We finally have our full review on the Infinix ZERO 5G after having the device for almost a week and we have our opinion ready to share about it.
Before we proceed with our full review, here’s the full specifications and a recap of the contents you’ll be receiving on the Infinix ZERO 5G.
- Price PHP11,990
- Color: Horizon Blue and Skylight Orange
- Display 6.78-inch FHD+ Ultra Smooth Display (IPS LTPS)
- Resolution 1080×2460 pixels
- Refresh Rate 120HZ / 60HZ
- Processor MediaTek Dimensity 900
- CPU Frequency: 2.4GHz + 2GHz
- GPU ARM Mali-G68 MC4
- Storage+Memory 128GB + 8GB expandable up to 256GB MicroSD
- Rear Camera 48MP Samsung Sensor with 30x Zoom / 13MP Portrait / 2MP Depth Sensor
- Front Camera 16MP AI Advanced Selfie Camera
- OS XOS version 10.0 based on Android 11
- Battery 5,000mAh
- Fast Charging 33W
- Security: Fingerprint,
- Network 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G
- Connection Bluetooth, USB Type-C, OTG, 3.5mm Jack, Wi-Fi 6, GPS, FM
- SIM Card Slot: Dual Nano + Micro SD
- Sensors G-Sensor, E-Compass, Gyroscope, Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor
- Dimensions 168.73 x 76.53 x 8.77mm
- Weight: 199g
The packaging for the ZERO 5G comes in an elongated box with a different style approach on the overall design elements. It has a nice clean layout with that added carbon fiber hologram effect and the blue foil finish on every 5G word.
Inside the box you have the following items: Infinix ZERO 5G Unit, Power adaptor, USB Type-C Cable, SIM Ejector Tool Warrranty Card, XCLUB XGOLD Voucher, Clear Jelly Protective Case designed by Oraimo and Screen Protector already applied on the display panel.
Build Quality and Design
The back of the phone has an attractive design, Infinix offers a Uni-Curve design feature as dubbed by the company. You can see that softly curvy ends with the back panel adding the looks and feel like a glass finish but only to find out that they used a composite durable plastic material for it. With that said, it makes holding the device more comfortable, one-handed friendly and added a premium vibe to it.
Another remarkable aesthetics you can spot on the ZERO 5G is the rear camera module bump. It’s a bit raised but goes integrated into the curve of the back panel creating this amazing seamless design. It does not look weird as they would probably want move away from the traditional camera module bump design.
It has rounded corners with narrow bezels on the front display mostly from the top and sides but a little bit thicker at the bottom. The front facing camera lens gets a punch-hole design detached from the top edge of the display.
We got the Horizon Blue color for our review unit, turning it sideways produces a pleasant gleam effect whenever light falls on it. We would recommend to use the included clear protective jelly case to prevent the device from slipping from your hands and fingerprint smudges.
Found on the left is the SIM card slot while the volume rockers and the power/sleep button that houses the fingerprint sensor is totally flush with the body located on the right. The 3.5mm headphone jack, USB Type-C port, speaker grille and microphone on the bottom and another microphone on the top.
Infinix ZERO 5G snapped with the protective case
Display
The Infinix ZERO 5G comes with a large 6.78-inch FHD+ ultra-smooth display. From the specifications it uses an IPS+LTPS screen paired with a high 120Hz refresh rate for a smooth experience. For longer battery life you can select the 60Hz refresh rate or auto-switch the refresh rate on the display settings.
So far, the quality of the display was very decent. It has nice colors, sharp image quality, responsive screen, contrast and viewing angles are very good. You get 500 nits of peak brightness, as we have expected on any mid-range smartphone, we had some few struggles seeing the display during direct sunlight. But during indoors and especially at night the display is better mostly for watching videos or playing games.
You can get more additional features under the display settings like dark theme mode, adaptive brightness, change your wallpaper and eye care.
Hardware and Performance
Another advantage of the Infinix ZERO 5G is the onboard hardware. First, it has the latest MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor built with a 2.4GHz six-nanometer chipset with 2x ARM Cortex-A78 and 6x ARM Cortex-A55.
It’s equipped with a large 128GB storage that’s expandable up to 256GB via a MicroSD. To handle all the task without slowing the performance of the ZERO 5G, it offers an 8GB RAM plus a virtual RAM feature to extend it or serves as a relief for the physical memory. Infinix calls this as MemFusion which the company claims that the number of apps that can run on the phone will increase from 9 to 20. You can choose with available RAM option ranging from 2GB, 3GB or 5GB. This is found under the device settings by going to special function then MemFusion.
Here are our benchmark scores on the Infinix ZERO 5G.
- Antutu V8 – 480,739
- Geekbench – 666 Single Core / 2121 Multi-Core Score
- PC Mark – 11,662 Work 3.0 Performance Score
- 3D Mark – 2,012 (Average frame rate – fps: 12.10)
- A1 SD Bench – Read 1,151.57MB/s and Write 304.28MB/s
For games, the Infinix ZERo 5G has its own standard game launcher app called XArena, it’s complete with various tweaks, like notification suppression and more.
While the Dar-Link 2.0 software can offer image stability, touch control sensitivity based on AI algorithm and lower the phone’s temperature during intensive gameplay.
Camera
Infinix ZERO 5G boasts a triple-camera rear setup comprising of 48MP Samsung sensor with 30x zoom on the main camera, a 13MP portrait camera and a 2MP depth camera. It also has two LED flash for better light during low light and night shots. It also has a 2x zoom option ready for portrait shots.
The only drawback on the rear camera is there’s no ultra-wide lens and using the 30x zoom gets mostly muddy quality shots.
