Infinix Note 30 5G Review: Know the Pros and Cons

October 30, 2023, 12:42 PM
by Shahriar Rabab

UNB News
Publish- October 30, 2023, 12:42 PM
Shahriar Rabab
Update- October 30, 2023, 01:07 PM

Infinix Note 30 5G

The Note series from Infinix has been their go-to affordable option that blends price and performance. The previous releases like Note 10 and Note 12 were highly popular in the budget-friendly phone range. Infinix launched Note 30 5G on 22nd May 2023. Now the question arises, can Note 30 hold the legacy? Let’s look at the main features of the Infinix Note 30 5G variant and find out whether it lives up to the hype.

Key Specifications of the Infinix Note 30 5G

Design and Build Quality

An interesting thing about the Note series is that the design goes through minimal changes in each iteration. Most of the changes take place on the design of the camera housing or the back with the device retaining most of its other design elements.

The Note 30 5G too walks the same route with a boxy design and a large rectangular camera housing on the back. Dimension-wise, the device comes in at 168.5 mm by 76.5 mm by 8.5 mm with 205 g weight.

The device has a plastic frame with either glass or leather back depending on the color variant. The Magic Black and Interstellar Blue variants come in glass whereas the Sunset Gold has a tan leather finish on the back.

Coming to the front, there is a noticeable chin on the bottom with a punch-hole camera cut out. Even for a budget-friendly smartphone, the large chin stands out like a sore thumb. It might be the only design drawback of the Note 30 5G.

The power button and the volume rocker are placed on the right side of the smartphone. The Note 30 5G has stuck with the side-mounted fingerprint scanner placed on the power button. The 3.5 mm headphone jack is also present on the device which will be a pleasant feature for many. There is also a dedicated micro SDXC slot so storage concerns will not be an issue.

The Display

The display on the Note 30 5G is a 6.78-inch IPS LCD panel with FHD+ resolution. The display holds 1080 by 2460 pixels at 396 ppi. Even though it’s an LCD panel, several features make it stand out from contemporary displays. Like the choice of 120 Hz refresh rate and 580 nits of peak brightness. While it’s not the brightest display out there, it is perfectly legible under direct sunlight.

The display also showed good contrast in the test. There were not any color shifts here and there and the blacks looked deep compared to the usual washed-out appearance. Out of the box, the color calibration seemed to be on the warmer side but it can be changed from the display settings as per the user’s preference.

The only drawback here is the design of the front. The large chin at the bottom takes up a significant front real estate. It accounts for an 84.7% screen-to-body ratio which isn’t really up to the 2023 design standards.

The Camera

The Infinix Note 30 5G has a triple camera setup beautifully positioned on the raised platform at the back. While on paper, the smartphone has a triple camera, all of the work is essentially done by the 108 MP main sensor with f/1.75 aperture, 26mm focal length, and 1/1.67" sensor size. The two supporting sensors are a 2 MP depth sensor and a QVGA sensor.

QVGA sensors are quite obsolete in 2023 as they essentially have no specific functionality. It is almost as if Infinix included them for the sake of having a triple-camera marketing tagline.

Coming back to the performance of the main sensor, the results were satisfactory considering the price. The high megapixel count assists in capturing more details than before. However, the end product is still pixel-binned 12 MP pictures unless you are shooting at 108 MP raw. Though the processing on the raw images was a bit off, they had better details compared to the pixel-binned images.

The pictures came out really well under direct sunlight. The photos had a good contrast with a decent dynamic range. The subjects were consistently in focus and the pictures produced sharp details. Sometimes, the photos of objects or nature may look a bit over processed but the color pop looks pleasing to the eye.

The picture quality, however, doesn’t hold in the low light or artificial lighting. Images still look over-processed and sometimes they also look overexposed in certain low-light conditions. The front camera has a generic 16 MP shooter. There’s nothing fancy about it and it produces passable results.

The videography on the Note 30 5G is rated to be 1440p at 30fps by the main shooter, while 1080p at either 30 or 60fps footage can be captured by the selfie sensor.

The OS has an interesting feature called Dual View Recording which allows recording on both the front and back camera at the same time. However, the lack of OIS and EIS is something that affects the video quality to a certain extent.

To sum things up, the camera is a solid performer in terms of pictures. But the videography still has a long road to tread.

Processor and Performance

The Note 30 5G is powered by Mediatek Dimensity 6080 based on the 6 Nm architecture. Being an entry-level processor, the 6 Nm architecture helps a lot in terms of power-efficient output. The processor has a chip design of 2x2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 with Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.

In terms of performance, the spec resonates in use. The device performed well in gaming. Tests were run with PUBG, Asphalt 9, COD, and Genshin Impact. While it can hardly run on max graphics settings, the device was able to run in mid settings. The device had a uniform output with no noticeable frame drops. It heated up a bit but didn’t trigger rapid battery loss or thermal throttling. In day-to-day use, the device performed smoothly. Combining that with a 120 Hz refresh rate, the performance felt no less than a flagship-grade smartphone.

The Note 30 5G is running on Android 13 with XOS 13 skin on top of it. The XOS is still a bloatware-filled mess for anyone coming from a stock Android experience. But previous users of Infinix should feel right at home.

Battery and Charge Time

The Infinix Note 30 5G has a 5000 mAh battery on board with 45W fast charging. The device also has a new feature called bypass charging which shifts 30% of the power directly to the motherboard. It helps to ensure the battery health by optimizing the usage.

Pros and Cons of Infinix Note 30 5G

Pros:

- Interesting design and elements

- Great performance

- Fast charging

- Dual stereo speaker

- Bright and crisp display

Cons:

- Videography lacks stability

- Bloatware.

Price of Infinix Note 30 5G

The Infinix Note 30 5G is available in two variants – 4/128 GB and the 8/256 GB variant. The prices of the variants are 13,999 and 14,699 INR respectively. The price roughly translates to 18,461 and 19,384 BDT respectively (1 INR = 1.32 BDT). However, the price can differ once it becomes officially available in Bangladesh.

Verdict

The Infinix Note 30 5G is a refreshing update compared to last year’s Note 12 5G. While the naming structure has no resemblance, the Note 30 can be considered as an incremental update to the Note 12. In terms of its strengths, the display, processor, and design would be the key selling points for the device.

But as always, there remains much to be desired from the camera system. The bloatware may disappoint some users.

To sum things up, the Note 30 5G can be a standard choice for day-to-day use. Those who are looking for a budget-friendly gaming phone can consider the Infinix Note 30 5G as it brings a good balance of price and performance.