Infinix is a brand that we haven't covered much in AC so I'll give a brief overview before reviewing. The brand is owned by Transsion Holdings, which also has smartphone makers Tecno and Itel as sister brands. The structure of Infinix is similar to that of BBK Electronics, where brands compete under the same umbrella in the same category.
While BBK is focusing on Asian markets and growing in Western markets, Transsion has shifted to Africa which holds a dominant position. The conglomerate is looking to the Asian market to grow its user base, whereas Infinix is more active in India. The GT 10 Pro is already available in the country and will be available in other markets in the region in the coming weeks.
As for the phone itself, this design is the starting point. Infinix threw all the constraints out of the way when it came to designing the GT 10 Pro, and it looks as good as a gaming phone - you'll even find LEDs in this device. The hardware ticks all the boxes and the 45W charging technology is among the best in the budget segment.
But like I said in the verdict, the phone isn't without its flaws, and most of them are software-based. So let's see what you get with the GT 10 Pro and whether or not you should pick up the phone.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: price and availability
Infinix launched the GT 10 Pro in India on August 3 and the phone is already on sale there. It comes in a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and sells for R $ 19,999 ($ 240). Infinix is giving the launch a boost by offering a gaming kit that includes a game launcher and carrying case. The first 5,000 customers are eligible to receive the kit.
There are plenty of extras in the standard package itself, including a screen protector, a nice silicone case, and a 45W charger with an orange USB-A to USB-C cable.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: Design
I've used a lot of gaming phones from ASUS, Nubia, and POCO, and the GT 10 Pro has mastered it. Infinix did a great job designing the piece, and while this phone has drawn as much criticism as the Nothing Phone (2) for its circular aesthetic, I think it's different enough that it shouldn't be a problem.
However, the GT 10 Pro comes in two color variants, Mirage Silver and CyberBlack, and I think the latter showcases its design better. The elevated cutout along with clean lines and orange accents give the phone plenty of character, and the camera island definitely adds to that. However, don't let the rings around the two camera bodies fool you. The phone only has one usable camera, the other two sensors are mostly for marketing purposes. But more on that later.
The exposed screws also add to the industrial look, and Infinix nailed it; Her style is decidedly bold, but not over the top or ugly. The only thing I'm not entirely sure about is the rear LEDs. While I initially thought the GT 10 Pro would use an LED array similar to that of the phones (2), that's not the case: the only LEDs that light up are the five white bars on the camera island.
In terms of the usability of this LED, it's more than that. The light works the same as the notification light of previous years, turning on for notifications, calls, and when the device is charging. There are a variety of patterns you can assign to these LEDs, and while they sound great in theory, they don't always come on, and it looks like this feature was rolling out at the last minute because it would look cool.
As for the rest of the design, the GT 10 Pro has a plastic body and a glossy finish on the sides detracts from the overall look of the device. The phone also has flat sides and I think with the matte finish it feels much better in the hand. As a result, the device is uncomfortable to hold and use due to its flat sides and glossy surface.
In this case, the GT 10 Pro has an in-screen fingerprint module, but it's under the screen. This makes the sensor difficult to use when you hold the phone, and that's not the only problem: it's slow to authenticate and has a lot of bugs. I love that there's an on-screen mod here, but it's far from the best I've found in this segment.
The plus point is IP53 protection against dust and water. Overall, there's no other device quite as bright as the GT 10 Pro if you need an inexpensive phone that grabs the attention.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: Display
Infinix outfitted the GT 10 Pro with a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate and 2400 x 1080 resolution. Now the screen isn't as bright as the Galaxy S23+ but it manages to deliver a decent display and I had no issues using it outdoors.
You have the usual options for adjusting color balance, changing fonts, setting blue light filters and more, and the always-on mode has plenty of customization options. When using the phone with the POCO X5 Pro, colors looked dull and lacked brightness, but switching to bright mode made a big difference.
