Infinix is a brand known for releasing smartphones that offer a wide range of features that oftentimes undermine competing products. Infinix Note 12 Turbo, co-made with Marvel’s latest flick Doctor Strange: Into the Multiverse of MadnessIt seems to follow basically the same principles. Priced at Rs 14,999, the phone is making a statement in the budget department with a MediaTek Helio G96 SoC and an FHD+ AMOLED panel on its head. Is Note 12 Turbo Worth Considering? Let’s find out in this review.
Rule
The Infinix Note 12 Turbo infuses a few of the brand’s core values such as good design and solid performance. While the OLED panel is a nice touch to the viewing experience, the 60Hz refresh rate is not. The bloatware and average low-light camera performance also put the phone at a bit of a disadvantage.
Inside information
- In terms of design language, Infinix has always been a bit bold and different from the rest of the pack. The Note 12 Turbo, with its boxy look and square edges, makes a good impression as a premium device. With a polycarbonate construction and an almost matte finish on the back, smudges won’t be a problem. At 185g, the Note 12 Turbo feels light in the hand while its 8mm thickness is in line with what you’d expect from a device with a 5,000mAh battery.
- The triple cameras are arranged vertically at the top left while the USB C port, speaker grille, and 3.5mm headphone jack are positioned on the bottom edge. I’m also happy to see the earpiece double as a secondary speaker for stereo output. There is a side fingerprint sensor installed below the volume button. The Infinix Note 12 Turbo is impressively designed, and it sure exudes more premium vibe than its price tag would suggest.
- Now on the screen, there is a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel on the front with FHD+ resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. In a world where 120Hz has become unusual, a slower refresh on your screen can leave you wanting more. However, the OLED nature of the screen allows for richer contrast, better colors, and deeper blacks than any LCD panel in its price range. It also allows permanent display and Infinix has provided many customization options to improve it.
- Aside from the WideVine L1 standard certification for HD content, the phone doesn’t have any other visual improvements like HDR10+. The screen is too bright for my use with the Inifnix which claims nearly 1000nits of peak brightness. The edges around the panel aren’t chunky but the waterdrop notch doesn’t look dated in a sea of punch-hole cameras.
- The optics on the device are handled by a 50MP primary sensor backed by a 2MP depth lens and AI lens. Daylight images are on par with current budget smartphones although the images are a bit saturated. While there is still a distinct lack of dynamic range in most scenarios, focus speeds are fast.
- With UHD mode enabled, the camera can take very detailed 50MP photos but it takes a huge toll on the phone’s storage space. The lack of any ultra-wide sensor takes a bit of the sting, and portrait mode shots aren’t the best, but with good lighting, you can almost flawlessly spot the edges.
- Night shots look a bit grainy even with an auxiliary light around them. Focusing will take some time and exposure levels will not be completely consistent on the device. With Ultra Night Mode enabled, the sensor inputs too much light, excessively sharpens the image, and saturates the colors. The overall look can be interesting for those who like to post a lot on social media platforms. Finally, selfies from the 16MP front camera are nothing unusual except for the exaggeration of facial details.
- MediaTek’s Helio G96 is the preferred choice on the Note 12 Turbo and the phone doesn’t miss anything when it comes to mid-level tasks like running several heavy social media apps or browsing Chrome. Benchmark numbers are very good with Antutu V9.3.8 producing 349,257 and Geekbench 5 giving a multi-core score of 1,739. The CPU Throttle benchmark showed the device dropping its peak performance to 72 percent under continuous load which I think isn’t the best but shouldn’t affect its workload daily.
- For more heavy duty tasks like BGMI The device is able to get Ultra frame rate (45fps) on Smooth Graphics. After regarding 30 minutes, the device heats up a bit but doesn’t register a significant drop in frame rate. Apart from that, the phone comes with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage which can be expanded up to 512GB using a microSD card slot.
- There are dual speakers in the Infinix Note 12 Turbo and they are in the acceptable range. The side-mounted fingerprint sensor works quickly, and Jio’s Noida’s 4G network didn’t disappoint while the earpiece and microphone worked as expected. XOS, the Infinix skin that runs on Android 12, takes a bit to get used to. It’s not as easy to use or intuitive as Realme’s attempt at a proprietary user interface and has a lot of bloatware to deal with.
- Battery-wise, the 5000mAh cell can easily last more than a day in regular use. There is 33W charging on the device that can fully charge the device in regarding 100 minutes. On the PCMark battery test, the device got a score of 12 hours 53 minutes which can be considered fairly good for the battery capacity.
Final verdict
The lack of a higher refresh rate panel is to the detriment of the Infinix Note 12 Turbo as does the bloatware-laden XOS skin. However, the price of the device is lower than competing products like the Redmi Note 11S (Review) and has more processing power than the Moto G52 (Review). Those who consider good performance, dual speakers, decent daylight photography, and premium design in their purchasing decisions can definitely give the Infinix Note 12 Turbo close attention.
Editor’s Rating: 3.5 / 5
Positives:
- good design
- Stereo speakers
- decent performance
Negatives:
- Ships with bloatware
- Low-light photos can be improved
