The newest iteration in Infinix’s entry-level Smart series is priced at Rs 13,499. You can get it for as low as Rs 11,649 on Amazon. The smartphone packs the MediaTek Helio G81 Ultimate chipset under its hood and is equipped with 4GB RAM. There are 64GB and 128GB storage options on offer. In true old school fashion, you also get expandable storage (up to 2TB) and a 3.5mm headphone jack on this device. The downside is that you miss out on 5G connectivity. We used the phone for a week to decide whether it is worth its price tag. Here is our review of the Infinix Smart 20 4G.
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In This Article
Infinix Smart 20 4G Review: Design and Display
Box Contents
- Smartphone
- Phone cover
- 10W power adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- SIM ejector
- User documentation
The Smart 20 looks similar to Infinix’s new Note series smartphones. Instead of a camera plateau, the upper section of the plastic back has a glossy finish in contrast to the matte texture of the rest of the panel. This section houses the main camera, IR blaster, and LED flash. The flat form factor lends the phone a good in-hand feel.
The plastic frame houses the side button and the volume rocker on its right edge. The side button doubles as the fingerprint sensor. The hybrid SIM tray (with microSD support) is positioned on the opposite edge. The 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, and UBS-C port are placed at the bottom. The speaker grille finds its way up top. The smartphone is rated IP64 for dust and water resistance. It is drop-resistant up to 1.5m.
The 6.78-inch IPS LCD panel refreshes at 120Hz and hits 700 nits in High Brightness Mode. It is able to maintain good brightness indoors, but struggles to overcome harsh sunlight in outdoor conditions. The good news is that it offers a fine touch response. The bezels around the chin of the display are chunky and look dated. The selfie camera is nestled inside a punch-hole cutout, which is nice to see on an entry-level phone.
We used the Infinix Smart 20 to stream movies and TV shows across platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and JioHostar during the review period. The 720p display produced good visuals with rich colours and all the essential details. The contrast falls a little flat if you’re used to an AMOLED display with all its punchy blacks. The top-firing speaker produces decent audio, but some distortion creeps into the output when you push the volume to its maximum level.
Infinix Smart 20 4G Review: Performance and Cameras
At the core of the Infinix Smart 20 lies the MediaTek Dimensity G81 Ultimate chipset. It packs 4GB RAM (LPDDR4X) and comes in 2 storage (eMMC 5.1) options:
- 64GB: Rs 13,499
- 128GB: Rs 14,999
Here’s how the smartphone performed in common benchmark tests:
- AnTuTu 3D Lite: 366,859
- Geekbench 6: 444 (single core) | 1,351 (multi-core)
General tasks like calling, texting, social media browsing, navigation, and media streaming present no problems on the Infinix Smart 20. The smartphone is able to summon enough power to get you through the day. It suffers from the common issues on entry-level phones, like apps taking time to load, but random jitters during multitasking are a very rare occurrence. On top of that, the haptic feedback is surprisingly good. Overall, the browsing experience is satisfying. The only chink in this phone’s armour is the lack of 5G connectivity, which keeps you away from blazing fast internet speeds.
Budget phones aren’t known for their gaming skills, but the Smart 20 can run titles like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile. Even at low graphics and frame rate settings, the gameplay isn’t up to the mark. You do come across annoying frame drops from time to time. Casual gamers won’t have any major issues with the gaming performance, but if you spend a lot of time on FPS titles, you should look for more powerful options.
Our favourite thing about the Infinix Smart 20 is the software experience. The Android 16-based XOS 16 is what separates this device from its peers. For starters, there’s minimal bloatware on this phone. The interface looks clean and inviting. The browsing experience is light, intuitive, and well-optimised. The vibrant nature of the skin, along with its slick transitions, feels quite nice. Infinix has promised 2 years of security updates for this phone.
Despite being a budget phone, the Smart 20 offers a respectable AI suite. The Infinix AI package comprises tools like Translation Assistant, Document Assistant, AI Writing, and AI Theme Generator. You also get Google’s Circle to Search tool, which is often missing in phones in this price bracket.
The 5,200mAh battery pack can last you an entire day of heavy use. You can push the battery life to 2 days if you’re slightly conservative with your usage. The smartphone supports 15W charging, but it ships with a 10W power adapter. It takes over 2 hours to reach a full charge.
The 8MP main camera captures decent shots in outdoor daylight conditions. There is a little softness to these images, but that is something we expect while using an entry-level phone. The good thing is that the pictures are vibrant without looking overprocessed. In limited lighting conditions, this camera performs surprisingly well if there’s optimum artificial lighting. The images have some noise, but you can get some acceptable shots, depending on the lighting status of the scene.
The Portrait Mode in the native Camera app lets you shoot in 3 focal lengths – 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm. The smartphone does a good job of locking into the subject and applying decent background blur. However, its edge detection is not always up to the mark. The 8MP front-facing camera captures good, natural-looking shots. Both cameras can record 2K videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
If you don’t mind missing out on 5G connectivity, the Infinix Smart 20 is one of the best phones you can buy under Rs 12,000 right now. It delivers on the 3 most important fronts – display, software, and battery. The wide 6.78-inch LCD panel, albeit a bit dim, is great for binge-watching OTT content indoors. The Android 16-based XOS 16 offers a splendid software experience right out of the box. You also get a good set of AI tools to go along with it. Lastly, the 5,200mAh battery pack can last up to 2 days on a full charge if you don’t have an egregiously high screen time. The Dimensity G81 Ultimate chipset gets you through the day without any issues.
Pros
- Clean software experience
- Good battery life
- Big display
- AI features
Cons
- Lacks 5G connectivity
- Slow charging
