Infinix Hot S3 Phone Review: New mid-range device bumps up the selfie game

by Brian Yalung

There is another new mobile phone looming over the horizon, a device pegged to crowd the mid-range segment. With most phones diverting their focus to smartphones with high-resolution cameras packed in a masterfully crafted mold, the Infinix Hot S3 is something buyers should seriously look into.

On the outside

The Infinix Hot S3 is the latest handset to invade up and rising brands. It measures 72.85x153x8.4 mm and weighs just 150 grams. It sports a 5.7-inch IPS LCD (18:9 aspect ratio) Infinity display (720×1440 pixels at 285 PPI), masterfully maximized to make sure that users get to see full photos, videos, and other content as required.

A 3.5 mm jack is situated at the top of the device with speakers and the traditional micro USB 2.0 port at the bottom. The left side houses the dual SIM slots and expansion memory card slots while the power and volume buttons are on the right side. It also comes with a biometric fingerprint sensor located in the upper-most middle space at the back of the device.

The firepower behind it all

The aesthetics alone are pleasing but potential owners are bound to get blown away by the more than decent internal specs. The device banks on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 1.4 GHz Octa Core Cortex-A53 supported by an Adreno 505 GPU. The model handed totes 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of ROM (expandable up to 128 GB). As one can see, these are more than decent specs considering it is a classified as a mid-range device.

Browsing, gaming and video playback were more than acceptable. Performance hardly showed any hiccups, meaning this may not simply be a device built to crowd the rise of camera-focused handsets out in the market to date.

Other common features include support for 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE and GPRS networks, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 and A-GPS. It relies on a non-removable Li-Ion 4,000 mAh battery and comes with Android 8.0 Oreo with XOS 3.0 out of the box.

Let’s start snapping photos and videos

As most phones, attention would be on the front and main cameras. Obviously designed to appease the selfie-snapping addicts, the Infinix Hot S3 comes with a surprising 20 MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 Aperture with LED flash. At the back is a 13 MP main camera with the same f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, and dual LED flash.

With high specs, it comes as no surprise that the quality of photos and videos taken using both front and rear cameras were very impressive. Better yet, the front-facing camera could even take excellent selfies even in low-lit conditions. The cameras alone are something to look forward to, potentially giving rival brand phones focusing on built-in cameras a run for their money.

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Sample Video:

In summary, there is no question that the Infinix Hot S3 is a device with plenty of potential and promise. The built-in cameras are expected to reel in interest but the real story with this mobile phone is performance and convenience. With current and popular features and specs already present, this is one device that not only promises to be a wise buy but a steal for the mid-range segment.