Infinix HOT 10S review: Affordable and long-lasting

Hot off the introduction of Infinix HOT 10S in the Philippines, we’re ready to give you our thoughts on this new affordable smartphone with a long-lasting performance. Priced at PhP 5,990 for the base model, is the Infinix HOT 10S the budget gamer’s ultimate device? Read our review and find out.

Design

Inspired by the mirror-like surface of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, Infinix says the design aims to mesmerize with flowing light and shadow. True enough, the back finish has a very reflective and glossy surface protecting a glittery, textured pattern underneath.

As with other phones with a smooth and glossy finish, the back panel does attract fingerprints easily so a quick wipe is necessary every now and then to keep it looking nice if you’re not a fan of putting a phone case on.

A fingerprint sensor is seen on the higher portion of the back that suggests the use of an index finger to activate. This is then close to the camera module and its triple sensor setup going on. An LED flash rounds up this area.

Running along the right side are the volume rocker and a power/lock button. Meanwhile, on the opposite side is the dual nano SIM tray plus a microSD slot to expand storage. The top is totally void of anything and not even a pinhole for mic is found.

Checking the bottom and we see the usual suspects — a 3.5mm audio jack for your headphones, a speaker grille, and, sadly, a microUSB port. This means it’s going to take longer time to refill its 6000mAh battery as compared to charging via USB-C. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and we’ll discuss its battery performance in just a bit.

Overall, the HOT 10S is a pretty tall phone that favors content consumption and gaming when the phone is used in landscape orientation. It feels solid and well-built with just the right thickness.

Buttons are easy enough to reach but I do have bigger hands than most Filipinos so a smaller hand might find it a bit difficult reaching the volume rocker without readjusting the grip.

There are four color options to choose from namely, Morandi Green, Heart of Ocean, 7° Purple, and 95° Black — what a unique naming scheme.

Display and Multimedia

I mentioned that the HOT 10S is a rather tall phone and this is mainly due to its large 6.82-inch display that’s meant for better enjoyment of different content. The panel comes with an HD+ resolution (1640 x 720) and boasts a 90Hz refresh rate which is a first in the HOT series.

On top of that, the phone also sports a 180Hz touch sampling rate that more accurately reads your touch input. And for gamers out there, you know that sometimes a delay in input is all it takes to win or lose a match, especially for fast-paced games.

While it’s true that it only maxes out at 720p, you can still enjoy an immersive experience as streaming high-res video shows good enough detail for mobile consumption. Images are clear, contrast improves quality, and colors are vibrant enough for casual viewing.

Its 90Hz refresh rate is noticeable when browsing through its UI but is more effective when playing games that support this feature. Even with Genshin Impact that maxes out at 60fps, the playthrough is still more pleasing to the eyes than a standard 30fps.

Having a single speaker grille on the bottom, you’d be better off connecting a pair of headphones to its 3.5mm jack for a more balanced and immersive experience whether you’re listening to music, watching videos, or playing games.

Cameras

Armed with a triple camera setup, the HOT 10S is headlined by a 48-megapixel main shooter accompanied by a 2-megapixel depth camera for bokeh effects and an AI camera for auto scene detection. Once the AI sensor detects what you’re shooting, it will optimize the settings to produce better images.

The phone also comes with features for shooting like its Super Nightscape, eye-tracking autofocus (another first in the series), auto-blur videos, and face beautification videos at 2K resolution. It also comes with super slow-mo video capture at 240fps for those buttery smooth clips.

Photos produced are decent although some shots appear a bit desaturated and with dull colors. Its HDR mode effectively shows a wider dynamic range which is good especially when shooting both light and dark areas. Sharpness is also decent and captures detailed subjects.

Meanwhile, for your selfies, it comes with an 8-megapixel front camera. It has its own AI that enhances your self-portraits and comes in handy if you feel you really need it. Additionally, its eye-tracking feature proved useful and kept portrait shots in focus.

Performance

At the heart of the Infinix HOT 10S runs a MediaTek Helio G85 processor tweaked to pack more punch for heavy games as well as promote power optimization to make gaming sessions last longer. The phone also comes with a choice of either 4GB or 6GB RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage.

If you find this storage still lacking, you have the option to expand it up to 512GB using a microSD card.

With these working hand-in-hand, performing everyday tasks are no sweat for the HOT 10S, and gaming is definitely handled well. We were able to run popular titles like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and PUBG without running into any major hiccups.

For games that support a 90Hz refresh rate like Pokémon Go, its smooth animation is really a treat for the eyes and elevates the mobile gaming experience.

To further improve a gamer’s experience, it also features Dar-link game booster which is a proprietary game optimization engine that makes improvements to the graphics display, touchscreen sensitivity, and optimizes data load.

