Infinix HOT 40 Pro VS vivo Y36 Comparison - Which one offers more value for money?

In this article, we compare the new Infinix HOT 40 Pro against the vivo Y36.

Team Infinix HOT 40 Pro or vivo Y36

Basically, we aim to see how to find out how competitive the new Infinix HOT 40 Pro is compared to smartphones priced higher than it.

As such we are comparing it to the vivo Y36 (PHP 12,999), a phone priced nearly double as the HOT 40 Pro (PHP 6,999).

Both phones feature a high refresh rate IPS screen, a 6nm octa-core processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with fast charging. They also run on Android 13 while offering 4G and not 5G.

Given how powerful the specs of the HOT 40 Pro are in its price category, it was a surprise to see how close the specs compare to the vivo Y36 when listed side-by-side.

Build Quality/Design

vivo Y36 on the left and the Infinix HOT 40 Pro on the right

Both phones feature an eye-catching design that uses bright colors with unique patterns and shiny chrome-like trim. They also feature large camera modules but a lightweight body because of the glass and polycarbonate materials.

The craftsmanship of the Infinix HOT 40 Pro is comparable with the vivo Y36 despite the huge price gap!

The Y36 is smaller but heavier as it measures 164.1 x 76.2 x 8.1mm and weighs 202 grams while the HOT 40 Pro measures 168.6 x 76.6 x 8.25mm and weighs 199 grams.

Top and bottom design

On top of the HOT 40 Pro is the first set of speakers while on the Y36 are the SIM tray and a microphone port. At the bottom of the HOT 40 Pro are the second set of speakers, USB-C, microphone port, and 3.5mm audio jack while on the Y36 are the single speaker grill, USB-C port, microphone port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Both phones have flat sides with curved corners and slight curves on both the front and rear panels. These make both phones slightly easier to hold but we recommend wearing a case right away to prevent them from slipping and to prevent unwanted fingerprint smudges.

Left and right sides

On the left of both phones are the volume rocker and the power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner while on the right of the Y36 is a smooth surface while on the left of the HOT 40 Pro is the SIM tray.

Multimedia Experience

vivo Y36's on the left and the Infinix HOT 40 Pro on the right

The vivo Y36 comes with a 6.64-inch LCD screen with a 2,388 x 1,080 resolution with a 90Hz refresh rate while the HOT 40 Pro comes with a larger 6.78-inch LCD screen with a 2,460 x 1,080 resolution and a faster 120Hz refresh rate and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. 

The more affordable HOT 40 Pro has a smoother 120Hz refresh rate display and it is noticeable!

When placed side by side, we immediately noticed that the side bezels and the punch hole of the vivo were smaller while its screen while smaller (6.64-inch) and slower (90Hz) is noticeably brighter at maximum brightness than the HOT 40 Pro's 120Hz panel. We also noticed that the vivo's screen was less prone to reflections.

Touch responsiveness is accurate for all devices and has 5 points of multitouch. All devices gave us decently immersive display experiences with good viewing angles on their own.

In terms of audio, the vivo Y36's single speaker can get loud enough to fill a small room but it can not beat the HOT 40 Pro's stereo speakers which are just as loud but offer a stereo experience of both left and right channels that adds to the overall experience.

Both can record audio from a meter away with decent noise cancellation for both voice recording and calls. All deliver good-quality audio during calls and recordings. They both have a 3.5mm headphone jack and Bluetooth for attaching external audio devices too.

Cameras

vivo Y36 and Infinix HOT 40 Pro's rear cameras

At the back of the vivo Y36 are the 50MP f/1.8 main camera, 2MP f/2.4 macro camera, and 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor with an LED flash while the Infinix HOT 40 Pro comes with a 108MP f/1.75 main camera, 2MP f/2.4 macro camera, and an AI f/2.0 camera with Quad Flash.

Selfie cameras

vivo Y36's camera modes include photo, video, portrait, night, documents, pro, pano, time-lapse, live-photo, 50MP, slo-mo, and double exposure. Its pro mode allows control of ISO (50-3200), shutter speed (1/12,000-32 seconds), white balance, exposure compensation (+-3), and focus.

