The Infinix Note 40X is the latest contender in India’s bustling budget smartphone market, aiming to capture attention with its generous 256GB storage offering and a design that bears a striking resemblance to Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max. But with so many impressive devices already vying for attention in this price range, like the Samsung Galaxy M15, Lava Blaze X, Redmi 13C 5G, Vivo T3x, and Realme P1 5G, does the Note 40X have what it takes to stand out? We put it through its paces to find out.
Infinix Note 40X Design: A Familiar Face
The Infinix Note 40X’s design is hard to miss – it’s unmistakably reminiscent of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with its triple camera arrangement housed in a slightly raised island and even the LED flash positioned in the same spot. The rear panel boasts a matte finish that effectively resists fingerprints and smudges, and it features a color gradient that reveals itself subtly at different angles. Infinix keeps branding to a minimum, opting for a small logo in the bottom left corner. While the display offers decent viewing angles, it’s bordered by thick bezels, particularly noticeable at the bottom.
The phone’s flat edges, crafted from shiny plastic, feel comfortable in hand and are rounded off at all four corners. A speaker grille, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm audio jack reside on the bottom edge, while the power and volume buttons are conveniently situated on the right side. An additional speaker grille graces the top edge. The box includes a transparent TPU cover, charging brick, and a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable.
Infinix Note 40X Software: Feature-Packed, But With Some Bloatware
The Infinix Note 40X ships with Android 14 pre-installed, layered with XOS 14. While it comes with a selection of pre-loaded apps (WPS Office, Aha Games, Hola Browser, Visha Player, Wow FM), these can be uninstalled or disabled. Thankfully, spam notifications were not a concern during the review period.
Infinix has packed the software with a range of helpful features, including support for floating windows, a floating sidebar, a dedicated game mode, app cloning (allowing the use of two WhatsApp accounts on the same device), and a kid-friendly mode. The company has even attempted to mimic Apple’s Dynamic Island feature, introduced first with the iPhone 14 Pro, with a black pill expanding from the hole-punch camera cutout. This Dynamic Bar appears when using the Recorder app in the background, during face unlock, while charging, and on phone calls. Tapping the bar allows expansion or a return to the previously used app.
Two AI-powered features, Smart Touch (text extraction from apps) and AI wallpaper generation, are included. While they work as intended, users will need to configure Smart Touch access permissions to avoid unwanted information retrieval from sensitive apps like health and banking applications.
XOS 14 feels optimized on the Note 40X, and app navigation is generally smooth. However, it was noted that recently opened apps occasionally got pushed out of memory, requiring reloading upon switching back.
Infinix hasn’t made any commitments to Android OS version updates, meaning the device could remain on Android 14. The company promises two years of security updates, which is in line with some other manufacturers, but falls short of the four Android OS upgrades offered by the Samsung Galaxy M15.
Infinix Note 40X Performance: Gets the Job Done
The Infinix Note 40X is powered by the 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset, a rebadged version of the Dimensity 6080 SoC released in 2023, itself a rebranded iteration of the Dimensity 810 chip from 2021. Despite being a "rebranded" processor, it does offer minor improvements over its predecessor in GPU performance.
The Note 40X handles most apps with ease, from social media giants like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram to video editing apps like InShot and KineMaster. During file transfer tests, the built-in storage demonstrated speeds on par with competitors in this price segment.
Games like PUBG, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Asphalt Legends Unite (previously Asphalt 9: Legends) perform well on the Note 40X at medium settings. Even Genshin Impact proved playable, albeit at the lowest graphics settings, and despite some occasional lag. Notably, no throttling was observed after 30 minutes of gameplay, and the phone did not become uncomfortably hot.
Benchmark testing reveals that the Infinix Note 40X lags behind other smartphones in the same price range. While synthetic benchmarks don’t always mirror real-world performance, they do offer a useful comparison point.
