Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G Review

The Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G is one of a few all-round smartphone with very capable charging technologies and priced under Php14k.

It packs a decent 4,600mAh battery and supports up to 100W of supercharging and 20W of wireless charging. While this is already impressive in its category, it also offers so much more.

Users are treated to a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and a Dimensity 7020 chipset.

The NOTE 40 Pro+ also features up to 24GB of extended RAM, a triple camera setup, and audio by JBL.

So today, we’re here to find out if the phone is truly a steal. Among the many features it offers, it also raises certain questions that we will attend to within the review.

How long is the phone’s uptime, how long does it take to charge, and how is this device performance-wise?

We’re here to cater to these queries as we dive deep and account for our experiences with the device.

For reference, our review model cames in the Vintage Green colorway with 12+12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. With that out of the way, let’s find out more about the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G!

Design and Construction

At first glance, the NOTE 40 Pro+ has a good feel to it. Although it felt a bit hefty compared to my Galaxy S8+, I still find it easy to carry around.

Up front, it has a nice curved display that makes the phone feel great around the bezels. The front facing camera is also situated in a punch hole at the top of the display.

As for the back panel of the phone, it sports an Infinix 5G logo on the lower left side. I also have to mention how this feels may vary between colorways.

Again, our review unit is in this Vintage Green with a vegan leather finish for the device’s back panel. While it’s smudge resistant, we still recommend using the case it’s provided with. The alternative colorway is Obsidian Black, which might be smudge prone because of its glossy finish.

Moving on to buttons and ports, the volume rocker and power button are situated on the right side. The left side is clean of any buttons or ports. Then, at the bottom, we have a USB Type-C port, a speaker grill, and a dual nano-SIM card slot.

We also have another speaker grill and a noise-canceling microphone at the top of the phone. There’s a subtle engraving between these that says ‘Sound by JBL’.

Unfortunately for some, the NOTE 40 Pro+ does not provide support for 3.5mm audio jack.

Returning to the back panel, we have the device’s camera island. It takes a good amount of space, yet still thin while only slightly protruding from the phone’s body.

The main camera is situated on the top left. The upper right and lower left lenses are there for ultrawide and macro shots.

But on the bottom right, users will see a LED flash (outer ring) and Infinix’s Active Halo Lighting (inner ring). You can use the former to add more light for portrait shots, night videos, etc.

As for the Active Halo Lighting feature, it’s mostly cosmetic, used for notifications like incoming calls.

The Infinix NOTE 40 PRO+ 5G also has an IP53 rating for limited ingress and splash resistance. While this should protect the phone from accidental splashes from water and dirt, please refrain from submerging the device.

Summing this up, I’d say Infinix did well in fleshing out the phone. Personally, I’m not a fan of the camera island taking up so much space in the back panel.

But then again, the smooth curved display at the front more than makes up for this.

Display, Multimedia, and Biometrics

And speaking of, the NOTE 40 Pro+ has a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. The display has a refresh rate of 120Hz and a peak brightness of 1300 nits.

The phone also has a 93.6% screen-to-body ratio with a FHD+ (2436 by 1080) resolution. And with these numbers, we can assure end users that the NOTE 40 Pro+ will surely provide clarity and quality.

For audio, I’ve had a pleasant experience with the device in a variety of uses. I’ve watched streams on Twitch through the device, watched YouTube videos, and had Netflix binges.

I was also able to game on the device for a good amount of time, but we’ll get to that later. But going back, the dual stereo speakers featuring JBL and DTS audio were pretty good.

The clarity in the sound stage is great, notably with the speakers covering the top and bottom sides of the phone.

They can be quite loud and offer a good resolution. I was also able to enjoy the experience with max volume, as I mainly used the phone at home.

So in summary, putting the audio features together with the curved display made for an immersive overall multimedia consumption experience.

With biometrics, however, the NOTE 40 Pro+ has standard options for device security. These are inclusive of fingerprint and face unlock features.

Cameras

The Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G is equipped with a triple-rear camera setup at the back.

This setup consists of a 108MP main sensor (f/1.75), a 2MP macro lens (f/2.4), and a 2MP depth sensor (f/2.4).

As for video capabilities, the main camera can shoot up to 2K@30fps and 1080p@30 and 60fps.

Up front, the NOTE 40 Pro+ sports a 32MP selfie shooter (f/2.2). When taking videos, the front camera can only shoot up to 720p at 30fps.

The cameras are decent under the right conditions. However, with the help of its AI portrait enhancer and various features, colors become livelier with added depth.

The first thing I noticed with the camera was the LED light toggle. It comes in handy when users need a quick fill light for taking photos at night.

There’s also toggles for the AI portrait enhancer, a 108MP mode, switching aspect ratios, and filter choices.

And as mentioned, the camera has a variety of features apart from the usual slow motion, time-lapse, panorama, and Pro modes.

On the far right of the menu, users will see the Sky Shop and Super Macro features.

Sky Shop lets users take photos of the sky to add dedicated filters. As for Super Macro, it’s for capturing small objects at a close distance with improved clarity and detail.

These are fairly niche features provided by a smartphone in this price range, but I do believe that the camera has certain features that seem uninspiring yet valuable.