Infinix HOT 40 Pro's stock camera app has the following modes: Film, Video, Photo, Beauty, Portrait, Super Night, Sky Shop, Pro, Panorama, Super Macro, Documents, Slow Motion, Time-lapse, Dual-video, Short video, and AR space. Its Pro mode allows for control of ISO (100-6400), Shutter speed (1/1500-30 seconds), white balance exposure compensation (+-2), and focus.

Rear Camera Samples

HOT 40 Pro's main camera daylight 1x

vivo Y36's main camera daylight 1x

During daylight, both phones produce images with near-equal detail, sharpness, and contrast. Where they differ is the color accuracy. The HOT 40 Pro's colors are more true to life while the Y36 is oversaturated.

HOT 40 Pro's main camera daylight 2x

vivo Y36's main camera daylight 2x

The 2x mode on both phones crop into the sensor. Surprisingly, there is little loss of detail on the images produced. Color on the HOT 40 Pro is more true to life while the Y36 oversaturates the orange color of the sunset.

HOT 40 Pro's main camera close-up

vivo Y36's main camera close-up

Surprisingly, both phones produce near equal levels of sharpness, detail, and contrast except for the white balance. The Infinix's white balance recreates the scene while the vivo Y36 corrects the warmer tone from the warm lighting of the scene.

Infinix HOT 40 Pro's rear camera portrait

vivo Y36's rear camera portrait

Both phones' rear cameras produce similar results in sharpness, but different in white balance and skin tones with the portrait mode. The edge detection of both phones needs to be improved.

Similar in sharpness but different in white balance and skin tones

HOT 40 Pro's rear camera lowlight

Y36's rear camera lowlight

The vivo Y36 lost more detail, contrast and sharpness than the Infinix HOT 40 Pro. The HOT 40 Pro's low light image is sharper and more color accurate than the vivo.

HOT 40 Pro's rear camera night mode

vivo Y36's rear camera night mode

The night mode of both phones has recovered significant sharpness and detail while maintaining good colors. However, the vivo Y36's night mode image has significantly more noticeable grain and noise.

We recommend using night mode on both phones when shooting still subjects in low light situations.

Selfie Camera Samples

Infinix HOT 40 Pro's selfie daylight

vivo Y36's selfie daylight

The daylight selfies on both cameras are superb. Both are detailed, sharp, contrasty, and with accurate color. However, the HOT 40 Pro has a wider field of view which allows for more of the scene inside the frame.

Infinix HOT 40 Pro's selfie portrait

vivo Y36's selfie portrait

Surprisingly, the portrait mode with the selfie camera is better than the main cameras of both phones. Edge detection was able to handle fine fibers or hair better too.

Infinix HOT 40 Pro's selfie low light

vivo Y36's selfie low light

The selfies in lowlight have similar sharpness and detail but differ in exposure priority. The Infinix was able to properly expose the subject but overexposed the light sources while the vivo prioritizes the overall exposure which makes it hard for the subject to be visible when there is no light hitting the subject.

Infinix HOT 40 Pro's Selfie night mode

vivo Y36's Selfie night mode

The HOT 40 Pro's night mode selfie has a wider field of view with a warmer color temperature which is true to life while the vivo Y36's night mode selfie's color temperature corrects the warm lighting of the park.

Overall, the Infinix HOT 40 Pro and vivo Y36 cameras produced nearly equal sharpness, detail, and contrast. What made us prefer the cameras of the HOT 40 Pro are the wider field of view and more true-to-life color.

For videos, the Infinix HOT 40 Pro records up to 2K 30fps. It is usable as long as you have stable hands or a tripod. Meanwhile, the Y36 has up to 1080p videos.

Performance

Infinix HOT 40 Pro and vivo Y36's AnTuTu scores

Inside the HOT 40 Pro are the 6nm 2.2GHz MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor, Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB internal storage while the vivo Y36 has a 6nm 2.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 octa-core processor, Adreno 610 GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB of internal storage

In real-life usage, the HOT 40 Pro feels faster compared to the vivo Y36!

The Infinix HOT 40 Pro consumed 1 percent more battery power and warmed up by 3 degrees more than the Y36 during the benchmark duration but produced a significantly higher score of 417,857 over the vivo's 336,845.

