Comparison: Infinix Note 3 vs Infinix Note 4

Infinix Note 4: Infinix Mobility’s latest smartphone available in the Kenyan market went on sale on July 1st, over two weeks ago.

It is still as large as previous Infinix Note devices, packs an equally big battery and looks and feels a bit more refined than its predecessors. Here’s how it compares to its immediate predecessor, the Infinix Note 3:

It is just as large

On paper, the Infinix Note 4 should have a smaller display. Not small as in small but small when compared to its predecessor since its display is 0.3 inches shy of the Note 3’s towering 6-inch frame. Put them side by side and you can see this clearly even though neither device can claim to be outrightly larger than the other.

Thanks to the (annoying) black bars on the side, it is easy to mistake the Infinix Note 3’s display for an edge-to-edge display when it is not turned on. It is not.

There are some noticeable differences in the design

The design of the two devices is where the key differences between them can be seen:

1. Unlike in the Infinix Note 3 where the device had a metal back, the Infinix Note 4 has a shiny easy-to-scratch plastic panel at the back that, when you are bored, you can easily use as a sunscreen (at least if, like yours truly, you have the gold-coloured model).

2. Still on the back cover, the Infinix Note 4’s back cover is removable. This is a stark contrast to the Infinix Note 3 which does not have a removable back cover. Whereas one removes the Note 4’s shiny back cover to be able to slot in a microSD card or a SIM card, the Note 3 has an ejectable SIM tray on the side for that.

3. On the Infinix Note 4, the fingerprint scanner moves to the front of the device from the back where it is located on the Infinix Note 3. There, it is embedded on the home button, another feature that the Note 3 lacks.

4. The Infinix Note 3 sticks with the essentials, having just one pair of machine-drilled holes for sound output on the bottom. That is not the case with its successor which has two pairs of such with one, the right one, being added for aesthetic effect. To just sit down there and look pretty. And maybe hide a microphone or two.

5. There’s a volume rocker on the Infinix Note 4 instead of the split volume up, volume down and power button arrangement that we find on last year’s Infinix Note 3.

There are some similarities too

The Infinix Note 4 having a removable back cover doesn’t mean that the battery is also removable. The 4,300mAh unit, just like the Note 3’s 4,500mAh one, is not removable. The reason one has to remove the cover is so that they can put in either a microSD card or a SIM card, nothing else.

Specs comparison

Of course, there’s a price difference, too

While the Infinix Note 3 started selling at just under Kshs 15,000, it can be found going for pretty much the same price or more just a few months from its first anniversary. The new Infinix Note 4, on the other hand, is going for Kshs 14,000 or thereabout.