Infinix Hot 12: When you’re on a tight budget, it’s hard to find a smartphone that both looks good and isn’t garbage. Infinix Hot 12 hopes to fill that space in.
Set in the budget segment, this phone tries to do a little bit of everything — look modern, offer adequate performance for daily usage, and some standout features to make it not just another cheap phone.
Not that Hot 12’s trying to take on the mid-range legends, but there’s enough on offer to keep things interesting for a casual user, student… or anyone who just needs a smartphone that doesn’t suck and isn’t expensive at the same time.
Sleek, Youthful Design
It’s right out of the box and the Infinix Hot 12 looks and feels fresh. It’s all plastic, although with an textured matte back and gradient finish that make it feel quite high-end.
It’s slim, feels well-balanced in hand and is available in a range of colors including: Legend White, Racing Black, Origin Blue and Lucky Green — suggesting it’s specifically young people in the firing line.
The rear-mounted fingerprint sensor is within reach and responds fast, and the phone also offers face unlock to make things easier. All told, it does not look or feel like a “cheap” phone, and for this price point that’s a big win.
Big Display, Smooth Scrolling
One of the standout features of the Hot 12 is the 6.82-inch HD+ IPS LCD display. It has a 90Hz refresh rate, which is a surprise in this range.
Although it’s not the highest resolution (1640 x 720 pixels), that high refresh rate makes everyday scrolling, swiping, and navigating feel more fluid and more responsive.
Colours are fairly punchy, and it’s bright enough for indoors use, although it can be a little challening to make out in bright sunlight.
And when they’re not scrolling through their contacts list, they can also use it for watching videos or playing games, both of which feel immersive thanks to all the extra screen real estate.
Decent Day-to-Day Performance
The Hot 12 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G37 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage that is expandable up to 256GB via microSD card.
It’s not made for power users or crazy multitasking, but it works decently well with light apps, social media, making calls, sending messages and browsing websites.
You can even play games like Free Fire and Subway Surfers without issues, although graphically intense titles will display lag or stuttering on higher settings.
It is acceptable for those it is aimed at and does not feel sluggish in daily routine.
XOS Software: Not the Best, Far From the Worst
The phone runs XOS 10.6 customized skin based on Android 11, that comes with features such as smart panel, kids mode and theft alert. However, the software is wrapped with pre-loaded apps, and there would be unwanted wakeup notifications ringing these phones with ads.
Most of these are things you can turn off, but it takes a bit of work.
However, the UI has been cleaned up quite a bit, and navigating the all new interface is quite easy, especially if this is your first Android device.
Triple Camera Setup – Decent in Daylight
In the camera department, the Hot 12 is equipped with a 13MP main sensor coupled with depth and AI lens. Daylight photos are fine — colors are punchy and details are passable.
Portrait mode does a decent job with edge detection, which AI scene detection helps adjust exposure automatically based on lighting.
But in low light, performance declines, noise and blur coming in more clearly. The 8MP front camera is fine for the odd selfie and video call, albeit in good light.
Long Battery, Mediocre Charge
And the other big plus is the 5000mAh battery. Moderate usage, calls, social media, music streaming and some gaming, and the phone has juice well over a day on a single charge.
But the included 10W charger takes nearly 3 hours for a full charge and there’s no fast charging.
Pros :
Stylish, youthful design
90Hz speed on a 6.82″ ultra-large display
Good enough for everyday use
Long-lasting 5000mAh battery
Expandable storage and 3.5 mm headphone jack
Finger scanner and face unlock
Cons:
HD+ resolution, not Full HD+
Bloatware and ads in the UI
No fast charging support
Low light camera quality is really poor
Still runs on Android 11
Infinix Hot 12 Final Thoughts
The Infinix Hot 12 isn’t trying to be something it’s not. It has a large screen, solid battery life, smooth scrolling and stylish looks — all for a reasonable price. It’s perfect for people who want style in a daily driver without expecting top-tier performance.
If you can forgive the bloatware and mediocre low-light photography performance, the Hot 12 packs good value for money in its category.