Infinix Zero X Pro review

Camera

One of the highlight features of the Infinix Zero X Pro is undoubtedly its hardware setup. It is quite impressive from a hardware standpoint. There are a total of three cameras on the back of the phone, and all three have autofocus - PDAF on the main cam and telephoto, which is not that uncommon, but the ultrawide also gets basic autofocus. This allows it to double as a macro camera. And speaking of extra features, both the main and telephoto also get OIS. That is alongside additional EIS stabilization for video.

The Infinix Zero X Pro wasn't shy about the particular camera modules it uses either and gave up that information in the software. Headlining the show is a 108MP, f/1.8, 1/1.52" snapper. It uses a Samsung S5KHM2 sensor, with a total resolution of 12000x9000 (108MP) and 0.7um pixel size. This is an ISOCELL 2.0 unit with Super-PD autofocus, OIS and a Nonapixel arrangement. What that means in practical terms is that it is meant to do pixel binning in batches of 9 pixels, which results in 12MP photos by default.

The 8MP telephoto on the Infinix Zero X Pro uses familiar hardware. We've seen the same setup in vivo's X60 Pro+, X70 Pro and X70 Pro+, also Xiaomi's Mi 10 Pro 5G. It advertises 5x lossless zoom, which is achieved through a periscope system, as it's usually the case, as the lens provides an f/3.4 aperture and OIS. The sensor used for the setup is 8MP OmniVision OV08A10, 1/4.4" in size and has 1.0um pixels. Both OIS and PDAF are available for this shooter.

The 8MP, f/2.3 ultrawide camera is based on a GalaxyCore GC8034 sensor, which has a 1/4" optical format plus a 1.12um pixels. The interesting bit, of course, is that it has autofocus and can double as a macro cam.

Finally, there is the 16MP, f/2.0 selfie cam. It uses an OmniVision OV16B10 sensor, with a 1/2.76" optical format and 1.12 um. No autofocus here, though.

Camera app

The default camera app is well-organized and has a surprising number of options and additional features. We were honestly pleasantly surprised. There is a potent AI scene detection system that automatically detects and switches between modes and sometimes suggests switching camera modes outright, like directing you to the dedicated Super Night mode when there is not enough light. There is a mode carousel on the bottom, as well as a slide-out menu and plenty of settings to fiddle with.

Main camera UI, modes and settings

Our sole complaint about the AI is that we found no way of disabling it, short of switching to Pro mode. Since we are on the topic, you get exposure correction (-2 - +2), shutter speed (1/1500 - 30s), ISO (100 - 6400), white balance (2000 - 9000K), manual focus and three metering modes.

Pro photo mode and focus points

Speaking of focus and metering, the viewfinder includes squares to visualize focus points, which we find really convenient and is a surprisingly uncommon feature.

The video capture UI is pretty straightforward too. Though, it is worth pointing out that Infinix has included toggles for beauty filters in video, as well as portrait video with a faux defocused background.

Video capture UI

And speaking of nifty added-value features, there is the Short video mode, which has beauty filters, as well as Snapchat-style live effects and overlays-neat little addition.

Short video filters and lenses

Photo quality - daylight

The main camera on the Infinix Zero X Pro captures decent but not particularly impressive shots. As we said, stills are captured in 12MP by default, and the level of detail in the frame is perfectly acceptable, though not really living up to what the lofty native 108MP resolution of the sensor might suggest. In fact, things like grass or leaves tend to look particularly soft, with few discernable individual lines.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 12MP main camera samples

To combat the general softness, the phone is applying strategic sharpening here and there. And while it looks fine most of the time, on occasion, you go get some noticeable oversharpening.

On a more positive note, colors on the main cam look nice in a more natural and truer to life kind of way. Not oversaturated or overly punchy.

Dynamic range is a bit narrower than we would have liked to see, but not dramatically so.

These shots were captured with Ai enhancement, which is constantly on anyway, as well as Auto HDR.

