Infinix Zero 5G Smartphone Full Review Part II

Benchmarks and Performance:

The Infinix Zero 5G’s primary selling point is its performance, aided by the update to the MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G chipset. As we previously stated, Infinix phones, including the flagship Zero X Pro, have relied on lower-end MediaTek G series chips, so this is the company’s new best. Infinix Zero 5G Smartphone Full Review Part I.

 

The Density 900 has two Cortex-A78 big cores running at up to 2.4GHz, which is significantly faster than the Cortex-A76 big seats running at 2.05GHz inside the MediaTek Dimensity G96 or G95, as well as six Cortex-A55 units running at up to 2.0GHz, and a four-core Mali-G68 GPU. All of this is housed in a modern and efficient 6nm package, compared to the 12n

Furthermore, the Infinix Zero 5G marries its Dimensity 900 processor with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage, essential characteristics, especially for system responsiveness.

Infinix is touting an advanced cooling system for the Zero 5G, dubbed “Heat Pipe Thermal Module 2.0 & 3-D Cooling Master,” with the latter likely being a thermal management solution rather than hardware. The Zero 5G never gets hot to the touch, even when subjected to intense and prolonged loads.

 

Let’s start with some pure-CPU loads and GeekBench. While the Density 900 is still not a widely used chipset, we do have a point of comparison in the Oppo Reno6 5G, and we’re pleased to see that the two devices score very similar across the board, indicating that Infinix is making the most of the chip and not squandering performance.

The Density 900, as expected, outperforms its Helio G-series siblings, the Density 700 and 800 chips, and most older 700 series Snapdragon chips and the Snapdragon 600 models, in both single and multi-threaded workloads. It also outperforms the Snapdragon 778G and 780G chips and the Snapdragon 860.

 

AnTuTu, a more well-rounded benchmark that includes graphics tests and incorporates memory and storage speed, portrays a similar picture for overall performance.

The latter is crucial to demonstrate the relevance of the quicker memory Infinix is using; look at the AnTuTu score of the Reno6 5G, which also uses the Density 900 5G chipset but only has UFS 2.1 storage.

Moving on to graphics testing like GFXBench, the Density 900 and its Mali-G78 MC4 outperform Helio G processors like the G95 and G96 in terms of overall performance.

The Snapdragon 778G, 780G, and 860 with their respective Adreno GPUs are at the top of the leaderboard. Still, it would be best if you were looking at off-screen performance to get comparable results that aren’t affected by device resolution.

 

Like the OpenGL ES exam complexity increases, things don’t change much either.

Overall, the Infinix Zero 5G is a great all-around performer that makes the most of its MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G chipset. The fast UFS 3.1 storage is also a noticeable addition. XOS isn’t holding the Zero 5G back either. You get a great budget performer with a powerful and efficient chip and full and modern connectivity.

Camera:

The Infinix Zero 5G boasts an unusual triple camera arrangement on the back: a specialized 2x telephoto snapper, which is not common on a cheap handset these days, has been chosen by Infinix over an ultrawide, which is the far more popular option.

The camera setup on the Zero 5G is very similar to that on the Infinix Note 11 Pro, with the exception that the primary Quad Bayer camera appears to have been downgraded, and the Zero 5G now uses a 48MP f/1.8 primary camera based on the Samsung ISOCELL Plus S5KGM1 sensor, also known as the GM1. It is a 1/2.0″ sensor with 0.8m pixels and PDAF.

 

A dedicated telephoto camera with PDAF is a 13MP 50mm device. Like the Infinix Note 11 Pro, it has a Samsung ISOCELL S5K3L6 sensor with a 1/3.1″ sensor size and 1.12m individual pixels and an F/2.5 lens.

The 2MP depth sensor is a GalaxyCore gc02m1b model, while the selfie camera is a Hynix hi1631q sensor with a 16MP resolution and f/2.0 aperture. It does not have autofocus.

Even though the Zero 5G has a more straightforward setup than the Zero X Pro, with just one set of two LED lights on the right-hand side instead of two symmetrical units, a dedicated hardware selfie flash is still a rare sight. Vivo did, however, include even more advanced selfie flash hardware with colour controls on the V23 and V23 Pro.