For starters, creators can enjoy its short video mode, which makes shooting reels for content accessible under Php14k.

It also has a film mode with descriptions to help creators conceptualize the kind of shot they want to achieve. This contributes a lot in terms of helping people out to get into the hobby of video production.

If we’re being blunt here, the cameras aren’t the best. BUT, the way Infinix has integrated AI caters to making good photography tools accessible for end users.

In short, in the right hands, the NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G provides a well-made gateway to pursuing photography as a hobby. Consequently, I must say it’s mostly going to be making due of what you have with what the phone offers.

Check out our sample shots below!

OS, Apps, and UI

Next, we have software, with the NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G running on XOS 14 which is based on Android 14. According to Infinix, this device is set to receive two years of software updates, and three years of security patches.

At a certain capacity, this software reminds me of Funtouch OS. It provides end users with a number of personalization options that we recommend people to tinker with.

Nonetheless, Infinix’s personal touches on enhancing user experience is still highly appreciated.

There’s a tab under settings for Personalization, which lets users choose from three default themes or get more online. From here, you can also choose wallpapers that are AI-generated, live, static, online, and from your own gallery.

Users can also tinker with always-on-display (AOD) widgets, device fonts and colors, etc.

Under display and brightness, users can switch from light and dark modes and schedule them as seen fit.

And for phone usage under sunlight, the NOTE 40 Pro+ also has adaptive brightness with a High Brightness mode. However, users will have to deal with an increase in device temperature and power consumption.

But while there are some features increasing battery usage, users can also turn on features to optimize for less consumption.

To start, users can lower the display’s refresh rate to 60Hz to save battery. But if you’re not keen on having to think about this, there’s also an adaptive toggle for this feature.

There’s also a Special Function tab, with features like Magic Ring, Floating Windows, MemFusion, Smart Panel, and Game Mode.

Magic Ring is the aforementioned feature that mimics Apple’s dynamic island for biometrics. Aside from face unlock, this feature also displays calls, recording, and charging periods.

Everything else is pretty straightforward, with MemFusion just being a coined term for the device’s RAM extension toggle button.

Under the Battery & Power Saving tab, we also have Power Boost, Ultra Power Saving, Battery Saving, Battery Setting, and Charge features.

Infinix developed this phone with a clear focus on these features. And if you’re interested, we’ve covered this in another article 11 for your reading pleasure.

For apps, I have to mention that the NOTE 40 Pro+ has a fair amount of bloatware. Users can either keep or uninstall these.

But interestingly, Infinix has default apps for video playback and browsing with Visha Player and Hola Browser.

Visha Player can play movies users have downloaded, while also serving as some sort of online streaming platform. With a subscription model in tow, the app offers content produced by Asian countries.

Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of this integration and I’d much rather use the AI Gallery for playing downloaded videos.

As for Hola Browser, this app was surprisingly alright. It features a free ad blocker, and provides means to download photos and videos online too.

Lastly, we have the phone’s user interface (UI), where the drop down menu is separated into two pages.

The first page is your standard notification tab, separated from the customizable shortcuts presented in the second page.

Users swipe left, and have options to turn on various features, with notable ones being the IR Remote Control and Reverse Wireless Charging toggles.

Other nifty features are inclusive of a hotspot button, dark theme, power boost, quick share, and adaptive brightness.

Considering that this phone is built around power optimization, Infinix has done really well in optimizing their software.

Performance and Benchmarks

The Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G runs on a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 7020 chipset and comes with an IMG BXM-8-256 GPU.

This is also supported by Inifnix’s newly developed and dedicated Cheetah X1 power management chip 18. The X1 optimizes charging rates in favor of protecting the device’s battery health span.

As mentioned, our review unit has 12GB of RAM, which could be extended up to 24GB virtually. Our unit also had 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage available for end users.

For this phone, I mostly played Teamfight Tactics and League of Legends: Wild Rift. Gameplay was smooth, even when I tinkered with the settings to raise graphics between my sessions.

However, I must advise readers that the phone did noticeably heat up after two hours of gameplay. Additionally, gaming can drain the phone battery faster than I expected.

But then again, the phone makes up for it with an insanely short amount of time to charge. I’ll discuss this further in the article when we cover Battery and Connectivity features.

Apart from that, I can attest to the phone’s performance capabilities. It’s up there as a top midrange device, even if the numbers below say otherwise.

As always, for those who are interested, we’ve prepared benchmark scores below for your viewing pleasure.

Benchmarks	Score
Antutu	451,385
Antutu Storage Test	41,752
S. Read	11,773
Speed	1026.0MB/s
S. Write	9925
Speed	865.0MB/s
R. Access	20,333
R. Speed	284.0MB/s
W. Speed	259.0MB/s
3D Mark: Sling Shot	3324
3D Mark: Sling Shot Extreme	2519
Geekbench 6 CPU Single	932
Geekbench 6 CPU Multi	2291
PC Mark Work 3.0 Performance	13,436

We weren’t able to do testing for some of the apps under the GPU department. 3DMark and Geekbench couldn’t detect the Vulcan cores from the NOTE 40 Pro+ for some reason.

