At a price starting at Rs 8,999, the Infinix Hot S3 stirs up the sub-10K segment and provides a good challenge to the unrivaled reign of Redmi Smartphones. Infinix is an online exclusive brand of Transsion Holdings which also own the other brands iTel, Tecno and Spice. The Hot S3 comes in two variants 3GB RAM with 32GB storage at Rs 8,999 and the 4GB RAM variant with 64GB storage at Rs 10,999 in India. Let’s uncover in this Infinix Hot S3 Review if the phone is impressive enough.
Infinix Hot S3 box contents:
https://youtu.be/ae3XGrTeTnk- Hot S3 Smartphone
- Soft back case cover
- Power adapter 5V 2A
- microUSB cable
- Screen guard
- Pin
- Documents
Infinix Hot S3 Design:
The Hot S3 is available in two colors – gold and black and what I got for review is the black model. Though made of plastic, the phone doesn’t look cheap and sports good looks. The matte finish at the rear gives it an impressive finish but is also prone to fingerprint smudges but I can live with it compared to the glossy finishes. The Hot S3 weighs 150 grams and measures 8.4mm in thickness. The back panel has a 13MP rear camera and LED light enclosed in a capsule shell, fingerprint sensor and Infinix branding. The corners are smooth and the rear side edges curved. It’s got ergonomic design offering a good grip over while holding it.
The bottom has the mic, microUSB port and the speaker grille.
The top houses the audio port.
The right side has the power button and the volume rocker.
The left side has the SIM tray, it supports dual SIM and there is a dedicated microSD card slot.
Infinix Hot S3 Display
In tune with the hot trend of the season and which is becoming a norm the Hot S3 has a 5.65-inch display with a 18:9 aspect ratio offering a HD 720*1440 resolution. The display is vivid with good saturation levels. If you were comfortable with the compact size of 5-inch display till now, then you should not have any trouble adjusting to the tall 5.65″ screen size. The display settings has the night mode a.k.a blue filter toggle, adaptive brightness, ambient display etc. There is also notification lights in this phone. The display has on-screen navigation buttons. The top of the screen houses the 20MP selfie camera, LED light, sensor and ear piece receiver.
Infinix Hot S3 Software | Features
It’s reassuring to know that out of the box the Hot S3 comes with Android Oreo with their own custom HiOS layered on top of it. So what features the HiOS brings to the device? Let’s find out.
Smart Features of Hot S3:
- Double tap to wake
- Gesture actions to quickly open an app from the lockscreen
- one hand mode which allows the screen to be minimised to 4.7 inch or 4 inch.
- three fingerscreen shot with support for long screenshot.
- Turn the phone to silence.
Infinix Hot S3 Fingerprint Sensor Review
Infinix has added few tricks to the fingerprint unlock. Apart from unlocking the phone with the finger, you can also associate an app with a finger to be launched immediately upon unlocking the phone. You can also touch the sensor area to take photo while on camera app, accept incoming call, browse pictures, record an call or dismiss an alarm. Strangely, there is no app lock feature. https://youtu.be/H5FmgrJN254Infinix Hot S3 Performance
Powering the Infinix is the entry level Snapdragon 430, an octa-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz , with a 3GB/4GB RAM, Adreno 505 Adreno 505,and 32GB/64GB storage. I didnt had any issue using the phone for basic tasks, there was no observable lag in the time I spend with it. Games are playable though there are frame drops considering the entry-level processor, still most games are playable. Heavy games take a bit of time to load. Also you would find the phone heating up a bit on heavy graphic intensive games. Call quality is good, the speaker is manageable too.Infinix Hot S3 battery life
The Hot S3 has a 4000mAh non-removable battery didn’t disappoint me in the actual use either. The phone can last anywhere between one day and half a day more depending on your use.Infinix Hot S3 Camera
The camera setup includes a 20-megapixel fixed focus front camera and a 13-megapixel rear camera. Let’s begin with the camera app. Apart from the usual video, auto and beauty mode there is a separate modes section, tapping it shows panorama, night, time lapse and professional mode. The professional mode lets you fiddle around with the ISO, white balance, exposure, shutter speed, and focus. There are quick toggles for HDR and the flash and the selfie camera also has a flash light. The photos taken with Hot S3 contrary to my expectations were surprisingly good enough. The photos not only look good on the vivid display but even when you transfer it to your computer, look good. The details are well captured.
The colors pop out a bit more, with the contrast and saturation slightly boosted, nevertheless they look good visually. The images are sharp too. Macros come well also.
At times under bright sunlight, there tends to be a bit of over exposure, if you know how to use the pro mode, you could get it right the way you want.
Here is an example of the HDR image (right)
The selfies come pretty good too. Though a bit more sharper with contrast notched up a bit. There is a bokeh effect too for the selfies, though at times you could see the edges getting blurred but still it is a good addition and something you can experiment with while taking selfies.
Overall, the Hot S3 has one of the better camera optics in this price segment.
