Infinix Zero 8 review - Smooth performance on a budget - Android

Budget phone for games and videos.

The post Infinix Zero 8 review: Smooth performance on a budget appeared first on Technobaboy.com.

This is our full review of the Infinix Zero 8.

The Infinix Zero 8 is the brand’s most powerful flagship to date. Looking at its specs, the smartphone boasts a Helio G90T chipset to go with a large 90Hz display, a 64MP main camera, and a 4,500mAh battery.

On paper, its all good, especially for the price. But how well does it perform in real life? Lets find out.

Infinix Zero 8 Review

Price

The Infinix Zero 8 has a price tag of Php 12,990. The smartphone is available on Shopee and Lazada.

Design and Display

For a sub-13k phone, the Infinix Zero 8 is one beautiful device. Our Black Diamond review unit (which is the color to get, by the way) has an elegant dark back panel that reflect rainbow colors when hit by light. It looks sophisticated and mature in person, like a device that’s twice its price.

The diamond shaped camera module at the back will definitely attract attention. Its adds to the phone’s elegance without looking too exaggerated.

The phone is unapologetically large measuring in at 168.7 x 76.1 x 9.1 mm. But its surprisingly easy to handle and fits great in the hand because of its curvy back side and relatively thin profile.

All the buttons are on the right side. The power button, which is easily within reach of your digits, has an embedded fingerprint scanner. The volume rockers, on the other hand, are slightly higher than I would have liked, but not so much to be a deal breaker.

The SIM tray is on the left. It has three dedicated slots for two SIM nano cards and a microSD card. You have a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, a USB-C port, and the mono speaker at the bottom end.

The Zero 8 has a 6.85-inch Full HD+ IPS display with a 2460 x 1080 resolution. Thanks to the 90Hz refresh rate, animations look butter smooth and snappy. The panel has punchy colors. And thanks to its size, its great for videos and games.

In the box:

• Infinix Zero 8
• Protective case
• Screen protector
• Earphones
• USB-C to USB-A cable
• Fast charger
• SIM ejector
• Documentation

Performance and Benchmarks

The phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio G90T chipset with eight cores and a clock speed of up to 2.05GHz. It has 8GB RAM and 128GB expandable storage.

It has its own skin based on Android 10 called XOS Dolphin. The UI resembles many Chinese smartphone skins, and like most of them, it comes with its fair share of third party apps that you may or may not want.

The UI also has ads that pop-up on the notification bar from time to time. Most of it comes from pre-installed apps that you can uninstall. While others (like its Instant Apps recommendations) can be turned off on the settings.

I like the default theme it came with. Its a bit iOS-esque but its all good. If that’s not to your liking, you have the option to download and use another theme via the XTheme store.

All this adds to the phone’s performance. It is fast and smooth, easily handling day-to-day tasks easily. Apps open quickly, while casual games play run great.

The Zero 8 has Game Mode which improves the gaming experience by managing notifications or providing you with game data such as statistics and usage times. Interestingly, it also has a Game Anti-addiction mode that offers reminders of how long you’ve been playing and parental control.

Here are the synthetic benchmark scores for your reference.

Cameras

For a budget phone, the Zero 8 comes with four cameras at the back with a 64MP main, an 8MP ultra-wide, and two 2MP sensors. There aren’t much information about the sensors, especially the last two. We can only assume one of them is for depth information and the other maybe for super macro (although you can use the 8MP ultra-wide to get in real close).

That aside, it also has dual front cameras with a 48MP main selfie snapper and a secondary 8MP ultra-wide. Surprisingly, there’s a front facing LED flash sitting on the left side of the earpiece.

Image quality in good lighting is average for the most part. I’d like to described it as “good enough” for most folks. Colors look okay, but sharpness and details are uninspiring. Still, most of the photos are perfectly fine for social media, a place where most photos end up anyway.

Ultra-wide photos are a bit soft and grainy, but have accurate color rendition. While zoomed in images looked good in general. Sample photos below L-R: Ultra-wide, Normal, 2x Zoom.

Photos taken using the Super Night Mode is useable, despite the mushy details and apparent lack of sharpness.

Selfies are a hit or miss, depending on the light source. With good light, skin tone looks warm with a tiny bit of yellow tinting. In bad lighting, the yellow tinting worsens slightly. Otherwise, its mostly okay especially for social media.

Battery Life

The phone comes with a sizeable 4,500mAh battery. Its enough to last you a full day with moderate usage even with 90Hz turned on. Of course, you can stretch that a bit further if you tone down what you do with the phone.

Charging speed is impressive for a budget device. Charging to 50 percent takes less than 30 minutes, and reaches 100 percent in a little under an hour and a half.

Wrap Up

Nowadays, looking for a good midrange smartphone is a lot harder than it looks, given the number of options available to us. If you have your eyes peeled for one, I suggest you take a good look at the Infinix Zero 8. The smartphone offers a lot of good for the Php 12,990. It has a good display meant for games and videos, a Helio G90T that will give you performance beyond its price, and a good battery life with fast charging.

There are some compromises, though. Its well within reason and meant to keep the price where it is (such as ads, bloat ware), but they can be managed with some tweaking of the settings.

That being said, its not hard to recommend the Infinix Zero 8. Its great for those who are looking for a phone for games and media consumption, but have a strict budget to follow.

But, like most phones, do temper your expectations. It maybe an Infinix flagship, but its still a midrange device.

Infinix Zero 8 specs

• Display: 6.85-inch Full HD+ IPS Display, 2460 x 1080, 90Hz Refresh Rate
• Processor: 2.05GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio G90T
• GPU: Mali-G76 MC4
• RAM: 8GB RAM
• Storage: 128GB Storage, Dedicated MicroSD Expansion Slot
• Rear Cameras: 64MP Main + 8MP Ultra-wide + 2MP + 2MP, Quad Cameras, Quad LED Flash
• Front Cameras: 48MP Main + 8MP Ultra-wide, Dual Selfie Cameras, LED Flash
• Network: 4G LTE, Dual SIM
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5, GPS
• Others: Side-mounted Fingerprint Scanner, USB-C, FM Radio, Built-in Cooling System
• OS: XOS Dolphin v7, Android 10
• Battery: 4,500mAh Battery, 33W Fast Charging

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