Infinix Zero 40 5G Review: Mid-Range Hero?

Infinix should stop using the Zero moniker for their phones because, honestly, their phones are not what they used to be. The new Infinix Zero 40 5G is not a zero. The phone, at a starting price of Rs. 27,999, offers a lot of features. Infinix also claims that the Zero 40 5G is the first phone in its segment to offer 4K 60fps video recording on both front and rear cameras and to feature a 50-megapixel ultrawide rear camera. It’s also the first Infinix phone to launch with Infinix AI.

The company heavily emphasises the phone’s video recording features, stabilisation, and its potential as an ideal device for vlogging—I’ve never heard the word “vlog” mentioned so many times in a product briefing. So, is the Infinix Zero 40 5G any good? Do all of these segment-firsts make it a hero? You’ll have to read the full review to find out.

Infinix Zero 40 Design: Stylish

• Dimensions – 164.31×74.47×7.9mm
• Weight – 195g
• Colours – Moving Titanium, Violet Garden, Rock Black

Infinix has done a very good job in terms of design. The phone features curved sides and flat top and bottom edges, making it comfortable to hold and easy to use one-handed. The phone is available in three colour options, and we got the Violet Garden variant. The rear panel has a two-tone finish and the word ‘Zero’ etched at the bottom right corner. It’s a nice phone to look at, especially in the Violet colour option.

The curved edges make the phone slimmer than it actually is

The back is dominated by a large circular camera module, accented with a focus ring-like design. The curved edges make the phone feel slimmer than it really is. The left side is clean, while the power and volume buttons are placed on the right. At the bottom, you’ll find the USB Type-C port, a loudspeaker, a microphone, and a SIM card tray. The top houses an IR blaster, another microphone, and a speaker grille. Infinix has also provided an IP54 rating for added protection, which is a nice touch.

Infinix Zero 40 Display: Big with a little bit of curve

• Size and type – 6.78-inch, full-HD+, Curved AMOLED
• Refresh rate – Up to 144Hz
• Protection – Corning Gorilla Glass 5

The Infinix Zero 40 5G features a curved display with slim, uniform bezels, resulting in an impressive 93.4 percent screen-to-body ratio. The panel is of the LTPS variety, which means that although it offers a 144Hz refresh rate, it cannot go all the way down to 1Hz. You can, however, choose between auto, 60, 120, and 144Hz. The display also offers a 360Hz touch sampling rate and 2,304Hz PWM frequency.

Running the screen at 144Hz will drain the battery much faster

In terms of colour, you get a 10-bit panel with 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. There are also two colour modes available on the phone – Original and Bright-coloured. I’d recommend sticking to the former. You also get TUV Rheinland Eye Care certification and an Eye care mode. As for brightness, the phone gets plenty bright indoors (1,300 nits peak), but it can be a bit dull under direct sunlight.

For watching movies, gaming, and any kind of content consumption, the screen is great. It’s big, colourful, bright (indoors), and offers a super fast refresh rate. There’s also Widevine L1 certification so that you can use all your streaming services.

Infinix has included an in-display fingerprint scanner on the phone. Despite being placed lower down on the screen, it worked accurately and was fast.

Infinix Zero 40 Software: AI this and AI that

• OS – Android 14
• UI – XOS 14.5
• Latest security patch – August 5, 2024

The phone runs Android 14-based XOS 14.5 out of the box. As expected, it includes a fair amount of pre-installed apps, but fortunately, most can be uninstalled. The user interface is fairly clean, with smooth animations.

Infinix has also included an edge control feature that lets you take advantage of the curved screen and quickly access your favourite apps. There’s an IR Control option in the Quick setting and within the Welife app to control other devices using its infrared blaster. The phone boasts a “Works with GoPro” certification, but all it means is that you can control a GoPro action camera using the GoPro Quik app—a feature that virtually any smartphone is capable of.

The AI eraser does a decent job

The Zero 40 5G has many AI features as part of the Infinix AI suite. You get an AI Eraser in the Gallery app that works pretty well for removing objects from photos, though its performance can be inconsistent. Sometimes, I could remove an object with a single attempt, but other times, it took multiple tries to achieve the desired result.

Other AI-powered features include Smart Cut-out, which allows you to cut out objects from photos easily, and AI Vlog, which can automatically create a vlog using up to 20 clips from your gallery. Additionally, Smart Search lets you find pictures in the Gallery app by simply typing a text description.

There’s an AI Wallpaper Generator that creates images based on your photos or text input, though I couldn’t test this feature due to a recurring “server is being upgraded” error. The Infinix Folax voice assistant is also built-in and capable of answering questions, translating text, controlling basic phone functions, and more.

Some of the AI features didn’t work

While it’s nice to have all the above-mentioned AI features, Infinix has a lot of work to do, as some of them, including the wallpaper generator, refused to work for me.

In terms of software support, Infinix has promised 2 years of Android OS updates and 3 years of security patches.

