Meet Infinix HOT 10 PLAY - Best PHP 5K phone yet?

We take a look at the upgraded Infinix HOT 10 PLAY and share our experience with the device after a week of use.

Infinix HOT 10 PLAY

Announced in late May 2021, the new Infinix HOT 10 PLAY has arrived in the Philippines. The new smartphone features several new upgrades. It has a 6.82-inch IPS disPLAY with 1640 x 720 resolution, 12nm MediaTek Helio G35 octa-core processor, PowerVR GE8320, 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM, and 6,000mAh battery with 10W charging. 

This comes with better specs than the first HOT 10 PLAY with Helio G25 in January.

Locally, it can be had for only PHP 4,990 and is now available thru the Infinix store in Lazada.

Let's dive in.

Meet Infinix HOT 10 PLAY!

Box inclusions

The smartphone arrives in a long box with shades of green and orange that is decorated with specs and the Infinix HOT 10 PLAY branding.

Inside the box are the HOT 10 PLAY, 10W wall charger, USB Type-A to micro-USB, SIM ejector tool, bumper case, screen protector, and documentation.

Back panel

The HOT 10 PLAY is made of a combination of polycarbonate and glass that measures 171.82 x 77.96 x 8.9 mm. It is lightweight but somewhat solid.

Lightweight, but solid!

The glossy back polycarbonate panel curves on the sides to meet the polycarbonate frame. The frame has a glossy finish that makes it similarly slippery as the back panel. The front and back panels are fingerprint smudge magnets.

Top and bottom sides

On top is a smooth surface while at the bottom is the 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB port, and microphone port.

Left and right

On the left is the SIM tray while on the right is the volume rocker and power button. The SIM tray can carry up to two nano SIMs and one microSD card. It also has a red rubber gasket that indicates some form of water resistance.

Netflix on HOT 10 PLAY

In front is a 6.82-inch IPS display with 1640 x 720 resolution that produces images with vibrant color. The maximum brightness could be brighter for our preferences but for the price, this is expected. 

On top are a super slim earpiece and a notch that houses the 8MP selfie camera. Around the panel are slim bezels. However, the chin bezel is noticeably thicker than the other bezels.

At the bottom is the single speaker that has decent maximum volume. In terms of sound quality, we recommend setting the volume to 70 to 80 percent for the best quality. At maximum volume, the sound gets distorted, tingy, and muddled.

Rear camera set-up

At the back is a 13MP rear camera with autofocus and AI lens and LED flash.

The camera app has the following modes: AI Cam, Video, Beauty, Portrait, AR Shot, and Wide Selfie.

Rear Camera Samples

Daylight

In daylight, the main camera was able to produce surprisingly sharp and detailed images with vibrant color and good contrast.

Close-up

Surprisingly, the 13MP is able to take images at a good distance from the subject. In good light, it produces vibrant images with good sharpness and deep contrast.

Indoor

In indoors, the story is the same. The images are sharp and detailed with vibrant color and good contrast.

Low light

While in low light, the images produced are slightly softer with more grain. To compensate and keep the clarity and sharpness in low light, the shutter speed is extended which results in moving subjects being blurry. It is a good image as long as the subjects are not moving.

Selfie camera

As mentioned above, the 8MP selfie camera is on the notch above the display. Just like the rear camera, camera modes include AI CAM, Video, Beauty, Portrait, AR Shot, and Wide selfie.

Selfie Camera Samples

Daylight selfie

Indoor selfie

Low light selfie

The selfie camera is able to produce decent images but we have to mention that even tho the images are somewhat sharp in daylight and indoors, the colors tend to be off. If you look at Neil's skin, it never gets it right. In low light, the sharpness is lessened by the increased grain but the colors are still off.

Otherwise, the selfie camera can perform when needed.

Performance

GeekBench and AnTuTu

The 12nm MediaTek Helio G35 and PowerVR GE8320 with 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM was able to produce an impressive score of 122,147 in AnTuTu and a core of 166 in Single-Core and 1021 in Multi-Core tests in GeekBench.

3DMark and Disk speed benchmarks

While in 3DMark, the HOT 10 PLAY got an overall score of 443 while in the CPDT disk test, it was able to get sequential read speeds of 224.81 MB/s and sequential write speeds of 89.65 MB/s.

It is a very capable affordable device!

In our short time with the phone, the HOT 10 PLAY was snappy. Apps opened as soon as we tapped on the icon. We would experience a slow down when we had a ton of apps in the background and when we run graphic-intensive tasks like games.

The 6,000mAh battery with 10W charging can endure for a long time. We were getting a day and a half of use. Our only concern is the 10W charger. It takes around 3 hours to charge the massive battery.

Built-in is Android 10 with XOS 7.0 that has a unique and eye-catching design. Our only gripe with the skin is that there is a ton of bloatware installed. We had to uninstall each one after the initial set-up.

We never experienced any problem with our connections with WiFi, LTE, and Bluetooth 5.0. The phone also features FM Radio, OTG, and GPS.

Infinix HOT 10 PLAY 4GB/64GB Specs

Display: 6.82-inch 2.5D curved LCD (IPS) screen w/ HD+ 1640 x 720 resolution at 263 ppi

CPU: 2.3GHz 12nm MediaTek Helio G35 octa-core processor

GPU: PowerVR GE8320 (680MHz) 

RAM: 4GB

ROM: 64GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 256GB (dedicated)

Back Camera: 13MP w/ AF + AI lens + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 8MP 

Battery: 6,000mAh w/ 10W charging

OS: Android 10 w/ XOS 7.0 

Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, FM Radio, GPS, dual SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: Fingerprint sensor, face unlock, Colors: Aegean Blue, Morandi Green, 7° Purple

Dimensions: 171.82 x 77.96 x 8.90 mm

Price: PHP 4,990

Quick thoughts

GIZGUIDE website

In our short time with the Infinix HOT 10 PLAY, we were surprised at how a PHP 4,990 can perform in 2021. We are getting features that we used to see in smartphones at 4 times the price. Affordable phones are getting better.

Our only concern is the slow 10W charger, inaccurate colors with the selfie camera, and the increased number of bloatware. We hope that Infinix can fix the inaccurate colors thru firmware. The bloatware can all be uninstalled. It will just take some time after the initial set-up.

Otherwise, we are happy with the Infinix HOT 10 PLAY.

What do you guys think?

Do you guys agree?