Infinix Hot 5 lite review

OK,for those of us living under rocks,the Infinix Hot 5 lite has been released to Nigeria. I got my hands on one,and I'll be reviewing it here.
The Infinix Hot 5 is the successor to the Infinix Hot 4. So,since there's a Hot 4 lite,this one should probably be the successor. But,a defining feature of all Hot X 'lite' smartphones is the obvious lack of a fingerprint sensor,or any form of biometric security technology. This leaves a big hole in its security,as well as in  it's price. For those of us wondering where we can get a fingerprint sensor for the same price as this,the Hot 4 is not too bad,and can be updated to Nougat. It's still basically the same specs,but with a fingerprint sensor.
So,that takes care of that.
We shouldn't go any further without delving into the specs,should we?

INFINIX HOT 5 LITE SPECIFICATIONS SHEET
Display-5.5" IPS LCD with a resolution of 720 pixels horizontally by 1280 pixels vertically(I.e 720*1280) with a pixel density of approximately 264 pixels per screen inch
Processor- Mediatek™ MT6580 clocked at 1.3Ghz with 4 Cortex A53 cores based on 28nm process
Cameras-8MP rear camera with Autofocus(PDAF) ,single LED flash and some beautification features,capable of outputting 1080p video.
5MP front facing fixed focus camera,with LED flash and beautification features
Battery-4000mAh high density battery,based on Li-Ion technology (non removable)
RAM Size-1GB LPDDR3
ROM size-16GB (OS takes 5.34 GB on first boot)
Operating System and Custom ROM-Android 7.0 Nougat with XOS 2.3 layered into it
Here comes the review:


DESIGN

The HOT 5 lite picks some key features from the HOT 4,such as the 3D textured removable rear cover and screen size,while adding dual stereo front facing speakers and 3D sound surround. The phone looks hood all around ,and it feels really slim,though quite heavy. I guess the heft is due to the 4000mAh battery,which lasts ALL day with heavy use.(as in 24 hours all day)
The volume and power buttons are on the right side

The left side is completely bare

The 8MP AF camera and flash sit next to each other in the top left corner, and a 3D textured rear cover covers up the battery

The bottom houses the USB port(not Type C please)

The top is completely bare,save for the audio jack

This design is quite commendable,and for the price is highly acceptable. Oh,and did I mention dual stereo 3D sound front facing speakers? Well,it does

                     
For this aspect,I'd give it 8.5

DISPLAY

The display is a 5.5 inch unit maxed out at 720p,and let me just say I was surprised at it's performance.
The screen is bright and legible in direct sunlight,without the need to cranlthe brightness all the way up to 100%. This is an amazing feat for a 720p screen,but it also means that the screen doesn't get very dim at night. So,to avoid cancer of the eyes,don't use this phone in a completely dark room,even with a blue light filter.
Now,to the bad things I noticed about the display:
It only completes 65% of the NTSC spectrum,which is poor compared to the Note 4's 85%(they're almost the same price). For techies who understand,that's bad news. It means colors would look really far from the original,and this phone is not suitable for pro photographers. For a phone that's even cheaper and completes 81% of the same spectrum,choose the HOT S.



SPEAKER QUALITY

Okay, this is the WOW factor of this phone. The sound is REALLY loud,and it doesn't get distorted at higher volumes
And when you hold the phone,you can literally feel the sound. This is known as 3D sound,and is developed by Dirac™.  Just needed to chip that in.


BATTERY LIFE
The phone comes with a 4000mAh battery that should be sufficient for light and heavy users alike. It easily lasts all day,and even a little of the next if I wasn't harsh on it. Strong point for the phone.



CAMERAS

I was very pissed when I heard it would come with an 8MP sensor like the HOT 4,and even more pissed when I saw it in person. Would Infinix ever change this on the HOT series? Well let them decide.
In summary,before I even start lashing this camera,don't buy it because you want go take tons of pictures. You'd be disappointed. Now that that's outta the way,let's see some pics.
(To be fair,I used the Hot S as a benchmark camera.)

The front facing camera is a big disappointment to me,and also to Infinix. The rear camera performs alright when the light is alright. Take away the light,ams forget the quality.




SOFTWARE
Probably the longest part of this review. The phone ships with Android™7.0 Nougat ,but Infinix slapped their custom skin,'XOS' on it. This iteration is 2.3. It comes with all the perks of having Android 7.0,such as split screen multi tasking (that only works with supported apps):

There is also the multiple option that comes when you slide towards the right on notifications

Nougat also puts less strain on the RAM and offers a nice experience altogether. 

XOS is nice too,but as far as icons go,it's not my type. The experience is similar to other recently launched Infinix phones,so if you've used any of them,the experience would be the same,and you'll feel right at home. If you've never used XOS,you'll find its easy to learn,and great when you learn it.

WRAP UP

I definitely had high expectations for this phone,but just like the Note 4,it has managed to let me down. I have now come to learn that with Infinix,its 'once bitten,twice shy'. But,given that this is the lite version,and is expected to be 'liter' than the real version,with the HOT 5 in its way to Nigeria,I believe it would be a much netter buy. 

For those who can't wait(won't wait is more like it) and want to show off the HOT that says 5,get this phone,and it won't let you down(except in performance). But,if you CAN wait,it's best you do.

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