Infinix Hot 30 Play (X6835B) Price, Review And Specifications.

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Infinix Hot 30 Play (x6835b) Quick Specs:

6.82" HD+ (1640×720) IPS-LCD 90hz Infinity-O Display.

263ppi, 20.5:9 Aspect Ratio.

Android 13 OS, XOS 12.6.

Helio G37 Chipset.

8GB of RAM (Up to 16GB through Virtual RAM).

128GB Internal Storage.

Dual-lens (16MP+AI) Rear Camera.

Single-lens (8MP) Front Camera.

Face Unlock.

Fingerprint reader (Side-mounted).

USB Type-C Port:

4G (LTE) Network.

6,000mAh Battery (18W Charging).

Starting Price:

₦122,999, GH₵ 1,549.00, KSh 16,399, UGX 700,000.

As a result of its premium and high profile looks, Infinix Hot 30 Play (X6835B) could easily pass for a more expensive or mid-range phone. The high profile looks is also complemented with a big and nice looking Infinity-O display. Also, despite that it's an entry-level Android phone, Hot 30 Play is equipped with an higher RAM of 8GB and a huge 6,000mAh battery. The phone is also pre-installed with the latest Android 13 OS.

However, those are the main strong features of the Hot 30 Play, especially when you compare it to others at this price point. As the rest of the phone's features such as CPU, internal storage space and fast charging speed, can be easily found on other competing phones.

By the way, Infinix Hot 30 Play is the successor to the Infinix Hot 20 Play (X6825). And it's also the more affordable variant of the Infinix Hot 30 (X6831). In addition to the Infinix Hot 30 and Infinix Hot 30 Play, there is also the most affordable or least expensive Infinix Hot 30i (X669).

All the three variants of the Hot 30, i.e., the standard Infinix Hot 30, Infinix Hot 30 Play and Infinix Hot 30i, wear similar premium looks. Yet, each of them has one (or two) distinct attribute; that helps in differentiating it from the rest.

Basically, and compared to the other two, the least expensive Hot 30i comes in a slightly smaller size. The screen of the phone also has a tear-drop notch, while those of the other two feature Infinity-O or camera cut-outs. Yet, all the three displays support high screen refresh rate.

Infinix Hot 30i is also equipped with a less powerful CPU, lower RAM, and lower megapixel rear camera, compared to its two siblings. On the other hand, Infinix Hot 30 Play is fitted with a bigger battery and a slightly bigger display than the standard variant Hot 30. But the display of the standard variant Hot 30 has an higher (1080p) resolution and it also looks slightly more attractive. Infinix Hot 30 is also equipped with a more powerful CPU, higher megapixel rear sensor and a faster charging speed than the Hot 30 Play. Nonetheless, the rest of the Hot 30 features, including front camera, RAM and storage capacity, remain as those of the Hot 30 Play.

Meanwhile, Infinix Hot 30 Play retain the screen size, form factor and dimension of the previous Infinix Hot 20 Play, but the earlier phone curved edges and curved back cover have been replaced with flat edges and flat back cover. The latest phone also lack rear camera bump and rear-mounted fingerprint reader. 

It is those cosmetic changes that make Hot 30 Play to look more attractive, classier, and flatter than its predecessor. And despite that many recent entry-level and budget Android phones also wear this sleeker looks, most of them don't have pointy edges and trimmed shape of the Hot 30 Play.

 

Besides having the same 6.82-inch screen size and the same 720p resolution as the one on the earlier model, the Infinity-O display of the Hot 30 Play also supports 90hz refresh rate. And the screen also maintain the clarity and decent brightness of the earlier one. Yet, the latest phone's screen looks more vibrant and has slightly better colours than the one of the earlier model. And compared to others at this price point, very few of them offer this type of big and nice-looking Infinity-O display.

On the camera set-up, Infinix Hot 30 Play has a 16-megapixel dual rear camera; a slight upgrade from the 13-megapixel dual rear camera on its predecessor, but the latest phone still features a regular 8-megapixel front-facing camera like the earlier model and many others in this category.

Photos from the rear camera of the Hot 30 Play are clear, sharp and have nice colour representation. But a few others in this segment, especially those that feature higher megapixel rear sensors, were able to take a more detailed shots than the Hot 30 Play. But this is expected, considering the fact that the phone's rear camera is fitted a 16-megapixel sensor.

Also, despite that the selfies from the front-facing camera of the Hot 30 Play are not among the best looking in this segment, yet they're okay. The selfies are clear, sharp and moderately detailed. Colour representation and skin tone also look okay.

Under the hood, Infinix Hot 30 Play is powered by the Helio G37 CPU; the same processor that's inside Hot 20 Play. A few other recent entry-level phones also feature this MediaTek CPU. However, unlike many of them, Infinix Hot 30 Play is pre-installed with the latest Android 13 OS, with the recent version of the Infinix XOS custom UI on top. Also, as i mentioned earlier, in addition to its display, another thing that gives Hot 30 Play an edge over most of its competitions is its 8GB of RAM. In other words, very few phones at this price point, offer such amount of RAM.

