Earlier this month, Infinix unveiled the Infinix Hot 20 5G as one of the cheapest 5G phones in India. The handset is also available in Southeast Asian and African markets. It is the only Dimensity 810-powered phone to launch in India, with a price tag of Rs 11,999 (~$145). Here’s a look at the Infinix Hot 20 5G’s strengths and weaknesses.
Infinix Hot 20 5G – What’s in the box
Here are the contents of the Infinix Hot 20 5G’s retail package
- Infinix Hot 20 5G handset
- Silicone case
- SIM ejector tool
- 18W charger
- USB-C to USB-A cable
- User manual
- Warranty card
- XClub document
Design and Display
| Dimensions | Display |
| Size – 166.25 x 76.45 x 8.93mm | 6.6-inch IPS display |
| Weight – 204 grams | 1080 x 2408 pixels (Ful HD+) |
| 20:5.9 aspect ratio | |
| Up to 120Hz refresh rate | |
| Up to 180Hz touch sampling rate | |
| 99% sRGB color gamut | |
| Color variants | 500 nits brightness |
| Racing Black | Widevine L1 support |
| Blaster Green | 1500:1 contrast ratio |
| Space Blue | Panda Glass protection |
The Infinix Hot 20 5G has a polycarbonate back with a dual-tone finish. The portion below the camera module has a texture finished with a wavy pattern, while the area above it is plain. The slightly protruding camera module available on the phone’s back houses two large camera units and a dual-LED flash. In terms of looks, it can be said that the company has tried to offer something different instead of offering a boring design. The right edge features a volume rocker and a power key, whereas the opposite edge has a SIM slot. On the bottom, it has a 3.5mm audio jack, a microphone, a USB-C port, and a speaker grille.
On the front, it has a 6.6-inch IPS FHD+ display with a waterdrop notch and a noticeable chin at the bottom. Above the notch is the other speaker, which works with the bottom speaker for stereo output. The top bezel also houses an LED flash for the front camera. The display is quite bright, and visibility is manageable under sunlight. However, there is a slight blue tint on the screen. Unfortunately, there is no option for a color profile available in Settings.
The 120Hz refresh rate option mostly works fine, and with Widevine L1 support, users can enjoy HD content on OTT platforms. However, there is no support for HDR on YouTube. In Settings, users can find display-related options like a dark theme, adaptive brightness, and eye care.
Performance and Battery Life
- – Dimensity 810
- – 4 GB of LPDDR4x RAM
- – 64 GB of storage
- – 5,000mAh battery with 18W charging
- – Android 12 OS with XOS V10.6.0
The Infinix Hot 20 5G features a Dimensity 810, a 6nm chip that is built to offer smooth performance with gaming capabilities on mid-range phones. The Hot 20 comes with 4 GB of RAM, 3 GB of extended RAM, and 64 GB of storage. However, I feel that there should have been a higher variant offering with more RAM and storage. There is a dedicated microSD card slot onboard.
The D810 chip performs well while gaming. I tried Garena Free Fire at max graphics and high resolution. While the device became a bit warm after playing for around an hour, there were no frame drops. The device comes with a Phase Change Cooling System for heat dissipation. Here are the Hot 20 5G’s benchmark results from AnTuTu, Geekbench, 3D Mark, and CPU Throttle.
The Infinix Hot 20 5G runs on Android 12 OS and XOS V10.6.0. The XOS UI brings a lot of features, which appear a bit cluttered. XOS has so many features, which you may come to know only after using it for several days. For instance, the torch functionality allows users to turn on the front LED and the rear LED flash simultaneously. While I did not feel any lag while using the device, the brand needs to streamline the OS experience. There are plenty of preloaded apps on the device. Some of them can be uninstalled, while others, like Palm Store, can’t be uninstalled.
The Hot 20 5G’s package includes an 18W charger. It took me around 2 hours and 30 minutes to fully charge the phone. Once charged, it can last for up to 2 days, depending on the usage.
Photography and Other Features
| Rear Camera | Other Features |
| 50MP + 2MP, quad-LED flash | Dual speakers |
| Up to 2K video recording | Face unlock |
| Side-facing fingerprint scanner | |
| 5G connectivity (12 bands) | |
| Front Camera | Dual-band Wi-Fi |
| 8MP Camera with LED flash | Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Up to 2K video recording |
The Infinix Hot 20 5G has a 50-megapixel primary camera that comes with an f/1.6 aperture. It is assisted by an AI lens and a quad-LED flash unit. In daylight, the Hot 20 5G captures decent photos, and the eye autofocus feature works fine. The Super Night mode manages to enhance the low-light photos well. It can shoot up to 2K videos, but there is no video stabilization available. While it can shoot videos at 30fps, I could not find an option to change the frame rate.
The 8-megapixel selfie camera can shoot selfies with a background blur effect. As can be seen in the selfie share, the edge detection is passable, but sometimes users may have to take a couple of shots to get the edge detection right. The photography modes available on the device include Google Lens, Short Video, Video, AI Cam, Portrait, Super Night, AR Shot, Panorama, Documents, Slow-Motion (up to 240fps), and Time Lapse.
The Hot 20 supports 12 5G bands: n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, 38, n40, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78, and n79. Having a greater number of 5G bands will ensure the phone connects to 5G in a high, mid-range, or low-frequency network. At home, I was able to reach 960 Mbps download speeds using Jio SIM on the Hot 20 5G, and the speed touched 1.9 Gbps outside. As far as security on the Hot 20 5G is concerned, there was no issue unlocking the device using the side-facing fingerprint and face recognition.
Verdict
The Hot 20 5G delivers performance and 5G capabilities at a price that no other brand has been able to match. At present, both the POCO M4 Pro 5G and Realme 9i 5G offers the same configuration (D810 + 4GB RAM + 64GB storage) and are priced at Rs 14,999 (~$181) on Flipkart. The Hot 20 5G’s display offers the added advantage of a 120Hz refresh rate. The battery life and camera performance are also good. It appears that the company hasn’t offered an ultrawide or macro camera on the device, probably to keep the price low.
Overall, the Hot 20 5G is a good deal for buyers looking for a 5G phone with good performance at a low price. While it has some shortcomings, the brand has completely nailed it with a price of Rs 11,999 (~$145).
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Infinix Hot 20 5G review are solely mine based on my experience, and there has been no editorial input from Infinix.