App for taking Pictures:

A powerful AI scene detection system automatically switches between modes. It sometimes suggests switching camera modes outright, such as directing you to the dedicated Super Night mode when there isn’t enough light. There is a mode carousel on the bottom, a slide-out menu, and plenty of settings.

 

Our only gripe with the AI is that there is no way to disable it without switching to Pro mode; while we’re on the subject, you also get exposure compensation (-2 to +2), shutter speed (1/1500 to 30s), ISO (100 – 6400), white balance (2000 – 9000K), manual focus, and three metering modes.

When it comes to focus and metering, the viewfinder incorporates squares to show focus locations, which we think to be a handy tool.

The video capture UI is relatively simple, with notable features such as video beauty filters and portrait video with a pseudo defocused background.

 

In terms of valuable extras, there’s the Short video mode, which includes beauty filters and Snapchat-style live effects and overlays—a nice touch.

When it comes to filters, Infinix has gone all out, providing a plethora of individualized controls and sliders and numerous options for creating and saving custom filters and looks.

Daylight photo Quality:

Let’s start with the primary 48MP camera, which captures 12MP stills by default because it’s a Quad-Bayer camera. The Samsung GM1 is a well-known sensor that has already proven its worth, and we know it can capture solid shots if tuned correctly.

The Infinix Zero 5G’s 12MP full auto stills are adequate but not outstanding. There is a considerable amount of detail in the photos, but some textures can still appear soft, and delicate patterns frequently appear more. Dynamic range is also limited, and colours can seem dull.

However, these are minor issues compared to the one major bug our review unit consistently encountered: nearly half of the shots captured with the primary camera have a very noticeable pink tint. This is most likely a software processing bug, as we noticed that the first half of ten shots of a given scene would have the defect, while the rest were fine. Grabbing a spot exposure by tapping on the viewfinder also usually seems to fix the problem.

Unfortunately, the problem persists when shooting in 48MP mode, which we wouldn’t recommend because it doesn’t appear to retain any additional detail and produces larger file sizes and poor per-pixel detail.

Fortunately, whatever is causing the nasty bug doesn’t appear to affect the 2x zoom telephoto camera, whose 13MP stills have a lot more and better finer detail than the primary camera and a more natural and cleaner appearance. We also prefer the telephoto’s colour rendition.

The telephoto tends to overexpose shots, exacerbated by its limited dynamic range. Autofocus on the telephoto is also temperamental: it is slow, frequently misses the target entirely, and is stubborn, making it difficult to force a refocus. You can control its focus manually in Pro mode, which is excellent, but that emphasizes the camera’s minimal focus range, to begin with.

 

The Zero 5G can digitally zoom up to 30x, but the results, as you might expect, are far from ideal.

The Infinix Zero 5G should excel at portrait photography if its maker is believed: not only does it have a dedicated 2MP depth camera on the back, but Infinix also refers to the 2x telephoto as a “portrait camera” in some of its marketing. You can use the telephoto via a somewhat confusing “50mm” toggle while in portrait mode.

Neither camera excels at capturing portraits; subject detection and separation are mediocre at best. The artificial bokeh looks decent, which is a plus. But if we had to choose, we’d go with the primary camera, because it gets the subject in focus most of the time.

The telephoto camera almost always produces blurry portraits; if you try hard and capture a lot, you might get a usable still, but that’s not good enough, in our opinion.

As a consolation, portrait mode works just as well with non-human subjects, though you’ll still have to deal with the above issues.

Here’s how the Infinix Zero 5G compares to other devices in our extensive photo comparison database, which includes shots from the primary camera in both 12MP and 48MP modes and 13MP stills from the 2x telephoto lens for completeness.

Selfies’ Photo Quality:

The 16MP selfies taken by the Zero 5G are generally good, with good details and colours and an excellent dynamic range.

The selfie camera lacks autofocus and has a narrow focal plane, so you must be careful. Thankfully, the focus point markers appear on the selfie camera, making it less of a guessing game; we’re not sure why more manufacturers don’t incorporate this function.

