It’s not even a year Infinix came to India, the smartphone brand owned by Transsion Holdings has launched its flagship product. We witnessed the Infinix Note 4 and Infinix Hot 4 Pro a few months back which are targeted in the budget category, now the company wants to take over the midrange segment with its Infinix Zero5 and Zero5 Pro. The Zero5 is priced at ₹17,999 and it has a whole lot of features to offer. Here are our hands-on and first impressions with the Infinix Zero5.
Infinix Zero5 Specifications
- Display: 5.98-inch JDI display, Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels), 2.5D curved glass, 500 nits, 85% NTSC, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Software: XOS 3.0 based on Android N
- Fingerprint Scanner: Yes, at the back
- CPU: Up to 2.6 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 processor, 16nm MediaTek Helio P25 (MT6757) SoC
- GPU: Mali-T880 MP2 (900 MHz)
- Memory: 6 GB RAM, LPDDR4X
- Storage: 64 GB internal (128 GB on Zero5 Pro), expands via microSD card (dedicated)
- Main Camera: Dual Cameras (12 MP + 13 MP), 2X optical zoom, 10X digital zoom, LED flash
12 MP wide angle (1.25 um), f/2.0 aperture, Sony IMX386 sensor, 6P lens
13 MP (1.0 um), f/2.6 aperture Telephoto lens, Samsung S5K3M3 sensor - Selfie Camera: 16 MP 4-in-1 pixel technology, f/2.0 aperture, Samsung S5K3P8 camera sensor, 5P lens, LED Flash, 9-grade beauty mode, bokeh mode
- Connectivity: USB type-C port, 3.5 mm headphones jack, OTG, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
- Sensors: Fingerprint, G-Sensor, Proximity, Light, Compass, Gyroscope, RGWB
- Cellular: 4G network, VoLTE & ViLTE enabled, 2x nano SIM
- Battery: 4,350 mAh, 18W xCharge (fast charging technology)
- Colors: Sandstone Black, Champagne Gold, Bordeaux Red, Bronze Gold Black (Zero5 Pro)
- Box Contents: Handset, Battery, USB Cable, Adaptor, Earphone, Wipe cloth, TPU Plastic Case, PET Protector film
- Dimensions: 166.38 mm x 82.38 mm x 7.95 mm
- Weight: 197 grams
- Price: ₹17,999 (Zero5) | ₹19,999 (Zero5 Pro)
- Availability: Exclusively on Flipkart at 12 PM from 22nd November.
- Offers: Quiet 2 and Quiet X at a special price, available for ₹1,499 and ₹4,999 respectively for customers who buy on launch day.
Design, Build, & Performance
Infinix Zero5 looks big and bold, boasts a unibody crafted with a sleek metal, and an impressive diamond cut design. It’s huge in the hands, weighs 197 grams, not meant for those who have smaller hands or who prefer compact size, it sports a large 5.98-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) JDI display with 2.5D curved glass on top.
While talking about its design in contrast to others, it’s not something like Honor 9i or the Vivo V7+ that’s going towards less bezels and more screen. The company seems not to go with the bezel-less trend which is certainly taking up the pace in this price segment. No doubt, the phone offers a solid build quality.
The bottom has no external touch keys, the navigation can be done via the on-screen buttons, the fingerprint scanner is located at the back. The dual camera on the back covered with glass seems inspired by the Google Nexus 6P and Huawei P9.
The Infinix Zero5 comes in three colors, we got the Sandstone Black color while the rest two are Champagne Gold and Bordeaux Red. The fourth color Bronze Gold Black is for Zero5 Pro.
Underneath, it is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P25 clocked at a whopping 2.6 GHz speed higher than most CPUs in this price range. The SoC is further laced with a large 6 GB LPDDR4X RAM and Mali-T880 MP2 GPU clocked at 900 MHz. These specifications are powerful enough to compete with the midrange level hardware like Snapdragon 625 and Kirin 659. The performance of the smartphone should be faster in its class, at least spec-wise.
When it comes to the storage and battery, Infinix Zero5 offers 64 GB internal storage, the Zero5 Pro bumps the storage size to 128 GB. The Zero5 Pro has ₹2,000 more i.e. priced at ₹19,999. Sounds like it’s the world’s first smartphone with 128 GB storage at such price. The 4,350 mAh battery should keep the phone running for days as far as we think and the XCharge fast charging support shouldn’t take much time to charge the battery.
The bottom offers a newer USB port (type-C), 3.5 mm headphones port, a mic, and loudspeakers. The good thing about the Zero5 is, it can still work as a dual 4G SIM handset even if you snap in a microSD card. There’s a standalone microSD card tray on the left side while the right side has a dual micro-SIM tray, and Power and volume control keys.
Dual Cameras
The key highlight of the smartphone is the dual cameras, the rear side hooks up a 12 MP and a 13 MP cameras with the Portrait mode feature that takes DSLR grade images.
Digging into the cameras, the 12 MP is a wide angle camera (1.25 um) with a f/2.0 aperture having a Sony IMX386 sensor while the other being a 13 MP Telephoto lens (1.0 um) with a f/2.6 aperture having a Samsung S5K3M3 sensor. The camera supports 2X optical zoom and 10X digital zoom, and also comes with LED flash.
On the other hand, the front side has a 16 MP f/2.0 selfie camera with 4-in-1 pixel technology aided by Samsung S5K3P8 sensor and backed up with one LED flash. The camera offers 9 grades beauty mode and a bokeh mode.
The quality of the camera can’t be said, we just took some shots and they look all good. However, some images turned out to be blurry in certain conditions, on both, the front and the rear cameras. The bokeh mode seemed to work correctly if the object is clear and there is enough light.
Infinix Zero5 Camera Samples
Software & User Interface
On the software front, Infinix Zero5 runs on the latest XOS 3.0 based on Android 7.0 Nougat. The latest security patch on the software is dated 5th September 2017. There’s no information on the Android Oreo update.
Using the phone for some time, we found that the software is topped with a modified skin, no stock experience offered. The interface is fast but not as smooth as stock Android phones like OnePlus 5T and Moto X4. There are some useful utility apps on the phone as well as some pre-installed apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Flipkart which can be removed.
Early Verdict
In our initial impressions, the Infinix Zero5 has managed to put up in the midrange competition especially the hardware and the design part. The camera may be good, but it’s not something that’s surprising to us, there are dual camera smartphones that can perform well in the segment, take Honor 9i.
As far as the pricing is concerned, the Zero5 Pro sounds bang for the buck. The Zero5 should be considered if you are okay with the newer smartphone brands and camera is not your primary requirement. You may want to look other phones before you make up your mind.
