Infinix Note 30 5G Review: A near perfect affordable 5G smartphone

The Infinix Note 30 5G has was unveiled in India earlier this month. With a starting price tag of Rs 14,999, the Infinix Note 30 5G debuts in the country's affordable 5G smartphone segment.

However, our model of the Note 30 5G came with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, although it still managed a reasonable price tag of Rs 15,999. But the affordable price tag often comes at the cost of hardware. So let's find out if the Infinix Note 30 5G fits the bill of the 'perfect affordable 5G phone'.

Design & Build

The Infinix Note 30 5G comes in three colours options, including Magic Black, Interstellar Blue, and Sunset Gold. Our model came in the Magic Black shade, although the Sunset Gold was our favourite of the three colours.

While the Black and Blue models feature a plastic back panel with a matte finish, the Gold variant opts for a Vegan Leather back. The back of the Magic Black variant has a shimmering effect, while the Blue version has a gradient effect on the back. The Sunset Gold truly feels the most premium of the bunch, with its soft-to-the-touch material and gold ascents.

The matte finish on our Magic Black model of the Note 30 5G was resistant to smudges and fingerprints, although the same couldn't be said for the camera modules, which were housed in a glossy island. The phone featured a box-shaped design with rounded corners, similar to the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus.

The screen does have slim bezels, although they are noticeable, and is protected by NEG glass. The phone has a plastic frame but gets an IP53 rating for minor splash resistance. The phone also has the basic array of ports and buttons, with power (doubles as fingerprint reader) and volume buttons on the right, while the headphone jack and USB-C port sit at the bottom.

Display & Audio

For the display, the Note 30 5G gets a 6.78-inch FHD+ IPS LCD panel with a wide DCI-P3 colour gamut. Moreover, the screen boasts a 120Hz refresh rate for a smooth navigation and gaming experience. Additionally, Widevine L1 support to watch content from OTT platforms and streaming services in higher resolution. The display is also TUV Rheinland Eye Care certified to reduce blue light emission.

You can take advantage of this in the phone's Eye-Care mode. The display had good viewing angles, although it would have been nice to see an OLED screen here for more vibrant colours and richer contrast. However, this is a sub-15K smartphone and display more than lives up to the price.

Moreover, the Infinix Note 30 5G also boasts dual stereo speakers with audio tuning by JBL. The speakers are Hi-Res Audio and DTS Sound for an excellent audio experience, which punches above the phone's price. The speakers pump out a good amount of bass and do not distort at higher volumes. Even at maximum volume, the audio quality is top-notch for a budget phone.

Performance

The Note 30 5G uses a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 6080 SoC, which is paired with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. Additionally, virtual RAM support can expand RAM up to 4GB on the base 4GB/128GB model and up to 8GB on the top-end 8GB/256GB variant. Moreover, the MediaTek chip also features a Mali-G57 GPU.

In terms of real-world results, the Dimensity 6080 chipset managed a single-core score of 721 points and a multi-core score of 2065 points on Geekbench 6. Furthermore, the Note 30 5G could also handle games like Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9: Legends, and BGMI without any hiccups. However, these heavy-duty titles only ran smoothly on 'Medium' graphics.

Apart from gaming, multitasking on the Note 30 5G was a breeze with multiple apps running smoothly simultaneously. The Note 30 5G also comes with 14 5G Bands, 5G support, and Dual SIM capability. Overall, the Infinix Note 30 5G punches above its price in terms of raw performance.

Cameras

For optics, the Infinix Note 30 5G gets a triple-camera setup on the back. At the helm of the setup is a 108 MP primary sensor paired with a 2 MP depth sensor and an AI lens. Up front, the Note 30 5G opts for a 16 MP selfie camera. Here's a look at some real-world results.

The main camera performs admirably with good lighting, particularly in daylight, where results had a good amount of detail and solid dynamic range. Colours also tend to look more saturated, and the AI-scene detection only bumps it up. The edge detection and colour accuracy were on point in portrait mode.

The main camera did deliver some underwhelming results in more complex lighting and in indoor scenarios. The night mode does kick in at night to increase sharpness and reduce noise while improving detail and dynamic range. This results in better image quality, but some images did tend to look more artificial. Zooming into dimly lit scenes tends to lower detail.

The 16 MP selfie camera also did a decent job with detail and dynamic range in daylight, although skin tones did tend to look artificial. At night, photos taken from the selfie shooter tend to look softer with noticeably less detail. The selfie shooter also took good portrait shots with solid background blur, but edge detection wasn't always on point.

The Infinix Note 30 5G also has a ton of camera modes including a 108 MP mode, a beauty mode, sky remapping, a film mode, and more. Moreover, the Note 30 5G can capture 1080p video at up to 60fps or 2K video at up to 30fps. The camera performance on the Note 30 5G may not be all-that impressive, but it still offers a casual and fun experience, which is in-line with the device's price.

Battery

The Note 30 5G packs a large 5,000 mAh battery that easily surpasses the all-day battery test with display set to 120Hz by default. While battery life on the Note 30 5G was up to the mark, the charging capability here was even more impressive.

The phone comes bundled with a 45W charger that can take the phone from 0 to 100 percent in under 90 minutes. The Note 30 5G also features a Bypass Charging feature, which can reduce temperature by up to 7°C. This feature can be activated in XArena.

Infinix also claims that the battery retains 80% of its integrity after 1,000 charging cycles, which is 25 percent higher than the industry standard. Lastly, the Note 30 5G also support 10W reserve wired charging to power up your accessories.

Software

The Infinix Note 30 5G runs Android 13-based XOS 13 out of the box. Infinix has confirmed that the Note 30 5G will get the Android 14 update and two more years of security updates. XOS 13 has a ton of features built-in including eye-care, focus mode, plenty of widgets, and an anti-addiction mode, which aims to prevent a user from going overboard when gaming.

The phone also features an AI-powered voice assistant called Folax that Infinix says features ChatGPT integration. However, Folax requires some work as it was adept at handling basic commands but couldn't quite deal with more complex queries in the way ChatGPT handles them.

Moreover, the Note 30 5G also comes with a ton of bloatware, a vast majority of them could be uninstalled. Additionally, the phone also doesn't throw a lot of spam notifications your way, which I have faced in the past with Infinix. The overall interface here could use some work with aesthetics. Cleaning things up will also make the experience more seamless.

Verdict

With a starting price tag of Rs 14,999, the Infinix Note 30 5G has a lot to offer. The MediaTek chipset here makes the Note 30 5G the best-performing smartphone in the segment. Moreover, the 8GB/256GB option only costs an additional Rs 1,000, making it an excellent value buy.

The phone also features a super-smooth 120Hz display, although I'd have preferred a 60Hz OLED screen over the LCD panel. Both the front and rear cameras performed admirably for the price. The audio quality was also above average, while the leather finish on the orange model gives the phone a premium look despite its price. The Note 30 5G also deserves praise in the battery and charging departments.

However, the software leaves a lot to be desired, while the camera system offers little utility outside the primary sensor. However, on balance, the Infinix Note 30 5G still offers superb value, particularly if you opt for the 8GB/256GB model. Outside the software, this is arguably one of the best smartphones under Rs 15,000 in India.