 

Selfie portraits aren’t spectacular, but they’re not bad either; subject detection and separation seem to work a little better on selfies than on the primary and telephoto cameras. We did notice that portrait selfies are slightly overexposed compared to their regular counterparts, but this isn’t a big deal.

Low-light photography quality

Regular low-light 12MP images from the primary camera appear surprisingly good, with plenty of detail and little added noise.

 

Even the dynamic range is good, thanks to the Zero 5G’s auto night mode, which appears to be doing some HDR stacking, restoring shadows and confining light sources.

The bothersome colour hue issue we had with the primary cam during the day appears to be almost non-existent at night.

 

The 48MP low-light images have less sharpness and appear slightly more natural, but we wouldn’t say you get any more detail, so the larger file size is probably not worth it.

The Zero 5G also includes a specific Super Night mode, which improves images from the primary camera significantly, recovering both shadows and highlights considerably better than the normal AI mode; otherwise, detail remains about the same, which was already superb, so we can’t complain.

The Zero 5G and its Density 900 5G chipset can also process night mode photos in a fair amount of time, usually four seconds or less.

 

In low-light, the 13MP telephoto camera struggles even worse, resulting in soft and blurry shots, as the uneven autofocus has an even stricter job at night.

If you want to utilize the telephoto at night, you’ll need to use Super Night mode, which is thankfully also available. Simultaneously, the images are overly sharpened and processed; they’re still useable.

While you can control the light intensity of the selfie dual-LED flash by sliding up and down on the camera viewfinder, we found its light to be a bit harsh, with a tendency to wash out and destroy skin features. Super Night mode selfies look a lot better, in our opinion. However, those are only viable if there is at least some ambient light.

Capture Quality of Video:

The Infinix Zero 5G’s primary camera can capture video at up to 4K resolution; there’s no HEVC encoding option, only h.264, but the files you get to feature a good 50 Mbps AVC video stream at a mostly consistent 30 fps and a stereo 48 kHz AAC audio stream inside an MP4 container, which is pretty standard stuff.

 

The 4K videos from the primary camera are good, especially in detail and dynamic range, with little noise. At first glance, we thought the strange colour hue or tint might be back, but the snow appears to be pretty close to white, so that’s unlikely. However, the rest of the colours seem to be quite “reddish” and too warm. Dyes, on the other hand, are noticeably off.

The 2x telephoto camera captures 1080p video with a solid 20 Mbps AVC stream and stereo 48 kHz AAC audio inside an MP4 container. The Colour rendition is noticeably different and much better than the primary camera, and the dynamic range is also good. One of the few drawbacks is the lower 1080p resolution, which leaves a lot of detail to be desired.

The 16MP selfie camera captures some impressive 4K videos, which have the same general characteristics as the primary camera (50 Mbps AVC @30fps + 48 kHz stereo AAC AMP4) and looks incredibly clean sharp. The detail is stellar, and the dynamic range is solid. Colours are slightly oversaturated for our taste, but hardly a significant complaint.

You can get stabilization across all of these cameras. You are limited to 1080p, though. It works decently well across the board. You can see the results for yourself in the following playlist.

The primary camera performs in low light, with quick videos, minimal noise, and well-contained light sources (please excuse the shaky footage; it was cold outside). Also, the 2x telephoto performs admirably in low light, though it struggles with light sources more and is generally softer.

Finally, here’s how the Infinix Zero 5G compares to other devices in our video compare database, complete with screengrabs from primary and telephoto cameras. Pixel-peep away.

The Competition is Fierce:

At the time of writing, the Infinix Zero 5G is still challenging to find in retail stores, with prices ranging from $250 to INR 18,990. However, we did find one Nigerian listing that sells the device for NGN 169,500, which is significantly more – around $400. That seems excessive, so we’ll look for alternatives below EUR 250 or $290, which is still a decently-wide net to cast on today’s sprawling budget market.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 instantly springs to mind. It might not be readily available on every market, but it’s hard to beat its value proposition if you have access to it. Some of its highlights include a 6.43-inch 90Hz AMOLED display, stereo speakers, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 front, IP53 ingress protection, 50MP primary camera and 8MP ultrawide and a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W charging.

