Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G Review

The Infinix NOTE 50 Series has recently landed in the Philippines and what we have today for this article is the top-of-the-line Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G, a CoDM flagship gaming phone.Despite the name sounding like a premium device, this one doesn’t go past the PHP 18,000 mark.Some of its standout features include a triple camera system, highlighted by a 100x periscopic telephoto lens, a chipset that packs a punch, and 100W-wired/50W-wireless charging — something that you wouldn’t normally see at this price point.

So, what else does the Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G has in store? You’re about to find out in this review.Design and ConstructionOne notable change you might have caught up already is its revamped design. At the rear, the Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G now features an octagonal-shaped camera island housing three cameras.



It’s a drastic design change for sure, as last year’s Infinix NOTE 40 Pro+ 5G sported a rectangular design.Going back to the new model, the camera module itself is in high-glossy finish with a color matching material as the back panel. You also see the individual, squircle camera lenses here.

And notice the fourth “lens”? Well, it’s not actually a camera, but it is what Infinix calls the ‘Active Halo Lighting” that lights up to different color gradients, depending on what action triggers it.When charging, it lights up green, while shooting a video, it lights up red, and notifications also trigger it to light up.The phone’s back panel comes in a matte finish, complemented by a metallic, flat frame.

The panel itself does feel plasticky, but the metallic frame counterbalances it, adding a certain level of premium feel in the hands.Not gonna lie, the phone’s design seemed a bit strange at first, but it eventually grew on me. And it’s nice that brands like Infinix are always incorporating something new in their smartphone designs, so, props to that.

My one gripe is that the camera island is too much of a fingerprint magnet, and I had to clean that part very often.For I/Os, the power button alone is on the right, while the volume rocker is found on the left. Seen on the top are the mic, a speaker grill, and the IR blaster.

And found at the bottom are the SIM tray, another mic, USB-C port, and the second loudspeaker.And for added layer of protection, the phone gets an IP64 rating for dust and splash resistanceDisplay, Multimedia, and BiometricsFlip the phone over, the NOTE 50 Pro+ sports a 6.78-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display that runs at a smooth 144Hz refresh rate, and peaks at up to 1300 nits brightness.

What we really like about the display is its extremely thin bezels, especially on the sides. The top and bottom bezels are a tad bit thicker though, which kind of explains why the rounded corners of the screen don’t quite match the frame.But, no biggie, it’s still a great display nonetheless, offering vivid colors, deep blacks, and smooth navigation.

As for visuals, you’d get a fairly good experience. The phone supports Widevine L1 and up to 4K 2160p streaming on YouTube. And it has dual stereo speakers, tuned by JBL, providing a decent sound stage and immersive audio.

The highs and mids are clear but not as crisp, and the bass are less punchy to my liking. The audio does get loud, and can fill a room at max volumes.For biometrics security, the phone deploys an under-display fingerprint sensor alongside face unlock, and both methods unlock the phone quick enough.

CameraNow, let’s talk about one of its strongest suits: the cameras.The Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G features a triple rear setup highlighted by a 50-megapixel periscopic telephoto (up to 100x zoom) with OIS alongside another 50-megapixel sensor as a primary shooter, also with OIS, and an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens.Image quality is superb with sharp detail, accurate colors, and good dynamic range.

We like the fact that its image processing doesn’t go overboard in optimizing clarity, even at long zoom ranges.Speaking of zoom ranges, the phone’s periscope telephoto can do 3x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom. Shots taken up to 6x zoom still hold up well, with AI processing enhancing detail and preserving quality.

Higher zoom than that, you’ll see the image quality starts to degrade and detail becomes softer. Ultrawide shots are decent, too, which also uses some of that AI processing.Night shots are surprisingly good.

Once the phone detects a subject in low-light scenarios, it automatically enables ‘Super Night mode’. Again, the AI processing does the magic here, bringing out sharpness and nice colors.Up front, there’s a 32-megapixel selfie shooter, but gone is the LED flash from last year’s model.

Still, the phone captures nice selfies with near-accurate skin tones and skin texture.Turning to video capture, the quality is also nice. Shots are stable, they have good color reproduction, good clarity, and decent dynamic range.

The phone is also able to quickly focus on subjects.One nit pick I have is that the phone can’t change lenses quickly just by tapping the 0.6x (ultrawide), 1x (main), and 3x (telephoto) buttons.

You’d have to make use of the slider to do so.Performance and BenchmarksMoving on to performance, this guy has got some solid processing power.The Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ is equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Ultimate — not quite flagship, but it goes on par with the higher-end mid-range chipsets out there.

For config, our unit comes with 12GB of RAM paired with 256GB of internal storage.Taking a look at our benchmark tests, the NOTE 50 Pro Plus achieved great results. In ANTUTU, the phone managed to get over 1.

2 million points, and it even maxed out 3DMark Wild Life, showing its solid graphical capabilities.Check out the rest of our benchmark results right here.Antutu Benchmark v10: 1,206,841Antutu Storage: 4,111MB/s (Read), 3,462MB/s (write)3Dmark Wild Life: Maxed Out3Dmark Wild Life Extreme: 2,936 | 17.

