Infinix Zero 5 Review: Value for money deal for multimedia lovers

Large 5.98-inch Full HD screen for immersive visual experience

Infinix Zero 5 will please consumers who are always hooked to their smartphones for videos and games. The smartphone sports a large 5.98-inch 1080p screen that comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and offers a pixel density of 370 pixels (approx). The Full HD LTPS JDI display is quite bright and touch responsive. The viewing angles are also good which helps consuming digital content without any trouble.

The only weak point is the aspect ratio. Infinix Zero 5 does not come with the latest 18:9 aspect ratio screen which has gradually become a standard display feature these days. The 1080p screen comes with the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio that can disappoint some potential buyers who have seen or used the new breed of Android smartphones.

Big, Bulky but a Sturdy built

Infinix Zero5 is quite sleek but is not the lightest phablet around. I personally don't mind the weight factor much as the tradeoff for a big battery unit is truly appreciated. The big and bulky Infinix Zero 5 has a sturdy design. The phablet feels solid in hands but the large form factor makes it tough to use it with one hand.

Infinix Zero 5 is not a device for single handed use, thanks to the dated 16:9 aspect ratio and big chins on top and bottom of the display, which technically is waste of space. The company should have provided stereo speakers (top and bottom) or navigation buttons at the lower chin to utilize the space. For audio, you get one mono speaker unit positioned along the charging port and 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom. The mono speaker output is quite good.

Appealing design

The smartphone's rear panel seems quite interesting. The horizontal dual-camera setup at the top bar reminds us of the good old Nexus 6P, which is not a bad thing as it gives Zero 5 a premium touch. The circular pattern of the horizontal strip that houses the camera setup also gives Zero 5 a unique design element. The fingerprint scanner is conveniently located at the centre of the rear panel. The power button, volume rockers and SIM card tray is placed on right and you will find a dedicated microSD card slot at the left edge of the handset.

12MP+13MP dual-lens camera setup with 2X optical zoom

Camera is one of the major highlight of Infinix Zero 5. The smartphone uses a 12MP wide-angle lens and 13MP telephoto lens, a combination which is quite rare in sub Rs. 20,000 price-point. The 12MP wide angle lens uses Sony IMX386 sensor and uses a 6P lens that works on an f/2.0 aperture. The 13MP telephoto lens is provided by Samsung and works on a darker f/2.6 aperture.

Good Bokeh Image output

The camera setup also offers a 2X optical zoom, 10x digital zoom and let you capture images with Bokeh effect. The bokeh effect is quite natural and subtle when your subject is a non-human object. The dual-camera setup creates some unnatural blurring around the edges when you keep a person in focus. But overall, the results are quite satisfactory and usable.

Detailed Images

The pictures shot with Infinix Zero 5 show natural colors and good detailing but I noticed that camera software tends to make pictures a bit grainy in post processing. The image output gets grainier in lowlight and pictures also lose detailing. A good thing, the 2x optical zoom is useful to capture subjects placed farther.

As far as front camera is concerned, Infinix Zero5 is equipped with 16MP selfie camera that works on an f/2.0 aperture and also comes equipped with front flash. The front camera can also capture bokeh images and creates a good depth of field effect in selfies.

Smooth multitasking and lag free computing performance

Infinix has designed Zero 5 to please multimedia lovers and the handset does a flawless job for most of the part. It will not disappoint you during multimedia playback, gaming and multitasking. The smartphone has 6GB of RAM that never let us down and made it possible to run more than 12 apps simultaneously without any performance slowdown. The processing department is handled by an octa-core MediaTek P25 chipset cocked at 2.6GHz. The gaming response was appreciable while playing games such as Spiderman Unlimited, Guns Cars and Zombies, etc.

Good audio output

As far as audio performance is concerned, the stereo speakers could have made Zero 5 a complete multimedia package but the single speaker unit placed at bottom is also not a letdown. It gets loud to adequate levels and you can watch videos and play games comfortably without a pair of earphones. Importantly, Infinix offers a pair of in-earphones in the package unlike other Chinese companies who don't consider it a basic necessity. Overall, Zero 5 will not give you any major reasons to hate the device's overall performance.

Heavily customized user interface

Infinix Zero 5 runs on Android Nougat with company's customized OS XOS Hummingbird V3.0. The company's version of Android is heavily customized and might not please consumers who prefer stock Android experience. Users who don't mind buying a handset with an added skin on Google's Android, they will find the XOS quite feature rich. The software comes with notable apps that can enhance the end user experience.

For instance, the XOS UI also allows you to run two accounts on Facebook, WhatsApp and some other messaging apps. There's app called Freeze app that restricts the internet activity of individual apps to preserve battery and data. You also get a feature rich Theme store, a video editing app, and a fingerprint sensor that can also be customized to open apps and to scroll pictures in image library.

No compromise on connectivity, storage and battery

I have reviewed company's first handset in the Indian market- Infinix Note 4 and was quite impressed with the dedicated microSD card slot and large battery unit. Thankfully, Infinix has once again taken care of basics and the new Zero 5 handset doesn't force you to choose connectivity over storage and vice-versa. The smartphone has two SIM card slots and a dedicated microSD card slot that will help you expand the internal memory by up to 128GB. For connectivity there's 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, USB-Type C, and 3.5mm audio jack.

As far as battery life is concerned, I managed to squeeze in a day's battery life with Infinix Zero 5. The smartphone's 4,350mAh non-removable battery unit that comes with fast charging support can easily last a day or even more with moderate usage. The battery life varies according to usage patterns but the handset has ability to last for 17-18 hours even on heavy usage. The smartphone ships with an 18W x charging adaptor that quickly refills the battery cells.

Conclusion

Infinix has once again delivered a good product at an aggressive price point. The Zero 5 is a feature loaded mid-segment Android smartphone that is a value for money deal for Indian consumers. The smartphone brings a capable dual-camera setup, ample amount of RAM to handle intense multitasking sessions and a vivid 1080p screen.

The traditional aspect ratio is a bit letdown though. Besides, you get a big 4,350 mAh battery unit that lasts long and a dedicated microSD card slot that doesn't force you to choose connectivity over storage. The cluttered user interface will not please users who only seek pure Android experience. But then we did find some workable nifty software tweaks that stock Android fails to offer.

Overall, we find Infinix Zero 5 a solid contender in sub Rs. 20k price-point. It makes for a good multimedia oriented handset at an acceptable price-point.