One thing to keep in mind is that, despite its otherwise excellent features and specs, the Snapdragon 860 has DSP limitations and can only record 1080p video; if this is a significant concern, you could consider the slightly older Redmi Note 10 or, better yet, the Redmi Note 10S for a very similar experience.

 

With its Snapdragon 860 chipset pushing pixels to a fast 120Hz IPS, LCD with HDR support, albeit at a max of 450 nits of brightness, the Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro manages to maintain its status as the go-to budget device for the best possible performance on the cheap. It also has Corning Gorilla Glass 6, stereo speakers, a big 5,160 mAh battery, 33W charging, and a similar camera setup to the Infinix Zero 5G.

 

Look no further than Samsung’s superb Galaxy A series for a more “western-friendly” big-brand alternative; at current pricing, the Galaxy A32 is just a few dollars more than the Infinix Zero 5G, but if not, the Galaxy A22 is an excellent step-down option.

 

The Galaxy A32 5G is a great all-around device with one of Samsung’s splendid 90Hz AMOLED 6.4-inch panels, a big 5,000 mAh battery with only 15W charging, and a solid camera setup. The MediaTek Helio G80 is a bit of a downgrade compared to the Density 900 5G in the Infinix. Still, if 5G is a priority, you can sacrifice a few things, including the gorgeous AMO.

The Final Decision:

There’s no point beating around the bush – the Infinix Zero 5G’s actual world performance fell a bit short of what its specs sheet made us expect. After several perfectly rounded Infinix devices, like the Zero X Pro and the Note 11 Pro, the Zero 5G feels imbalanced.

We will be the first to admit that the Zero 5G punches above its price class in terms of design, rocking an exquisite aesthetic. It has stellar battery life too. But most of all, the excellent Dimensity 900 5G chipset is typically found in higher-end offers like the Oppo Reno7 5G or the Reno6 5G before it. Even getting a decent 5G device for under $300 is a challenge in itself.

However, Infinix had to make some significant compromises in other areas, such as the lack of ingress protection and any official mention of display protection, the overall quality of the display, the single speaker, and the camera performance, which has as many downs as ups. While the hardware is there and there are some aspects Infinix managed to nail, the sub-par processing in certain conditions is dragging down the device.

Given all of this, we can’t recommend the Infinix Zero 5G without reservation. Some concerning hardware corners were cut in its development, and some unfortunate camera issues further tainted the experience. If the latter is addressed with software updates, we’ll be more willing to recommend it. However, if history is any indication, we’ll likely see Infinix release a replacement model instead.

 

Pros:

• Solid plastic body. Recognizable design.
• Dual-SIM support with True Dual 5G SIM (5G SA + 5G SA) standby and VR. Supports 13 5G bands (X6715 model) (X6715 model).
• Excellent battery life and a reasonable charging speed of 33W.
• XOS10 is jam-packed with features and customizability choices.
• The Mediatek Dimensity 900 5G is an excellent all-around performance with modern features and connectivity, and it’s a step up from Infinix’s ordinary MediaTek G-series CPUs.
• The 2x telephoto does quite well in the daytime. Selfies are unique, and you get an LED selfie flash for low-light conditions—solid low-light performance from the primary and selfie cameras, particularly with Super Night mode.
• Solid 4K clips from the main cam and decent 2x 1080p clips from the telephoto. Excellent quality 4K selfie movies. Proper video stabilization all around.
• FM radio, 3.5mm jack, dedicated microSD slot.

Cons:

• Cosmic Black and Horizon Blue are slick and collect a lot of fingerprints, and there’s no word on protective glass.
• The texture of volume rockers is squishy and soft.
• The display has a low maximum brightness, poor colour accuracy, and a slow pixel response time, which causes smearing.
• On services like Netflix, Google Widevine L3 DRM means no HD and higher quality streaming.
• There is no stereo or hybrid speaker setup, just a single bottom-firing speaker with average performance.
• XOS 10 is still based on Android 11. It has a lot of pre-installed bloats, and it lacks good organization for sure of its menus.
• Both cameras produce poor portraits. Despite contrary marketing, the primary camera has an annoying colour hue in half of the daylight shots. In contrast, the telephoto has unreliable autofocus, can’t double as a macro camera, and struggles in low light. There is no NFC.