Infinix Zero 40 Performance: Good enough

• Chipset – MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultimate
• RAM – 12GB LPDDR5x
• Storage – Up to 512GB UFS 3.1

The MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultimate chipset is quite capable and easily handles day-to-day tasks. Multitasking is a breeze,e too. It even fares well in gaming and doesn’t produce a lot of heat when under heavy use. The phone has 12GB RAM and 256GB or 512GB storage. There is also a virtual RAM expansion feature, and you get a microSD card slot to add more storage.

The phone is good for gaming

Regular performance is pretty good, and I didn’t really face any lag while running multiple apps, using the camera, or performing various day-to-day tasks. We ran our usual set of benchmarks on the phone, and it performed similarly to other phones in the segment.

Gaming on the phone is fun, thanks mainly to the large screen with 144Hz refresh rate. I ran BGMI, Asphalt Legends Unite, and Genshin Impact on the phone and was able to play all of them without much lag. In BGMI and Asphalt Legends Unit, I was able to play with the highest available graphics. However, with Genshin Impact, I couldn’t play with the highest settings, and I also found that the phone would heat up after just 15-20 minutes. I also noticed this heating when using the rear camera for 4K video recording.

The phone does heat up when running heavy games

The Infinix Zero 40 5G delivers good call quality and audio performance. It features a dual stereo speaker setup with “Sound by JBL,” along with support for DTS Hi-RES Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless. Calls came through clearly, both through the microphone and ear speaker. The dual speakers provide good stereo separation and are loud and clear but fall short in bass.

Infinix Zero 40 Cameras: Decent

• Rear main – 108-megapixel wide, OIS
• Secondary – 50-megapixel ultra-wide, 120-degree FoV
• Front – 50-megapixel wide

Infinix is heavily marketing the Zero 40 5G video recording capabilities and even calling it a vlogging phone. As per the brand, it’s the first phone in the segment to offer 4k 60fps recording on the primary, ultra-wide, and front camera.

The phone supports 4K 60fps recording across three cameras

In my testing, while you get 4K 60fps across all three cameras, there’s no stabilisation supported in this mode. However, the video performance is just about average. While there are good levels of detail in 4K resolution on all three supported cameras, the dynamic range, colours, focus shifting, and stabilisation are average. There are two levels of stabilisation available on the phone – Ultra Steady and Ultra Steady Pro. If you’re shooting using 4K resolution on any of the cameras, you can only use Ultra Steady at 30fps. And the stabilisation here isn’t excellent. The Ultra Steady Pro does offer slightly better stabilisation, but it only works in 1080p. However, no Ultra Steady Pro stabilisation is available on the front camera in any resolution. You also get some Vlog filters on the front camera in the video, but they’re passable and don’t shoot in 4K.

Now, let’s talk about still photography. The photos taken in daylight conditions offer good details across both main and ultrawide cameras. Even HDR performance is pretty good for a phone at this price point. You will find colour inaccuracies between the two cameras though, and there’s also some over-saturation going on.

Top to bottom: 3 x Main Camera; 3 x Ultrawide [Tap to Expand]

Photos taken using the primary rear camera in lowlight conditions bring in some noise, but it’s definitely usable. Ultrawide camera performance in the dark is average at best, has more noise than the main, and is once again plagued by colour inaccuracy.

Top to Bottom: 2 x Main camera; 2 x Ultrawide

There’s also a 3x mode, but it’s only a zoomed-in crop, and is mostly a miss. Portrait photos are average, with the bokeh looking fake most of the time.

Infinix Zero 40 Battery: Average

• Capacity – 5,000mAh
• Fast charging – 45W wired, 20W wireless
• Charger – Included, MagCase

Infinix has equipped the Zero 40 5G with a sizable 5,000mAh battery, but it’s average in terms of battery life. While it lasted over a day with regular use, it underperformed in our HD video loop test. With the brightness at 50 percent and the refresh rate set to 144Hz, the battery drained in just about 14 hours. However, you can extend the battery life by enabling adaptive brightness and switching the refresh rate to 120Hz.

You get a MagCase in the box

Charging the phone is fast, thanks to the included 45W charger. A full charge from 0 to 100 percent took about 1 hour and 10 minutes, which is decent. The phone also supports wireless charging at 20W.

Infinix Zero 40 Verdict

The Infinix Zero 40 5G is a good choice if you’re on the lookout for a mid-range phone that offers good design, a good set of cameras that you’ll mostly use in the day, good gaming performance, decent battery life, and a nice big curved display with fast refresh rate. If you’re looking for a phone for vlogging, this is not the one.

In terms of alternatives in the same price range, you can try the Motorola Edge 50 Pro (Review), iQOO Z9s Pro (Review), or the Nothing Phone 2a Plus (Review). All of these have their own advantages and disadvantages, so we’d recommend reading the reviews before making a decision.