Pros: Nice design/hand feel, 2 day battery life, full Android 12 with XOS 12 features.
Shortcoming: Bulky, bloatware, average cameras, no IR blaster.
The smartphone market in India is growing rapidly. A quick glance at the market and you will see that there are tons of products launching every week. However, most of the recent releases in the country are mid-range and flagship devices, while there are only a few budget phones.
When it comes to the sub Rs 8,000 price segment, there is hardly any device that offers “good” specifications. Now, “good” has different definitions and they change as you move into different price segments. Most of the devices in this segment cheaply give you a half-baked smartphone experience with one feature or the other.
Infinix recently launched the Infinix Smart 7. It was claimed that it offers most of the features a user would ask for at the above price range. Features like a big display, a massive battery, a chip that keeps the phone running, and a full Android OS. Also, there’s a fingerprint scanner, which is a rarity in this segment—basically a great smartphone experience.
To put it all to the test, I’ve been using the Smart 7 for over a week now, and in this full review, I have a lot to say about the device. Before we go into the details, let us see its price and specifications.
Price and specification of Infinix Smart 7
| Sample | infinix smart 7 |
| Model No. | Infinix X6517 |
| Price and Variants | Rs 7,499 (4GB/64GB) |
| colour’s | Azure Blue, Emerald Green and Night Black |
| availability | Flipkart |
| Display Size | 6.6-inch water-drop notch panel, IPS LCD |
| display glasses | 60Hz RR, HD+ (720 x 1612 pixels), 500 nits peak brightness, Widevine L3 |
| Security | NEG Glass Safety |
| Security | Rear-mounted FPS, Facial Unlock |
| camera setup | Rear – Dual Camera, Front – Single Camera |
| camera glasses | 13MP main, 0.3MP depth | 5MP selfie |
| video max | 1080 at 30fps | Front – 1080p at 30fps |
| chipset | 28nm Unisoc SC9863A, PowerVR GE8322 graphics |
| RAM and Storage | 4GB LPDDR4x RAM, 64GB eMMC 5.1 (MemFusion/MicroSD card) |
| Battery and Charging | 5,000mAh Battery + 10W Fast Charging |
| Audio | 3.5mm headphone jack, mono speaker |
| Operating System | Android 12 OS, XOS 12 |
| software support | , |
| IP Rating | no ip rating |
| sensor | Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor |
| Network and Connectivity | dual nano sim 4g | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 4.2 |
Infinix Smart 7 Review: Design and Display
Unlike before, this time Infinix has revamped the design of the Smart 6 successor. And, you can feel the change when you look at the phone or hold it in your hands.
Although the device is a bit heavy at 207 grams, it offers a good grip thanks to the 3D textured pattern at the back. The back panel is made of plastic and there is no framing for the device as the plastic extends towards the back side. The flat sides of the phone give it a slightly premium feel, which does away with last year’s sticky and curvy build.
It has a square-shaped camera island at the back that houses two large-sized camera modules. There is also a dual-LED flash and a fingerprint scanner on the camera island.
While the rear design is quite good, the front features a water-drop notch panel. For the price, such a panel design is understandable. There is a power button and volume rocker on the right spine. There’s a SIM card tray on the left, and it’s a triple slot.
There’s nothing on the top, but there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, and a speaker grille on the bottom.
Looking at the display features, it has a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with 500 nits brightness and HD+ resolution.
For comparison, the Moto E13 and Poco C50, which are direct competitors of the Smart 7, come with 400 nits of brightness.
It is a 60Hz refresh rate panel with NEG glass protection. I find the screen to be bright enough but less vibrant for my tastes. Watching YouTube videos is a great experience as the lag of 60fps video playback found in the out-of-the-box firmware version is gone, with the latest update, i.e. firmware version number ‘X6517-V6500AACD-S-GL-230225V464’ .
Now, the device is capable of playing videos at 60fps without breaking a sweat, which was not the case with the out-of-box XOS variant.
It has Widevine L3 certification, so don’t expect to watch movies in the highest quality on OTT apps.
Infinix Smart 7 Review: Cameras
The Smart 7 has average cameras which you may or may not like depending on your current smartphone.
It features a customary dual camera setup at the back with a 13MP main lens and a 0.3MP depth sensor. The setup is assisted by a dual-LED flash to help with low-light shots.