For your selfies the ZERO 5G is equipped with a 16MP front facing AI camera.
Front facing camera gets a punch-hole design
Camera app and settings
Shooting modes available on the rear and front of camera app
The shooting modes you can choose on the camera app are short video, video, AI cam, beauty, portrait, super night, AR shot, slow motion, PRO, panorama, documents and time lapse.
Here’s are samples photos captured using the Infinix ZERO 5G.
AI Cam Mode – Indoor – 1x
AI Cam Mode – Outdoor – 1x
AI Cam Mode – Outdoor – 2x zoom
AI Cam Mode – Indoor – 1x – Super Night mode
AI Cam Mode – Outdoor – 1x – Super Night mode
AI Cam Mode – Outdoor – 30x – Images gets a little muddy but less noise during bright conditions
(L-R) Selfies – AI Cam and Portrait Mode – Outdoor
(L-R) AR Shot, Short Video and Wideselfie
Both front and rear camera can shoot 4K videos at 30fps with other available resolutions of 1080p at 30/60fps and 720p at 30fps. It has video stabilization feature available only on 1080p and 720p at 30 fps. You can select some video enhancement features like beauty and bokeh effect found on top of the camera app.
A good addition under the camera app filter is a quick 15 second video or Short video mode that has beauty filters, as well as a Snapchat-style live effects and overlays.
Sample video taken on the Infinix ZERO 5G.
OS and Battery
In terms of software, the device runs on XOS 10.0 based on Android version 11 adopting a minimalist style user interface for a simpler clean look and with some underlying system optimization.
You can access the following features on the XOS 10 such as AI voice assistant thru smart scenes that will remind you important events like birthday, payment schedules etc.; theft alert will sound an alarm in case your phone is unplugged; peek proof can obscure your phone’s display if others snoops at your screen and lastly, kid mode sets the limit of usage and customize the apps you can only allow.
The Infinix ZERO 5G has some few pre-installed apps and Infinix’s very own apps like XClub, XTheme, XArena and more. It comes with the AHA Games app which host a library of games you can download to play. You can try to uninstall or disable the apps if you don’t want it to be there.
Even with that nice slim design, the Infinix ZERO 5G is fueled with a massive 5,000 mAh battery that delivers good performance that can last throughout the day if you’re a heavy user. Charging the phone uses a USB Type-C cable plus with the addition of the 33W fast charging support the ZERO 5G can juice up the battery in just 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The battery settings are found under Power Marathon that comes with some extra power saving feature like Power Boost and Ultra Power Saving.
Security and 5G Network
Biometrics and security offered on the ZERO 5G are screen lock, face unlock and fingerprint. For screen lock you have options for swipe, pattern, PIN or password on how you would like to unlock the phone. While both the face and fingerprint recognition are fast in unlocking the phone.
The device is ready to handle fast 5G network connection both on its dual SIM. With Clever 5G feature under the network settings it makes the device to switch automatically between 4G and 5G smartly to further extend battery life.
We made some speed test using the 5G Mark app with a 5G Globe Prepaid SIM to measure how fast will be the upload and download rate of the ZERO 5G. The test was done outside the house, we got a total score of 72,492 with download bitrate at 114.4 Mbps and upload bitrate at 9.0Mbps. No lag occurred during the stream playback test then it took 1.50 seconds to load a web page while Facebook page at 1.73 seconds.
We wanted to do one more test with Speedtest by Ookla using Google Chrome. The speed test gave us a download bitrate of 41.19 Mbps. In general, we’re happy the 5G network speed was able to provide a fast and seamless connection.
What We Like
- MediaTek Dimensity 900 Processor
- Fast 5G Connectivity
- 128GB Storage and 8GB RAM
- Large Display with 120Hz Refresh Rate
- Design and Build Quality
- Can Shoot 4K Resolution
- Decent Triple Camera Setup
- Price
- 5,000 mAh Battery With Fast Charging Feature
What We Want
- Wide-angle Lens
- AMOLED Screen
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Infinix ZERO 5G gave us a good impression especially on its overall design aesthetics and the built-in hardware.
Under the hood, it has a really good performing MediaTek chipset coupled with a large 128GB storage and more RAM. If the storage is not enough you can still manage to expand it via a MicroSD. It lets you experience fast 5G connectivity with Clever 5G feature. The display offers a large 6.78-inch Full HD although it’s not an AMOLED the quality is not bad at all as you get nice colors, deep black, text are clear and smooth performance thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate. Just by looking at the specs of the hardware you already have an excellent deal.
With all the above mentioned specs the phone is perfect for gaming and other multimedia content you want to run on it. There was no lag and got a smooth gameplay with popular online games such as Call of Duty, Mobile Legends, PUBG Mobile and more on the ZERO 5G.
With the Uni-curve design of the ZERO 5G it was appealing to look at and adds a more premium vibe. While the raised camera bump style at the back panel isn’t unusual at all. It’s still lightweight just comfortable enough to hold and operate with just one hand.
As for the camera, we were able to capture clear and decent shots during bright conditions. For low light situations you have super night mode found on the camera app. Added bonus is the dual led lights at the rear and single led light on the front that may probably help the quality of shots during the night. Photos are not too saturated so you can edit them if you want to improve more color, contrast or exposure to it. For videos it’s on the average side but you still have 4K, 1080p and 720p resolution available with ultra-steady mode.
For just PHP11,990, the Infinix ZERO 5G is perfect if you’re a heavy gamer or prefer binge watching your favourite series. If you’re not too keen about the shortcomings of the device then the Infinix ZERO 5G is undoubtedly the one for you!
