Comparison: Infinix Note 30 Pro vs Redmi Note 12 Pro

Smartphone users in the Kenyan market looking to update their devices are sure to be spoilt for choice when considering devices on par price-wise, performance-wise, and feature-wise.

We look at two smartphones – the Redmi Note 12 Pro and the Infinix Note 30 Pro – guaranteed to pique buyer interest.

The former was launched in April, while the latter hit shelves in June. A quick look at the specifications of the two devices leaves little by way of one having an outright advantage over the other.

Smartphone users in the Kenyan market looking to update their devices are sure to be spoilt for choice when considering devices on par price-wise, performance-wise, and feature-wise.

We look at two smartphones – the Redmi Note 12 Pro and the Infinix Note 30 Pro – guaranteed to pique buyer interest.

The former was launched in April, while the latter hit shelves in June. A quick look at the specifications of the two devices leaves little by way of one having an outright advantage over the other. 

Out of the box

Both devices are packaged with a set of user and safety guides, setup guides, SIM keys, charging bricks, USB to Type-C charging cables and protective cases.

Exterior and Dimensions

For the most part, both devices share similar dimensions with the Redmi Note 12 Pro being marginally taller and wider. It measures 6.46 inches in height by 3 inches in width by 0.32 inches thick. In comparison, the Infinix Note 30 Pro measures 6.41 inches by 2.99 inches by 0.32 inches marking a difference of 0.05 inches in height and a 0.01-inch difference in width.

The two smartphones share a screen size that measures 6.67 inches diagonally. This gives the Infinix Note 30 Pro a better screen-to-body ratio (86.9 per cent) compared to the Redmi Note 12 Pro (86 per cent). The difference is not noticeable from a utility point of view.

Both devices have a monolithic glass display with a punch hole under it for the front-facing camera.

The Infinix has just its secondary speaker tuned by JBL on the top edge. The Redmi meanwhile has a secondary speaker, a secondary microphone a 3.5mm jack port and an infrared port on the top edge.

Both devices have their volume rockers and power button on the right edge.

For the Redmi, its left edge is bare while the Infinix has its dual sim card tray on that side of the device.

The Infinix’s bottom edge has its 3.5mm jack port, its primary microphone, USB Type-C charging port and the primary speaker.

The Redmi’s bottom edge is populated with its hybrid nano-SIM tray, USB Type-C charging port, and primary microphone and speaker respectively.

The Infinix has a glass front, plastic frame and glass back while the Redmi has a glass front, aluminium frame and plastic back. Both devices have a smoky finish on the backs which prevents fingerprints from being visible.

Both devices have a camera bump on the top left corner of the back. The Infinix bump is square-shaped, while Redmi has an oblong camera bump for its four lenses and LED flash. The Infinix has three lenses and an LED flash.

The Redmi comes with more colour options; Star Blue, Graphite Gray, Polar White, and Ice Blue. The Infinix has only two colours; Magic Black and Variable Gold.

Screen and Camera

As previously mentioned, both devices sport a 6.67-inch display. Both are made of AMOLED glass which is good for users as these hold up well to short drop. Minor scratches are also prevented fairly well. These are still glass though so caution has to be exercised. An aftermarket screen protector would be a good investment as replacing broken screens, though common, is still fairly expensive.

Of the two, the Redmi Note 12 Pro has the higher brightness peaking at 1100 nits. The Infinix is not far off and has a maximum of 900 nits to light up the display. This is more than adequate for most viewing situations even in bright light.

Both devices have a 120Hz refresh rate for rendering anything from mobile games, videos and web browsers crisply and quickly.

Additionally, the Redmi and the Infinix screens are high definition with an identical resolution of 1080 pixels by 2400 pixels for a 20:9 ratio and a 395 pixels per inch density.

