Infinix Hot 9 Pro Review: Decent Smartphone For Daily Usage

Infinix Hot 9 Pro: Design And Display

Off late, smartphone manufacturers have been heavily bent towards designing a smartphone with gradient rear panel. What they fiddle around is with the patterns and texture and camera alignment. The same is the case with the Hot 9 Pro. It offers a gradient rear panel with geometric patterns that gives it a distinct look.

The quad-rear camera setup is housed inside a vertical rectangular module on the top left corner. There is a fingerprint scanner as well on the back panel. On the left edge, the device houses the SIM card tray, while on the right panel it stores the volume and the power keys.

At the bottom, the device accommodates a speaker grill, a microUSB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. That said about the design, the device feels a bit bulky to hold. This is without any case or cover.

Its big form factor makes it difficult to operate with a single hand. You will be able to do the basic tasks like answering/making calls and web browsing but would need to use both the hands for any extensive task.

It has a slippery design which is why we would suggest you use both hands while usage. The rear panel also picks up fingerprints with ease so you will need to wrap it with a case or cover.

Coming to the front, the device adorns a big 6.6-inch LCD display. It has 20:9 aspect ratio and delivers an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. It has a punch-hole which is placed on the top-left corner. The bezels are thin; except for the chin. The display is decent in colour reproduction and the viewing angles are also fine.

It has sufficient brightness level under direct sunlight. But, you struggle a bit if the sunlight is too harsh. Since it is an HD+ panel, you will be able to stream only 720P videos online. But, the big panel size makes up for the missing high-resolution support and you will enjoy watching videos on-the-go.

Infinix Hot 9 Pro: Hardware And Battery Performance

Infinix has used the entry-level MediaTek Helio P22 processor to power the Hot 9 Pro. While the company has focused on the remaining aspects, this is where we feel the device lacks. The smartphone comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.

It has a dedicated card slot which supports up to 256GB microSD card. The device performs well with basic tasks and you won't feel any lag with browsing, HD video playback, and web browsing.

Since it is powered by a low-end chipset, don't expect any exceptional performance with gaming' specifically the high-end games such as PUBG. You will find the device heating up and can also experience some lags.

The device is powered by a beefy 5,000 mAh battery which is sufficient for a back up close to an entire day. This includes occasional media playback including HD videos, web surfing, and calling, etc.

But, the device doesn't come with any fast charging support. It ships with a 10W charger and takes approximately two hours for a complete refuel. The slow charging speed is another disadvantage here.

Infinix Hot 9 Pro: Software And Benchmark Performance

The device runs on Android 10 OS and has an XOS 6 user interface. The UI is not that appealing at the first look and seems dated. And also, it has some pre-installed bloatware. You can swipe up on the home screen to pull up the app drawer.

You will also be able to see a smart panel on the right edge of the screen using which you can perform multiple tasks such as record screen, take screenshots, and add more apps for quick access.

We also ran several benchmark tests on the smartphone. In the 3D Benchmark's Sling Shot Extreme test, the device logged 400 points. This was with the CPU clocking at 1.8GHz.

In the PC Mark 2.0 benchmark test, the device scored 5374 points in the Work 2.0 performance test. We also ran the AnTuTu benchmark test on the device where it achieved 30208 points.

Infinix Hot 9 Pro: How Do the Cameras Perform?

The Inifinix Hot 9 Pro features a 48MP primary camera at the back panel which has an f/1.8 aperture. There is a set of 2MP sensors for macro and bokeh effects with an f/2.4 aperture. Also, there is a dedicated low-light sensor. The camera app's UI is similar to what we have seen on the previous Infinix smartphone.

The rear camera captures 12MP pixel-binned shorts by default and you can toggle to 48MP shots from the home screen of the camera app. The device also supports HDR, Beauty, AI Cam, panorama, and AR Shot shooting models.

Also, the camera app is integrated with Google Lens. The camera is decent when it comes to performance. The primary setup at the rear is capable of capturing good amount details. This is when there is ample light all around.

The dedicated macro sensor allows you to capture super-macro shots, while the depth lens allows for bokeh effects. The effects are not that great and there is a certain level of noise in the macro shots. The bokeh effect also could have been better as the background blur seems less effective with the final shot.

While the device comes with a dedicated low-light sensor, its performance is average with low-light shots. The images have noticeable noise and they also appear a bit grainy.

There is a 13MP selfie camera packed inside the punch-hole upfront. The front camera can also capture software-based portrait shots, but, don't expect it to be super great. The selfies are decent for social media uploads, but not that great in terms of detailing.

The front camera also has a wide-selfie mode. But its more of like panorama shot as you need to press the shutter and slowly move around as indicated on the screen for the camera to capture the surrounding area.

Infinix Hot 9 Pro: Is It Worth A Buy?

The Infinix Hot 9 Pro has all the basic elements that allow it to be a basic daily driver, but with a modern look. Its tall HD+ display makes it good for watching 720p videos, while the 48MP camera does a fine job in imaging. What this device lacks is a good processor.

The MediaTek Helio P22 is an entry-segment chipset and the company could have used a high-end processor to power the unit.

This is because the company has priced this device at Rs. 10,499 price tag which seems to be a bit on the higher side. At this price range, the market has some other good options to offers such as the Realme Narzo 10A and the Redmi Note 8.