The Infinix Note 40 5G: A Budget Phone That Doesn’t Compromise on Features
Infinix is a brand that’s steadily making its mark in the budget and mid-range smartphone market. While they might not be the first name that comes to mind when you’re looking for a new phone, their devices consistently offer impressive features at competitive prices. The Infinix Note 40 5G, launched in India late last month, epitomizes this philosophy by bringing wireless charging – a first in this price segment – to the table. After spending a week with the phone, I discovered a compelling blend of features and impressive performance, making it a serious contender in the budget smartphone arena. But does it have some drawbacks? Read on to find out.
Infinix Note 40 5G Design: A Rectangular Slab with Character
The Infinix Note 40 5G boasts an all-plastic construction with a matte finish rear panel that catches the light subtly. The phone’s glossy frame attracts fingerprints, but its sleek design still makes a positive impression. A rectangular slab protruding from the top right corner houses the camera sensors and the unique Active Halo Lighting, a feature that provides a splash of visual personality. This slab is ingeniously designed, effectively eliminating any wobbliness when the phone is laid flat.
The front features a large display with thin bezels and tapered sides, maximizing screen real estate. The phone’s layout is classic: volume and power buttons on the right, SIM card tray on the left, mic and an IR blaster at the top, and another mic, speaker, and USB Type-C port at the bottom. A flash sits subtly in the top right corner of the front, an unexpected bonus for capturing brighter selfies.
The Note 40 5G weighs 185 grams and measures 7.91mm thin, making it comfortable to hold. It also boasts an IP53 rating, offering protection against splashes and dust. While the design excels for a budget phone, the glossy plastic frame feels somewhat cheap in hand.
Infinix Note 40 5G Display: Big, Bright, and Smooth
Prepare to be captivated by the Note 40 5G’s 6.78-inch display – a truly immersive experience. Infinix has pulled off a design feat by incorporating thin and symmetrical bezels on the top and sides, resulting in an impressive 93.8 percent screen-to-body ratio. While the panel doesn’t have Gorilla Glass protection, the box includes tempered glass for extra peace of mind.
The Note 40 5G’s LTPS AMOLED panel boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, full-HD+ resolution, 1,300 nits brightness, and a blazing 240Hz touch response. It also covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and carries a TUV Rheinland Eye Care certification, ensuring comfortable viewing for extended periods.
The display is plenty bright for indoor use and shines even under direct sunlight, making it easy to read content outdoors. Colors on the panel are vivid and vibrant, and viewing angles are surprisingly wide and consistent. The phone offers two *colour modes, Original and Bright, with the latter providing slightly more punchy colors. There’s also a High brightness mode and an Ultra Touch feature claimed to enhance touch sensitivity. The display is a pleasure to use for everything from streaming content to playing games.
The in-display fingerprint scanner is strategically placed at the bottom of the display. Although this placement might be slightly awkward for some users to reach, it has proven to be reliable and responsive during my testing. While it generally unlocked the phone quickly, there were occasional instances where it required a couple of tries.
Infinix Note 40 5G Software: Clean and Feature-Rich
The Infinix Note 40 5G comes with Android 14 out of the box, running on Infinix’s proprietary XOS skin. The software experience is refreshingly clean, with minimal bloatware and no intrusive ads. The few pre-installed apps can be conveniently uninstalled.
XOS includes a variety of unique user-friendly features. The Dynamic Bar, a visually appealing notification system, displays notifications around the hole-punch cutout on the display. Other useful features include Floating Windows, MemFusion for RAM expansion, Game Mode with the XArena app for enhanced gaming performance, XClone to enable dual apps, and a Kids Mode for parental control.
There’s also Folax, a capable voice assistant similar to Google Assistant, allowing you to set reminders, answer queries, and launch apps. Although there is an AI Gallery app, I couldn’t find any AI features in my usage.
Infinix has committed to providing 2 years of Android OS updates and 3 years of security patches, an impressive commitment for a budget phone.
The user interface generally runs smoothly, but there were occasional instances of lag and stutter when browsing web pages on Chrome or navigating through the Settings app.
Infinix Note 40 5G Performance: A Solid Performer
The Infinix Note 40 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7020 SoC, a chipset known for its efficiency rather than raw power. It’s paired with 8GB of RAM, virtually expandable to 16GB thanks to the MemFusion feature. The phone handles multitasking well but may exhibit lag when opening multiple apps in quick succession.
