Infinix S2 Pro Review

The reason this Infinix S2 PRO review has taken so long is because I accidentally cracked the screen when shooting some video test. And I had to have that fixed before I could write this. The S2 PRO is a slippery phone and that was a contributing factor. But its all good now.

The Infinix S2 PRO like its predecessor, Infinix Hot S, is a unique, beautiful and special phone. I have had fun using it and playing with the cameras. Even-though, I love huge screen phones, I patiently used and adapted myself to this small screen.

Infinix S2 PRO Specifications:

• 5.2″ 720p HD IPS Display
• 13MP + 8MP front cameras
• 13MP back camera
• 1.3GHz Mediatek MT6753 Octa-core Processor
• 3GB RAM
• 32GB internal storage
• Android 7 Nougat with XOS skin
• Fast and accurate Fingerprint Scanner
• 3000mAh battery
• Price: Ksh. 15,699 on Jumia right now

Design:

When I say the S series is special, it is because of the design language Infinix uses. Like its predecessor, the S2 PRO feels premium. There’s Glass, Metal and Plastic used in the building of the phone.

The non-removable back cover is metallic. But the top and bottom is made out of plastic. Which I am guessing is Infinix’ way of enhancing the phone’s ability to connect to networks.

The front 2.5D glass finish looks amazing and pleasing but with no protection. Which means you have to be extra cautious handling it, or you’ll wait weeks to have it fixed in case it accidentally slips off your hand.

I have to say again that it is a very slippery phone. And one has to be very careful where they place it or it will slide off slowly and fall. It is very fragile. And maybe that fragility is what contributes to its overall beauty.

A bad thing is that the metal (and the plastic at the top and bottom) easily gets scratched. Meaning you really need a case for this phone.

Display:

I wasn’t happy when I learnt that the display wasn’t full HD. But with a 5.2″ display it is hard to notice any pixels. Under direct light, even with full brightness, it is hard to use the device (see video). Under normal lighting indoors, the display is good.

But there’s something I disliked about this phone’s display. Colours feel washed out. Like the green I am used to on another phone won’t feel so green on this device. It annoyed me at first. But I guess it is just the panel they used. And there’s nothing that can be changed. Also remember at the price point, there’s not much one should complain about.

Front Cameras:

The two front cameras work well both in low and normal light. The flash can be set to normal or strong as per one’s preferences. I have a post on the front cameras here.

If you are asking yourself how the cameras look like on the Infinix S2 PRO here’s an image:

And here’s how the camera app has been setup to aid in the use of the different lenses:

The 13MP lens captures normal angle pics while the 8MP shooter is the wide-angle lens that can capture group selfies which Infinix is calling WEFIES.

This post here will show you the images captured by the front camera. And how to switch between the two lenses.

Back Camera:

I honestly thought that with two front cameras, the back camera wouldn’t have anything much for me to talk about. But with sharp images like this:

And cool dusk images like this:

And this:

Plus this:

This is a good camera. There are definitely better cameras. But remember, I am ranking the device based on its price point.  Check out my camera review post here.

Performance:

With 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, you are good to go. Especially if you are paying not more than Ksh. 17,000. It is a good deal. But you not only want good specs, but a phone that can perform. And the processor used in this device isn’t considered by many standards good. But the phone performs tasks well. And for all the things I have given it, I haven’t had any issues. Nothing.

It is funny I even tried gaming on a 5.2 inch phone. But the device didn’t get hot. Yes a little warm but nothing crazy.

Here’s the benchmark test on Geekbench 4:

As you can see, the single-core test is bad. The multi-core test though not at par with current flagship phones (a very bad and unfair comparison, I must say) still is good and comes close to the likes of the OnePlus 2 and the Huawei Nexus 6P.

Speakers and Earphone Quality:

I do not very much like the sound quality of these speakers. I have used the Infinix Zero 4 and the Infinix Zero 4 Plus and I loved their speakers. If you are among the very few who don’t always use their earphones when listening to music and would love to use the phone’s speaker, you won’t really enjoy that on the S2 PRO. But yes the speakers get loud enough. My problem is there’s no bass and when you try higher volume it distorts the audio.

In the box you’ll get normal earphones that are pretty decent and come with other Infinix phones. But the sound quality passed out from the S2 PRO even on good quality headphones leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t know if it is the drivers or something else. But listening to music or watching something on the S2 PRO hasn’t been that pleasing for me. It isn’t about the volume. It is about the quality outputted.

Battery and Charging:

Fast charging: check.

Whole day use: check.

Fact: There’s little you can complain about a 3000mAh battery on a 5.2″ 720p resolution display.

Problem: Better use it on WiFi for more hours. On 3G or 4G it drains faster.

Software:

I have already talked about performance but I have to add this in here. The phone arrived running Android 6 Marshmallow. But Infinix, and kudos to them once again, sent out Nougat updates to all their latest phones. The update process was simple and smooth and I haven’t experienced any issue with any component of the device since updating.

You can watch this video and see my unit running Android 7 Nougat smoothly. What I still find funny is using multi-window on a 5.2 inch screen. It is so small.

Anyway, what bugged me about the OTA update process was that I had to have an external SD card to run the update. It is 2017!

What I really like about the Infinix S2 PRO:

1. Design – though slippery
2. Android 7 Nougat! Yeaaay!
3. Front cameras
4. Back camera
5. Performance
6. Like all other Infinix phones XOS has the X-Apps plus the fingerprint scanner can do a lot more like swipe through image gallery.

What I dislike about the Infinix S2 PRO:

1. The display’s washed out colours – I want greens green and reds red. Not shades of it.
2. Too fragile, Easily scratches.
3. Speaker and Earphone Sound Quality – if it is software, kindly fix it Infinix.

Finally…

One thing I really love about Infinix smartphones is the way they make affordable devices that feature exciting specs. A year ago, mention 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage with dual cameras and someone would quote a very high price! But now here we are and such devices are a reality. And there’s the promise of software updates!

Where to Buy?

• Buy from Jumia Kenya now!