As is the case with all Infinix phones, AI Cam is there as the default camera mode. It clicks decent pictures if you keep your hands steady and there is enough light available. However, in bright light, for example in bright sunlight, images sometimes get distorted.
Infinix hasn’t offered all the camera features on the Smart 7. For starters, there are only three modes apart from the default AI Cam mode, which are Beauty, Portrait, and Panorama.
It misses out on a night mode and my favorite Sky Shop, which I preferred on the much higher priced Infinix Zero 5G Turbo 2023.
The 5MP selfie camera clicks soft images and using the beauty mode makes your skin tone even softer. But the phone has a selfie flash, which makes selfies acceptable. Thanks for giving front flash to Infinix.
For videography, it supports a maximum of 1080p 30fps. Video is average but that was expected for the price.
You can watch all images and videos in full quality Here,
Infinix Smart 7 Review: Performance and Battery
The Infinix Smart 7 is clearly not a performance-focused device for the price it retails at. However, it performs well in day-to-day ‘light’ use. Switching from one app to another is snappy, probably because the animation speed has been tweaked on the phone.
This isn’t a gaming phone by any chance, but it can handle games like Asphalt 9, Subway Surfers, Clash of Clans, and so on. I tried running New State Mobile on the device and at low settings and it wasn’t a great experience, although the game ran with a lot of hiccups.
I wouldn’t suggest running heavy titles on the device as the chip inside the phone is the Unisoc SC9863A, a 28nm octa-core chip (same as the predecessor).
Interestingly, the device comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. This is rare at this price point as most phones in this segment come with 2GB or 3GB of RAM along with 32GB of internal storage.
And by the way, it has Memfusion support for 3GB, which is nothing but virtual RAM. It also has a dedicated microSD card slot for up to 2TB of additional storage.
One of the key highlights of the Smart 7 is the battery. It packs a massive 6,000mAh battery that doesn’t drain easily. I tried playing games, playing YouTube videos, and shooting multiple photos with the camera app—but even for hours, the battery percentage was still above 50 percent.
It is easily a 2-day phone on heavy usage and it can last for more days if the usage is only WhatsApp and calling. Seems about right for elderly people, doesn’t it?
However, it was not quick to charge it to the brim, although it has a USB Type-C port and 10W charging support. The 10W charging brick inside the box takes about three hours to fully charge. But it also means you can leave it to charge overnight and turn it off in the morning.
Infinix Smart 7 review: Software
Out of the box, the device runs Android 12 out of the box with XOS 12 on top. And no, it’s not the Go Edition OS. Rather, it’s the full Android version, which is rare at this price.
It has some bloatware and comes with Palm Store, High Browser and other proprietary apps. But these apps can be disabled so that they don’t send you spam.
Bloatware aside, whether you like it or not, the XOS is all about features. It also comes with useful features like Peek Proof, Dark Mode, Eye Care, Theft Alert, Kids Mode and more.
I find the Peek Proof mode quite handy when I’m out as it doesn’t let others see what I’m doing on my phone. Furthermore, Infinix’s own dialer allows call recording, a feature that many users have been demanding.
Update-wise, there is no promise from the brand, but we expect Infinix to at least update the device to Android 13 in the coming months.
Infinix Smart 7 review: Connectivity and extras
The Smart 7 has dual-SIM 4G connectivity and I didn’t face any issues while making calls. Calls were clear and it has good network reception. The device only supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and has Bluetooth 4.2 support.
Infinix has offered a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and facial unlock support at this price, which is commendable.
The fingerprint scanner works 7 times out of 10, but facial unlock automatically gets disabled for some reason. Most of the times, it asked me to manually enter the password “due to security restrictions”.
There is only one speaker on the phone, which is located at the bottom. It’s snappy but gets bogged down easily when playing games in landscape mode. The inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack is useful as at this price range, many would be leaning towards wired earphones.
Infinix Smart 7 Review: Verdict
The Infinix Smart 7 packs a punch when compared to similarly priced phones in the segment. It is raising the standards in the under Rs 8,000 segment by offering a beautiful design, a big battery that offers 2 days of usage and tons of software features.
Overall, it is a good device for light phone users. It can also be a good secondary phone, thanks to its battery life and storage expandability.
Takeaways for the brand
However, Infinix needs to address a few things here. The first is bloatware – please remove it. Next, the chip – it could have been something new, like a 12nm Unisoc or MediaTek’s Helio. Then, an IR blaster – this is a feature I love and hope Infinix adds to all its devices.
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