The Infinix S3 is a solid upgrade over last year’s model, with improvements to the hardware, software and cameras. However, certain headline features like the Snapdragon 430 are there but not without flaws.
Chances are, you’ll be happy with this phone as it has loveable features like a 20MP front camera and a 18:9 aspect ratio display all coming on a budget. It’s one of the best budget selfie smartphones available on the market, and probably the best when it comes to selfies in low light.
The budget segment of the smartphone market is bustling with a sea of options more than. Many manufacturers are now all eyes on the 18:9 aspect ratio and bezel-less displays. Infinix doesn’t like falling far behind the trend and it’s put forth its own offering to face off with the competition, the Infinix S3. The S3 will directly compete with the recently released Tecno Camon CM and Camon X The hardware and specs look sugary on paper, but can the Infinix S3 impress us? We find out.
Key Infinix S3 Specs
Processor: Octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC clocked at 1.4GHz.
RAM: 3GB.
Storage: 32GB (22GB user accessible) expandable via microSD up to 128GB.
Display: 5.65″ HD IPS LCD display.
Protection: NEG Glass.
Resolution: 1440 x 720 pixels.
Connectivity: 2G/3G/4G/VoLTE.
Rear Camera: 13MP with PDAF, Bokeh effects, dual LED flash.
Front Camera: 20MP low light selfie with dual LED flash.
Security: Rear mounted fingerprint reader.
Battery: 4,000mAh.
Weight: 150g.
The S line is known not only for selfies but for bringing a number of ‘firsts’ to the Infinix brand. The original Hot S was the first Infinix phone to sport a finger print sensor and the first one with Android 6.0. The S2 had a number of ‘firsts’ of its own. The S3 walks down the ‘firsts’ lane boosting the first Qualcomm Snapdragon processor in an Infinix phone and the first Infinix phone to sport the industry leading 18:9 aspect ratio.
If you’ve seen one S device, you’ve seen them all. Each iteration of the popular Infinix smartphone series has had a few nips and tucks, but overall it’s maintained the same elegant look over the years. The S3 is no exception: The only new features here are its taller display, on screen navigation keys and absence of the antenna line on the back. You can easily tell at a glance that it’s a S3. If there’s one word we’d use to describe the Infinix S3 design, it pull be “inoffensive.” It’s not exactly a visual treat, but it’s not ugly either. And that’s not surprising, really: Infinix has really out some dope designs in the past, usually playing it safe with its designs.
The S3’s 5.65-inch infinity display IPS LCD HD display has a resolution of 1440 by 720 pixels that amounts to 265 pixels per inch. The display on this phone has some really vivid colours and wide viewing angles. You can easily read even in direct sunlight without shielding, but that is at full brightness of the display. For starters, the S3 is much brighter than the S2, not only indoors, but also in direct sunlight (at full brightness). While it dims better than the S2 at pitch black, the display is still bright so viewing for long hours in the dark environments may become uncomfortable.
At first glance, the Infinix S3 may be mistaken to have a metal body construction. But actually, it is made of good quality poly-carbonate plastic and has curved edges that help grip it quite well. We got a black review unit, and found that its matte finish picks up fingerprints quite easily. You need to keep wiping the device to keep it clean but luckily, Infinix provides a case in the box which you can use to keep fingerprints off the back panel.
The 18:9 aspect ratio has created a taller display. Hence, one handed use requires steady hands and is sometimes impossible. When reaching for the top corners, don’t even bother using one hand. It’s technically possible, but the odds of success are so low. In fact, I have a better chance of entering Narnia each time I open my closet than use one hand to pull down the notifications. It’s so off-balance that I’ve come close to dropping the device several times trying to use one hand. Good news is, Infinix included a one handed feature that you can use to push the screen content on a smaller part of the phone that you can easily use with one hand on any side you want. Infinix has opted for on screen navigation buttons and this has reduced the chin on the device.
On top of the front panel above the display is a metallic speaker grille, a small notification light, a selfie camera, dual LED flash light and proximity sensors. The loud speaker, micro USB port and primary microphone occupy the bottom of the smartphone. The top of the phone is only inhabited by the 3.5mm headphone jack. On the left side of the phone, there is only a SIM card tray that holds the memory card too while the right side has the power and volume buttons. On the back of the phone, there is the camera, dual LED flash and the finger print sensor. The finger print is very accessible and we didn’t find any problem When unlocking the phone. The phone feels nice in the hands and we found the textured power button easy to differentiate from the volume buttons since they are so close to each other. Infinix played it safe with the hardware and we have little complaints about it.
I have this particular interest in the camera part of the smartphone and the S3 really surprised me with its camera department. The Infinix Zero line may have taken all the photography spotlight, but that doesn’t mean that S line has sat back. With the release of the S3, the competition is getting fiercer. The S3 spots headlining 20MP front camera, similar to the recently launched Camon X (we are yet to compare these two cameras). Trying to rival a smartphone line that has built a strong reputation of photography mastery like the Infinix Zero requires a bit of effort and the S3 has some tricks up its sleeve.
While its true that pixel count isn’t everything, the 20MP front camera of the S3 does magic in low light situations and takes clear selfies sometimes without calling for the dual LED selfie flash light. Selfies on a very bright day however look over processed and contain so much gloss. The front camera takes great selfies but you must be at a certain distance to enjoy this because it has a fixed focus (no auto focus), I found this a tad disappointing. The beauty shooting mode will save you the trouble of manually adding filters to your pics when you want to post them on social media.
