The Infinix NOTE 12i is the cheapest smartphone in the NOTE 12 series. The others include the Infinix NOTE 12 VIP and the Infinix NOTE 12 Pro 5G. Even though it is the cheapest, it has a big ROM and a large 90Hz refresh rate HD+ screen as well as a big battery capacity.
This smartphone comes with exactly the same Android 12 operating system and new features like extended memory and privacy indicators as the other NOTE 12 devices. Is this the perfect everyday use smartphone? What about gaming. Can the Note 12i be used a s a budget gaming device?
Let’s find out in my review but first the price.
Also read my review of the Infinix NOTE 12 VIP.
Price In Kenya
The Infinix NOTE 12i is selling for 21,499 Kenya shillings on XPark as well as on Jumia. On the other hand, the NOTE 12 VIP is selling for KES 41,999 while the NOTE 12 Pro 5G goes for KES34,599. As you can see this is much cheaper than the NOTE 12 VIP and NOTE 12 Pro 5G. Ans by the way the NOTE 12 Pro 5G is the cheapest 5G device in Kenya at the moment.
Update
The New Infinix NOTE 12i price is KES19,999 starting on 6th October 2022.
Unboxing
I had the chance of unboxing both the NOTE 12i and NOTE 12 Pro 5G and here is my video.
Watch my video on the Infinix NOTE 12 VIP here.
Accessories
The phone comes with the following accessories
- Free clear phone case
- USB A to USB type C cable
- Hands free headset
- 18 Watt Charger
- SIM Ejector tool
- And some paperwork
Big Storage
The Note 12i comes with 128GB of internal storage. After first boot up, the system only occupies about 10GB out of 128GB. This leaves you the user with a lot of storage space for photos, videos and applications.
This is of great benefit especially to heavy gamers. For example, the Call of Duty game is 2.3GB which is a lot when we’re talking games. Most games are usually like 100MBs, but this and any other Call of Duty updates will fit perfectly in the Note 12i leaving a lot of space for other things too.
The storage capacity can also be expanded further by use of an SD card. But I’m guessing this will be after a year or so.
Up to 7GB RAM
The official RAM value is 4GB however this can be extended up to 7GB. The Extended RAM Technology, called MemFusion on the Infinix NOTE 12i uses part of the Storage as RAM. As you saw earlier, this phone has more than enough Storage.
There are 3 ROM values to choose from namely 1GB, 2GB and 3GB. Combined with the 4GB RAM, you can see that we can get up to 7GB RAM for running the system smoothly. Personally, I usually choose the highest virtual RAM value to get a total of 7GB.
Ultra Gaming Processor
The Note 12i’s CPU is an Octa Core 2.0GHz MT6761 MediaTek Helio A22 with a Mali-G52 MC2 Graphical processing unit or GPU in short.
This combined with the Extended RAM makes apps and games launch much faster, makes animations smooth and can hold multiple applications in the background without killing them. This makes switching apps easy, fast and restored to the previous position you were in.
Big HD Screen with 90Hz Dynamic Refresh
What do you look for in a budget performance smartphone? Well, I usually look out for a big screen with a decent screen resolution and a high refresh rate. Not 60Hz though, it must be at least 90Hz or more.
The display on the NOTE 12i is a 6.82 Inch or 173mm HD+ screen with a screen resolution of 1640X720. This LCD display has a dynamic refresh rate of 90Hz making this phone a budget gaming device I would consider. It might not be a Full HD device, but the display is clear enough for some serious gaming to happen.
For best results, I would suggest setting the refresh rate settings to Auto Switch to get the best of both worlds. A low refresh rate when not needed to save on battery and a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother animations and gaming.
Camera
The Triple Camera set up at the rear consists of a 50MP main camera, a 2MP Depth lens and a QVGA lens not forgetting the bright Quad LED flash. The main camera can shoot videos at a maximum quality of 1440p or 2K at 30 frames per second. The front camera is an 8MP lens with dual flash and can also shoot 2K vides at 30fps.
Here are a few photo samples I took starting with the Super night feature. The first photo is a normal photo and the second one is with the Super Night feature enabled. The result is truly amazing.
And here are some normal AICAM photos. They are a tiny little bit saturated but good overall.
Conclusion
This is the perfect NOTE in the NOTE 12 series because it is not expensive, it has a big screen with high refresh rate, up to 7GB of RAM and an incredible camera set up.