but the battery is one of its key differentiators. This is a budget smartphone that aims to deliver impressive performance and exceptional battery life without breaking the bank. Packed with a large display, capable cameras, and a powerful chipset, the Hot 30 Play offers a lot for its price.
Design and Display
The Hot 30 Play boasts a sleek and modern design with a glass front, plastic frame, and plastic back. It feels comfortable to hold and offers a solid grip. The device features a large 6.82-inch IPS LCD display that offers a satisfactory viewing experience. With its 720 x 1640 resolution, colors appear vibrant and text appears sharp. The 90Hz refresh rate enhances smooth scrolling and fluid UI transitions, making it a pleasant device for multimedia consumption and everyday usage.
Colour reproduction of the display is accurate and this makes the display perfect for media consumption. If you spend your day watching videos on YouTube, TikTok, IG or even Netflix, this display will be perfect for you. This is not a full HD display but for its price, it is good and gets the job done.
The back of the phone does not feel cheap. I got the color Infinix is calling Bora Purple and this is the one I would recommend to anyone who wants to buy this phone. It looks really good especially under direct sunlight. Still at the back is where we have the two camera sensors and LED flash. The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that adds a layer of security and convenience. It allows for fast and accurate unlocking of the device with a simple touch. Additionally, the Hot 30 Play features essential sensors like an accelerometer, proximity sensor, and compass, enhancing the overall functionality and user experience.
Performance and Software
Under the hood, the Hot 30 Play is powered by the MediaTek Helio G37 chipset, a competent processor for a budget smartphone. The octa-core CPU, consisting of four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.7 GHz, delivers smooth multitasking and decent performance for most everyday tasks. I used this phone as my main one for a while and did not have any performance issues. It can handle all tasks with ease, at no point did I have any notable issues with performance.
The processor is Paired with 8GB of RAM that helps with multitasking and overall performance. For a phone retailing for 16K, 8GB of RAM is very good. The phone supports virtual RAM meaning that you can expand the RAM further to 16GB.
The PowerVR GE8320 GPU ensures smooth graphics rendering for casual gaming. I did install PUBG on this phone and could play smoothly on medium settings. Keep in mind that this is not necessarily a gaming phone but you can still play some games if you want to.
Running on Android 13 with the XOS 12.6 skin on top, the software experience is intuitive and user-friendly. The operating system brings various optimizations and features to enhance the overall user experience, including improved privacy settings, better notification management, and smoother animations. The one issue I have is with the bloatware and some of the ads on the UI, they just make the experience not that smooth.
Camera
The Infinix Hot 30 Play features a dual rear camera setup, consisting of a 16 MP primary sensor and a QVGA sensor. The primary sensor captures decent photos with good color reproduction and adequate detail in well-lit conditions. However, low-light photography can be a bit challenging, resulting in some loss of detail and increased noise. It still does manage to take some good shots at night but I feel like for the best night photography, the Tecno Spark 10 does a better job.
On the front, the device sports an 8 MP selfie camera, which produces satisfactory results for your social media needs. The front camera also supports HDR and features a dual-LED flash, ensuring well-lit and vibrant selfies even in challenging lighting conditions.
Battery and Charging
One of the standout features of the Infinix Hot 30 Play is its massive 6000 mAh battery. This generous capacity easily provides all-day battery life, even with heavy usage. Whether you’re streaming videos, playing games, or browsing the web, the Hot 30 Play can keep up with your demands. I used the phone mostly for web browsing, video streaming and some gaming and the usual texts, calls and WhatsApp and still managed to get the battery to last an entire day on a single charge. Most of the days I could easily achieve 8 hours of screen-on-time.
Moreover, the device supports 18W wired charging, which enables a reasonably quick recharge, minimizing downtime. This is not the fastest and I would have hoped for 25W charging speeds just because the battery is huge to start with. 18W charging is fast but you do need some patience to charge the 6,000 mAh battery from 0 to 100%.
Verdict
The Infinix Hot 30 Play impresses with its powerful performance, exceptional battery life, and budget-friendly price tag. It delivers a delightful multimedia experience with its large display and smooth UI transitions. While the camera performance may not be exceptional in low-light conditions, it still produces satisfactory results for everyday photography needs.
I particularly love the 6,000 mAh battery that is more than enough for me. Most time I can use the phone on a single charge for about 2 days and this is impressive. If you are someone who is always on the move, this phone is perfect for you.
Also Read: Infinix Hot 30 Vs realme C55 Specifications Comparison