I ran the Note 40 5G through our usual benchmark suite, comparing its performance to some of its rivals.
| Benchmark | Infinix Note 40 5G | Realme P1 5G | OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 Single Core | 909 | 956 | 904 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi Core | 2025 | 2369 | 2015 |
| AnTuTu v10 | 488,954 | 570,926 | 448,127 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 13,309 | 13,319 | 9,850 |
| GFXBench Car Chase | 16 | 21 | 17 |
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 | 29 | 39 | 30 |
| GFXBench T-Rex | 66 | 60 | 60 |
The phone delivered solid benchmark results, holding its own against competing devices in the same price range. Despite its performance, the Note 40 5G remained relatively cool when running the benchmark tests. However, it didn’t support our usual 3DMark tests, which is a slight drawback.
In terms of gaming, I tested Call of Duty Mobile, BGMI, and Asphalt 9. Asphalt 9 ran smoothly on high-quality settings. However, BGMI and COD Mobile didn’t support full graphics settings, and the phone did heat up during gameplay.
The phone features hybrid dual speakers tuned by JBL, delivering loud sound without much bass. Audio quality during voice and video calls is noteworthy, with a clear microphone capturing sound effectively.
Infinix Note 40 5G Cameras: Adequate for Everyday Use
The Infinix Note 40 5G might seem to have a triple rear camera setup, but only one sensor is actually usable. The other two sensors aren’t accessible in the camera app and are primarily for depth information for portrait photos. The Camera app is intuitive and easy to navigate, with all essential modes readily available.
The primary rear camera captures decent photos in daylight, showcasing saturated colors and good detail. HDR and white balance perform commendably, producing well-balanced images. Infinix claims 3x lossless zoom capability, and the 3x shots were visually pleasing but lacked color accuracy and detail.
The primary camera struggled with low-light conditions, often relying on auto night mode. The resulting images exhibited noise and blur because the sensor only supports electronic image stabilisation. However, the Super Night mode produced significant improvements, and I recommend using it in low-light scenarios. The 3x zoom mode again didn’t produce great results in low light.
The Infinix Note 40 5G selfie camera delivers decent results under daylight conditions. Detail is preserved well, and colors are less saturated compared to rear camera shots. The front-facing LED slit flash ensures satisfactory selfies even in lower-light situations.
Video recording capabilities include a maximum resolution of 2K at 30fps, although the Ultrasteady stabilization mode is only available at 1080p 30fps. The rear camera captures decent video quality, with sufficient detail in daylight. However, stabilization is uneven, resulting in jarring and stuttering when significant movement occurs. Low-light videos suffer from noticeable noise, even at 2K resolution. Dynamic range is adequate, but HDR and color accuracy could be improved.
Infinix Note 40 5G Battery: Wireless Charging, A Budget Phenomenon
The Infinix Note 40 5G delivers solid battery performance. In our HD video loop test, the phone lasted for approximately 18 hours. The included 33W fast charger can fully charge the phone from 0 to 100 percent in about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Infinix’s Cheetah X power management chip features bypass charging, wireless reverse charging, and dynamic charge modes, effectively preventing the phone from overheating while using the wired charger.
The phone boasts 15W wireless charging – a standout feature in the budget segment. While wireless charging takes approximately 3 hours for a full charge, it does leave the phone slightly warm. The phone supports MagCharge, Infinix’s wireless charging system, and comes with a compatible case in the box. Overall, the Note 40 5G consistently provided a day and a half of battery life, comfortably handling a mix of web browsing, YouTube streaming, camera use, and about 45 minutes of gaming.
Infinix Note 40 5G Verdict: A Budget Champion with Wireless Charging
The Infinix Note 40 5G stands out from direct competitors like the Realme P1 5G, Poco X6 Neo 5G, and OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite. While these devices offer better designs and slightly superior camera performance, none can match the Note 40 5G’s wireless charging feature.
If you’re seeking a phone under Rs. 20,000 with wireless charging, a good display, decent primary rear camera, and impressive battery life, the Infinix Note 40 5G is a compelling choice. The unique Active Halo Lighting adds a touch of visual flair. However, if wireless charging isn’t a priority, the Realme P1 5G might be a better overall alternative.
