Infinix Hot S3 is a nice budget smartphone. It is based on modern technology. It is the first Infinix smartphone which brings an 18:9 aspect ratio display and several admirable features with an easily affordable price of $140. Infinix Hot S3 is a selfie camera phone and having a 20MP wider front-facing lens. There is a Full View 5.65" display of HD+ resolution. Infinix Hot S3 has a long-lasting 4000mAh non-removable battery and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. It houses Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset along with 3GB RAM and 32GB Storage. It is powered by Android 8.0 (Oreo) skinned with the XOS interface.
Pros:
1 – Full View display (18:9)
2 – Super Cool Selfies and Beauty mode
3 – Long Life Battery and Fingerprint
4 – Latest Android 8.0 (Oreo)
5 – Affordable Price ($140)
Cons:
1 – Plastic Body
2 – Unsatisfactory Photography
3 – Old 28nm Snapdragon 430 chipset
Body and Design
The Body of Infinix Hot S3 is fabricated with the plastic material which is not much strong and weighty but looks elegant. The sides are curved beautifully and you will feel a strong grip while holding the device. It is designed in such a way that the most part of the front occupied with the touchscreen. It is wrong to say completely bezel-less screen, bezels have reduced but not eradicated entirely. There is a great 81 percent screen-to-body ratio which means you are getting an approximately full screen of 5.7 inches. There are three on-screen buttons for navigation. A Camera lens, soft dual LED flashes, and an earpiece is equipped above the screen. The 3.5 mm jack is placed on top while OTG supported micro USB port and speaker grilles are present at the bottom.
Left side is armed with a tray which has dual SIM slots and a separate microSD slot, therefore, you have no need to compromise with cellular connectivity. Power and Volume Keys are available at the right side. Primary Camera Snapper is mounted on the top left corner of the back. Below the primary camera, dual tone LED flash is available. Fingerprint Sensor is embedded in the top center half of rear so you will feel comfortable when you want to access fingerprint scanner. Infinix Hot S3 comes in different colors but its black variant looks more beautiful.
Display and Software
Infinix Hot S3 measures 5.65 inches diagonal screen. It has an 18:9 aspect ratio IPS LCD display which is perfect from all viewing angles. The resolution is 720 x 1440 pixels which give enough brightness to see display details with ease. The screen provides vivid and vibrant scenes under the sunlight. The color saturation is fine but the contrast ratio is not good. In our whole experience with Infinix Hot S3, the display didn’t create any issue except some dull vivid colors output.
Infinix Hot S3 is running on the latest Android 8.0 (Oreo) which is the most favorite OS of the young generation. There is an XOS 3.0 overlay which gives more polished apps and gestures support. It looks slightly similar to Apple iOS. The XOS Hamming bird interface is amazing and surely you will enjoy it a lot. The XOS 3.0 runs smoothly and supports Changeable Icon Size which lets you adjust the size of icons according to your wish. Infinix Hot S3 software has beautiful Personalized Wallpapers, Various Keyboard themes, Several New Emoji, Multi Window, Multi-Accounts, Super Screen Shot, Super OTG, Anti-theft, some pre-installed apps and much more. There is a Freezer app which enables you to completely switch off an unwanted app and even mobile data for selected apps to save battery consumption in order to offer you to serve a long time on the smartphone.
Performance and Memory
Under the hood, an old 28nm chipset, Snapdragon 430 is working fine. The chip is not based on the 14nm processor that's why the device takes a trivial period to accomplish your task. There is an Octa-core processor which clocks at the 1.4GHz frequency to execute your several programs. Adreno 505 GPU is there which ensure the graphics are nice. There is 3GB RAM which can install your favorite games and apps easily. To get better gaming and multitasking experience, you can choose a 4GB RAM variant of Infinix Hot S3. The overall performance is good and we’ve enjoyed a smooth working experience with Infinix Hot S3. In terms of Memory, you can get either of 32GB and 64GB Storage. Thanks to Infinix, the microSD card slot is available for storage expansion.
20MP Selfie Cam and Photography
Infinix Hot S3 is recommended for selfie lovers. It gets a high 20MP front camera which has f/2.0 wide aperture. There are dual tone dual LED flashlights to capture selfies with different color tones. Selfie camera performance is amazing and commendable. You can shoot your special moments under the brilliant result. In addition, the Video calling experience with Hot S3 is superb and it won't let you down in any light. One thing is interesting that images and colors look real and natural. Beauty mode adds perfection in your selfies. With the Infinix Hot S3, you are getting also Bokeh effect which does not create perfect but acceptable blurred background selfies.
The primary rear camera of Infinix Hot S3 has 13 megapixels for shooting. The lens is coupled with dual tone dual LED flash which helps to capture moments in low light but in reality, the photography performance is not satisfactory even in daylight. The Selfie performance is super cool while the Photography performance is frustrating and aggressive. The 13MP rear camera captures standard images in some specific conditions otherwise its video recording or capturing capability is not agreeable. The HDR mode can help you to take good looking photographs and videos.
Battery and Price
Infinix Hot S3 is backed by a non-removable battery of 4000mAh. It is a long lasting battery which offers you to watch and play games for a lengthy time. It can last you through your day easily. Heavy users and gamers will be pleased with the longer life performance of the smartphone. It takes 1 hour and 45 minutes to recharge. The Price of Infinix Hot S3 is $140 and its premium 64GB variant is available for $170.
Conclusion
Infinix Hot S3 is an excellent budget smartphone within this price range. Though it has old Snapdragon 430 it runs steadily. Except for its aggressive photography, Infinix Hot S3 is superb. It has 5.6" 18:9 display, 20MP selfie camera, durable 4000mAh battery, fast fingerprint scanner, latest Android 8.0 (Oreo), and all these features are available for only $140 so it is not bad if you’re going to buy Infinix Hot S3.