The Infinix Hot 3 X554 is one that could be considered the middle offering between the Infinix Hot Note and Infinix Hot 2. The Infinix Hot 3 shares some similarities with the other two phones and differs from both in one way or the other. The device is targeted at those selfie lovers with its superior camera quality, it comes with a better specification, enhanced hardware performance, and improved display compared to the Hot 2, launched back in the third quarter of 2015.
I have had the Infinix Hot 3 from Infinix Nigeria for some days now (all thanks to my great friend Nosa Ero and indeed Mr. Muyiwa), and today I have finally decided to review it. 🙂 Trust me, the phone is awesome for its price – a smartphone that costs less than $140 (at official FX rates) and N26,500 in Nigeria Naira.
Okay! Without much hullabaloo let’s go straight to buisness. Let’s see what the Infinix Hot 3 has to offer.
What’s in the box?
Inside the Infinix Hot 3 package you will find;
- Infinix Hot 3 (smartphone)
- 3-Pin AC Adapter
- USB Cable
- 3000 mAh Battery
- Earphone
- User Guide (Infinix Hot 3 comes pre-installed with its User Manual, so this is not needed)
- Warranty and Safety information
Note – Do not buy if seal is broken.
DESIGN
Taking a brief look at the Infinix Hot 3 design, it does not mark a significant departure from a budget device in terms of design. The body is fashioned out of plastic. Yes! plastic with premium feel. This helps in making the device very light making it easy to carry around despite its 3000 mAh battery.
Its rear diagonal threading processed with a fine diamond texture helps a lot with grip and chamfered edges to make the phone fit well in palm. Made to fit your lifestyle, it is the true definition of style and functionality.
The Hot 3 is got the traditional three capacitive buttons on the front end; Menu, Home, and Back. Also, the volume rocker and power button are well placed within comfortable reach; at the right hand side of the device as seen on most Infinix phones. It is unexpected that the Hot 3 speakers have still not change. Did I say speakers? I meant speaker. It would have been awesome if the speaker is fixed at the bottom of the device since both the 3.5mm headphone jack and the micro-USB port are on the top left end of the phone.
The hardware doesn’t feel premium or cheap, it is somewhere in the middle. Hehe!
RELATED: Hot 3 Photo Gallery
SCREEN
Yuppie! Infinix Hot 3 rocks that huge 5.5-inch HD IPS (720 x 1280px) resolution display like that of the Hot Note compared to the 5-inch unit found on the Infinix Hot 2. The large display size makes it a great device for movie and game lovers, as well as for web browsing. It features full-laminate GFF technology for 1.2mm high precision processing, which prevents glare for exceptional clarity and vivid picture quality. In-door visibility is excellent while outdoor visibility is impressive.
The Infinix Hot 3 display performs well even under direct sunlight. It is coupled with Multi-Touch 5, it is a truly responsive experience.
There’s no form of protection on the display panel considering that the feature is often missing on budget smartphones, so you need to get for yourself the Infinix Hot 3 tampered glass to prevent the screen from either shattering or scratch.
CAMERA
Coming down to the camera department, the Infinix Hot 3 is a little bit configured in this area for a smartphone in that price range. It comes with a pair of snappers similar to those on the Infinix Hot Note and Hot 2 to an extent. You will find an upgraded 8-megapixel camera that seems more significant with features like the ISO and Exposure found on high-end phones. More camera pixels doesn’t mean more picture quality, they are just numbers. Of course, it’s common knowledge that more megapixels, does not make a good camera.
The rear snapper has features that include – LED flash, autofocus, Smile recognition (smart recognition for smiles), Gesture recognition (fun selfies), Voice recognition (smart recognition for the phrase “capture” or “cheese”), Timed photos (great for selfies), Touch capture (touch screen for instant focus and capture), Focus Tracking（essential tool for spontaneous capture）, burst mode, and utilizes OV8865 sensor and boasts 5-element lens camera to enhance light intake efficiency for superior picture quality on the rear.
The Infinix Hot 3 main selling point is its 2-megapixel front facing camera with a brilliant soft flash that provides an ambient environment for natural selfies. The soft flash is not too brightand not too dull for the eyes.