The GT 10 Pro lets you manually set the refresh rate to 60, 90, or 120Hz, and there's an auto mode that dynamically adapts to what's on the screen. I set it to 120Hz and found no inconsistencies, and thanks to the hardware on offer, the phone feels light every day.
What's more, there's stereo sound here, but the secondary speakers are limited in the amount of sound they put out. However, you will get a stereo effect when playing movies and games.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: performance and battery
The GT 10 Pro is powered by MediaTek's latest 6nm design, the Dimensity 8050. The latest version of the 1300, Dimensity uses the same cores at the same frequency: you get one 3.0GHz Cortex-A78 core and three Cortex-A78 cores. 2.8 GHz cores and four 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 efficiency cores. There's a Mali-G77 with nine shader cores to handle the gaming side of things, and from a hardware perspective, it's the best overall package you'll find for under £20,000 ($240).
This shows in everyday use; GT 10 Pro feels great and has no lag or lag. However, a minor stutter that I noticed during testing was due to the software not being fully optimized for the hardware, which was easily fixed via an OTA update. Infinix did not introduce a dedicated storage variant and offered the GT 10 Pro in a single 8GB/256GB configuration. This version offers excellent value for money and the brand can't be faulted.
What's particularly pleasing is how fast the GT 10 Pro is compared to its closest competitors. It easily rivals the POCO X5 Pro, which performed 10-15% better in most synthetic tests, and compares favorably with more expensive devices like the Nord 2T and Nord 3. Given their size, that's no surprise. The Nord 1300 2T is basically the same as what you get here, but interestingly, single-core and multi-core workloads are comparable to the Dimensity 9000 Nord 3.
Either way, you're getting an impressive hardware package here, and the GT 10 Pro manages to impress in real-world use. Games ran fine and I was able to run demanding titles at their highest settings, but the only problem is that the device tends to reach its thermal limits early on. Now you still get playable frame rates with minimal stutter, but since the GT 10 Pro has the hallmarks of a gaming phone, I'd like to see more thermal headroom.
With that in mind, the only issue I had with the hardware was the game being locked to 60 fps. Now the hardware is easily capable of delivering games at 120 frames per second in the titles on offer, but like many Chinese brands, Infinix is too conservative in this area, leaving you unable to play long games. 60fps.
In terms of battery life, the GT 10 Pro ticks all the boxes. It has a 5000mAh battery that easily lasts a day and 45W of charging power. The resulting 45W charger is attractive as it comes with a slanted orange cable and since the phone supports the USB Adopts PD 3.0 standard, you can use the charger with any other. accessories. It took more than 65 minutes to fully charge the device and more than 20 minutes to reach the 50 percent mark, which is more than enough for most usage scenarios.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: the camera
Infinix opted for a 108MP camera on the back of the GT 10 Pro, but later opted for two 2MP modules. The 2MP portrait and macro lenses don't do much to set the device apart, and like other brands that have followed similar paths in the past, this is purely a marketing move.
The camera interface itself is almost the same as other phones, wrapped in a ribbon at the bottom and can be switched to HDR, AI scene recognition, flash, beauty mode, and full 108MP resolution capture. There's also Google Lens integration, and while there's no zoom lens, the 108MP module has 2x digital zoom. Not much to say on the video side, although the GT 10 Pro is limited to 4K at 30fps, though MediaTek's hardware can easily handle 4K at 60fps.
Like most other phones in this segment, the GT 10 Pro takes great pictures in daylight, delivers lots of detail and vibrant colors. It also performs fairly well in low light, but detail is lost and there is visible noise. Night mode handles glare better and retains colors, but it's still not as effective as other devices in this category.
