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Infinix Note 40 Pro+ Review: All Charged Up

Infinix’s expansive reach throughout international markets has certainly brought a spotlight upon the brand, which has been consistent in pumping out affordable Android phones that challenge the likes of established players such as Redmi and Realme. That’s not to say that Infinix isn’t open to producing more “premium” handsets, and this is most evident with the launch of the Note 40 Pro+.

As such, we’ve gotten an opportunity to get up close and personal with Infinix’s premium midrange handset. While it’s not available locally within North America, it’s a good reminder of the kind of hardware that folks in the US are missing out on – late’s take a look!

Specifications

Design and Display

One look at the Note 40 Pro+’s design, and it’s rather obvious that Infinix has developed the handset to look and feel more premium compared to its other Android phones. The variant we have here is the “Vintage Green” model, which features a vegan leather texture on the back and metallic sides. As a fan of matte finishes on devices it does look and feel nice in hand, and comes with IP53 certification for splash resistance.

On the front, the phone features a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display, which comes with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1080 x 2436 pixel resolution. It’s moderately bright, at 1300 nits of peak brightness, and while it isn’t the sharpest out there it is good enough for most usage scenarios. Of course one consideration though is the curved screen, will be a subjective matter for some users who might prefer a flat display instead.

One particular quirk I noticed was that my unit’s hole punch software cutout seemed misaligned, no matter which app was displaying on the screen – while I could mostly ignore it, the misalignment did seem distracting at certain times. That aside though, the phone feels like a well-built device, and isn’t too heavy for everyday use.

Performance and Software

Inside the Note 40 Pro+ is a MediaTek Dimensity 7020 SoC, a 6nm chip that’s backed by 12GB of RAM. For day-to-day use, there’s not much to complain about here  as the phone easily handles multi-tasking, scrolling through your apps, and navigating through the user interface. It’s a strong point of the phone, and it works nicely for most apps and games.

Speaking of gaming, users looking to run some graphics-intensive games on the phone will have little problem, as it manages to handle titles such as Genshin Impact decently, although not without a bit of stuttering here and there. It does tend to get warm after a while, which is something to take into consideration.

Oddly though, some of my go-to titles such as XCOM 2 Collection and a few others were not available for the device, despite the Dimensity 7020 being able to run most of them.

For software, the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ ships with Android 14, which comes with XOS, Infinix’s custom Android skin. It packs several third-party apps and software, and if you’re used to heavily-modified versions of Android such as this one, then you’ll feel right at home as it does come with a ton of customization options for users. It should be noted that the phone is expected to get two years of software updates, alongside three years of security patches.

Camera Quality

For optics, the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ features a triple-camera array which includes a 108MP main sensor (f/1.75), a 2MP macro lens (f/2.4), and a 2MP depth sensor (f/2.4). Meanwhile, selfies are handled by a 32MP sensor in front.

As with most similarly-priced devices nowadays, the phone mostly gets the essentials right. Coming from a Google Pixel phone, there are of course some big differences, but given the price of the phone it manages to do a decent job in terms of photo quality. There’s enough dynamic range with subdued highlights, and close-up shots look impressive with good detail – with that said though, there are instances when edge detection can be better.

There are times when image quality does leave a bit to be desired. For example, the front camera can present soft details in most photos, so lighting will play a major role in how good your self portraits look. All in all though, for most consumers after a decent-performing smartphone camera for casual use and social media, the Note 40 Pro+ will get the job done. You can check out some samples below:

Battery Endurance

In its marketing for the Note 40 Pro+, Infinix made sure to highlight the phone’s battery and charging capabilities. There’s even a bundled charging brick in addition to a wireless charger (and even wired headphones), which is a very rare sight in most smartphone retail packages these days – big kudos to Infinix for this.

The phone packs a 4,600 mAh battery, which should be enough to last a day for moderate usage. We would have preferred a 5,000 mAh unit inside, although the phone more than makes up for it with its fast charging capabilities. 

Infinix has included a built-in Cheetah X1 chip within the phone, a custom-designed power management chip which focuses on optimizing battery life and charging efficiency, and it also learns the best way to keep your battery health in good shape for as long as possible. With that being said, the Note 40 Pro+ supports 100W wired and 20W wireless MagCharge, the former of which came in handy several times when I didn’t have enough juice on my unit before heading out.

Now users should keep in mind that factors including 5G connectivity and GPS use, screen brightness, as well as gaming will have an impact on your phone’s endurance. Overall though it’s enough to hold its own, and the fast charging capabilities are a godsend.

Final Thoughts

Priced at around $300, the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ 5G faces competition from other devices such as the Redmi Note 13 series devices, as well as Samsung’s A-series phones to name a few. Compared to these, the Note 40 Pro+’s fast-charging capabilities and great-looking display play to its strengths, and having the Dimensity 7020 onboard doesn’t hurt either.

It’s not a perfect device of course, and camera quality will be a subjective matter for some users, as well as the heavily-modified version of Android 14 and pre-installed third-party apps. At the end of the day though if performance and battery matter to you the most, then the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ is one great choice.

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