In a world where the best smartphones can set you back over R15K, it is vital that there are phones that won’t break the bank. The market is saturated with phones that have similar specs to high end smartphones, but aren’t so expensive. One such smartphone is the Hisense Infinity F24. I have just spent some time with the F24, one of the most powerful phones in the Infinity range. Can it keep up with the likes of the Galaxy S9? Let’s find out:
Body: The Infinity F24 has a full metal body with rounded corners. With a 5.99 inch display which takes up most of the front of the phone, the F24 sure does deserve the Infinity in the name. There is a very thin bezel on each side of the display and a thicker bezel at the top and bottom which houses the speaker, flash and secondary camera. On the sides of the phone you get a power button, volume rocker and card slots. On the top and bottom you get a earphone jack and Micro USB port respectively. At the rear of the phone you get a centre positioned camera, flash and fingerprint reader. Overall the build quality is really good and the phone is sturdy as well as sleek. Even though the phone is large, the metal body and sharp edges provide lots of grip as well as comfort.
Processor/Ram: Powered by a Quad-core 1.5GHz Processor, the Infinity F24 has decent performance but I did notice that apps have a slight lag when loading and a slight delay when zooming in on photos. I only noticed this as I have been using some high end smartphones such as the Galaxy S9 and Huawei P20 Pro. So a normal user who hasn’t used a flagship phone will not notice this. With 2GB of RAM, you will get decent multitasking.
Display: The 5.99 inch display (720 x 1,440 pixels) is an IPS display which means you get a super wide viewing angle. I was very impressed with the picture quality and colour reproduction. The display did well under the sun though I found in general the maximum brightness could have been brighter.
Camera: At the rear you get a 13MP camera with autofocus and a flash. Autofocus is a bit slow unfortunately, it took about 3 seconds to focus, on a flagship phone this is much quicker. The selfie camera is a 8MP camera and has a flash. When first opening the camera, I did not think I’d like the outcome but after snapping a few photos in different lighting conditions, I must say I am impressed. For the average person taking photos to share on social media, the cameras are more than adequate. You may find that in low light conditions, photos are grainy but overall the camera did well.
Storage: The Infinity F24 only has 16GB of internal storage, of which 6GB is used up by the system. You should be good for a while but you may want to pop in a memory card (MicroSD card) up to 128GB for extra space.
Software: The device comes loaded with Android 7.0 Nougat (The latest version out is Android 8.0 Oreo). The user interface (ui) is clean and simple, and looks very stock to me, just how it should be. There was also no bloatware (nonsense apps no one uses) loaded on the device! Overall the software experience is smooth and pleasant.
Battery: The 3400mAh battery should get you through a day of normal usage. My guess is that the kind of person that buys the Infinity F24 is not the kind of person that is going to use their phone to take loads of photos/videos and manage multiple social media accounts (like myself). So the average user may find enough juice to make it to another day, but not a full second day.
Sound: The single speaker has decent sound but needs more bass and higher volume. The call speaker though was adequate and loud enough!
What else should you know?: The device supports dual sim but note that a second sim means you can’t use a memory card unfortunately. The fingerprint sensor is well placed at the rear and unlocks the phone very quickly. The fingerprint sensor can also be used to answer calls, take photos or to open a previously used app. Neat!
What’s in the box: Included in the well designed box, you will find a: Charging cable, charging adapter, earphones, a screen protector and a rubber case. It is not often that you get a screen protector and case for your phone right in the box. So well done Hisense for standing out from the rest.
Price and verdict: What will the Hisense Infinity F24 cost you? You will only need to fork out R3200 which is nothing these days looking at some smartphones that cost over R15K (I may have one in my hand as you are reading this). The Infinity F24 is not trying to beat a flagship smartphone, it is a phone for the user that wants a decent smartphone without having to take a second mortgage. That is what the Infinity F24 succeeds at. If you are looking for a smartphone with a large display, a camera that takes photos perfect for social media, all in a package that is easy to hold and looks high end, then the Hisense Infinity F24 is the smartphone for you.