In real-life usage, the HOT 40 Pro feels faster compared to the vivo Y36. This is no surprise as it has a more powerful processor and a faster refresh rate screen.

Infinix HOT 40 Pro and vivo Y36's battery benchmark results

Both phones feature a 5,000mAh battery but the vivo Y36 outlasted the HOT 40 Pro by an hour and 7 minutes. This is consistent with the higher power draw of the HOT 40 Pro during the AnTuTu benchmark. We can surmise that the more powerful Helio G99 is more power-hungry during intensive tasks which resulted in lesser overall battery life of the HOT 40 Pro.

For connectivity, the Infinix HOT 40 Pro comes with WiFi, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, and dual SIM support. The Y36 comes with WiFi, 4G, Bluetooth 5.1, OTG, NFC, GPS and dual SIM support.

X OS and FunTouch OS

Running Infinix's software department is the Android 13-based XOS 13.5 while the vivo Y36 is running FunTouch OS 13. Both have the usual preinstalled apps that you can uninstall or disable after the initial setup. 

Infinix HOT 40 Pro advantages - Beautiful build for the price, larger & faster 120Hz screen, better-performing chipset, true-to-life cameras, more affordable price tag

vivo Y36 advantages - Stunning looks, brighter screen with fewer reflections, slightly longer battery life and faster charging

Infinix HOT 4 Pro vs vivo Y36 Comparison

Device	Infinix HOT 40 Pro Specs	vivo Y36 Specs
Display	6.78-inch LCD (IPS) w/ 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, FHD+ 2460 x 1080 resolution at 420 ppi	6.64-inch LCD (IPS) w/ 90Hz refresh rate, FHD+ 2388 x 1080 resolution at 395 ppi
CPU	2.2GHz 6nm MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor	6nm 2.4GHz Snapdragon 680 octa-core processor
GPU	Mali-G57 MC2	Adreno 610
RAM	8GB	8GB
ROM	256GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 1TB	256GB
Back Camera50	108MP f/1.75 + 2MP f/2.4 macro + AI f/2.0 + Quad Flash	50MP f/1.8 + 2MP f/2.4 macro+ 2MP f/2.4 depth + LED flash
Selfie Camera	32MP f/2.2 + Dual Flash	16MP f/2.5
Battery	5,000mAh w/ 33W fast charging	5,000mAh w/ 44W FlashCharge
OS	Android 13 w/ XOS 13.5	Android 13 w/ Funtouch OS 13
Connectivity	WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, OTG, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, dual SIM	WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G, Bluetooth 5.1, OTG, NFC, GPS, dual SIM (nano)
Sensors	Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic	Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others	Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, DTS Audio, Hi-Res Audio, Metamaterial Antenna, USB-C, Colors: Starlit Black, Horizon Gold, Palm Blue, Starfall Green	Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, IP54 water splash and dust resistance. USB-C, Colors: Meteor Black, Glitter Aqua
Dimensions	168.6 x 76.6 x 8.25 mm	164.1 x 76.2 x 8.1 mm
Weight	199 g	202 g
Price	PHP 6,999	PHP 12,999 (PHP 10,999 sale price)

Verdict

vivo Y36 and Infinix HOT 40 Pro's web browser

Both phones feature a lightweight yet eye-catching design which will make some people ask you "Which phone is that?".

Both come with a 6nm SoC, but it is clear that the Infinix HOT 40 Pro's Helio G99 is more powerful. And when it is paired with the 120Hz FHD+ screen, everything just feels faster. This is at a cost though as the HOT 40 Pro consumes more power than the vivo Y36.

In terms of cameras, the images were surprisingly close but the HOT 40 Pro has more true-to-life colors and it handles low light and night mode images better.

Lastly, even though the vivo's Y36's screen is brighter and less reflective, the Infinix HOT 40 Pro performs better in more categories and is priced nearly half of it.

The Infinix HOT 40 Pro truly offers incredible value and is a winner in our books.

By the way, the HOT 40 Pro is available at Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop. Meanwhile, the vivo Y36 could be purchased here.

What do you guys think?