Infinix ZERO X PRO Review – A budget phone with 5x optical zoom and 120Hz AMOLED display

I purchased Infinix ZERO X PRO.

Cheap but with the same periscope telephoto lens as the vivo X Fold

The Infinix ZERO X PRO is a smartphone powered by the MediaTek Helio G95.

Although it is in the low $270 range, it has the same periscope telephoto lens as the vivo X Fold, a high-end folding smartphone that costs over $1700, and offers 5x optical zoom and up to 60x zoom.

…No, well, it’s just that vivo’s periscope telephoto is weak though…

It is surprisingly sophisticated, with AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate and 45W fast charging.

This review is done on the X6811-H857AC-R-GL-220417V1383, 8GB+128GB version.

• AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate support
• Small touch latency despite MediaTek SoC
• 45W fast charging that can charge up to 40% in 15 minutes
• 3.5mm earphone jack available
• microSD card support
• VoLTE support
• Independent display chip (only works for a short time?)

• Mono speaker
• High photo saturation, weak on night scenes
• Some language options are missing

	Infinix ZERO X PRO X6811
OS	Android 11
RAM	8GB LPDDR4X
Storage	128GB UFS 2.2 microSD card supported
SoC	MediaTek Helio G95 MT6785V/CD
Display	6.67inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED
Size	164.06 x 75.69 x 7.8mm
Weight	196.3g
SIM	nano SIM + nano SIM
Rear Camera	108MP OIS (Samsung S5KHM2) + 8MP (Ultra-wide, GalaxyCore GC8034) + 8MP (Periscope telephoto, OmniVision OV08A10)
Front Camera	16MP (OmniVision OV16B10)
Battery	4500mAh
USB Port	USB Type-C (USB 2.0)
Bands	GSM: B2/3/5/8 WCDMA: B1/2/4/5/8 LTE:B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/20/28A/28B/38/40/41 TDD: B38/B40/B41

Infinix is one of the brands of Transsion (伝音控股).

Although it is a Chinese manufacturer, by making Africa and the Middle East, rather than China, its main battleground, it has gained significant market share while Xiaomi and OPPO have not been able to gain market share.

Included are a 45W fast charger, USB Type-A to C cable, and wired earphones.

AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate support

The Infinix ZERO X PRO has AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate support.

Although the protective film is applied from the beginning, it is a cheap type that easily gets fingerprints.

As expected, it was not made by Samsung and was not a diamond array.

The display is slightly bluish when placed alongside AMOLED made by Samsung, but it is beautiful enough when viewed alone.

Can be set to auto, 60Hz, or 120Hz refresh rate mode.

Always-on display is also supported.

Unfortunately, it was Widevine L3.

Touch latency is often higher on devices with MediaTek SoC, but the Infinix ZERO X PRO is excellent, with touch latency measured by the WALT Latency Timer at 5.4 ms from touch to kernel, 0.6 ms from kernel to Java, and 26.6 ms from screen drawing was 26.6ms, for a total of 32.6ms.

This is a level that even a $900 class high-end smartphone cannot easily exceed, and for a $270 price range, the tuning seems to have been done very well.

Equipped with in-screen fingerprint sensor

The Infinix ZERO X PRO has an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

Authentication takes 1-2 seconds.

Fingerprints remain but are less noticeable on the back

The back is smooth to the touch.

Fingerprints remain but are not very noticeable.

It weighs 196.3g.

Triple camera with 5x optical zoom

The Infinix ZERO X PRO has these triple camera:

1. 108MP OIS (Samsung S5KHM2)
2. 8MP (Ultra-wide, GalaxyCore GC8034)
3. 8MP (Periscope telephoto, OmniVision OV08A10)

The photos taken are stored here.

The saturation is high, especially the green is quite dark.

Red and magenta are also hard to distinguish.

I tried shooting at 1x, 5x, 20x, and 60x in that order.

At 20x, the image looks rough and noisy mixed with noise, but few smartphones in the $270 range can zoom this far.

I was able to capture the letters at 60x without crushing them, even at a distance of about 1.5m.

