Infinix Note 40 Pro

At Rs. 74,999, the Infinix Note 40 Pro is hard to justify on performance alone. Its strengths are real:

• 70W wired, 20W wireless MagCharge, reverse and bypass charging.
• A bright, curved 120Hz AMOLED display and a slim, light body.
• 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, JBL-tuned stereo speakers and an IR blaster.

The compromises are the Helio G99 Ultimate, which is only slightly faster than the standard G99, an inconsistent camera without an ultrawide lens, no memory card slot and no headphone jack.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro (Rs. 70,999) costs less and offers a better camera setup and a faster chip. Verdict: buy the Note 40 Pro for charging features and design, ideally after a price cut; buyers focused on cameras or gaming will get more elsewhere.

The Note 40 Pro has a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display with 1080 x 2436 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, 1300 nits peak brightness and Corning Gorilla Glass protection.

It is very bright and easy to read in daylight, and the curved edges with slim bezels make it feel more premium than most phones at this price. Colours and contrast suit films and social media well.

The always-on display stays lit for about 10 seconds, then switches off and wakes again when you pick up the phone or a notification arrives, which helps save battery. Widevine L1 support is reported missing, so streaming apps may not play in full HD.

The MediaTek Helio G99 Ultimate uses two 2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 cores and six 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 cores with a Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, backed by 12GB RAM (plus up to 12GB virtual RAM) and 256GB storage.

Everyday use feels fast, with apps opening quickly. However, the chip is only slightly faster than the standard Helio G99, so gaming offers no big upgrade: PUBG allows Ultra graphics on Smooth and Balanced, and a High frame rate on HD, the same options as G99 phones.

The XBoost game mode adds screenshots, extra buttons and anti-interference controls, and bypass charging powers the phone directly from the charger during games to limit battery heat. For this price, the chipset feels underpowered.

The rear setup combines a 108 MP, f/1.8 main camera with OIS and two 2 MP sensors. There is no ultrawide lens.

• Zoom: 3x in-sensor zoom works well for a phone without a telephoto lens.
• Video: up to 1440p at 30fps; OIS keeps footage stable at 1x and 3x, but walking shots still need Ultra Steady mode.
• Consistency: HDR sometimes fails and portrait edge detection can miss, although rear portraits are more accurate than front ones.

The 32 MP selfie camera has a dual-LED flash and captures plenty of detail, with natural background blur, though portrait mode can struggle around hair. It struggles to focus during video, and portrait video drops to 720p. Microphones pick up voices clearly.

The Note 40 Pro has a 5000 mAh battery with 70W wired charging (50% in 20 min), 20W wireless MagCharge (through the magnetic case), plus reverse wired and reverse wireless charging.

Three charging modes are available: Low Temperature (gentlest on battery health), Smart and Hyper (fastest, but warmer). Smart mode is the best everyday choice. A full charge takes under an hour, though charging in a hot room makes the phone warm up.

Screen-on time is roughly six to eight hours, enough for a full day of mixed use on 4G. Battery drains faster and the phone gets warm on weaker 3G signals.

The Note 40 Pro runs Android 14 with XOS 14. The interface looks modern, with strong lock-screen customisation and Infinix weather effects, and notifications appear in a capsule around the selfie camera.

Weak points:

• Animations can feel abrupt rather than fluid, even though the phone itself is fast.
• Ads can appear in the Palm Store app store.
• The Active Halo notification light does not work on every version.

Useful extras include VoLTE, an IR blaster and face unlock. Infinix's official update commitment for this model could not be confirmed, so check the latest available version before buying.