Infinix ZERO 5G Review: Affordable 5G Gaming Smartphone

The Infinix ZERO 5G is the brand's first premium 5G smartphone. It boasts fast 5G performance, and seamless connectivity as well as a 120Hz display and a large battery with quick charge capability.

The new Infinix ZERO 5G smartphone was recently released in the Philippines and it was initially available on Shopee and was sold out within five minutes of its release. This makes it one of the most popular Infinix phones to date.

Infinix Zero 5G Specs:

Android 11, XOS 10
6.78-inch Full HD+ IPS display, 2460 x 1080 pixel resolution, 396ppi
120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, 500-nits peak brightness
2.4GHz MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G octa-core processor
Heat Pipe Thermal Module 2.0 & 3-D Cooling Master
Mali-G68 MC4 GPU
8GB LPDDR5 RAM, +3GB via virtual RAM expansion
128GB UFS 3.1 internal storage
Expandable via microSD up to 256GB
48MP + 13MP 2x telephoto + 2MP depth sensor rear cameras, dual-tone flash
16MP selfie camera
Dual SIM, Dual standby
4G LTE, 5G
WiFi 6
Bluetooth
FM radio
USB Type-C
5,000mAh battery, 33W fast charging
Colors: Skylight Orange, Horizon Blue, Cosmic Black
199g

Design
The Zero 5G has a unique design, particularly around the camera, with the back surface curling and sloping toward the cameras. Infinix was able to create a premium design despite the fact that the phone's body is composed of plastic.

It has a glossy rear surface, which Infinix has made it a fingerprint magnet. When used without a case, it appears quite greasy and dirty, so it is recommended that you invest in a nice protective case.

It sports a triple camera system with a camera budge that is strangely formed, making it wobble when placed on a flat surface. Infinix's uni-curve design looks great but on the other hand, it's not doing so well in terms of ergonomics.

The ZERO 5G is available in four distinct colorways: Cosmic Black, Skylight Orange, and Horizon Blue. Additionally, It's lightweight, weighing only 199 grams and measuring only 8.77mm in thickness, making it easy and comfortable to use.

The volume rocker and the power button are both located on the right side of the device. The volume buttons are a little squishy, and they provide only minimal tactile feedback, which is a bit disappointing.

While the power button, which also serves as a fingerprint reader, has a satisfying click when pressed, and the scanner is quick and accurate everytime its used. The buttons are situated in an accessible location that makes them easy to reach.

On the left side, it only houses the SIM card tray. It can accommodate two nano-SIM slots on one side and a microSD slot on the other. This is great since it allows you to use two telcos and boost the storage capacity up to 256GB.

Although the ZERO 5G is a well-designed affordable 5G smartphone, its glossy and smudge-prone rear design isn't our favorite feature. The buttons are easily accessible, and the three-slot SIM card tray is a nice feature.

Display
The Zero 5G is equipped with a 6.78-inch Full HD (1080 x 2460 pixels) display, which at that size equates to a very respectable 388 pixels per inch of screen density.

Additionally, it boasts a refresh rate of 120Hz, which is excellent for smooth scrolling and UI experience, and a touch sampling rate of 240Hz for quicker response. The screen features an 88.1% screen-to-body ratio, which makes the bezels noticeable on all sides, and a brightness level of 500 nits.

In addition, it supports the Dark theme, and you can select a refresh rate of 120Hz or 60Hz, or you can pick Auto-switch, which allows the system to select the optimal refresh rate for you based on the apps you use.

 The Zero 5G's screen's color reproduction is inconsistent based on our observation, it is the lack of color profile options or color adjustment available on the display settings. So it's forced to use the color profile that is provided. HRD is not supported either. So, it can only stream in SD resolution via Netflix and other services that use Google's Widevine L3 DRM. Still, the TFT display has decent viewing angles and a quick refresh rate.

Software and Performance
The Zero 5G runs on Android 11 with the Infinix XOS v10.0 skin which includes a lot of features and customization options. There is a quite of bloatware pre-installed. and the brand has integrated a number of its own apps as well as those from third parties, that most of them you won't be needing.

The majority of customization options are accessible in the settings menu, which includes custom fonts, themes, and the lock screen. There are several noteworthy features worth mentioning such as the Lightning Multi-Window, Smart Panel, Social Turbo, MOL, and Power Assistant. Simply navigate to the settings menu to discover what XOS has to offer.

Powering the Zero 5G is the MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G chipset clocked at up to 2.4GHz its paired with Mali-G68 MC4 GPU for graphics, 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and 128GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage. In terms of system responsiveness and performance, these details are important.

The Zero 5G has an advanced cooling system the "Heat Pipe Thermal Module 2.0 and 3-D Cooling Master". It's a thermal management system that helps keep the Zero 5G cool while it's being used intensively, such as during gaming.

On benchmark apps, below is how the Zero 5G performs:

AnTuTu - 485467
GeekBench 5 (single-core) - 789
GeekBench 5 (multi-core) - 2558
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen) - 67
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 - 2625
3DMark SSE ES 3.1 - 4195

Zero 5G's performance is excellent on a day-to-day routine, with no hitches or lags when switching between apps or browsing social media. Playing games such as Genshin Impact, Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat and Alto's Adventure was smooth and lag-free.

Cameras
The Infinix Zero 5G’s camera system is a triple-lens set-up, with a 48-megapixel wide sensor, 2-megapixel bokeh camera, and a 13-megapixel portrait camera and it also features a dual color temperature flash. While at the front there is a 16-megapixel shooter.

The camera's performance has its good points and bad points. Indoor portraits come out sharp and with good detail, however the edge detection is not perfect, but acceptable. Even the skin tones did not appear over-processed which looks good.

We find the selfie portraits to be a tad over-processed, even though they are sharp. Images taken indoors with low or irregular lighting are adequately detailed. While photos taken in natural light look better and sharper, we can't say the same for all of the photos since some came out not good enough for posting on social media. Photos taken in artificial light look grainy and soft.

The 48-megapixel camera has a zoom range of up to 30X, although expect that the quality of the images will degrade significantly when zoomed in to 2X or higher. We find this useful, particularly if we want to read anything that is a little further away; we can utilize the camera's zoom feature to observe it more clearly.

Battery Life
The Zero 5G is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W rapid charging. A full charge provides enough power for a full day of moderate to heavy use, and may even last two days with modest use. However, it does not hold up to heavy usage, particularly gaming for extended periods of time with 5G data enabled.

Charging the battery with the provided 33W wired charger takes approximately two hours; however, this is nothing special considering that other manufacturers such as realme, Xiaomi, and Poco also offer fast charging capabilities on their smartphones that can reach up to 65W.

Pros
Solid Build body
Good value performance
Dual-SIM support and True Dual 5G SIM
Fast charging

Cons
Glossy back, Fingerprint magnet
No stereo speaker
Display limited max brightness
Not the best UI

Final Thoughts
The Infinix Zero 5G provides a 5G connection as well as an excellent performance at a reasonable price. When it comes to everyday use, the 5G connectivity is a great feature, particularly if you need a fast internet connection while on the go. Performance is smooth and fast, and gaming is more immersive and enjoyable thanks to the high refresh and touch sampling rate.

The Infinix Zero 5G retails for only ₱11,990 and it's now available in all Infinix stores both online and offline.

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