Infinix Hot 20 series premiered in the Philippines, Hot 20 5G starts at sub-10K


Once again, Infinix is going truly hot with its pricing

The Infinix Hot 20 series will premiere in the Philippines on November 27th. They are budget smartphones with a punch-hole, good specs-to-price ratio, and a premium look. It is a phone that definitely describes Infinix, and the Hot series is their hottest (pun intended) selling smartphone series yet.

Infinix Hot 20 5G

A first for the series, the phones finally include one with 5G. The Hot 20 5G is a budget 5G phone priced at a sub-10K price point. This phone uses a MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset, whereas others would have used a more inferior Dimensity 700 at the same price. Also, this comes with an additional 3GB Virtual RAM, alongside the expandable storage via MicroSD Card

In addition, it comes with a 6.6in. FHD+ (2400x1080px) IPS LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Although it would have been preferable if they went with a 90Hz AMOLED but nonetheless, IPS LCD screens are also good and a lot more affordable, allowing for faster refresh rates.

It comes with a 50MP camera with one useless auxiliary. You know the one—2MP depth. In front is where the 8MP selfie camera sits. At least the 2MP macro is nowhere to be seen this time.

It has a typical 5000mAh battery inside with 18W fast charging. It comes with a USB-C port, a 3.5mm jack, a single speaker, and a Dual SIM Slot with a MicroSD Card slot to boot.

This phone starts at Php 9,499 and comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. While the RAM is no longer enough for demanding games, this is partially compensated by the chipset it uses and Virtual RAM.

There are other phones in the Hot 20 series. There is also the regular Hot 20, the Hot 20S, Hot 20 Play, and Hot 20i.

Infinix Hot 20

The Infinix Hot 20 is the vanilla phone, coming with a typical smartphone spec sheet you would expect at a sub 8K price point. The phone thankfully does feature a punch-hole which is a nice change.

In terms of design, aside from the punch hole, the phone is identical to its 5G sibling. Here, the display is still the same as the latter albeit with a slower 90Hz refresh rate and a lower resolution (HD+, 1512x720px). It comes with a Helio G85 chipset. A stable and reliable chipset.

It has a 50MP camera at the rear and, of course, the useless 2MP depth and macro. In front is an 8MP selfie camera. It also has a typical 5000mAh battery and 18W fast charging via USB-C. In addition, it has a 3.5mm jack, a single speaker, and expandable storage, both with the RAM (Virtually, up to 11GB) and with the ROM (through a MicroSD Card). It also has NFC.

By default, it comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, which is a lot for Php 7,499.

Infinix Hot 20S

You can make only so many combinations at sub-15K price ranges. What you can do here is switch between chipsets, cameras, display types, connections, and RAM/ROM options.

The Hot 20S distinguishes itself from its siblings as the “performance pack” of all of them. While the Dimensity 810 certainly performs better, it is advertised more as a beginner’s 5G experience than a performance chip. The Helio G96 is marketed for budget gamers and power users, which the Hot 20S uses.

The cameras and the overall design are pretty identical. The display has been one-upped to 120Hz and back to FullHD+ resolution once more. This time, the phone comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, paired with up to 5GB extra Virtual RAM. The phone has a gimmicky “Bionic Cooling System” that may help the phone cool under hot situations.

Price is still pretty good too, Php 8,499.

All phones from here come with a side-mounted fingerprint reader along with face unlock.

Infinix Hot 20 Play

The Play is the company’s endurance subseries of Hot phones. It is designed with power efficiency in mind, so unlike the rest of the phones in the series, this comes with a larger 6000mAh battery (still retaining the 18W fast charger) charged via USB-C.

It also moves the fingerprint scanner from the side to the back, with a very high reach. If you have small fingers, you might struggle a little. The cameras here are reduced to 13MP with a depth sensor. The front camera is still a punch-hole and retained its 8MP resolution.

Like the Hot 20, the resolution here is just HD+ (1600x720px) with a screen size of 6.82in and a 90Hz refresh rate. It is equipped with a Helio G37 chipset based on a 12nm process. This is actually an improved variant of the Helio G35 with an emphasis on power efficiency, so it’s no surprise why Infinix has chosen this chipset. This is paired with 4GB RAM (+3GB Virtual RAM) and 64GB internal storage that can be expanded via MicroSD Card.

It is priced at Php 6,499. Availability via Lazada and Shopee would be open on November 27th. The Hot 20i’s availability is yet to be announced.