58 average FPSGeekbench 6 CPU: 1,149 (single-core), 3,868 (multi-core)Geekbench 6 GPU: 7,818 (OpenCL), 8,437 (Vulkan)PCMark Work 3.0 Performance: 17,010PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life: 8 hours, 34 minutesWith these figures, you can expect the phone to be fast and snappy in your day-to-day activities, like doom scrolling on your socials, playing games or whatnot.

Less demanding titles like Pokémon Unite and Call of Duty Mobile ran very smoothly on this device at high graphics and high frame rate.A graphic-intensive title like Zenless Zone Zero is playable at high custom settings, but I would recommend toning down the graphics to Medium for a smoother gameplay.However, for a more power-hungry game like Wuthering Waves, for some weird reason, the phone seemed to struggle in maintaining a consistent 60 fps, even at the lowest graphics settings.

Turning on Performance mode via X Boost game booster doesn’t help either. So, there’s that.OS, UI, and AppsSoftware-wise, the phone runs XOS 15 based on Android 15, and the improvements they made in this iteration is commendable, at least in terms of UI design.

The icons look nice, first-party apps have a consistent design language, and the OS is overall clean and has a modern aesthetic.There are clearly some inspirations here and there — like the iOS-style control center, and the so-called ‘Dynamic Bar’ — but as long as these features work properly, who am I to complain?I do have one minor nitpick and it’s about the animations. On the surface level, the animations on the XOS 15 look fluid.

But when you try to actually ‘see’ said animations, the devs may need to do some polishing.I also like the fact that the Dynamic Bar isn’t limited to a few apps. It works on every music app like Spotify or YouTube Music.

However, other system-level operations like the Timer or Stopwatch seem to be missing, so it needs some improvement, too, in that regard.Another thing I liked about XOS 15 is that there is less bloatware to be seen here. As for update policy, Infinix is promising up to two years of major OS updates along with three years of security patches.

Connectivity and Battery LifeAbout the battery, the phone packs a 5200mAh unit paired with 100W of wired charging and it even supports 50W of wireless charging.In this area, however, it’s a bit underwhelming, only if you’re a heavy user like me. As mentioned earlier, we tested graphic-intensive games like Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves, and the battery drains rather quickly under such demanding usage.

In fact, our PCMark battery life test yielded a result of 8 hours and 34 minutes. Thankfully, the phone supports a fast 100W wired charging alongside 50W of wireless charging, whereas the former quickly refills the phone’s battery in just under 30 minutes.Additionally, there’s this thing called ‘Bypass Charging’ feature, and as the name implies, the phone can bypass the battery to automatically shift and draw power directly from the wall outlet — as long as it’s using the original charger and cable in the box.

This not only prevents the phone from overheating during extended gaming sessions but also helps prolong the overall lifespan of the battery itself. It’s a great addition for gamers who engage in long play sessions, and it’s a feature I’d love to see adopted by other smartphone brands.Connectivity-wise, Infinix touts the phone’s capability of 5.

5G, but I doubt if that makes a difference in the Philippines’ network bands. Other features include Wi-Fi 6, NFC, and an IR blaster that turns the phone into a convenient remote control for your home appliances.Pricing and VerdictWrapping this up, the Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G is one, if not the most, compelling option in the competitive mid-range segment.

It dares to be different with its bold design, punches above its weight in performance, and offers a surprisingly versatile camera system headlined by a periscopic telephoto lens.Plus, the inclusion of both rapid wired and wireless charging give it a significant edge. While battery life might be a concern for the most demanding users and some software elements could use further refinement, its overall package brings a premium-feeling experience at a mid-range price.

With just a price tag of PHP 17,999, the Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G definitely sets the bar high up within its class. Whether you’re a casual gamer, a content creator, or someone looking for a well-rounded smartphone, the investment pays off handsomely.For those looking for a bargain, there’s a Shopee promo price of only PHP 8,999 for the 8GB + 256GB variant.

What we liked:Superb cameras with the addition of periscope telephotoRazor-thin display bezelsSolid performanceAddition of wireless chargingValue for moneyWhat we didn’t like:UI animations need improvementSmudge-magnet camera moduleInfinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G specs:6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display2436 x 1080 pixels, 144Hz refresh rate1300 nits peak brightnessMediaTek Dimensity 8350 Ultimate4nm, octa-core, up to 3.35GHz12GB LPDDR5X RAM256GB UFS 4.

0 storageTriple rear cameras:– 50MP main, OIS (Sony IMX896)– 50MP periscope telephoto, OIS– 8MP ultrawide32MP selfie shooter (hole punch notch)Dual nano-SIM5.5G, 4G LTEWi-Fi 6Bluetooth 5.4GPSUSB Type-CNFCUnder-display fingerprint sensorIP64 dust and splash resistanceDual stereo speakers, Active Halo lighting, IR blasterXOS 15, Android 152 years OS updates + 3 years security patches5200mAh battery100W charging (wired) + 50W wirelessSupports bypass charging163.

36 x 74.53 x 7.99 mm209gTitanium Gray, Enchanted Purple (colorways)The post Infinix NOTE 50 Pro+ 5G Review appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines Tech News & Reviews.

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