There's shutter lag too, and while some of the videos I took with the device turned out great, it could use better stabilization. Overall, the GT 10 Pro's camera is pretty average, and while you get some decent photos to share on social media, that's about it.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: Software
The GT 10 Pro runs Infinix's custom XOS 13 skin, which is based on Android 13. What's immediately noticeable is that the XOS 13 is highly customized and its visual design is similar to previous versions of ColorOS - mainly using green accents. The interface is probably to blame. Like the design of the phone itself, the user interface is a bit over the top, and while some brands do well at removing the thick skin (ASUS does a good job in this area), the XOS lacks shine.
Most are basic: there are translation errors in the text, UI elements lack cohesion, and animations look dated. The UI uses a separate notification system, similar to the MIUI Control Center, and there's no way to switch to the unified notification panel. Thankfully, swiping from the bottom two-thirds of the home screen brings up the notification panel instead of buttons.
There's no shortage of customization options, and while I like the amount of features Infinix has built in here, it should do a better job of categorizing them.
Having not used Infinix phones much, I can't say whether this is an improvement over the previous version or not. What I do know is that the aggressively designed square icons stand out, the lack of a unified notification panel is distracting, and the lack of Material You influence makes the design look dated.
Most phones use Google Dialer, Android Messages and Gboard by default, but this is not the case. Infinix offers its own options, and you'll need to download the Google alternative from the Play Store.
Finally, using . , and I still don't see it on XOS. Infinix needs more work to perfect and modernize the user interface.
However, software updates, or lack thereof, are the biggest problem with the GT 10 Pro. While most brands offer at least two platform updates and three years of security updates, Infinix only guarantees one Android OS update and two years of security updates. That's not enough for a phone in 2023, and this is where the brand really needs to get better.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: the competition
There's no shortage of budget phones with great value for money in this category, and right now the closest alternative to the GT 10 Pro is the POCO X5 Pro. POCO also offers a 120Hz AMOLED panel and the Snapdragon 778G platform holds up well in 2023.
You get a better 108MP camera, faster 67W charging technology, much better software and more updates. However, the X5 Pro falls short in performance and if that is a factor then you should definitely buy the GT 10 Pro. But when you need it all, the X5 Pro has a lot to offer.
Even if you value decent hardware and a high-quality AMOLED screen, the Narzo 60 from Realme is a good choice. The device's panel is limited to 90Hz and the Dimensity 6020 isn't as powerful, but you do get a better camera and cleaner software.
Infinix GT 10 Pro: should you buy it?
You should buy this if:
You need the cheapest hardware plan
You want an eye-catching design
You will need a 3.5mm jack and a MicroSD slot
You want all-day battery life and fast charging
You should not buy this if:
Overall, Infinix has done a great job in terms of hardware on the GT 10 Pro. Design is the main selling point of this device and although the LED on the back is unsightly, it still catches everyone's attention, which is what this device is all about.
The Dimensity 8050 is amazing and allows the GT 10 Pro to outperform all other devices in this segment. Sure, gaming at 120fps isn't possible, but it doesn't pose many limitations, and for what it's worth, the phone handles visually demanding titles without too many problems. You also get more than a day of battery life, and Infinix includes all the accessories you need with the device.
Sure, the cameras seem like an afterthought, and the AMOLED panels don't offer the same colors as Xiaomi's budget phones, but that's forgivable considering the GT 10 Pro is touted as a gaming phone. Problems with the device revolved around the software. As it stands, the XOS 13 doesn't feel on par with MIUI 14 or ColorOS 13; There are too many inconsistencies with the software and the design is ugly.
The biggest problem, however, is that the GT 10 Pro will only receive one software update. Again, it harkens back to the dark days of cheap Android devices that lacked more than one platform upgrade, and the GT 10 Pro recommends a lot of hardware.
In the end, the choice is yours. If you want the best hardware package and don't mind opening up the customization options or the fact that the device only gets Android OS updates, the GT 10 Pro is the best value phone for you. However, if you are looking for a device that works well overall, consider the POCO X5 Pro.
Infinix GT10 Pro
If you don't mind software limitations and want the best hardware package within your budget, you'll love what the GT 10 Pro has to offer.
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