You can choose to capture 108MP shots on the Infinix Zero X Pro. However, doing so is simply a waste of space and nothing more since these don't offer any actual benefits in detail or overall quality and are most likely simply an upscaled version of the regular 12MP stills. If looking at the shots side-by-side wasn't enough to convince us of the fact, there is also the important detail that according to MediaTek's website, the Helio G95 can only support up to a 64MP camera and hence can't actually read the entire unbinned 108MP sensor directly.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 108MP main camera samples

The main camera can capture portraits. These, like regular shots from the main cam, are decent, but not impressive in any way. That goes for subject detection and separation too, which can be a bit inconsistent. The adjustable background blue does look quite pleasant and convincing, though.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 12MP main camera portrait samples

Portraits of non-human subjects don't turn out quite as good, mostly due to worse subject detection and separation. However, the detection does trigger and does a decent enough job.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 12MP main camera portrait samples (non-human subjects)

The 8MP ultrawide camera is pretty underwhelming when it comes to just general daylight shots. Photos from it look grainy and noisy with a rather limited dynamic range.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP ultrawide camera samples

The biggest issue we encountered with the ultrawide, however, was exposure inconsistency. The automatic exposure tends to differ wildly from one shot to the next, and tapping for getting the correct exposure doesn't quite work accurately or consistently. Perhaps these issues can be addressed with software updates, but it's a very noticeable issue as things currently stand.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP ultrawide camera samples (inconsistent exposure)

On a slightly more positive note, the ultrawide captures about as much detail as we would expect given its resolution and has natural colors as well. Its autofocus is a bit sluggish but was mostly consistent.

As we mentioned, thanks to its autofocus, the ultrawide can also pull off some quite impressive macro shots. These tend to look better than what can be achieved with a cheap dedicated macro cam, like the popular 5MP units and especially the 2MP one. There is plenty of detail and balanced colors.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP ultrawide camera macro samples

The inclusion of autofocus adds some extra flexibility to the mix as well, since you are not limited to a given focus plane, and the camera actually handles aggressive close-ups rather well. Mind you, you do have to get quite physically close to the subject and exercise some patience for the autofocus to get things just right.

The periscope telephoto camera on the Zero X Pro captures 5X lossless zoom shots by default. These come out looking very impressive overall. There is more than enough detail in the frame, with no noticeable softness of oversharpening. Colors are good, natural and quite consistent with the main cam. Even dynamic range is decent.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP telephoto camera 5x samples

Infinix didn't stop at 5x zoom, though and decided to allow up to 60x digital zoom on the Zero X Pro, likely to give the PR department some extra talking points more than anything else. We will say that up to around 10x zoom still maintain most of the excellent quality attributes of 5x shots. However, anything beyond that starts to look quite soft and more like an algorithmic take on an oil painting of what is in the frame.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP telephoto camera samples: 10x • 30x • 60x • 10x • 30x • 60x • 10x • 30x • 60x

One usability issue we constantly struggled with it the lack of any presets or "stops" on the digital zoom slider beyond 5x. It is difficult to hit a nice round zoom number consistently, even though the scale is nicely drawn with bigger lines on the major increments. A little extra UX polish would be appreciated here.

Before we move on, here's how the main camera on the Infinix Zero X Pro stacks up against other devices in our extensive photo compare database. Feel free to pixel-peep.

Infinix Zero X Pro against the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro in our Photo compare tool

Selfies on the Zero X Pro look great overall. The level of detail is excellent. We also appreciate the consistent subdued colors here, which tend to match those from the main camera quite well. You only get fixed focus, but the focus plane is mostly forgiving, and you do get a nifty focus indicator to let you know when your eyes are detected, and the phone thinks your face is in focus.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 16MP selfie camera samples

Dynamic range could be a bit better, but it's hardly a major deficiency here.

Selfie portraits look good, but subject detection and separation aren't always on point. The selfie camera tends to have some natural bokeh in regular mode, too.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 16MP selfie camera portrait samples

Photo quality - low-light

It makes perfect sense that the main camera is still decent but unimpressive in low-light conditions, just like in the daytime. Detail is good, but nothing to phone home about. Softness is still an issue, alongside "smeary" patches, particularly on uniform surfaces and the sky. These are arguably a lot less noticeable in low-light, though. Plus, we should note that the weather was a bit foggy.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 12MP main camera low-light samples

By the same logic, capturing 108MP low-light stills is equally pointless too.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 108MP main camera low-light samples

The Infinix Zero X Pro has a dedicated Super Night mode. Unfortunately, it is only limited to the main camera for some inexplicable reason. On the plus side, it actually manages to fix up many of the flaws in these stills. Light sources and light, in general, are handled noticeably better, with restored shadows and highlights. The "smears" in things like the sky are mostly gone too.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 12MP main camera Super Night mode samples

Surprisingly, the Zero X Pro doesn't take too long to process these shots either. On the flip side, oversharpening is a noticeable attribute of these night shots, and the results, in general, can be quite inconsistent.

