Infinix Zero 40 5G hands-on review
Software
The Zero 40 5G is running on XOS 14.5.0 on top of Android 14. Our review unit was on the August 2024 security patch at the time of testing. Infinix has promised two major Android updates and three years of security updates for this device.
XOS 14.5 is more or less what you can expect from a modern Chinese Android skin. It's mostly very familiar with a lot of design ideas borrowed from other sources. The launcher, the icons, the split notification and quick settings screen, even the way certain apps and events collapse into a certain pill-shape around the front camera, are all reminiscent of something or the other. You are not finding any groundbreaking new ideas here but at the same time you won't be feeling lost, either.
The good thing about the software experience on Infinix phones is that it does not go down the route many others have in this price range, which is to stuff their phones with bloatware, ads, and annoying notifications selling you stuff. Aside from the one GoPro Quik app, which is part of a collaboration with GoPro, the only other apps on our review unit were from Infinix or Google. There also aren't any ads to be found in any of the apps and we only got a bare minimum number of notifications. Other companies like Xiaomi could learn a lot from this.
Overall, XOS on the Zero 40 5G is perfectly usable with a decent amount of customizability and built-in features. It's not the most original looking design out there but at this point very few players in this space are offering that.
Performance
The Zero 40 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultimate chipset. Our review unit came with 12GB of LPDDR5 memory, which Infinix generously likes to advertise as 24GB since you can also add up to 12GB of virtual memory. We also got 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage space although you can also get it in 256GB configuration.
Performance on the Zero 40 5G was good, as the phone mostly felt quite fast and smooth in everyday use. The OS makes good use of fluid animations, which further add to the feeling of responsiveness. Overall, not much to complain about. The experience here is quite enjoyable.
GeekBench 6
- Multi-core
- Single-core
Poco F6 Pro
OnePlus 12R
OnePlus Nord 4
Pixel 8a
Infinix Zero 40 5G
vivo V40
Realme 13 Pro+
AnTuTu 10
Poco F6 Pro
OnePlus 12R
OnePlus Nord 4
Pixel 8a
Infinix Zero 40 5G
vivo V40
Oppo Reno12 Pro
3DMark - Wild Life Extreme (2160p)
OnePlus 12R
OnePlus Nord 4
Pixel 8a
Infinix Zero 40 5G
vivo V40
Oppo Reno12 Pro
Oppo Reno12
The phone also offers good gaming performance. Genshin Impact may be a few years old at this point but can still be quite demanding at the highest settings. The Zero 40 5G was able to offer a reasonably stable 60FPS or a locked 30FPS experience in the title. The performance was also quite good in the newer Zenless Zone Zero title from the same developer. If you play mostly lightweight competitive titles then you should have an even better experience.
Reader comments
- Anonymous
- 21 hours ago
- Ki7
I'm pretty sure the definition of a flagship is the best or best selling product a company offers... That being said, it is kind of misleading as they brand it as bleeding edge stuff. This phone is a solid budget mid-range device, not a hig...
- Anonymous
- 05 Nov 2024
- 6yA
Calling a model a flagship when it clearly isn't just because it's the best the brand offers doesn't seem right to me, it's just misleading marketing.