Performance-wise, Infinix Hot 30 Play didn't have any issue running Android 13 OS smoothly. The phone handles internet browsing and other regular tasks without struggling. And to ensure continuous lag-free performance, Infinix Hot 30 Play also features RAM Virtualization or MemFusion, like its predecessor. This feature enables you to boost the performance of this phone by converting certain amount out of the phone's inbuilt storage to Virtual RAM.

The 8GB of RAM of the Hot 30 Play is also paired with 128GB internal storage space. Though this is twice the 64GB internal  storage of the Hot 20 Play, but many other recently level phones also offer 128GB internal storage like the Hot 30 Play.

In addition to its premium looks, pretty display, and higher RAM, another strong feature of the Hot 30 Play is its huge 6,000mAh battery (which also came with the earlier model). The bigger battery gives you sufficient power to enjoy your HD movies and gaming on the pretty 90hz display of the Hot 30 Play, for a long period of time.

Infinix Hot 30 Play also supports 18W quick charging and has USB Type-C port. And like many others, this phone also has a singles bottom firing speaker and a side-mounted fingerprint reader. But, unlike many of them, Infinix Hot 30 Play features NFC.

Price And Design Colour:

The current price of the Infinix Hot 30 Play is about 122,999. And it's available in three different colours of Mirage Black, Blade White and Bora Purple.

Verdict:

Except for its not-so-impressive rear camera, Infinix hot 30 Play tick all the boxes, for a phone at this price point. It features a great design, a nice-looking big display, higher RAM, high storage capacity, latest Android OS and decent CPU. Not to forget the phone's huge battery, fast charging, and NFC support. Even, inspite of its low-megapixel sensor, the rear camera still manage to deliver a nice looking shots.

 

Other Contenders:

Except for its slightly smaller display, less battery capacity and higher megapixel rear sensor, Tecno Spark 10 (ki5q) shares all its other features with the Infinix Hot 30 Play. Xiaomi Redmi 12C and Samsung Galaxy A04S are another two contenders in this segment.

But compared to the Spark 10 and Hot 30 Play, both Redmi and Samsung phones come with lower RAMs and they're running on the Android 12 OS. Though neither Spark 10 nor Hot 30 Play has better build quality of the Redmi 12C and Galaxy A04s, especially Galaxy A04s, yet, both the Tecno and Infinix phone wear a more sleeker and premium looks.

Also, out of all the four phones, it's only the Hot 30 Play that features a lower megapixel rear camera, the rest of them feature 50-megapixel rear cameras. As a result, they were able to take a more detailed shots than the Hot 30 Play.

And despite that all of them offer similar nice-looking displays, those of the Infinix and Redmi phones are bigger. Also, Redmi 12C is the only one among them that's equipped with a more better processor.

DESIGN: Classy And Premium Look:

Though Infinix Hot 30 Play wear the sleek design (flat back and flat edges) that's common among many recent phones, but it looks more premium than most of them. And as i also mentioned earlier, the edges of the phone's are also more pointy and flatter. The bezels around the screen are also more thinner.

Like many others with a similar looks, Infinix Hot 30 Play neither has rear camera bump nor fingerprint reader, what you have is a pair of circular camera module and an LED Flash. The phone is also adorned with an attractive stripes that run diagonally across its back cover. Infinix Hot 30 Play also has a semi-glossy fine. In short, If not for its plastic chassis and not-so-sturdy build quality, the phone could easily pass for a more expensive or mid-range phone.

Also, due to its bigger battery, Infinix Hot 30 Play is a little on the heavy side, about 205g, still, the phone has less thickness of 8.6mm.

Meanwhile, the positions (and arrangements) of ports and buttons on the Infinix Hot 30 Play are similar to those of an average Android phone. You have the volume keys and power button (which also doubles as a fingerprint reader) on the phone's right edge, while its Dual Nano SIM card+microSD card slot is located on the left edge. On the bottom edge of the phone is USB Type-C port, microphone, 3.5mm audio jack and a single speaker. There's nothing on the top edge of the Infinix Hot 30 Play.

Decent Camera;

The dual-rear camera of the Infinix Hot 30 Play is made up of a 16-megapixel main sensor and a AI or QVGA sensor (Which assists the main sensor in delivering clearer shots). 

Photos from the rear camera are clear and sharp. Colours also look vivid and moderately saturated. And despite that the shots also have nice contrast; which make them to look vivid, still, to get a consistent bright photos from this camera, you need good lighting conditions.

Also, as expected of a typical 16-megapixel rear camera, photos are just moderately detailed. This weakness becomes glaring when you zoom-in (which can go up to 8X) on the subject. Still, as i said earlier, the level of details is really okay. Though i don't think there's need for Zoom-In to go up to 8X, considering the level of details the rear sensor can handle.

On the other hand, selfies from the 8-megapixel front camera of the Hot 30 Play are clear, bright and moderately sharp. Colour representation and skin tone are also passable.