All things considered, ultrawide low-light shots are not too bad. Definitely usable. The inconsistent exposure seems to be less of a prominent issue with dimmer lighting, which is a nice surprise. Detail is perfectly fine for an 8MP still, too.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP ultrawide camera low-light samples

In another bit of irony, the otherwise impressive telephoto camera struggles quite badly in low-light. Shots from it are dark and underexposed more often than not. Perhaps the dim f/3.4 lens is catching up to the telephoto since it can't exactly crank its ISO up indefinitely.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP telephoto 5x camera low-light samples

Even so, we would say that 5x shots can be usable, depending on how much light is actually available in the scene. Any digital zoom past that is more wishful thinking and algorithmic painting rather than an actual photo.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 8MP telephoto camera low-light samples: 10x • 30x • 60x • 10x • 30x • 60x • 10x • 30x • 60x

One particularly nifty trick the Infinix Zero X Pro can pull off is related to low-light selfies. There is actually a set of front-facing LEDs in the top bezel meant to light up your face. These work as intended, though the effect can be a bit aggressive at times. It all depends on your background.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 16MP selfie camera low-light selfies with LED lights

Here are some selfies without the lights for comparison.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 16MP selfie camera low-light selfies

Super Night mode might not be available on the ultrawide or the telephoto cameras, but at least it works on the selfie. Its effects are pretty obvious and generally beneficial, though it should be noted that the brighter shots tend to come at the cost of less skin detail.

Infinix Zero X Pro: 16MP selfie camera Super Night mode selfies

Video recording

The Infinix Zero X Pro can capture video at up to 4K@30fps on its main camera, with the telephoto and ultrawide both capping out at 1080p@30fps. Videos get encoded in a h.264 MP4 file with a standard AVC video stream around 42Mbps for the main cam at 4K and 17Mbps on the ultrawide and telephoto at 1080p. You can't opt for the more space-efficient and modern h.265 (HEVC) encoding as on most other phones, which is a bit of a bummer. The real deficiency to note here, however, is that videos only get mono audio - a single 48kHz AAC track. That's pretty unacceptable for 2021 and something we haven't encountered in a long time.

In terms of quality, 4K clips from the main cam are solid, particularly in terms of detail and have practically no noise. Colors are nice overall, though it should be noted that Infinix opted for a more vibrant and saturated look than its stills. Dynamic range is a bit limited, though.

The telephoto camera on the Infinix Zero X Pro can capture 1080p videos at up to 15x zoom. Naturally, quality starts to deteriorate quickly with higher zoom levels. At its default 5x, however, videos look great, especially for FullHD. There is plenty of detail.

In comparison the 1080p clips from the ultrawide camera look disappointingly soft and noisy. Dynamic range is an issue, and you do get the occasional focus hunting. That's perhaps the one downside of having autofocus on an ultrawide.

Selfie videos go up to 4K@30fps just like the main cam. However, the quality is not overly impressive. We expected more detail from these clips, and the limited dynamic range can become a major issue quickly in changing lighting conditions outside.

The Zero X Pro can do electronic video stabilization (EIS) on any one of its cameras. The only caveat is that you are limited to 1080p across all of the cameras, and you do have to sacrifice some of the frame. EIS works rather well on the ultrawide and main cameras, smoothing out most small shares and stutters. Even on the selfie, EIS does a decent job, though the size of the frame is reduced quite noticeably, to the point that fitting a face in the frame is pushing the limits of the fixed focal plane. You can check out some samples in this playlist.

EIS is kind of wasted on the telephoto since even at its native 5x zoom level. Every small shake is exacerbated massively in the actual footage. EIS just can't keep up. Then again, this is a rather odd use case, to begin with.

The Infinix Zero X Pro isn't particularly good at low-light video capture. Even 4K clips from the main cam come out looking quite noisy. Perfectly usable, but noisy. 1080p videos from the ultrawide are noisier still and generally softer with less detail, making them a bit hard to practically utilize. The telephoto doesn't really suffer from excessive noise, but its video tends to be dark, which also makes it hard to use in the real world. All three samples are in the following playlist.

Last, but not least, we captured our standard test posters with the main camera on the Infinix Zero X Pro at 4K. You can check out how it stacks against competitors in our extensive video compare database.

Infinix Zero X Pro against the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro in our Video compare tool