Infinix InBook X2 Laptop Review: Incredible Value for Money!

I feel like it’s a known fact that many Kenyans buy refurbished laptops as new – both knowingly and unknowingly. The market is flooded with them, they’re considered cheap, and much of the mass market still isn’t quite keen on specifications. I hope that doesn’t rub anyone the wrong way. I am saying that because I want to draw comparisons with the Infinix InBook X2 laptop I am reviewing. Here we have a laptop going for less than 50,000 shillings. You are getting it brand new. You’re the first person to unbox it and set it up.

The specs are a 14-inch Full HD display with a matte antiglare finish, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and an Intel Core i5 10th generation processor. The 10th generation chipset is the only downside so far. I know. But people are out here getting 6th, 7th, and 8th gen chipsets for much more – sometimes without realising they’re paying “brand new” money for “refurb” devices.

The Infinix InBook X2 Laptop has two USB Type-C ports, one of them charges it at 45W. There are also two normal USB ports, an HDMI port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone/mic port. So you’re sorted in terms of dongles. Every important port is here.

On your first setup, you’re not required to install Windows and then crack it for activation. This laptop comes with Windows 11 Home already activated. All that is to say, this is a very good deal. Let’s see how it performs and holds up after close to six weeks of use.

Design and Build

For many people, the most important thing when getting a laptop is size and weight. Ask around, people will prefer a thin and lighter machine because it means easier movement and portability – which is the whole point of the word “laptop.” This unit fits very well.

When you hear 14-inch display, your first thought would probably be something very huge. It isn’t. The bezels are tiny. The device is compact. It will fit in many of the laptop sleeves made for 13-inch laptops.

It is also a very light laptop at 1.24kgs. The body is made from what I presume is a magnesium alloy. It doesn’t flex, and it also doesn’t scratch easily. The only downside is that it really attracts fingerprints easily.

You will be able to easily carry it around and use it in different seating positions, whether traveling or out and about on some picnic time.

Display

The 14-inch display is really impressive in my book because of the matte antiglare coating. I really hate using my laptop outdoors because of reflections. Especially when you have apps or sites in dark mode, you end up seeing your reflection instead of what you’re working on.

With the Infinix InBook X2 Laptop, that’s not an issue thanks to the antiglare coating. It deals very well with reflections, making sure the screen looks really good when looked at directly. This means when you’re working on your laptop, things like the bright light of a bulb or the sun when outdoors aren’t a bother.

This, however, affects colors when you view the display from an angle – which isn’t an issue for me.

My only wish with this screen is that it were brighter. The claimed 300 nits doesn’t cut it for me. When using it outdoors, I cannot make out most of the things on the screen even when I bump the brightness to maximum. On that front, it cannot be an entertainment companion you go with outdoors.

Performance

Like I said in paragraph one, this laptop is really good value for money. And at the asking price, there’s very little I feel I should complain about – apart from the 10th Gen processor. However, not to worry, there’s an 11th Gen model which I’ve seen listed by some sellers in Kenya. I don’t think there will be a 12th Gen model, but I am hoping the new ARM awakening on Windows will get us some really cool new Copilot PCs made by Infinix and powered by Qualcomm processors.

For the Infinix InBook X2 Laptop I am reviewing, I cannot complain about the performance. The GeekBench and CineBench results show that this isn’t the device you’ll buy to play games, edit videos, or have a heavy workflow on. This is the device you buy for browsing the web, simple photo and video editing using software like CapCut and Polarr, and extended research, including reading and working on documents. So if you’re someone whose workflow is exactly that, this laptop will serve you really well.

Battery

For this size, I fear the missed opportunity was having a bigger battery. The included 50Wh battery doesn’t cut it for me as someone who has enjoyed the magic of Apple silicon. For someone upgrading from, say, a 7th or 8th gen refurb, as that’s mostly the target audience for this laptop, you will pretty much enjoy the battery life of this device.

You will be getting between 5-6 hours of browsing and light work. You will also be getting pretty fast charging via the USB Type-C port. I really like that. In my time with the Infinix InBook X2 Laptop, I’ve only needed to carry one cable always.

Important Things about the Infinix InBook X2 Laptop:

There are many other things that build up to the overall experience of using a laptop. Let me talk about these now:

1. Keyboard Backlight – The InBook X2 has two levels of keyboard backlighting. You control these via the function row keys. In very dim light, they really help with seeing the keys when typing.
2. Selfie Camera Light – This is the only laptop I’ve seen with such a feature. You can have flashlights illuminate your face when making a video call. It’s testament to Transsion’s continuity with its camera features from its phones. The camera itself isn’t anything exciting – it shoots 720p videos. The lights aren’t very helpful as they don’t get that bright. However, when it’s very dark, they can come in handy in a video call.
3. Meh Speakers – Not much effort was put into the speakers. They face down and have pretty much no bass.
4. Fan Noise – As a user of Apple silicon, it’s been so long since I heard fan noise. So it was pretty annoying when I started using the Infinix InBook X2 Laptop. However, I’ve since gotten used to the background sounds when working and the fan goes on. I’ve learned to keep the battery on power saver to reduce the fans getting loud.
5. No Bloatware – Given it comes already running Windows 11, I expected bloatware. There’s none. At all. Not even apps that would be essential to keeping the Infinix ecosystem. To link my Infinix phone to the laptop, I used the Link App by Windows. It works really well, allowing access to notifications, phone calls, photos, and messages. I just really expected something like X-Share to be built in.

Conclusion

I love this laptop. I wouldn’t say it better than that. I wish Infinix keeps the frame, keeps the pricing, and updates the internals, even if its just the processor. This is a laptop I wish to see sold by many more retailers to get more people to realise they can get things brand new. I hate seeing MSDOS as the default when people buy brand new expensive laptops with way underpowered CPUs or refurbs running cracked versions of Windows with very old CPUs.

Infinix now has the uphill task of getting people to know about their InBook laptops, and getting young people, especially kids in high school or joining campus, to know they can get a device with these specifications at this price point. I bet this is something that will support students for a long while – more so with Windows support not being pegged to Infinix.

Here’s the link to buy the InBook X2 from Xpark.com. Tell me your thoughts in the comments section.

Infinix Inbook X2 Specifications and Price in Kenya

Category	Specification
Price	KES 48,500 for Core i5 10th Gen InBook X2
Dimensions & Weight	14.8mm at thickest point Weight: 1.24kg
Display	14” LED-backlit FHD (1920 x 1080),  16:9 aspect ratio,  300 nits brightness,  92% screen-to-body ratio 100% sRGB Professional Display  Matte Anti-Glare Finish
Main Camera	Selfie Camera for Video Calls Dual LED Lights to brighten video calls
Processor	Intel Core i3-1005G1 or  Intel Core i5-1035G1 or Intel Core i7-1065G7 (There are 11th Gen Models too)
Graphics	Intel UHD Graphics (for Core i3 and i5),  Iris Plus G7 for Core i7
Memory	8GB or 16GB RAM
Storage	256GB or 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD
Operating System	Windows 11 Home
Battery	50Wh, Promises up to 9 hours of mixed usage 11 hours of web browsing 45W USB-C power adapter, supports PD
Wireless	Dual-band Wi-Fi,  Bluetooth 5.0
Keyboard and Touchpad	Full-size backlit keyboard Large Precision Touchpad
Color Options	Grey, Blue, Green, Red
Connecting Ports	2 USB-C  2 USB-A,  1 HDMI,  MicroSD card slot,  Headphone/Mic Combo Jack