Assuming there’s a future firmware update for this, we’d happily update the table above for a better overall performance summary.

For now, the consensus is that the NOTE 40 Pro+ performs as expected as a midrange device under this segment.

Battery and Connectivity

The Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G is powered by a 4,600mAh battery, featuring up to 100W All-Round FastCharge technology.

We took some practical tests for the newly-released smartphone and came across a handful of findings with mixed use variables.

In PC Mark’s Work 3.0 Battery Test, our review unit lasted 10 hours and 58 minutes. As for our standard video loop test, the phone was able to last 19 hours and 42 minutes.

These two tests were conducted in airplane mode, set with 50% brightness and volume muted.

We also conducted a test for gaming uptime, with the device lasted 5 hours and 27 minutes of gameplay.

For this test, I played my aforementioned games with 50% brightness and 50% volume applied while connected via Wi-Fi.

And now, for those who we’re reading to get this far, how good are the NOTE 40 Pro+ charging capabilities?

The Infinix NOTE 40 PRO+ 5G offers a ton of charging features rarely found under its price range. Additionally, the phone comes with a special case complemented with a MagCharge accessory supporting up 20W of wireless charging.

Infinix’s smart charging features include 15W wireless charging, Bypass Charging 2.0, AI Charging Protection, PD 3.0 Compatibility, and Reverse OTG Charging.

As we’ve covered this in a separate article 44, we’ll only discuss the standard wired charging protocols for the NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G.

With its 100W fast charging, it takes just 30 minutes for the device to charge from empty to full.

For monitoring, we recorded the phone while charging at notable intervals from 15 minutes, 25 minutes, and 30 minutes.

In just 15 minutes, the phone charged from 0% to 59%. Ten minutes later, the phone already had 90% of power available. At the 30-minute mark, the phone had full power.

From these results, we inferred that the phone gets full power from the 100W adapter for the first 15 minutes. However, it slows down when it reaches about 60-90% power.

It caps at 90%, with power trickling from the adapter to the device in the final 5 minutes of charging. With this data, we can attest that the Cheetah X1 chip operates as marketed.

These tests were conducted using Infinix’s 100W All-Round FastCharge 2.0 charging brick.

Moving on to connectivity, the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G has a dual nano-SIM card slot. It’s a single tray where users can place their nano-SIMs on opposite sides.

As implied, this device also supports 5G connectivity, along with Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth, and NFC support.

The phone provides end users with standard call quality, with no signal issues. Users can make and receive calls, send messages, and use mobile data as intended.

Conclusion

As we cap off this review, I must say that this phone is a legitimate steal for its price range. Users are treated to an all-around performing midrange device under Php14k.

Infinix deserves a hat tip in developing a phone that focuses on the essentials at a modest price. The optimizations for over-all user-experience only add to the fact that users get so much value from the device.

Sure, most smartphone users might prefer better camera features as primary a purchasing consideration. But from a wider perspective, this phone tried to address this and everything else at an optimal level.

With the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+, users can take good photos, consume videos, and play games like any other. But what it has that most phones don’t is feature-supported longevity. It’s built to last, and works to perform consistently.

Aside from its lack of support for graphics benchmarks, the only other con present was my disapproval of Visha Player being a default player.

But if it were up to me, I’d definitely pick the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G up. How the phone was fleshed out in its entirety outweighs the otherwise minor inconveniences.

Pricing

If you made it to this point in the article, I’m sure most readers are looking for the same thing. So how much does the Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G cost?

At the time of writing, the NOTE 40 Pro+ has a suggested retail price (SRP) of PHP 13,999. This price is for its configuration with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of available storage.

The NOTE 40 Pro+ is available at Infinix’s official stores, with promo prices up in Shopee 112, Lazada 85, and TikTok 19.

You can get the device for as low as PHP 11,499 with freebies inclusive of an S1 smartwatch (top 100 buyers) or XE23 earphones.

What we liked:
* Smooth display and multimedia experience
* User-friendly interface
* Impressive charging speeds
* Decent, consistent performance
* Competitive price

What we didn’t like:
* Missing graphics driver support for Vulkan and OpenCL
* Bloatware (really not a fan of Visha Player)

Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G specs:
6.78-inch FHD+ Curved AMOLED display
2436 x 1080 pixels, 120Hz refresh
1300 nits (peak) brightness
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
MediaTek Dimensity 7020
6nm, octa-core, up to 2.2GHz
12GB RAM (+12GB extended memory)
256GB storage
Triple rear cameras:
– 108MP main, OIS, 3x lossless zoom
– 2MP macro
– 2MP depth
32MP selfie shooter (hole punch notch), dual LED flash
Dual SIM
5G, 4G LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth
GPS
USB Type-C
NFC
In-screen fingerprint sensor
IP53 limited ingress and splash resistance
IR blaster, JBL-tuned stereo speakers
11-layer vapor chamber cooling
XOS 14 (Android 14)
4600mAh battery
100W charging (wired), Infinix Cheetah X1
20W wireless
164.28 x 74.5 x 8.09 mm
196g
Vintage Green, Obsidian Black