Infinix Note 30 VIP review: The best!

Big, boxy and flashy are the three adjectives I’d readily use to describe the Infinix Note 30 VIP any time.

With a length of just over sixteen centimetres, a width of seven and a half centimetres and a thickness of just over four-fifths of a centimetre, there’s no doubt that the Infinix Note 30 VIP, when placed upright is all of that. If anything, when placed next to relatively diminutive devices it becomes very imposing. If you’ve seen photos of our ICT Cabinet Secretary posing next to other “normal” people then you get a picture of what I am talking about.

As such, its pleasant that all of that body and frame syncs well with the 6.67-inch display to generate a 93% screen-to-body ratio.

That display, an LTPS AMOLED panel, peaks at 900 nits when it comes to brightness, making suitable for taking to the beach so that even when you’re squinting to see things in the overhead midday sun because you were to careless to remember to pack your sunglasses and too miserly to “promote” a beachboy, you can still make out when you are almost getting late for your à la carte order at the hotel you’re staying in. That last bit of storytelling is because that’s exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago and I was grateful that I had chosen the Note 30 VIP to accompany me. In short, you get a bright, vibrant display that is very well-calibrated (100% DCI-P3).

There are other things about that display as well. Like its 120Hz refresh rate. This is not very much a headturner at this point in time as we have become accustomed to high-refresh-rate display panels and are, at the price of the Note 30 VIP, very entitled to one and very much expect it.

What will make you consider the Note 30 VIP over other devices in its range, besides, of course, the cameras (more on those in a moment), is how Infinix has successfully managed to overcome the ghosts of years gone by and put together something that is so good you shudder to think what the Chinese still have up their sleeves. Especially since this isn’t even the flagship. We still have the Zero series to look forward to in coming months. The Note 30 series is simply a sign of things to come. Scary.

There’s the IP53 water and dust protection, a rarity on Infinix devices, there’s the built-in “PC Connection 2.0” feature for faster syncing of photos and other pieces of content on your device to your computer (though we now have Nearby Share, which we like and recommend to everyone reading this, on PCs), sound tuned by JBL (and boy, is it glorious!) and lots of tiny bits here and there that make marked improvements from the last Infinix Note smartphone that we reviewed a year ago, another VIP-tagged smartphone that we had high praise for.

Obviously, a phone doesn’t get to be the hero of its series without serious performance chops to match it. In the case of the Infinix Note 30 VIP, that performance is delivered by the Dimensity 8050 chipset from MediaTek that is also responsible for its 5G network smarts. With MediaTek’s HyperEngine 5.0 (you really don’t need to bother knowing what that is, just know it’s for the good of the device you’re using), games and any of your high-intensity indulgences are well taken care of. And at very low latencies, just as you like them.

Should you need more than is available, there’s a whole 9 gigabytes of memory chopped from the device’s flash storage to temporarily allow your available memory to balloon to a whopping 21GB for your usage. Sure, this added memory is usually much slower than what comes installed on the device for this purpose and is more of a marketing gimmick than something you should truly bank on but, it’s there when you need it.

Even better, when you’re running low on battery because of the said indulgences, you can plug in the Note 30 VIP and continue without worrying about the device overheating or damaging its battery (I am pretty sure you have heard this somewhere…). This is because when you do so, the charging current is sent directly to the device’s main board and not the battery, according to Infinix, thereby keeping temperatures on the low.

Talking about the battery, my review unit came barebones. That is to say, there was no box, as you will get when you opt to purchase the device, and, thereby, no charger and charging cable. I used whatever I had lying around to get juiced up.

However, for you, your experience will be different as you will be getting a charger and charging cable in the box. Even better, if you’re down for it, since the device supports wireless charging, you can pick up a wireless charger. If you pick a wireless charger from Infinix meant for this device, you can enjoy up to 50W wireless charging. With such, you probably won’t ever need a wired charger. If you stick with what comes in the box, you get a respectable 68W fast charging. That’s around the same as what I have on the Reno8 T from Oppo and, if you read my review of that device, you know very well how much of a fan I am of Oppo’s 67W SuperVOOC fast-charging. The same way, I am sure, if I had a charge to experience Infinix’s All-Round Fast Charge, I would enjoy. You definitely will.

And, if you’re like yours truly and travel with several other devices in tow – from other smartphones to wireless earbuds – you know what, if they support wireless charging then you can charge them because the Note 30 VIP supports reverse wireless charging. Infinix cheekily refers to this feature as the “iPhone Saviour” in marketing materials. These are the best times to be buying a smartphone, aren’t they?

All of that said, the number one reason I am recommending the Infinix Note 30 VIP to anyone with Kshs 46,000 to spare, is this: the camera. The camera is amazing. Given that Infinix has managed to add value to the device everywhere, makes me update my top smartphone recommendation for the Kshs 50,000 and slightly lower segment to the Note 30 VIP. The Oppo Reno8 T may be good to look at and all but its 108-megapixel camera plays second fiddle to the Note 30 VIP’s. Its night-time camera performance can’t hold a candle to Infinix’s.

The Super Night Mode on the Infinix Note 30 VIP is easily the best way to take photos of the Eiffel Tower in Paris – much as you may run into issues with law enforcement if you wanted to post them (though we all still do). It’s not just the beach that I took the Note 30 VIP with me, I also had it with me as I toured the City of Light (or Love, if you’re in that season, as I was). It did not disappoint. While the Note 30 VIP’s camera had earned its badges on the white sands of the Kenyan Coast, it cemented its position as my preferred camera on the Champs-Élysées. The 32-megapixel selfie camera is equally good and you will be using it all the time. For snaps, for video calls, whatever.

Here are some sample photos taken with the Infinix Note 30 VIP’s cameras:

The Infinix Note 30 VIP is so good, all my usual misgivings with Infinix’s XOS, which is in version 13 (Android 13) on this device, were overlooked the entire time I reviewed the device. Not even the overwhelming bloatware will stand in the way of the excellent experience you get using this device.

The good

Everything – except the usual stuff: the software experience is a hodgepodge of things you will like, things you won’t like and features you will be indifferent to. I mean, the dual-speaker setup (tuned by JBL, no less) is glorious. As is that display. As are those excellent cameras. As is the speedy performance of the device. At this point, you can’t convince me that the Infinix Note 30 VIP can do any wrong.

The bad

The aforementioned software.

The lowdown

Just buy it!