Infinix NOTE 2 X600 Review


Infinix Note 2 is the latest offering from Infinix Mobility here in Pakistan. And just like their other phones, they partnered up with Daraz.pk to sell all of the Note 2 variants in the country. We have been a fan of the Infinix Hot Note ever since it was released last year, mainly because of the huge battery and other features that were being offered in the competitive pricing. Similarly, the Note 2 builds up over that and has brought an improved set of features.

Infinix Note 2 is available for just Rs. 16,900 — this is for the 2GB RAM and 16GB storage variant with LTE support. This phone comes with an even bigger display screen, a much improved camera and a slightly better battery life. And features XIUI, the Android 5.1 Lollipop powered skin.

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We spent a few days using this Android phone and you can find our thoughts about it below.

Technical Specifications

  • Display: 5.9-inch IPS display (720×1280 pixels)
  • Processor: 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 Octa-core CPU
  • Camera: 13 megapixels rear camera, 2 megapixels front, autofocus
  • Video: 720p HD video recording
  • Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage + ROM, supports microSD card up to 32GB
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth, WiFi, microUSB
  • Other: 3.5 mm jack, accelerometer, Xender, Xcontacts, Xclub, WPS Office and much more.
  • Battery: 48 hours (2 days) battery time with normal usage, 3-4 days on low usage, 4040mAh Li-Ion polymer battery
  • OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop – XUI

Considering the price of the phone, these are some amazing technical specs offered. And most importantly, it comes with all the Google apps and Google Play services such as Google Play Store, Google Calendar etc. that makes it no less than other Android phones out there.

Design and Hardware

Infinix Note 2 is big but still feels great when you hold the phone in your hand. It is not easy to use the phone with one hand, this is why the software has been optimized with features like the one-handed operation. Even with such a big battery at the back, it still weights less and does not feel heavy when in pocket. Small refinements have been made in every aspect after the Hot Note phone and have turned it into a true phablet.

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This phone comes with a 5.9-inch IPS display screen at 720×1280 pixels resolution — same as its predecessor. It’s an average IPS display screen, but it’s Clear Motion technology and video optimization make colours look great. There is still some room for improvement in the display to be easily viewable in direct sunlight, but the auto-brightness sensor kicks in quickly to make the display easily readable. Screen gets easily smudgy with fingerprints, thanks to the glossy screen but even though the back is all plastic, brushed textures look great and give the phone a great overall look and feel.

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Just above the display screen, you can find the earpiece and various other sensors. The low price point of this phone did not stop Infinix from putting in proximity or ambient light sensors. There is nothing below the screen. And we love the fact that Infinix went with on-screen navigation keys instead of capacitive buttons like in the Hot Note phone without any backlight.

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The right side of the phone has the volume controls and the power/sleep button. The power button is slightly textured, so it’s easy to differentiate between the buttons. However, I found the buttons way too hard to press. By hard, we mean it requires some pressure to press it unlike other phones (or even the Hot Note) that have soft buttons on them.

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At the top of the phone, you can find the 3.5mm earphones jack and at the bottom, there is the microUSB slot for connecting your phone to the PC or for charging.

Battery is non-removable, but you can still take off the back cover as it contains the SIM and microSD slots.

Overall internal hardware of this phone is powerful enough to play graphically intensive games. Plus playing music, browsing the web and with Facebook/Twitter/WhatsApp running in the background — all at once — has no issues or no slow downs with the device. This shows how far Infinix went to make sure the software modifications over Android are well optimized for the hardware they are offering.

Camera

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Infinix Note 2 features a 13 megapixels rear camera which allows you to take amazing pictures. THis would be the very first smartphne at this price that comes with a 13 megapixels camera and is capable of taking great shots. We have attached a few sample pictures below for you to check out. A number of software camera features are also part of the XUI. Note 2’s rear camera adopts PDAF phase-focusing technology which allows the phone to take only 0.25s to focus automatically without touching the screen — making it 100% faster than the Hot Note.

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2 megapixels front-camera is great enough for your selfies to share them with your friends and family over social networks. And trust us, this is probably the best front camera so far on a budget-friendly Android phone (hint: Lenovo Vibe P1m). Note 2 features the FHD BSI hi-def front camera.

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It has 1.6μm large-pixel area and 70% increased light intake with a 16:9 photosensitive chip matching screen ratio for flawless photography.

Connectivity, Memory and Battery

Infinix Note 2 offer all the usual connectivity options such as Bluetooth, WiFi, and standard microUSB with Flash Charging support which is 4.5x times faster. We’ll get to the battery in a bit. This phone comes with 16GB of internal storage which we know is not enough for most of us who like to install lots of apps, games and store in lots of music, so Infnix included a microSD slot which you can use to expand your phone memory up to 32GB with a microSD card. And did we mention, this phone comes with full 4G LTE support and is dual-SIM compatible!

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With dual IC-charge design, NOTE 2 has dual engine to quickly charge your phone. 15 min charge gets you up to 8 hours of talk time, 60 minutes charge will get you up to 97% battery and a full charge in just 90 minutes. This is the 4040mAh included battery with this phone for extended usages. In a low usage scenario, this phone can go on up to 5 days — amazing, eh?

And one more thing, as the Note 2 is also equipped with OTG support, it can work as a power bank for your other devices that run low on batteries or a hard disk data reader.

Software

Infinix Mobility features a unique ROM that is closely synced with Android updates and they call their own skin as XUI. So far, we have seen quick updates with Android 5.1 Lollipop with Marshmallow in beta testing already. XUI performs system-level optimizations to increase overall performance, giving much more speed and battery life to your phone. You can easily personalize your experience with their collection of cool and minimalistic themes and a wide range of wallpapers. Some community apps like Xclub and User Feed back are also included in the OS for direct feedback from their customers.

Some notable software features include:

Xcontacts lets you backup your phone contacts to cloud and easily sync to another Infinix phone. This is great to have in addition to Google Contacts backup.

Xclub is an app for their bulletin board. Their forums are very active and have been helpful to us when we had a few queries.

File Manager is a simple file manager app that lets you browse files on your internal storage and external SD card.

User Feedback collects information about your experience with the Infinix Note 2 phone, and you can also report bugs directly to the team from this app.

Ultra-Saving Power mode can increase your talk time to about 3 more hours, even if your battery has dropped to about 10%.

Screenshots

Gallery

Haris Nadeem
Haris Nadeem

Haris lives on everything Android; has countless devices, apps and games to play with everyday. Currently serving as the Chief Editor at Team Android. Connect on Twitter: @harisn

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