Infinix Hot S3 First Impressions: Surprisingly good selfies in budget price point

Infinix Hot S3 features a capable 20MP selfie camera and an 18:9 aspect ratio display. It is priced aggressively at Rs. 8,999 for 3GB+32GB varaint at Flipkart.

By Rohit
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Infinix Hot S3 First Impressions

Infinix, the Hong Kong based online smartphone brand has today announced their latest budget smartphone for the Indian market. Aimed at selfie lovers, Infinix Hot S3 features a 20MP front-facing camera that works on a Sony sensor and can create software driven bokeh effect.

 
Infinix Hot S3 First Impressions

Infinix Hot S3 runs Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the box and is powered by an entry-level Qualcomm chipset. Like the company's previous handsets, the Hot S3 also has a dedicated microSD card slot and is backed by a big 4,000 mAh battery unit. The company has priced the handset quite aggressively and will sell it exclusively on Flipkart.com at Rs. 8,999 for 3GB+32GB variant and at Rs. 10,999 for the 4GB+64GB variant.

Let's find out how this budget handset performed in our first impressions.

Design and Display

Design and Display

With a screen-to-body ratio of 81%, the Hot S3 feels quite compact and can be easily used with one hand. The smartphone sports a 5.65-inch HD+ display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The display offers a resolution of 1440×720 pixels and offers good contrast ratio and vivid colors. The brightness levels are decent but the touch response is a bit rigid.

Unibody plastic design

Unibody plastic design

The smartphone has a unibody plastic design and has been given a matte finish at the rear panel. You also get a multi-functional fingerprint scanner at the rear panel. Despite having a plastic body, the handset is quite sturdy. Infinix Hot S3 survived a 5-feet drop on concrete with just minor scratches at the rear panel that you can spot in the pictures if you take a closer look.

Overall, Hot S3 is a good looking budget smartphone with an 18:9 aspect ratio screen and a sturdy build.

Best-in-class Selfie camera
 

Best-in-class Selfie camera

The USP of Infinix Hot S3 is its front-facing camera. The smartphone sports a 20MP camera which is powered by Sony IMX 376 sensor and has a 5P lens. The front camera is also accompanied with dual-LED flash light and will definitely please selfie lovers. The 20MP sensor captures detailed images, possibly the best-in-class pictures in this price-point. The selfies have good detailing and you can also create a software driven bokeh effect with just one tap.

Crisp and detailed selfies

Crisp and detailed selfies

The front facing camera works on f/2.0 aperture and captures good light in unfavorable conditions. However, the software algorithm has the tendency to over sharpen the final output. The selfies sometimes look artificial and the software driven bokeh effect is also not very consistent. However, Hot S3 still manages to deliver amazing results in budget price-point.

As far as rear camera is concerned, Infinix Hot S3 sports a 13MP camera that alao works on 5P lens and also has Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF). The image output from rear camera is at par with other smartphones in this price-point.

Qualcomm's entry-level CPU with 3GB RAM

Qualcomm's entry-level CPU with 3GB RAM

Infinix Hot S3 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset. The entry-level chipset has 8 cores and is paired up with 3GB RAM to take care of computing and multitasking. I haven't come across any performance issues with the handset in my brief time. We will stress test the Hot S3 in the coming week to find out what the smartphone is capable of.

Android 8.0 Oreo with XoS Custom skin

Android 8.0 Oreo with XoS Custom skin

Infinix Hot S3 is among the 1.1% of the Android devices out there that run the latest Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box. The budget smartphone comes with Infinix's custom skin XOS, which is very customizable and comes packed with a number of useful features. There are some notable apps that can come handy in everyday usage. For instance, the Freeze app allows you to put the apps of your choice in a container that will stop their internet activity to preserve battery and data. You also get a Theme store, a video editing app, etc. Besides, the XOS UI also allows you to run two accounts on Facebook, WhatsApp and some other apps.

While the UI is feature rich, the sheer number of pre-loaded apps makes it quitr cluttered.

4,000 mAh battery unit and standard connectivity features

4,000 mAh battery unit and standard connectivity features

Infinix Hot S3 is backed by a big 4,000 mAh battery unit that survives for a day on a single charge. As far as connectivity is concerned, you don't have to compromise on connectivity and storage as the handset comes with a dedicated microSD card slot. Besides, you also get Wi-Fi, 4.2, OTG support, 4G VoLTE and 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Infinix Hot S3 is priced quite aggressively and offers a lot of noteworthy features in budget price-point. The 20MP front-facing camera captures crisp and detailed pictures and you also get the latest Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the box.

Besides, a massive 4,000 mAh battery unit, 18:9 aspect ratio display and a dedicated microSD card makes Hot S3 a value for money deal for price-conscious consumers. We will evaluate the handset's complete potential in our comprehensive review. Stay tuned on Gizbot.

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