O+ Xfinit Review-NoypiGeeks

It is a business strategy to most smartphone manufacturer to bombard the market with new devices, and see which one will sell and make it out alive. For one, we have O+, a company that is releasing new products after a new one. It was not long ago when we had the Alpha Plus and the Ultra, but here they are again with the new O+ Xfinit.

There’s no clear distinction on about who this device is, unlike with the large battery title that the Ultra has, or the 360 feature that the Alpha Plus was known for. For the device’s Php7,995 price tag, there are only a few things that shines to me on its spec-sheet; 3GB of RAM. Large storage capacity, and 4G LTE, and that’s just it. The other items that are listed are just — “meh”.

But let us not get ahead of ourselves; O+ may have chosen pieces that compliment each other, thus, uniting as a good device. Let’s start!

O+ Xfinit Specs

  • 5″ HD IPS display (720 x 1280 resolution, 294ppi)
  • 1GHz quad core processor
  • Android 5.1 Lollipop
  • 3GB RAM
  • 32GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 64GB
  • 8mp autofocus rear-facing camera with LED flash
  • 5mp front camera
  • 4G/LTE, dual SIM
  • WiFi
  • Bluetooth
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • Price: Php7,995

Design / Build Quality

For me, the Cherry Mobile Flare S4 Plus set the bar very high on this category. Both of these devices are sold at a very identical price, with the Xfinit only four pesos shy from the S4 Plus’s Php7,999 price tag. I was expecting that O+’s bet would have the same premium feel that the S4 Plus had, with its metal sides and assuring weight, but I was disappointed. This one still had an all-plastic treatment, which feels cheap in the hands. Although, it still won’t easily break, as the device feels sturdy, and doesn’t look like would easily bend when you rest it at your back pocket. Nonetheless, having a plastic construction still has its perks; it made the device relatively lightweight than metal builds. It will now only depend on personal preference.O+ Xfinit review-9

The O+ Xfinit has a 5″ display; which I think is just the perfect size for any smartphone. It doesn’t have the ginormous body like the 5.5″s and the 5.7″s have, but also, it isn’t uncomfortably small as the 4″s and the 4.7″s. The device sits perfectly on my large hands; although, users with smaller hands might not feel the same, but still, it doesn’t hurt to sacrfice a little have a slightly larger display.O+ Xfinit review

Speaking of the display, we do have the 5″ HD IPS screen right on front. Together with the earpiece, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, and the capacitive buttons. There’s no LED notification indicator present, which is kinda disappointing. It may not be a big deal-breaker, but it’s the small things that shouldn’t be forgotten. Also, despite the first capacitive button sporting the Recent Apps look, it still works as a Menu button. The same problem that I have seen on other O+ devices. A Recent Apps button is now a standard, and being implemented on almost all Android devices, which makes this device irritating to use if you’re coming from other said devices. A software update can easily fix this, but we’re doubtful if it’ll arrive anytime soon.

The right side is clean, while the left side has the volume controls and the lock/power switch, which are all comfortably placed and easy to reach. But, the buttons are mushy, and the unit that we had had the volume down button stuck in its contraption, but was easily fixed when we removed the back panel, which wraps around up to the sides of the device, and which the buttons are situated.

The top has the 3.5mm headphone jack, and the bottom has the microUSB port, and the only built-in microphone.

At the back we have the 8-megapixel primary camera with LED flash and the speakers. You cannot have the best experience when listening to music, or streaming videos online using the Xfinit’s built-in loudspeakers. Sure, the volume is impressive, but we’ve seen other devices on this range that has better sound quality and clarity. On the good side though, the speakers aren’t easily muffled when the device is laid on a flat surface, which is surprising considering the driver’s placement at the back. Instead, resting it on to a table amplifies the volume, as the sound coming from it are conveniently scattered.O+ Xfinit review-2

The back has the 2000mAh battery, the slots for two micro sim cards, and for a microSD card. Only a single sim card slot is hot-swappable; both the other one, and more importantly, the one for the microSD card are not. And speaking of the microSD card slot, there’s a 32GB Sandisk card that is included to the device’s package, which is, when added to the device’s 32GB of internal storage, completes the 64GB of storage that O+ is boasting about this device on its ads. Yup, it is not a one solid and spacious internal storage. I’m still not complaining, though. A 32GB of free card is still a big plus, considering that it can be also used to other devices you have. Plus, it is a step up from the usual 8GB of free Sandisk card that O+ generously includes to almost all of its devices.O+ Xfinit review-10

 Display

We’ve seen other devices on this category that are sporting a sharp, 1080p display. But O+ instead stick with a 720p display for the Xfinit. Thus, we have a 5″ IPS display with a 1280×720 resolution, and has 294ppi.O+ Xfinit review-191

The display can easily project all the right colors, with enough vibrancy and saturation. Although, I have noticed the white contrast to be more flashy than necessary. Also, with 1080p display being  typical on other devices, everything that are being presented by the display isn’t as sharp as what my eyes would like to see.

The display is also covered by a second-rate glass, which creates less viewing-angles, and made the screen prone to glares and reflections.

 Software

The O Plus Xfinit runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop. It’s quite indefinite if there will be a 5.1.1, or even a 6.0 Marshmallow update; but  looking back at O+’s track record, this device will surely see no major software update anytime soon.

