Published on 12:12 AM, July 29, 2022

Bytes

Infinix Note 12 G96 - The Budget Speedster

Hands-on Review

Infinix Note 12 G96 - The Budget Speedster. Photos: Tanzid Samad Choudhury

Infinix came up with its latest addition in the Bangladesh market last month with the Note 12 G96. The Hong Kong-based smartphone brand has been doing reasonably well in the local market recently, and the newly released Note 12 G96 is a testament to that.

After having the Note 12 G96 smartphone in our possession for a few weeks, here's what we have to say about the device:

Design 

The Note 12 G96 has a glossy back design with a frosted matte finish. The review set which we received was Snowfall White in colour. The phone feels light on the hand and is easy to carry around. However, it can be difficult to use the phone with one hand, given its wide surface area. The back panel has a patterned texture and shows a yellowish reflection in broad daylight. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner happens to be on the same button as the power button and is generally smooth and easy to use. Aesthetically, the phone is easily able to stand out in the crowd with its elegant design.

Display

The display is probably the best feature of this device. Infinix Note 12 G96 comes with a large 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display. It is great for watching videos, playing graphic-intensive games and surfing the internet. The 1080 x 2400px resolution helps produce quality images with bright and vibrant colours. The touch response of the display is quite fast as well. However, not having a high refresh rate is a bit of a letdown for the otherwise impressive display. 

Camera

The Note 12 G96 comes with a triple camera setup. The 50 MP primary camera is accompanied by a 2MP depth sensor and AI QVGA sensor. The main camera is capable of taking crisp images in broad daylight. However, some pictures feel oversaturated after processing and display exaggerated colours. The front camera has 16MP with the iconic Dual Flash Light, which is noteworthy. However, snaps taken in low light seem a bit hazy, despite switching off the default beautification option. The videography seemed rather average, especially while shooting videos on the go. The ultrawide sensor was missing from the device, something that's quite common in smartphones nowadays.

Battery

The device has a large 5000mAh battery and is accompanied by a 33W charger in the box. It usually charges from 10% to 100% within one and a half hours and has enough juice to last you throughout the day. Upon testing it first-hand, the device lasted more than a day and a half with moderate usage. 

Hardware

The Infinix Note 12 comes with a MediaTek Helio G96 processor with a 64-bit octa-core chipset, consisting of two Arm Cortex-A76 and six Arm Cortex-A55 processor cores. The device has 8GB of memory and has the option of extending it up to 13GB to ensure smooth scrolling on the device. With Android 12 out of the box and the native XOS 10.6 UI, the phone has a comfortable interface for users to find their desired apps easily, despite some pre-installed apps occupying the screen.

Performance

Infinix did a fairly good job in ensuring that the Note 12 G96 delivers fast performance for regular users. Multitasking on the device seems effortless, which is good news for anyone looking to get their hands on this smartphone. The budget speedster also does well in terms of gaming at high settings, with fast-paced titles like Asphalt 9: Legends running seamlessly without any notable issues.

All in all, the Note 12 G96 by Infinix is a decent phone with a large AMOLED display and eye-catching aesthetics that will add some sophistication to your lifestyle. At its price point, Infinix Note 12 G96 is a balanced phone which is worth considering under the 20k range.