Both devices have multiple cameras with the Redmi racking up the higher tally of five lenses total; a 16 Megapixels wide-angled selfie camera and four lenses on the primary camera at the back (108 Megapixel, f/1.9, (wide), 8 Megapixel, 120˚, (ultrawide), 2 Megapixel, f/2.4, (macro), 2 Megapixel, f/2.4, (depth). The primary camera here can shoot footage in 4K resolution at up to 30 frames per second with an option to shoot in 1080p at either 30 or 60 frames per second. The secondary camera also shoots in 1080p at a maximum of 30 frames per second.

The Infinix has four lenses to boot. Its selfie camera has a higher rating than that of the Redmi. It is a 32 Megapixel ultra-wide-angled camera meaning it captures a bigger field of view with more detail. The Infinix has fewer lenses at the back, the largest of which is 108 Megapixels, a match to the Redmi. The remaining two are both 2 Megapixels for an ultra-wide field of view and depth within the field of view.

The Infinix and Redmi produce comparable photos and videos and share many of the camera modes such as Film, Video, AI Camera and Portrait modes.

Performance, Storage and Battery

The Infinix and Redmi sport the MediaTek Helio G99 and Snapdragon 732G chipsets respectively. These are staple Systems-on-a-chip options for midrange devices.

The MediaTek Helio G99 chipset is generally the more efficient of the two from a power management perspective. It also enjoys more RAM support to better execute its functions.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G fitted on the Redmi is the faster of the two SoCs with quicker execution of certain tasks.

Both devices have octa-core processors. The Infinix has two Cortex-A76 processors clocking 2.2GHz and 6 Cortex-A55 processors with a maximum speed of 2GHz.

The Redmi is fitted with 2 Kryo 470 Gold processors capping at 2.2GHz, and 6 Kryo 470 Silver processors maxing out at 1.8GHz.

A Mali G57 MC2 processing unit renders on-screen graphics for the Infinix while the Redmi comes fitted with the Adrino 618 GPU, the faster of the two.

To unlock the full potential of the chipset, CPU and GPU the Infinix has 8GB of RAM that is expandable by a further 8 GB thanks to its universal flash storage feature. The Redmi also has a base RAM of 8GB which is however only further expandable by 2.2GB.

Both devices have internal storage of 256GB with options to expand using a Micro SDXC card. With the Infinix, the expansion is supported while running two nano SIM cards on standby. The Redmi has a hybrid dual nano SIM system. If two SIM cards are fitted into the SIM tray, memory expansion cannot happen as one slot in the tray also doubles up as the slot for the SDXC card.

To power their respective systems, the Infinix and the Redmi both have a Li-Po 5000 mAh battery that’s non-removable. Of the two devices, the Infinix has a faster charge time and better energy management. The Infinix has a bigger fast-charge power brick, but only by a Watt. It has a 68 Watt wired charger while the Redmi has a 67 Watt fast-charge brick.

Communication, Connectivity and Sensors

The Redmi Note 12 Pro has a network range spanning 2G through to 4G for low and optimal connectivity same as the Infinix. The two are evenly matched in connectivity speeds and capabilities with the newest module of LTE connectivity that keeps connections steady even with low network coverage.

On par as well between the two devices are their USB Type-C 2.0 OTG, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and near-field communications configurations.

The same is true for their fingerprint sensors, both side-mounted on the power button, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and proximity sensors.

Our verdict

There really is nothing in it between the two devices if a user isn’t fussy about fewer colour options with the Infinix Note 30 Pro, or marginally higher pricing for the Redmi Note 12 Pro.

The Infinix comes in Magic Black and Variable Gold, two shy of the Redmi which has Star Blue, Graphite Gray, Polar White, and Ice Blue.

To own the Redmi Note 12 Pro a buyer will have to part with Ksh40,000 while the Infinix Note 30 Pro will set a buyer back Ksh. 37,499.

At HapaKenya, we were spoilt for choice on which of the two we’d prefer. So our verdict is that we highly recommend both devices.