Unboxing and First Impressions of the Infinix HOT 10 Play

The Infinix HOT 10 Play is Infinix Mobility first handset to be unveiled and launched this year. (Photo: PC TECH MAGAZINE/Olupot Nathan Ernest) The Infinix HOT 10 Play is Infinix Mobility first handset to be unveiled and launched this year. (Photo: PC TECH MAGAZINE/Olupot Nathan Ernest)
<center>The Infinix HOT 10 Play is Infinix Mobility first handset to be unveiled and launched this year. (Photo: PC TECH MAGAZINE/Olupot Nathan Ernest)</center>

The Infinix HOT 10 Play is Infinix Mobility first handset to be unveiled and launched this year. There’s been a slow release of the company’s handsets due to global pandemic, the coronavirus but the company managed to make the handset available in the Uganda market in early March.

The new handset in the line of the company’s HOT Play series succeeds the HOT 9 Play that was launched in April of 2020 —and according to the company, the series is tailored for ‘young people who demand high quality video and gameplay on a cinematic display, without sacrificing battery performance’.

Since the phone is more tailored to heavy duty tasks like gaming, the HOT 10 Play’s key selling point is the battery, which Infinix says features an impressive Power Marathon Technology that is able to give the user more power than expected. The non-removable battery is 6000mAh same as the predecessor only that the HOT 9 Play lacked the power marathon feature technology.

Infinix Uganda PR; Ms. Isabel Ainembabazi told PC Tech Magazine that, “The Infinix HOT 10 Play will give a user the freedom to explore their phone without worrying about recharging.”

We receive a handset for review —and we are to test all the theory that comes with the phone especially its power capabilities.

The Infinix HOT 10 Play is available for purchase at Infinix stores country wide as well as at authorized dealers store. The phone comes in two storage variants, 32GB/2GB and 64GB/4GB, priced at UGX480,000 and UGX550,000 respectively and comes in four colors options including; Aegean Blue, Morandi Green, Obsidian Black, and Purple.

We got the 32GB/2GB variant and comes in Morandi Green option. But as mentioned before, you can purchase the color variant of your choice.

Unboxing the Infinix HOT 10 Play
Purchasing the smartphone or any smartphone, always ensure that the seal is not broken. We also highly recommend buying the phone from the company outlets and not from third-parties.

Inside the Infinix HOT 10 Play box, the 6.82-Inched phone seats on top with its accessories including; a 5-volt charging brick, Data & Charging cable, standard 3.5mm earphones seat below. The user manuals, the warrant, screen guard and sim-card injector pin are in the divider box that separates the phone from the accessories.

Unboxing the Infinix HOT 10 Play —inside the box. (Photo by Edgar Hamala)
Unboxing the Infinix HOT 10 Play —inside the box. (Photo by Edgar Hamala)

Quick run down on the phone’s specifications
The HOT 10 Play has a 6.82-Inch IPS LCD display with a water-drop notch, a screen resolution of 720 x 1640 pixels, runs on Android 10 (Go edition) topped with XOS 7. It has a MediaTek Helio G25 chipset, Octa-core processor and the phone is all powered by a non-removable 6000mAh Li-Po battery.

For its storage, the phone comes in two versions, 32GB with a 2GB RAM and 64GB with 4GB RAM. Both versions can have the storage expanded with a microSD card.

In term of its image and video optics, the HOT 10 Play comes a 13MP dual AI rear camera setup and 8MP sensor for the front camera. Both cameras can shoot videos in 1080p at 30fps.

For comms, the phone supports Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth 5, microUSB 2.0, and microUSB 2.0.

The Infinix HOT 10 Play. (Photo by Edgar Hamala)
The Infinix HOT 10 Play. (Photo by Edgar Hamala)

First impressions, likes and don’ts of the Infinix HOT 10 Play
The HOT 10 Play is a mid-range entry smartphone. The 6.82-Inch display is good impression which goes all the way to display more content, good for gaming and entertainment experience. In addition to our first impressions is the User Interface (UI) which is smooth and this could be because of the company’s newer vision of the XOS 7.0 skin interface which was inspired by the green aurora of Iceland —a revolutionary visual interface with smarter interaction.

What we have liked is that the design is simple, the chipset upgrade from Mediatek Helio A22 to MediaTek Helio G25 —which will improve the phone’s performance in terms of speed, software upgrade from Android 9.0 Pie (Go edition) to Android 10 (Go edition). The smoothness while navigating through the phone cannot go unmentioned. The rest will be revealed in the review.

What we don’t like is the most of the features haven’t changed if compared with its predecessor. However, this doesn’t mean you cannot acquire the phone.

The phone is available at all Infinix stores and authorized phone dealers across the country and comes in two storage variants, 32GB/2GB and 64GB/4GB, priced at UGX480,000 and UGX550,000 respectively. The are available in four colors options; Aegean Blue, Morandi Green, Obsidian Black, and Purple.