The device does get warm after hours of usage but not to the point that it’s unusable. Pausing for a while and giving the phone some time to rest cools it down in no time.

It runs on the company’s XOS 7.6 which is based off on Android 11. It highly prioritizes safety and comes with features like App Lock that limits what other users can access on your phone and X-Proof that discourages people around you from peeking at your screen.

Navigation through its UI is fast but it comes with third-party apps that you can do away with. And speaking of pre-loaded apps, it comes with Beez app that lets you easily create a loop of beats and samples that you can use for your alerts which I personally find really cool.

Its 4G connectivity also proved reliable when I’m out of the house. I was able to play games and stream videos continuously without experiencing signal drops and the like.

For security, you have a choice of using a fingerprint scanner as mentioned earlier as well as facial recognition using its front camera. Unlocking the device using its fingerprint scanner was quick and misreads were kept to a minimum. Its facial recognition also worked well even with a face mask on so that’s useful for our situation today.

Battery

With its 6000mAh battery, you’ll expect this to last long before needing to recharge and that’s exactly our experience with the HOT 10S. With 90Hz turned off and casual gaming every once in a while, I was able to make the phone last for two whole days before plugging it again.

Meanwhile, for our standard battery test of streaming a high-res video at 50% brightness and no audio, the phone lasted for 17 hours and 11 minutes which puts it up there in our ranking of phones with long-lasting batteries.

Charging it, however, was a different story. Using only its microUSB charger, you’ll need a little over three hours to fully charge the HOT 10S. Although, it comes with its Safe Charge technology that cuts the power automatically when the device reaches its full capacity so you can just leave it plugged in for a long time.

Creature Feature

As always, in our review, The Modern Creatures aims to find special features in devices that make them worth having — a Creature Feature if you will. For the Infinix HOT 10S, it would have to be its battery life that makes it last for days on a single charge.

With phones having bigger displays with high resolution, the 720p resolution of this phone was one of the main reasons it’s able to last such lengths in terms of battery life. And I would say that’s a good tradeoff to have.

Pricing and final thoughts

The Infinix HOT 10S is priced at PhP 5,990 for the 4GB + 64GB variant and PhP 6,990 for the 6GB + 128GB model are both available on Shopee and Lazada.

At these price points, the Infinix HOT 10S is a really good deal not only for gamers, but also for power users in general. With it, you’re able to accomplish tasks on a rather large display and not worry about running out of juice all the time.

 

Search
-

Redmi Note 10S review: No fuss mid-range all-rounder

07/27/2021

The Redmi Note 10S is one-fourth of the company’s current Note 10-series. Positioned in between the base and Pro variant, this device exhibits a mesh of features that borrow or upgrade from the other models.

I’ve been using the Note 10S as my daily driver for a while and have been putting it through its paces in the real world. With that, I’ve found good reasons that make it a considerable purchase in this price segment.

Design

If you’re familiar with the build of the Note 10, you’ll find that it’s almost indistinguishable from the Note 10S. The physique is slim, light, and easy to use with just one hand.

I could grip it comfortably all the way around because of the curved edges. It also has IP53 dust and splash protection.

The Redmi Note 10S houses a glossy plastic back and comes in three colors — Pebble White, Ocean Blue, and what we have on-hand, Onyx Gray. The cameras are neatly presented in a rounded rectangle module that sits on the upper corner of the device.

The glossy back exhibits a really nice sheen when light hits it and makes it look very elegant. But as expected, fingerprints are easily transferred. There is a plastic case in the box to save yourself from constantly wiping the device.

On the right side, we have the volume rocker and power button with an integrated fingerprint sensor. Unlike most integrated fingerprint sensors, the Note 10S’s button sits flush or flat on the side.

This became my method of choice in unlocking the device as it was consistently responsive. And since we’re wearing masks almost all the time, it’s the most accessible, too. The Note 10S does also offer face unlock alongside the usual PIN input.

Though I do have to note that the fingerprint sensor is incredibly sensitive when set to touch for unlocking. It constantly scans what it comes into contact with which causes constant vibration. Remedy this by sticking to press for its unlocking method.

Going back to the device, you can find the dual SIM card slot can be found on the left while on top we have one of two speakers on the device, and the IR blaster. On the bottom, we have the second speaker, USB Type-C port, and headphone jack.

Display and multimedia

Fronting the Redmi Note 10S is a 6.43-inch AMOLED DotDisplay with narrow bezels all around. The screen is sizeable and comfortable to use on different apps and tasks.

Colors are a bit on the cool side but you can adjust the temperature in the device’s settings.

We found colors aren’t the most accurate but shouldn’t be a problem for the everyday user. As a whole, It’s still able to deliver well-saturated colors with dark blacks thanks to the AMOLED display.