Aside the font Soft flash, the front camera also has skin beautification, and soften mode and a nice focus which does score some extra point for this pretty features, although its 2-megapixel front camera will not give you that great image quality you are thinking of right now.
Here are some shots taken with the Infinix Hot 3.
Wow… the rear snapper made my jaw drop after shooting this. That car was in motion when i took that. But it looks as if the car was parked.
🙂 Another one. Bike in motion.
Picture taken with the 2 megapixel front facing camera with soft flash on.
Taken without soft flash.
PERFORMANCE, SOFTWARE AND STORAGE
On the inside of the Infinix Hot 3 comes the MediaTek MT6580 quad-core processor that does not disappoint, paired with 1 GB of RAM while the graphic processor is handled by the Mali-400 MP GPU. The Infinix Hot 3 also has the 2GB RAM variant powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 415 SoC to complement individual usage requirements. It appears the 2GB RAM variant is scarce as petrol in Nigeria right now, and I pray it should be made available for the market soon.
Which brings me to the Hot 3 operating system. This budget smartphone boots Android 5.1.1 Lollipop operating system laced on top with Infinix custom UX, the XUI designed to optimize power consumption for long-lasting standby time and optimize device memory.
Although, I was expecting the phone to come pre-loaded with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of box just like the Tecno W4 of same price range. But nevertheless, Infinix might roll out update for Android 6.0 Marshmallow any moment from now and you dont have to worry about that 🙂
You do not need to start downloading Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, BBM, WPS Office, Opera mini and Xender because it is already pre-installed in the device.
Internal storage capacity on the Hot 3 is 16 GB with about 9.5 GB usable for saving media files, but can be expandable up to 32 GB with external storage via the microSD card slot at the back.
MISCELLANEOUS SPECS
The Infinix Hot 3 is available in 4 different colors – Pink, Gold, Grey and Blue color options. Infinix Hot 3 power is provided with a 3000mAh Lithium-Ion battery that Infinix claims to last 9hr of web browsing, 20hr of talk time, and 33hr of music. This is not the best in the market but enough to get the job done. The battery is more powerful than the 2,200mAh juicer on the Hot 2.
The Infinix Hot 3 handset also boasts reverse charging capability enabling you to charge other mobile devices via OTG cable and offers dual SIM slots, both of which support 3G connectivity.
It comes with Box upper and lower silicon dual-mic to effectively lower background noise; it is coupled with a wide frequency receiver for excellent call quality. Its 2nd generation music amplifier utilizes unique RNS and noise canceling technology from Aiwei to effectively limit TDD noise. Anti sound-break technology is implemented to smooth out tracks for superior playback quality.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The two mild issues I have with this phone are, the speaker possition and heating issues. Though the back cover provided help cool things down a bit but you will still feel the heat. The best thing to do is to get the Hot 3 pouch to eliminate any form of heat. For the speaker, you may want to put the Hot 3 on a pen to get quality sound. Instead, the device speaker should be placed at the bottom of the phone. Infinix should improve on these two with the Hot 4.
Should you get this phone? Yes, it is quite a bargain considering its price of N26,500 and its premium specs. For anyone with a low budget and looking to get a smartphone, the Infinix Hot 3 is arguably the best choice. For some time, I have been finding it hard to find a smartphone less than $140 with detail finishing and specs that brings flawless performance running Android worth recommending. For optimum use, the 2GB version would be a safer bet.
PRICE
Infinix Hot 3 is currently available at leading online stores in Nigeria. Infinix Hot 3 Price in Nigeria ranges between 26,500 to 27,999 Naira, depending on your location in the country.
Where to Buy Infinix Hot 3 & Pay On Delivery
Jumia.com.ng|from N26,500 Click to View Price Offers!
Konga.com|from N27,395 Click to View Price Offers!
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i love infinix phones, but this nah
one of my frineds said the front battery is not strong
Amazing phone. I love the camera more, that’s the major reason why people are going for it. Perhaps not everybody but a lot of people.
My own x554 is having ear speaker fault sounding very tining,please what could be the fault?