Infinix HOT S3 first impressions: Another Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 rival

Infinix entered the Indian smartphone market late last year. The company already has launched a slew of budget Android smartphones. The latest from Infinix is HOT S3, another budget Android smartphone.

The base variant of Infinix HOT S3 retails at ₹8,999 whereas the top-end model is priced at ₹10,999. The smartphone competes with a range of Android smartphones, especially from top-selling Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 5A phones.

Does the new Infinix smartphone outshine the rivals? Let's find it out in our first impressions.

Design

Infinix Hot S3 looks very similar to several Android smartphones in the budget category but comes with subtle unique changes. For instance, it has a flat slab-like look and feel but with gently curved corners, making it comfortable in palms.

It has a flat back panel with no antenna lines on the top and bottom, making the back panel pretty neat. The panel, however, is a polycarbonate one, but doesn't feel cheap at all. The back houses the fingerprint scanner and a vertical camera setup on the left top corner.

Infinix Hot S3 features a 'Full View' display which is a delight to see on a budget device. The top and bottom bezels of the front panel are however quite thick.

Display & UI

The advantage of Full View displays is the ability to navigate comfortably despite the large screen size. During my brief usage of the device, I found myself navigating quite smoothly with my tiny fingers. The HD+ display is also quite bright, and the touch response was good as well.

In terms of UI, Infinix HOT S3 runs on its custom XOS Hummingbird based on Android 8.0 Oreo. The layout is pretty simple with no complicated features noticed as yet. Like Android Oreo, you drag the screen from below to pull up the complete list of apps.

Some in-built XOS apps include XClub, XShare, and XTheme. There are more pre-installed apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Flipkart. There were no lags as such during my brief usage of the device.

Camera

Infinix HOT S3 features a 20-megapixel front camera. We tried capturing a few selfies in bright light conditions and the results were pretty impressive. The 'Beautify' mode does help a lot in enhancing your selfies without making them look artificial.

The rear 13-megapixel rear camera also produced decent images in the present conditions. One noticeable problem would be how the lack of lighting affected the pictures.

However, the 'Beautify' mode on the rear camera can help with the photos. We'll have to test the camera in different conditions to see its maximum potential.

Summing up

Our first impressions on Infinix HOT S3 are good enough so far. Our in-depth review of the phone will give us better instances to judge on, and also a clearer idea on how it fares among the budget dominant smartphones.

At this price point, we would be pitting Infinix HOT S3 against Xiaomi's Redmi Note 4 and the recently launched Honor 9 Lite.