The device also fares well under sunlight but the reflective screen does make it harder to see in harsh light. But indoors, I found the screen’s brightness to be more than enough for all of the tasks I go through on a daily basis.

Bezels are thin all around with the chin being the thickest. Up top, you’ll see the punch-hole notch for the selfie camera. There’s a silver ring around it making it a bit noticeable but it’s easy enough to get used to.

Overall, I had no complaints with the display and in using it for different productivity and social media apps. Watching videos, though, was a different story.

The Redmi Note 10S’s software seems to oversharpen videos. It can be bothersome especially when you’re watching a scene with a lot of blacks or shadows as artifacts tend to show up and details are lost.

Oddly enough, it only seems to happen with videos so you may want to consider this if you like to watch a lot of content. But if not or it’s not your priority, the Note 10S’s AMOLED screen provides fair and reliable performance in all other aspects.

The device is equipped with dual speakers that output sound quality that’s expected.

They’re loud, audible, and have a good balance of lows, mids, and highs. But because it’s Hi-Res audio certified, you can get a better experience by plugging in a compatible set of headphones into the headphone jack.

Performance

At the heart of the Redmi Note 10S is a MediaTek Helio G95 processor which should perform similarly to the Note 10’s Snapdragon processor. Our unit came with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage but there is an 8GB RAM variant for more demanding users.

Additional storage up to 512GB can be achieved by inserting a microSD card.

My experience with the device and its software was pleasantly fast and snappy. Apps opened quickly enough and gestures were responsive. I could also easily jump in and out of these apps without lag which helped in multi-tasking.

Gaming is on the conservative side of performance. Heavy titles like Genshin Impact struggles on the highest settings but that’s pretty expected.

On medium, you still get noticeable frame drops but with a couple of adjustments, you should be able to achieve better gameplay performance. Less demanding titles like League of Legends were more playable on this device.

The phone does heat up after continuous use but not enough to cause discomfort. Performance does start to slow down, though, so marathoning may not be an option for this device.

In my time with it, the Redmi Note 10S gave a reliable and workable performance, especially for productivity tasks. I had no problems going through daily routines of accessing emails, uploading content, and social media.

Hiccups in game performance didn’t have me reaching for this phone to play but it was a compromise that I didn’t mind making for a phone at its price.

Camera

One of the most prominent updates of this phone from the Note 10 is its camera system.

The Note 10S upgrades to a 64-megapixel main shooter. It works together with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle, 2-megapixel macro, and 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Photos are pleasing when there is plenty of light available. Shooting outdoors in bright sunlight, both the main and ultra-wide cameras were able to bring out a good amount of details and color.

Low-light performance is a hit and miss. You can sometimes get pretty clear and detailed images but there are times shadows and darker tones exhibit noticeable noise.

The 13-megapixel front-facing camera is pretty much the same. It does very well in bright light and adequately in low light. Personally, I enjoyed the front camera as it gave me pretty sharp and good-looking selfies.

AI beautification works well to enhance features instead of exaggerating them. Cutouts for portrait mode are also impressive and enhance the overall look of the photo.

All in all, the Redmi Note 10S’s quad-camera system performs up to the mark for its price range. It also gives users a good range of tools and features while the front-facing camera provides flattering portraits that are definitely upload-ready.

Battery

Onboard the Note 10S is a 5000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging. The Note 10S is supposed to reach a full charge in 69 minutes. This proved truthful in our tests using the shipped charger and cable.

In the real world, the Note 10S’s large battery is a champ. The 5000mAh capacity coupled with the phone’s power-saving tech allowed me to survive a whole day.

We were out shooting on the tracks and I had the Note 10S as my main phone and as a hotspot for my second phone. I was surprised and impressed to see that it didn’t run out of juice until the end of the day.

Creature Feature

In our reviews, The Modern Creatures aims to find special features in a device that makes it worth having – something that gives it an edge over its competitors. And for the Redmi Note 10S, it would be its long-lasting 5000mAh battery.

Not having to worry about the device’s battery is a luxury we appreciate and we got that with the Redmi Note 10S. The 5000mAh battery fuels all the tasks you need to do in a day and its power-saving tech frees you from charging cables.

Final Thoughts

The Redmi Note 10S may have a confusing position in the Note 10-series lineup but it’s clear that this device offers a slightly upgraded model with better cameras and overall performance at a more accessible price.

It’s great for users who need more stable and reliable performance for everyday tasks and loads as its upgraded processor helps in multi-tasking and other productivity features. Add its long-lasting battery and upgrade cameras, you’re getting a feature-filled phone at a wallet-friendly price.

The Redmi Note 10S comes in with an attractive price of just PhP 11,990 for the 8GB/128GB variant. You can purchase it through Xiaomi’s official store on Lazada and Shopee.

REVIEWS