Only a few know about Infinix and their smartphones. Only recently, Infinix has been quietly taking market share from others, in the budget segment. Priced at Rs 19,999, the GT 10 Pro has an eye-catching design (a la Nothing Phone 2) and the fastest hardware in this segment. Is that enough to put it on top of budget buyers’ shopping lists?
The GT 10 Pro is a smartphone I definitely should have gotten around to reviewing earlier. But nonetheless, I have used the smartphone for over 2 weeks now. Let’s find out how it fared.
The standout design
The Cyber-Mecha (that’s what the company is calling it) design of the GT 10 Pro helps it stand out in the crowded budget segment. There’s an LED indicator next to the camera, and an illusion of a transparent plastic back. The GT 10 Pro comes with a polycarbonate body with curved edges. The star of the show is the 6.67-inch AMOLED panel (2400x1080 resolution) with a 120Hz refresh rate.
The GT 10 Pro is available in Cyber Black and Mirage Silver colour options and manages to be devoid of any fingerprints and smudges.
There are the volume and power/lock buttons on the right side. The left side features a dual SIM card slot. At the bottom is the USB Type-C port, the speaker grille, a primary mic and a 3.5mm headphone jack. At the top is the second speaker and a secondary mic.
Coming in at just 190 grams and 8.1mm in thickness, the phone is lightweight and comfortable to hold (and game on) and doesn’t weigh you down. Another bonus is that this smartphone isn’t very slippery.
Performance: Fastest in the segment
Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8050 chipset (based on the latest 6nm design), the GT Pro handles all things gaming and more with aplomb. In daily use, I rarely noticed any lags or stutters. There’s just a single 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage variant but it’s great value for money.
Coming to battery life, the GT 10 Pro doesn’t disappoint. The 5,000mAh battery delivers plenty of life for an all-day use. Couple that with a 45W charger (you can juice up the smartphone in just over an hour) and it’s a great combination. The smartphone also supports the USB PD 3.0 standard.
Software: Where the smartphone falters
The GT 10 Pro comes with the Pure XOS OS (based on Android 13). The UI is heavily customised (it reminds me of ColorOS) and the interface is a little over the top. Thankfully, there are only a handful of pre-installed apps, most of which can be uninstalled.
The whole OS just lacks polish. There are lots of small bugs in there, that hopefully can be fixed with a software update. There’s a steep learning curve to this OS, though it has borrowed elements from other operating systems out there. The downside is that Infinix has promised only one major Android update with two years of security patches.
While the UI ran smoothly, it just felt a little too much to get to where you want it to be.
Cameras
Yes, the Infinix GT 10 Pro is focused on gaming rather than cameras and that’s okay. You know what you’re getting into before purchasing a GT 10 Pro. With that said, the GT Pro comes with a triple-camera setup, of which only one lens is useful. The 108MP camera at the back is the standout of the three with the 2MP macro and portrait lenses being pretty much useless.
The camera is best for sharing on social media apps like Instagram. But, just remember not to blow them up on your 55” TV.
On the front is a 32MP selfie camera which is decent, if nothing great.
In good daylight scenarios, the GT 10 Pro takes some good images while retaining plenty of details and offering great colour vibrancy. In low-light though, the cameras take a hit, missing out on details and showcasing visible noise. The Night mode is a must if you’re shooting in low-light conditions as it does a better job with the images. They’re sharper (with more details) and less noise.
I’m not sure why Infinix didn’t include an ultra-wide camera. It’s a baffling decision, rather than a cost-cutting measure, in my opinion.
Verdict: A great budget gaming smartphone!
I can safely say that this is Infinix’s best smartphone of the past six months. The design does the talking and is backed up by some really good performance thanks to the Dimensity 8050 chipset. The camera may not have been prioritised, and the software lacks polish, but with an all-day battery life and gaming chops, the GT 10 Pro has positioned itself well.
If you want the best hardware and on a tight budget, and don’t mind being overwhelmed by the software, then the GT 10 Pro is the one for you. More so if you’re an avid gamer. The only real competition to the GT 10 Pro is the POCO X5 Pro.
Overall, the GT 10 Pro does enough to justify its place amongst the best budget smartphones available in today’s market.