However, there seems to be no unsharpening or other processing, and the outlines are jagged.

The vivo X Fold has a rounded outline with the same sensor.

Night scenes are not very strong, and are prone to white-out and flare.

Mono speaker with earphone jack

At the bottom of the Infinix ZERO X PRO, there is a 3.5mm earphone jack.

Audio output latency measured with the WALT Latency Timer was 27.1 ms, MIDI input was 0.4 ms, and MIDI output was 0.8 ms.

There is nothing on top; it is a mono speaker.

The treble is rather strong, and the bass is a bit scaled back.

Dual SIM and microSD card compatible

The Infinix ZERO X PRO has a slot for two nano SIMs and one microSD card at the same time.

There are still very few mid-range models that allow dual-SIM and additional storage capacity at the same time, and the attitude of trying to meet local needs ahead of the major manufacturers is probably one of the success factors in expanding market share in Africa.

I confirmed that I can make VoLTE calls without any settings.

Power and volume buttons are located on the right side.

CPU clock is easy to increase

Unfortunately, Infinix ZERO X PRO has a “benchmark boost” that fixes the CPU clock to the upper limit only during benchmark applications.

Therefore, benchmark scores cannot be used for comparison.

However, even without the benchmark boost, it seems to have a tendency to raise the CPU clock quickly, and even with the version disguised as Genshin, it remained at the upper limit and the score did not change much.

The PCMark score is close to the Snapdragon 860 if you only look at the score, but it is meaningless because the score is with the CPU clock fixed at maximum.

In the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, the score was 1520, with a temperature increase from 30°C to 44°C (14°C increase) and 6 to 14 FPS.

UFS 2.2 storage is fast enough.

Running Genshin at the highest quality and 60 FPS setting and measuring with WeTest PerfDog, the average FPS was 23 FPS and the smoothness was 7.1.

Occasionally there were occasions when the FPS was up to the 40FPS range.

This may have been the only time the support from the independent display chip was effective.

The battery temperature rose to about 45.5°C.

Google apps are preinstalled

The Infinix ZERO X PRO runs XOS v10.0.0.

Since it is a global version, Google-based applications including the Play Store are preinstalled, and Gmail notifications are delivered quickly.

However, some languages have been removed, perhaps because the original sales area was Africa and the Middle East.

While there are no specific settings for frame interpolation, etc., despite the appeal of having an independent display chip, there is an option for “Short video optimization”.

It is said to reduce battery consumption by optimizing short videos, and perhaps this is the option that utilizes the display chip.

Security patches were surprisingly well applied, and as of May 2022, the April 5, 2022 patch had been applied.

While there are many devices with MediaTek SoC that are “six months behind in security patches at the time of release” and “almost no updates since then,” it is great that even budget smartphones are trying to keep up with the latest patches.

There is also a setting item for virtual memory, which has recently become popular, and you can choose from 2GB, 3GB, and 5GB.

In the sound settings, there is a DTS Sound item that allows for surround sound effects and bass boost.

The equalizer can also be enabled, but for some reason I could only turn it on and off and not adjust it myself.

There are various options for power saving in the battery settings, perhaps because it is intended for Africa, where the power situation is unstable.

There are also game modes, app clones, etc.

There is also “MOL,” which is a tap to translate.

Gesture controls are plentiful: double-tap to turn on the screen, control music when the screen is off, and hold the phone close to your ear to receive calls.

Note that gestures are disabled when power-saving mode is turned on, and will not be enabled again when power-saving mode is turned off…

Conclusion

• AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate support
• Small touch latency despite MediaTek SoC
• 45W fast charging that can charge up to 40% in 15 minutes
• 3.5mm earphone jack available
• microSD card support
• VoLTE support
• Independent display chip (only works for a short time?)

• Mono speaker
• High photo saturation, weak on night scenes
• Some language options are missing

The Infinix ZERO X PRO is a cheap $270, but with its AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, dual SIM and microSD card compatibility, 3.5mm earphone jack, and fine power-saving options.

The specs were also convincing that the company is expanding its market share in Africa.

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