Infinix Smart 4 Plus Review: An average smartphone with an above-average display and battery

Infinix also bundles a transparent hardcover in the box as opposed to the usual silicone case. The Infinix Smart 4 Plus features a charging port and a headphone jack on the bottom, a speaker grille on the top, and power and volume buttons on the side.

Display

The Infinix Smart 4 Plus sports a 6.82-inch HD+ LCD panel with a 90.5-percent screen-to-body ratio and a 20:9 aspect ratio. The screen on the Smart 4 Plus is much bigger than that of its predecessor. Consumers who use their phones to watch TV shows and movies will appreciate the large screen size. The screen is also brighter than most smartphones at this price.

If you are looking for a phone with a smaller screen, there are a lot of options at this price. However, offering a large display at this price gives users more flexibility and is significantly better for entertainment. Overall, the screen is definitely a noteworthy addition to the Smart 4 Plus.

Performance

The Infinix Smart 4 Plus is powered by the MediaTek Helio A25 SoC octa-core processor paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which can be expanded up to 256GB via microSD card. The Helio A25 is definitely not the best chipset at this price and is definitely not meant for heavy-duty gaming, although at this price, few phones are.

General multitasking between apps works fine, without any issues. You can also play most games on this phone, although you should be prepared for lower graphics and frame rates. You will also face issues with lag during long gaming sessions, on titles like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, and other such demanding games.

The Realme Narzo 10A or Realme C3, which use the MediaTek G70 SoC, should get you further in terms of raw performance. However, you will have to increase your budget by 1K for either of the two and will also lose out on the big screen.

Battery

The Infinix Smart 4 Plus has the biggest battery of any smartphone at this price. Its 6,000 mAh battery capacity is capable of delivering two full days of usage on a single charge. It is quite hard to fully drain the battery on the Smart 4 Plus; we charged the phone for the first time after five days.

Although, it is worth noting that our usage was way less than the average. The one downside of having this massive battery is charging time. Since the Smart 4 Plus doesn’t support USB-C power delivery, it takes much longer to charge, but this is the case with all smartphones in the sub-10K segment.

Software

The Infinix Smart 4 Plus runs Android 10 with the XOS 6.2 skin out of the box. The UI has tons of customisations and quite a few useful modes, including a Game Mode, a WhatsApp Mode, a Bike Mode, a One Hand Mode, and Split Screen Recording. You also get a Dark Theme and Digital Wellbeing.

Infinix also has a neat feature that arranges apps in alphabetical order, which makes it easier to locate a specific application. The two main drawbacks on the software side are the evident bloatware, most of which cannot be uninstalled and the notifications from that bloatware. We found them to be quite disruptive when engaging in tasks like watching videos or browsing the web.

Audio

Infinix’s audio enhancements that arrive in the form of DTS surround sound do make a difference when listening to music over headphones. The DTS apps feature some utile sound presets and an equaliser. Overall, audio quality is well above average for an entry-level smartphone.

Camera

The Infinix Smart 4 Plus features three cameras in total, including two on the back and one on the front. The rear camera setup comprises of a 13 MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and a depth sensor. On the front, the phone opts for an 8 MP selfie shooter. Both the main and front cameras can capture video in 1080p resolution at 30fps.

Photos taken on the phone’s rear camera in bright outdoor light are quite clear with a good amount of detail and less noise. However, the phone’s camera falls apart in low light; results don’t look particularly good, even when using the phone’s triple LED flash. Although we were not surprised by the camera’s poor lowlight performance, considering its price.

The same story continues with the 8 MP selfie camera, which does a good job when you have sufficient light but struggles to get anything usable in low light. The flash on the front helps when taking photos at night but isn’t up to the mark. Overall, there is not much to complain about here, even video taken on the phone accurately reproduce colours. We didn’t expect much at this price. However, results on the main camera in bright outdoor light were surprisingly good.

Verdict

There are several better smartphones available at this price point, especially if you prefer gaming or just good software. However, the Infinix Smart 4 Plus has two major advantages over other phones in this segment, on the battery and display fronts. If you prefer or are limited to watching movies, videos, and TV shows on your smartphone, you will really appreciate the display.

Additionally, the massive battery offers all the power needed to stream or watch hours of content on your phone. And then there is the audio quality, which is quite good for a phone at this price. This makes the Infinix Smart 4 Plus one of the best smartphones under Rs 8,000 for consuming entertainment.

While it is certainly not the best phone at this price, Infinix has found a niche in a, particularly important area. To address the question of 'should you buy the Infinix Smart 4 Plus"; we'd certainly say yes, especially if your smartphone is your primary source of entertainment.