Infinix Zero 20 Review: A good price balance even without 5G

Infinix Zero 20 Review: The Infinix Zero 20 does not have the massive 200MP camera or the 180W fast charging of the Infinix Zero Ultra but it sure has a better price tag. This smartphone does not have 5G but if you’re looking for a well-priced smartphone, it’s hard to look past the Infinix Zero 20. And I think Infinix will sell more units of the Zero 20 compared to the Zero Ultra.

To be frank, the Infinix Zero 20 is not all perfect and in a world where $300 smartphones are getting 5G, the Infinix Zero 20 is still stuck with 4G LTE. But, after I went through the Infinix Zero 20 Review, I came to realize that the smartphone has a balance price tag and this is why it’s a good buy. Let me share with you my thoughts on the Infinix Zero 20.

Infinix Zero 20 Review

Infinix Zero 20 Review: Display, Design, and Durability

The Infinix Zero 20 has a big 6.7-inches AMOLED display that supports a 90Hz refresh rate. The screen is flat and can auto-refresh between 60Hz and 90Hz. At first glance, you can notice the bezels on the screen and the phone weighs about 196 g (6.91 oz). Just like the front screen, the back panel is flat and you see the huge frame between the front glass and the back panel.

On the rear, the camera module does not protrude much and it’s located in the upper left corner while the front screen has a water drop notch that is not as neat as the punch hole design. Infinix Zero 20 is made of a Glass front, plastic back, and plastic frame. These are not the most expensive materials but the phone looks and feels strong.

A single bend won’t cause damage to the phone and a fall from table height won’t scatter the front screen. The phone has a USB type-C port, microphone, SIM card slot, and a speaker grill on the bottom frame. While the volume rocker and power button are located on the right-hand side of the frame and a 3.5mm headphone jack port is located on the top of the frame.

The display of the Infinix Zero 20 produces good colors and the 90Hz refresh rate is smooth. But, the phone is not very durable as it’s made of cheap materials. The display is not certified to be protected by Gorilla Glass, it’s not water and dustproof, and because of its flat front screen and back panel, it’s not very comfortable for one-hand operation.

Infinix Zero 20 Review: Chipset and Performance

The chipset inside the Infinix Zero 20 is the new MediaTek Helio G99 chipset. This 4G chipset is built on a 6nm process technology. It has an Octa-core CPU (8-core processor) that is paired with the ARM Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. The chipset has two performance cores and six efficiency cores and has decent performance. The Helio G99 chipset is power efficient and this is true under heavy use as the phone does not get excessively hot.

But, the chipset won’t allow you to play games in the Infinix Zero 20 using the highest graphics settings. For users to play games like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty on the Infinix Zero 20, users have to set the graphics to the lowest settings. Once in the lowest graphics settings, the phone does not drop frame rates and it does not get HOT. However, users will notice lags and hanging if they play games using high graphics settings.

The performance of the chipset is however smooth when switching between apps. Infinix Mobile tried with the Animation and user interaction of the phone and the blend between the XOS 12 and Android 12 software is just very good. For everyday use, the chipset is more than enough to get all the job done but there is a limit to the graphic rendering operations the phone can perform.

Infinix Zero 20 Review: Camera

The Infinix Zero 20 features a 108MP primary camera that has a PDAF feature. There is also a 13MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 60MP OIS front camera supporting the primary camera. The 13MP ultra-wide lens has an AutoFocus feature but the quality is not great, especially in low-light conditions. The 60MP front camera however is different. The 60MP front camera of the Infinix Zero 20 is one of the major highlights of the phone.

This is one of the few phones that offers this big camera sensor as a front camera (the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra has a 60MP front camera but is twice as expensive). If you love taking selfies, then you will really enjoy using the 60MP front camera of this phone. Photos from the front camera are sharp and have good details. In good light conditions, you can take good phones with the 108MP and 60MP cameras but the cameras are not so great in low light conditions, especially at NIGHT.

The Infinix Zero 20 can record videos in 2K resolution 2K@30fps using the front and back cameras. Some of the available camera features are OIS, AF, Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama, etc. To get a better shot with the front and back camera, turning off the HDR will help. Maybe Infinix will roll out a software update to address the HDR issue on the cameras. As of the time of writing this review, the HDR on the Infinix Zero 20 does not improve the photo quality.

Infinix Zero 20 Review: RAM, Storage, and Software

Infinix Zero 20 comes with 8GB of RAM paired with 128GB or 256GB of internal storage. The 8GB of RAM is supported by 5GB of virtual RAM making it a total of 13GB of RAM. It has space for storage expansion via a dedicated microSD card slot. The RAM works very well in keeping background apps while the internal storage is big enough to store your files but you can always expand using a microSD card.

Infinix Zero 20 boots XOS 12 based on Android 12 out of the box and there is no word from Infinix Mobile on how many years of software or security patch the phone will get. So, the phone might be stuck in Android 12 forever or if users are lucky might get one year of a software update. You can download and install apps from the Google Play Store. There are lots of preinstalled software that you might not really need.

The XOS 12 software is bringing some new changes and user interaction. There is a dedicated gaming menu that allocates more CPU cores to games in gaming mode. The user interaction is smooth now and the animation is improved. You can watch this XOS 12 video to know about the software.

Infinix Zero 20 Review: Battery, Charging, and Features

A 4,500mAh battery powers the Infinix Zero 20 and it has support for 45W fast charging. It’ll take you about 50 minutes to charge the battery from 0 to 100%. There is no wireless charging or reverse wireless charging features available. The battery of the phone can last you for 8 hours of intensive use and a full day of light use.

Other features available in the Infinix Zero 20 are a Fingerprint (side-mounted, NFC, Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by), FM Radio, microSDXC (dedicated slot), dual speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack port, A-GPS, Google Assistant, etc.

Infinix Zero 20 Review: Price

The price of the Infinix Zero 20 8GB + 256GB is $300. But the price could go as high as $370 in some regions/countries. Note that the price will vary depending on your local retailer and current exchange rate. Why is this a fitting price for the Infinix Zero 20?

Infinix Zero 20 Review: Conclusion

For $300, the Infinix Zero 20 is well-priced. Yes, there is no 5G connectivity but the phone offers good value for its price. The Infinix Zero 20 has an AMOLED display, a 90Hz refresh rate, a 60MP front camera, a 108MP primary camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a good battery life. The only other 60MP front camera phone available in the market right now is selling for about $700. So when you look at the value it offers, the Infinix Zero 20 has a balanced price.

Some of the downsides of the Infinix Zero 20 are that it’s water and dustproof, the primary camera has no OIS, has no 5G connectivity, and might not get any major software updates (if lucky will get just one). The Infinix Zero 20 is well-priced but there are other smartphones that offer even better value, are cheaper, and have better software update plans.

Infinix Zero 20 Alternative

The smartphones listed below as alternatives to the Infinix Zero 20 are cheaper and have better performance:

Infinix Zero 20 Review: A good price balance even without 5G