Continued from last week
(Part two of two)
Last week the author started to review the Infinix Hot 10S and praised its price-to-features value as well as its image processing functions. This week he continues his review with more details on the performance.
Software, overlay and navigation
The Infinix Hot 10S runs Android 11, with the XOS 7.6 overlay.
As with the software of many phones on the Asian market, XOS comes loaded with all sorts of bloatware, and unnecessary software, theme and app stores, and, in XOS’ case, ads for browser-based software called “Instant apps” within the app drawer. These instant apps are (thankfully) allowed to be disabled. This my impression is that software is easily one of its weakest points–but it can be remedied quickly.
Out of the 15+ bloatware apps that came with the phone, I was unable to uninstall or disable 10 of them – these apps being the power and phone management apps, as well as several of the store apps.
On the front of software customization, XOS provides fewer options for personalization of the way the user interacts with the phone, offering very limited options for on-screen or gesture controls, icon and font sizes, and very limited, and sometimes confusing settings menu.
After a few weeks with the phone, I got used to the navigation and quick access menus, and found that XOS, only minorly got in the way of my day-to-day use, although some details with how the software operates, such as the way folder organization, and new app placements work, as well as the unblockable notifications from the bloatware apps are rather annoying.
In terms of accessibility of operation, the phone does come with modes for single-hand usage (which is very useful given the overall size of the phone), standard gesture controls such as flip to mute, double-tap to wake/sleep, or three-finger screenshots, though its gesture controls lack heavily in customizability. The phone also has a “peek proof” mode which hides certain parts of the screen, to allow for more privacy, especially when operating the phone in public spaces.
Overall the software experience wasn’t overtly unpleasant, it was just felt lack in plenty of places, even when compared to stock Android.
Performance versus its siblings
The Infinix Hot 10S sports a Mediatek Helio G85, 6GB RAM, and 128GB of internal storage. It also comes with a 6000mAh battery. The overall experience when operating the phone is rather smooth, in my regular usage, it rarely stutters, or slows down even running a game, media apps with overlays, social media apps, and a browser simultaneously.
Update: here is an article to explain the Infinix Hot 10S’s excellent gaming performance.
I don’t have any hard benchmark numbers, but I tested a few common, modern phone titles such as PUBG Mobile, CoD Mobile, Arknights, and Genshin Impact. The phone performed really well on Arknights, PUBG, and CoD, being able to run CoD and PUBG with HD settings at a smooth, near-60 fps experience, and Arknights running with its highest graphics at the full 90 fps. Genshin Impact, however, didn’t perform quite as well.
It wasn’t unplayable, but the game hovered at around 30 fps, hitting sub-30 during more graphically complex sequences. During the testing of the games, the phone got rather hot, but it never hit temperatures that made it uncomfortable in the hand.
Battery life (or lives)
The battery life of the phone is stellar. Coming from full charge, running the phone at 60Hz with none of the power saving options on, I was able to get 31½ hours out of the phone before it hit 20 percent. This was with full use – around 15 or so hours of continuous use: watching videos, playing music via Bluetooth, reading ebooks, and playing games over the course of two days.
The phone was left idle with the WiFi and Bluetooth on while I slept, and it still had enough power to get me through most of the second day before hitting 20%. I estimate the phone will last 2-3 days on a single charge when making use of the power-saving options.
Overall, the Infinix Hot 10S could be one of the greatest performers in its category. Of course it won’t slug it out in the heavyweight classes, but in this welterweight of smartphones–I repeat, a niche full of wannabes and whodunits–the Hot 10S is a champion.
