Infinix recently launched another version of its Note 12 smartphone with a MediaTek Helio G96 chipset instead of the previous Helio G88. They are calling it the Infinix Note 12 G96.
Even though it may look like the only change is the chipset, it is not. Infinix made some clever choices in making the phone much better than it used to be.
The 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM version of the Infinix Note 12 G96 is currently available at Tk19,999 in Bangladesh.
Do keep in mind that the G88 version costs Tk18,499 in the market and with only a Tk1,500 increase, you are not only getting a better chipset but also getting way better performance and camera ISP (Image Signal Processor).
Aesthetic
The phone looks as good as it should within this budget range. It’s only 7.8mm thick and weighs around 185 grams. It is a lightweight and slim phone.
Infinix Note 12 G96 is available in three colours — Force Black, Snowfall and Sapphire Blue. All of them look nice, although I personally liked the Snowfall one due to its clean look. The back of the phone is made of plastic.
Coming to the front of the phone, I was a little disappointed. In the era of punch hole cameras, Infinix went with a relatively large U-shaped notch, which instantly gives the phone a cheap vibe. It almost looks as if the phone was released in 2019 or 2020. This is something Infinix should have worked on.
Performance
MediaTek Helio G96 is a beast when it comes to budget smartphones. We previously reviewed Realme Narzo 50 with G96 inside and it also performed phenomenally.
Being a gaming chipset, G96 is easily able to handle all normal day-to-day tasks of the phone fluently. For the gaming segment, it is able to handle most graphics-intensive games in medium to medium-high graphics settings.
The only alternative chipset within this price range is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 680. Both Redmi Note 11 and Realme 9i use it. In comparison with the Snapdragon 680, MediaTek G96 performs better in terms of CPU and Gaming performance.
However, due to having a smaller transistor, Snapdragon 680 is a better alternative when it comes to power consumption, even though it is not considered a gaming chipset.
According to Nanoreview, G96 scores 17% better than 680 in the AnTuTu benchmark. It also scores higher in Geekbench and 3D Mark.
Compared to Helio G88, which the previous Note 12 came with, the G96 performs around 43% better according to the AnTuTu benchmark, while consuming the same amount of battery power.
Display
Although the U-shaped notch on the top of the display looks disturbing, the display quality is good.
The Infinix Note 12 G96 comes with a 6.7 inches AMOLED panel. However, the refresh rate is only 60Hz. In the year 2022, we could have expected a higher refresh rate display from Infinix.
The display resolution of the phone is 1080x2400 pixels with a 20:9 ratio, which is quite ideal for multimedia consumption. With an AMOLED panel, the display looked vibrant and colourful. There were zero lags visible while roaming through the UI, thanks to the much optimized XOS 10.6 UI based on Android 12.
Camera
Infinix Note 12 G96 has a triple camera setup on the back with a 50 MP wide main camera, a 2 MP depth sensor and another QVGA camera.
As you can see, the phone does not have any ultrawide camera, which is kind of a bummer. However, the camera performance in both daylight and night situations was good on this phone.
The selfie camera is a 16 MP sensor, which also performed well during our test. The phone has a front-facing flash as well to help take selfies in low-light situations.
The camera department of the G96 edition received a significant improvement compared to the G88 version of Note 12.
In the video department, the back camera is capable of recording 1440p videos at 30fps and the front camera can record 1080p videos at 30fps.
Battery
Even though the phone is extremely thin, Infinix still managed to put a 5000 mAh battery inside this phone. With a 33 Watts charger in the box, the phone charges quite fast as well.
Due to having an AMOLED display of 60Hz, the battery backup was also good. I will give solid points to the Infinix Note 12 G96 for its battery performance.
Final verdict
Is the Infinix Note 12 G96 worth buying? Most definitely yes.
If you are looking for an overall package that contains a stable UI, stable performance, occasional gaming, decent camera and multimedia consumption, you should get this phone.
On the other hand, if the lack of an ultrawide camera and the U-shape notch bothers you then it might not be the phone for you.