But nonetheless, 5.1 is still admirable. And just like any other locally-made device, the Xfinit also runs on full stock Android interface. — no third-party skins, no manufacturer shenanigans. You can fully enjoy Android as how Google wanted you to. We got the typical features like the double-tap to wake, doodle controls, the ability to set user profiles, and of course, O+’s main gun, the Air Shuffle.

For those who are unfamiliar, Air Shuffle helps you navigate through the different places on the device, hands-free, just by hovering your hands on the display. This technology basically utilizes the proximity sensor, which can be found near the earpiece, to detect if there’s a hovering motion done on the device. On earlier devices, the sensor will only recognize one motion; either you’re hovering your hands from left to right or vice versa, it will only skip a song, even you actually wanted to play the previous track; or jump to the next photo, even if you actually opting to go back because you missed one. But this time around, the sensors can now actually detect from where angle you are waving your hand, thus, commanding the right action.

It is also nice to see a clean list of preinstalled applications. O+ didn’t bother on preemptively adding senseless third-party applications, so you don’t have to delete them one-by-one. Although there’s the Clean Master installed out of the box, which compliment the device’s large 3GB of RAM, but it can be easily uninstalled if you find it useless.

 Performance

What we are dealing here is a 64-bit MediaTek MT6735P chipset, which has a 1GHz quad-core processor, a Mali-T720 GPU, and has a spacious 3GB of RAM. Well, it’s been a while since we have seen a single-digit processor clock-speed. It is hard to know why, but O+ opted to use an underpowered processor for this one, considering how muscle-y its competitors are. Even if I’m really happy about the roomy RAM space, I’m still hardly impressed.

Real-life tests are a testament to the weakling processor. Browsing from the homescreen and other parts of the interface shows some jerks and stutters from time to time. Gameplay is also disappointing; I have tried gaming titles like the Need For Speed: No Limits, Overkill 3, and SimCity — they were playable, but there are just frame drops everywhere.

Check out these bechmark test scores:

But to keep our hopes up, the 3GB of RAM is really imposing on this one. You can go back from a previously opened app and start from where you left. You can also load a 2-hour YouTube video, without worrying about the buffer going back to zero.

Camera

And just like on almost all of the line-up from O Plus, the Xfinit also holsters an 8-megapixel primary camera with an LED flash, and a secondary 5-megapixel front-facing one. The set of sensors found on here surely did blow this device out of the water by its competitors, with some even sporting a whopping 16-megapixel and 8-megapixel combo. But nevertheless, you can still capture decent photos on this one.

The primary camera can snap images with decent and usable  quality. Details still looks okay in the eyes, although, colors looks disappointing. Both the contrast and saturation is lame, and dynamic range is also uninspiring. You can also easily notice a lot of digital noise, even when only zoomed at 50%.

The front-facing shooter also faces the same issue. It sure is serviceable during video calls, and can take decent selfies, but there’s nothing more beyond that.

Related: Cherry Mobile Flare Selfie Review

And since we are running under stock-Android interface, the camera app is also a same-same situation. Besides the standard Photo and Video modes, you can also do Motion Track for fast-moving subjects, face beautification, panaroma, and nulti-angle view. Peace to Selfie is also here, which is both available on either the primary or secondary camera, and works like a charm.

Connectivity

O+ packed a 4G LTE antenna on the Xfinit. This translates to an ultra-fast data connection, which is perfect not only for web browsing, but also for call quality. But, the performance of this feature doesn’t entirely up to the device, but also, from your network provider. It is no secret that there are still a lot of areas in the Philippines that aren’t under 4G satellites, so you wanna make sure that your area is listed on the LTE map. But we’ve seen big companies like Smart Communications that are really upgrading all their cell-sites to cater 4G aspirants.

Battery

If there’s one thing that O+ USA isn’t entirely proud of this device, it would probably be its battery capacity. Almost all of the promo materials, and even at the packaging itself, shows every spec  details, but not the battery. So we’ve dug the hardware itself, and saw the 2000mAh label on it.

Considering all of the hardware that the battery needs to power, you may have already guessed the results of our tests. Thus, screen-on time lasted for only 3 hrs. and 30mins., something far south from the 4 hr. passing mark that we are getting from other devices. That test consisted of continuous gaming, web-browsing, and online Video Streaming.O+ Xfinit Software-20-Battery

While light to moderate usage like casually receiving and making calls or texts, social media surfing from time to time, and streaming via Apple Music, lasted the device for almost 12 hrs.

Recharging time took almost 2 hrs and 30 mins, to 3 hrs. with its included charger. Considering the device’s petite battery, these numbers are pretty disappointing.

Verdict

Well, I kind of already got it right in the introduction. I thought my impression will change as I concluded and finished my tests on this device, but nope. The device clearly doesn’t have a Wow-factor to really please, not just me, but probably anybody.O+ Xfinit review-12

For the price, you can get a better deal from others who have better build quality, sharper display, a more powerful processor, and just overall value for the money. Although, we did like the devices spacious 3GB of RAM, 4G LTE connectivity and the inclusion of a free 32GB memory card, it’s not that much of a good deal.

The O+ Xfinit can be a great deal, but not until its price goes down. The device has a real potential, but for its asking price of Php7,995, it will stay that way. 

Pro

  • 4G LTE
  • 3GB of RAM
  • Free 32Gb Sandisk Card

Cons

  • HD display
  • Poor battery longevity
  • Too pricey for what it is offering

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