The back camera is a 13MP shooter assisted by bright dual LED flashlight for a complete camera department. The camera app is quite streamlined and basic. It has beauty, time-lapse and professional modes to choose from aside from the usual suspects like photo, video and panaroma modes. The professional mode gives you control over ISO, white balance, exposure, shutter speed and focus. Like its name suggests, it’s for professional photographers that know how to make tweaks to these. Quick toggles for HDR and flash really work like a charm.
The photos taken with this phone on both cameras really surprised us given that the phone swaggers with a budget price tag. Landscape pics however tended to be over exposed but manually lowering the exposure value improved the image results. The dynamic range is great, even the sky appears blue. Details are great but viewing images at full size exposes a bit of grain. However, the Infinix S3 image quality is better than most of the close competitors .
Ever since it became so cool to have, the fingerprint sensor has made it from flagship to low and midrange devices. The Infinix S3 comes with a rear mounted fingerprint scanner just like many other smartphones from Infinix..
The fingerprint sensor is perfectly placed where the index finger rests when you hold the phone with one hand making it easier to unlock the phone. It’s pretty fast and you can unlock the device in a blink. You don’t need to swipe to have your fingerprint read, just place the finger on the sensor and ‘Adah kabulah’, it will be read.
When it’s time for the phone to learn your prints, you will have to first enter a back up pin that can be used in times you can’t use the fingerprint. Then, you place your finger on the sensor several times, allowing the sensor to read the inner live layers of your finger. Using signal strength, the sensor can draw a “map” of your fingerprint and presto — you’re all set. You can store up to five prints in total, and you can decide to launch an app with each finger, sweet! On top of keeping the phone secure, the fingerprint sensor can also be used for taking pictures by just tapping it, receiving calls, recording calls by long pressing the fingerprint sensor.
As with the hardware design, Infinix’s XOS 3.0 software tends to err on the right side. The company’s Android skin is flat and up market looking. The S3 runs on Android 8.0 and it really looks great. You can use two apps on the screen by simply dragging a second app to the top or bottom of the screen from recent apps.
The phone comes pre-loaded with third party apps apps to get you going as soon as you unbox your device. We found the app freezer very important as it saved a large chunk of memory and battery usage. You just have to add an app into the app freeze and you are all good. The menu is arranged in alphabetical order with favorite apps (as calculated by the phone) appearing on top of the list. You are tied to only scrolling up and down when navigating the app drawer.
The quick controls section is a sea of features but fortunately, the most important ones like Wi-Fi, flashlight, data connectivity can be accessed on the first screen. The settings screen is a clean one with many settings put under one large heading reducing the clutter.
The budget section of Chinese brands has been majorly dorminated by MediaTek chipsets. Infinix has skipped the status quo and opted for a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, the first one in an Infinix phone. The S3 is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 430 which is pretty decent at such a price range. The 64bit processor that clocks at 1.4GHz is assisted by a muscle of 3GB of RAM to keep things running smooth with almost no glitch. With a octa-core 1.4GHz processor, 3GB of RAM and Adreno 505 GPU, the S3 is predictably powerful. Even so, I can’t shake the feeling that something in the bowels of XOS may be preventing it from reaching its full potential. It has more CPU cores, RAM and clock speed than the CM, and is obviously faster compared to devices within the same price range. App transitions seem to take longer to complete and apps load slightly slower when compared to flagship Infinix Zero devices but there is nothing to worry about if you are not going to use apps that heavily depend on GPU.
The S3’s non-removable battery held up well during my week of use, and it’s a major improvement over the Hot S2 which had 3,000mAh. With heavy usage, I tended to get concerned near the end of the day that the 4,000mAh battery wasn’t going to make it. Thankfully though, it never completely gave up on me. In other words, the battery got me through a full day, but more often than not, it came a little too close to empty. Again, it may feel like I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, but this slight improvement over last years model coupled with power management tricks like app freezer, ultra power saving really extended battery life further. Sadly the phone doesn’t have fast charging feature. Infinix provided a ‘smart’ charging plug that cuts off power supply to the phone when it is fully charged, so you wouldn’t worry about leaving your phone charging over night. The battery fills up from zero in about 2 hours. Charging your phone at night would be a better option.
Other Features
I won’t spend a lot of time on connectivity because it will ultimately vary depending on where you live and which carrier you use (that last bit is particularly true). The Hot S3 has support for 4G VoLTE and you will be sure to enjoy these break neck speeds on a budget. Other connectivity features include Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, USB OTG, and WiFi.
The loud speaker on the Infinix S3 isn’t spectacular. However, it is good when playing simple audios like WhatsApp audio notes but you can’t entirely depend on it for your multimedia needs. During the test week, the louder the music got, the more muffled and blown-out the sound became. Plugging in a pair of headphones helped me to sidestep the problem, at least. But the included pair of headsets won’t do for the audiophiles. Buying a pair of your choice will help you. Notably, call quality is good —at least over MTN and Airtel.
Final words
Infinix almost has all needs of the user checked with the S3. There is a high chance that you will be fully happy with the Infinix S3. It’s a solid upgrade to the S2, with reasonable improvements to the design, software and camera. I can’t say this is your most visually appealing option, but it’s infinity bezel-less infinity display gives it a stunning look. It’s intelligently placed fast finger print scanner won’t have you mistakenly placing your finger over the camera lens. The 20MP front low light selfie camera is the headliner and will have your social media followers on their toes. The phone is fast and the 32GB of storage is more than enough to most users —you can still raise the bar by adding a memory card of up to 128GB. The battery is strong too. There is a lot of goodies on this elegant device, but you will have to sacrifice Face ID and Fast charging if you choose to buy this device.
If you’re looking for a good Android phone on a budget, the Infinix S3 won’t let you down. I’d be happy using this as my daily driver.