Refer to the table below to see how the Infinix Note 40X fares against other budget-friendly smartphones available in India:
| Benchmark | Infinix Note 40X | Realme P1 5G | Moto G64 5G | iQoo Z9x |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 Single Core | 768 | 956 | 1,012 | 940 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi Core | 2,050 | 2,369 | 2,403 | 2,838 |
| AnTuTu v10 | 393,680 | 570,926 | 494,364 | 559,900 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 9,151 | 13,319 | 13,920 | 9,904 |
| 3DMark Wild Life | 1,373 | 4,126 | Failed to run | 2,373 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited | 1,356 | 4,205 | Failed to run | 2,396 |
| 3DMark Sling Shot | 3,724 | 6,654 | 3,379 | Failed to run |
| 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme | 2,747 | 5,766 | 2,590 | Failed to run |
| GFXBench Car Chase | 13 | 21 | 18 | 20 |
| GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 | 22 | 39 | 33 | 39 |
| GFXBench T-Rex | 52 | 60 | 70 | 92 |
The Infinix Note 40X sports a 6.78-inch Full-HD+ (1,080×2,460 pixels) IPS LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The display performed well outdoors under direct sunlight with automatic brightness enabled. The screen provides a pleasant experience for consuming content on Netflix and Prime Video, and the dual stereo speakers deliver loud audio without noticeable distortion.
Infinix Note 40X Cameras: Decent Daylight Photos
The Infinix Note 40X features a triple rear camera system, consisting of a 108-megapixel primary camera (f/1.8 aperture), a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The primary camera delivers decent photos in daylight, particularly when capturing still subjects.
The primary camera also captures 108-megapixel images, resulting in larger files with higher resolution than the default mode. The camera app includes a 3x zoom mode (in-sensor crop), enabling zoom without excessive detail loss.
Low-light conditions trigger a prompt to switch to the Super Night Mode, which takes a few seconds to capture images. For stationary subjects, this mode produces superior images to the default mode with reduced noise and smoothening, though some skin tones may exhibit a slightly reddish hue. Night Mode is also available in 1x and 3x camera modes.
The Infinix Note 40X’s 2-megapixel macro camera is suited for close-up photography, capturing objects up to 4cm away. This mode is most useful in daylight, and zooming in reveals some noise and smoothening.
The third 2-megapixel camera appears to function as a light sensor, and Infinix hasn’t divulged any information about its specifications or features. Access to the secondary sensors (macro and light) is restricted to the default camera app.
Selfies captured with the 8-megapixel front-facing camera are acceptable under daylight conditions, with ‘beautification’ features disabled by default. While there is no dedicated night mode for selfies, the camera app includes a helpful Wide Selfie option, which appears to take multiple images and stitch them together for wider group shots.
Both the primary rear camera and the selfie camera can record videos at up to 2K/ 30fps. There’s no support for optical image stabilization or electronic image stabilization, but 1080p/ 60fps videos exhibit less tearing compared to those captured at the highest resolution.
Infinix Note 40X Battery: Quite Reliable
The Infinix Note 40X houses a 5,000mAh battery that delivered around a day and a half of battery life with heavy use of Instagram, Threads, X, and occasional text messaging on WhatsApp. Screen-on time averaged around five and a half hours. Overnight drain was minimal, with a 2 percent battery drop over 8 hours.
In our synthetic video loop battery drain test, the phone managed to last for 22 hours and 10 minutes before shutting off. A full charge using the included 18W charger took 2 hours and 17 minutes.
Infinix Note 40X Review: Verdict
If you are seeking a smartphone that can smoothly handle a variety of apps and games while boasting ample storage, the Infinix Note 40X warrants consideration. It also delivers reliable battery life, making it a decent choice for on-the-go content consumption. The phone’s software features provide practical benefits for everyday use.
However, the Infinix Note 40X faces stiff competition from other devices within its price range that offer superior performance and faster wired charging. The Realme P1, Moto G64, and iQoo Z9x all achieved better scores in our benchmark tests. According to their respective manufacturers, these phones are also expected to receive at least one or more Android OS updates.
Additional smartphones to consider within this price range include the Samsung Galaxy M15, Redmi 13C 5G, Vivo T3x, and Lava Blaze X. Stay tuned to Gadgets 360 for more smartphone reviews to assist you in making an informed purchase decision for your next mobile phone.
