Last month, Infinix added another budget smartphone to its Smart 8 Series. Earlier, we reviewed the Smart 8 HD smartphone, which is currently priced at Rs 6,299. The new Smart 8 is priced slightly higher at Rs 7,099 and packs some important updates. Under the hood, it is powered by the MediaTek G36 chipset. While its design remains largely unchanged, the rear camera module gets a new 50MP primary shooter. The Smart 8 is also available in a 4GB RAM variant, with an 8GB RAM model about to launch soon. Keen to check out the new updates, we used the Infinix Smart 8 for a week, here is our in-depth review of the Infinix Smart 8 smartphone.
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In This Article
Infinix Smart 8 review: Design and Display
Inside the Infinix Smart 8 retail box, you get the smartphone, a 10W power adapter, a USB Type-C cable, a clear (hard) plastic case, a SIM ejector tool, a user manual, and a warranty card. There are four colour variants on offer – Galaxy White, Rainbow Blue, Shiny Gold, and Timber Black.
Infinix Smart 8 follows the design language of the ‘HD’ model, which was launched in December 2023. The two lenses and the ring LED flash at the back are aligned in a triangular formation, much like the newer crop of iPhones. Infinix has added a two-step camera panel to house the lenses and ring LED flash on the Smart 8 HD. We used the Rainbow Blue variant of the Infinix Smart 8 for this review. True to its name, it reflects a colourful pattern when light falls on the plastic back panel.
The right edge of the plastic frame houses the volume rocker key and the power button (that also doubles as a fingerprint scanner). On the left, you’ll find the hybrid SIM tray. The 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, USB Type-C port, and speaker grille have been positioned at the bottom of the phone. There is no secondary microphone or speaker grille on the top edge.
Despite losing the ‘HD’ monicker, the Infinix Smart 8 has the same display panel as the Smart 8 HD. The 6.6-inch IPS LCD has a refresh rate of 90Hz and a peak brightness of 500 nits. This display is surrounded by sizeable bezels that get thicker around the chin. The selfie camera is housed in a punch-hole cutout, which Infinix calls the ‘Magic Ring’. This Magic Ring pops up with animations for Face Unlock, Background Call, Charging, Charge Completion, and Low Battery. It feels like a rudimentary form of Apple’s Dynamic Island. There is also a small LED notification light positioned above the top bezel.
The touch response offered by the 90Hz display is very fluid and smooth. The haptic feedback is sharper than what we’re used to seeing in this price range. The device does a good job of keeping up with the swipe gestures and doesn’t feel like it’s lagging. It is certainly one of the better displays we have played around with in this category. A peak brightness of 500 nits is fine if you’re using the phone indoors, however, under direct sunlight, you will need to cover the display with your palm to make it legible.
Watching video content on this 720 x 1,612p LCD panel is a fun experience. While it does not have Widevine L1 certification, the picture quality is just fine. The colours are punchy and the images are detailed. The primary speaker is loud albeit a bit tinny. You won’t feel the need to pull out your headphones while watching videos on the phone.
Infinix Smart 8: Performance and Cameras
Powering the Infinix Smart 8 is the MediaTek Helio G36 SoC, which is an improvement over the Unisoc T606 processor on the Smart 8 HD variant. The smartphone also packs 4GB RAM which is 1GB more than its ‘HD’ sibling. Both smartphones have an internal storage of 64GB. However, Infinix will launch the 8GB RAM + 128GB variant in India soon.
Being an entry-level smartphone, we didn’t expect the Smart 8 to excel at every task we threw at it. It takes a little time to load the apps, but there is no noticeable when they are running. Multitasking on the smartphone does not present any issues either unless you are crowding its memory with too many heavy tasks at once. Routine tasks like video and voice calling, social media browsing, media playback, and others are handled with ease.
While the MediaTek G36 processor is not meant for heavy gaming, it can handle titles like Garena Free Fire fairly well. The touch reception isn’t on par with the gaming smartphones in the category above and the phone does lose a few frames now and then, but the overall performance is passable. We used the smartphone during the winter, so it didn’t overheat easily. After 30 minutes of gaming, the internal temperature of the smartphone did rise slightly but it did not have any real effect on the performance.
One of our favourite things about Infinix’s budget smartphones is the software experience. Unlike other devices in this category, the software experience is very clean. There are a couple of bloatware apps on the device, but they can be removed with ease. The Android-13-based XOS 13 is easy on the eyes and very accessible to use. The gesture controls offered by XOS bring a new level of accessibility to the smartphone. You can assign special functions to gestures like swiping up and down with 2 fingers, pinching in and out, clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation with 2 fingers, and more.
The 5,000 mAh battery pack can power the smartphone for an entire day. Our daily usage consisted of watching video content, sending and receiving emails, social media browsing, video calling, and gaming. On average, we were left with 10-15% at the end of the day. With 10W charging support, the Infinix Smart 8 can be fully charged in 3 hours. The smartphone also supports reverse-wired charging.
One of the bigger highlights of the Infinix Smart 8 is its 50MP camera, which we thoroughly used during the review period. This main sensor puts up a good performance in outdoor daylight conditions. The images produced are sharp and rich in colour. We were happy with the details that the 50MP sensor managed to capture. The contrast level in the images is certainly bumped up in the photoprocessing stage and the end results are ‘social media ready’ instead of being neutral, but that isn’t something we can hold against an entry-level smartphone.
The quality of the images takes a hit in limited lighting conditions. The Night Mode kicks in automatically in darker conditions but the images produced are soft and grainy. The camera app also has a Portrait Mode that does a good job of focussing on the object but doesn’t apply the optimum amount of blur in the background.
Selfies taken with the 8MP camera are a tag overprocessed. The smartphone applies a skin-smoothening effect to the selfies. On the bright side, you can use the LED notification light as a flash or fill light to take selfies at night. The camera app also has some fun face filters. The front and rear cameras can record 1080p and 720p videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
At Rs 7,099 (Flipkart), the Infinix Smart 8 is a great deal. The MediaTek Helio G36 chipset is a big improvement over the Unisoc processors we usually see in this price range. On top of that, a refined design and an updated camera lens are well worth paying an extra Rs 800 over the Smart 8 HD variant. Compared to other smartphones in this price bracket, Smart 8’s punch-hole cutout, LED notification light (which also acts as a front flash), and super-fast side-mounted fingerprint camera make it a very easy smartphone to recommend.
Infinix Smart 8: Pros
- Nice form factor
- Great display
- Punch-hole cutout instead of a waterdrop notch
- Good primary camera
Infinix Smart 8: Cons
- Takes a long time to charge