For an average entry-level phone, photos from the front and rear cameras of the Infinix Hot 30 Play look quite okay. Nonetheless, if camera is your priority, or you're looking for a phone that's capable of taken slightly more detailed photos, especially at this price point, Tecno Spark 10 and Xiaomi Redmi 12C are okay. And if you still want a phone that's capable of delivering a more detailed and better looking shots, then check out Samsung Galaxy A04s.

By the way, both the front and rear cameras of the Infinix Hot 30 Play can shoot videos up to 1080p at 30fps (frame per second). 

A Big And Nice Looking Infinity-O Display:

The 6.82-inch IPS-LCD display of the Hot 30 Play features the same 720p resolution of 1640-by-720 pixels as the one on the earlier Hot 20 Play. In other words, the latest screen also has the same 263ppi pixel density (or sharpness) as the previous one. The latest screen also features 90hz refresh rate (for smoother gaming, page scrolling and swiping).

Furthermore, the latest screen also maintain the 500nit peak brightness of the earlier one; which makes Infinix Hot 30 Play to be usable under direct sunlight.

Yet, despite sharing all those attributes with the earlier one, the screen on the latest phone still looks more vibrant. And colours also appear a little more saturated.

Decent Performance:

Despite that Infinix Hot 30 Play is also fitted with Helio G37 CPU like its predecessor and a few other recent entry-level phone, unlike many of them, however, the phone offers higher RAM of 8GB. Hot 30 Play is also pre-installed with the latest Android 13 OS and the recent Infinix X0S 12.6.

Though, the MediaTek Helio G37 CPU (that powered Infinix Hot 30 Play) is a 12nm octa-core entry-level processor, but it's not just a regular entry-level CPU, it's an entry-level gaming chipset. So it has enough power to handle more than usual tasks such as internet browsing and video streaming. In other words, the phone was able to handle some popular graphics demanding games without any major issue. But such games are played at Medium or Low-Graphics setting and Medium Frame Rate.

The higher RAM also help the phone to multi-task quickly and jump in-between multiples apps without delay.

Yet, the performance can still be boosted through MemFusion; which i mentioned earlier. This feature enables you to convert, up to 8GB, out of the phone's inbuilt storage space to Virtual RAM. Thereby, increasing the default 8GB of RAM of the Hot 30 Play, up to 16GB. Also the 128GB inbuilt storage of the Hot 30 Play can also be expanded, via microSD card, up to 1TB (One Terabyte). 

Generally, except you're into serious gaming, especially graphics demanding ones, the performance of the Hot 30 Play is quite okay. But if you still desire better performance, Redmi 12C is fitted with a better chipset.

Big battery, 18W Fast Charging:

At this price point, very few offer the remarkable features of the Infinix Hot 30 Play and still have the 6,000mAh battery of the phone. Though Infinix Hot 30 Play features an 18W fast charging (and an out-of-the-box 18W charger), but as a result of its big battery, it took the phone almost three hours to fully charge the battery from zero percent.

Full Specifications Of Infinix Hot 30 Play (x6835b):

GENERAL

Maker: Infinix Mobility.

Name: Hot 30 Play (x6835b).

Year Announced: May, 2023.

Dimensions: 170.6x77.5x8.6mm

Weight: 205g.   

Colour: Blade White, Bora Purple & Mirage Black.

DISPLAY
Screen Type: IPS-LCD capacitive Touchscreen.

Size and Resolution: 6.82-inch, HD+, 1640-by-720 pixels, 90Hz (high) Refresh Rate.

Aspect ratio & Pixel Densities: 20.5:9, 263PPI.

Protection N/a.

PORTS:

3.5mm Audio Jack: Yes.

USB Type-C Port: Yes.

MicroUSB port: No.

Lightning Connector: No.

Google Assistant Button: No.

PERFORMANCE

Chipset: MediaTek Helio G37 Octa-core Processor, 2.3GHz.

GPU: PowerVR-GE8322.

RAM: 8GB (can be increased, up to 16GB).

Operating System: Android 13, XOS 12.6.

STORAGE

Internal Storage: 128GB.

Micro-SD card slot: Yes, up to 1TB.

SIM AND NETWORK

SIM: Nano, Dual SIM slots.

Network:  GSM, WCDMA, HSPA+, LTE.

CAMERA

Rear camera: Dual-lens; 16MP (Main) +AI, With Dual-Flash.

Front camera: Single-lens, 8MP+ Dual Front Flash.

VIDEO RECORDING:

Rear Cameras: 720p, 1080p @ 30 fps.

Front Camera: 720p, 1080p @ 30 fps.

CONNECTIVITY:

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, HotSpots, USB-OTG, NFC.

BIOMETRIC, SENSORS & LOCATION: 

Security: Face Unlock, Side-mounted Fingerprint Reader.

Sensors: Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, G-sensor, Accelerometer And

Barometer sensor

Others: GPS, Location (Geo, Glonass), Radio.

BATTERY

Battery Capacity: 6,000mAh.

Qi Wireless-Charging: N/a.

Fast Charging: 18W.

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