The Infinix Note 4 was one of the standout devices released into the Kenyan market last year as far as battery life is concerned. However, one of the drawbacks of going for low-cost devices like the Note 4 is usually that one has to live with a few compromises both in the hardware as well as in the software.
In the hardware, the compromises usually run from so-so camera modules to hardly satisfying performance ratings to displays that are just “good enough”. Part of the reason why the Transsion Holdings brands of iTel, Infinix and Tecno have been able to properly capture the Kenyan, and the African, market is being able to find a balance in all this.
Nowhere is this best exemplified than in the news that the Infinix Note 4, which cost just a little under Kshs 15,000 when it debuted, is now receiving the very latest version of Android out there, 8.1 Oreo. Yes, that’s right. The Infinix X572 is making the jump from Nougat to Oreo.
This brings the device to par with another device within its price range that I never hesitate to recommend to anyone who cares to ask: the Nokia 3.
In case you had forgotten, another big player in the local budget smartphone market, Samsung, has all but abandoned any budget devices it has launched in recent years since they hardly make it to its latest list of devices that are slated to receive updates this year.
Android 8.1, Oreo, is a minor update to Android 8.0 which brings with it several features and improvements. The features include the ability for users to see the battery level for Bluetooth-connected devices like Bluetooth headsets and media players, better protection from phishing attempts while online, more control over fingerprint sensor operations like allowing users to set up a kill-switch of some sort when unknown fingerprints are used to try to access a secured device and better hardware acceleration and reduced network latency and load times.
For the Infinix Note 4, this is likely its first and last major update and, to be honest, I don’t think it’s fair to not expect Android P to ever make its way to the device given that the device will be nearing the end of the standard 18-month support window deployed by most device makers by the time Android P starts showing up on existing devices.
While the update has been reported by Indian and Filipino publications, I am yet to receive the update on my Infinix Note 4.
According to multiple reports, the update, which clocks in at 1.8 gigabytes of data, is not the most stable and users who go ahead to install it should be ware of bugs upon bugs, something we hope that Infinix will be fixing by issuing another update to smooth things up. As always, it is recommended to make sure any personal data on a device is properly backed up.
