Infinix has raised the stakes in the already crowded sub- ₹25,000 smartphone market with the launch of its latest gaming-focused smartphone, the GT 20 Pro. Right from the design to the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultimate chipset, Infinix seems to have left no stone unturned to grab the attention of budget gaming enthusiasts. While Infinix seems to have everything covered on paper, does this translate into real-world performance and usability? Well, I’ve been testing the Infinix GT 20 Pro for over a week and here’s my detailed review of how the phone performed in day-to-day use.
Unboxing and design:
The Infinix GT 20 Pro comes in a huge box with three different sections: one for the phone box, another for the gaming kit and the last for some paperwork. In the phone box, you get the Infinix GT 20 Pro, a USB Type A to Type C cable, a 45W adapter, a stylish back cover, a SIM ejector tool and a quality screen protector with some application tools.
As for the gaming kit, we get a cooling fan, a mag case and a pair of fingerprint covers to improve gaming performance. However, the phone will not come with the Gaming Kit in the long run and Infinix is only offering these accessories for a ‘limited period’ as part of the launch offers.
The first thing you notice about the GT 20 Pro is that the phone looks very different from other devices in its price range. The second-generation GT device comes with a ‘Cyber Mecha’ design that features a rectangular camera island and a C-shaped lighting ring on the back. The Mecha Loop lighting can be customised to provide different effects for incoming calls, notifications, charging, music and even gaming.
At first glance, the Mecha Loop Lighting looks remarkably similar to the Glyph interface found on the Nothing phones. But Infinix has made its lighting ring more usable with the addition of RGB lights that can be transformed to provide four different lighting effects for different tasks.
At first glance, the Mecha Loop Lighting, as Infinix calls it, looks remarkably similar to the Glyph interface found on the Nothing phones. But Infinix has made its lighting ring more usable with the addition of RGB lights that can be transformed to provide four different lighting effects for different tasks.
The smartphone comes with a semi-transparent plastic back that looks stunning but is also prone to smudges and fingerprints.
In terms of the in-hand feel of the Infinix GT 20 Pro, the phone comes in a boxy design, but the slight curvature of the edges means that it is comfortable to hold even during long gaming sessions.
Display and software:
The Infinix GT 20 Pro features a 6.78-inch Full HD+ LTPS AMOLED display with a variable refresh rate of up to 144Hz (60Hz/120Hz/144Hz) and a peak brightness of 1300 nits. The phone supports 2304Hz PWM dimming, up to 360Hz touch sampling rate, WIDEVINE L1 and DCI P3 wide colour gamut.
The screen is fast and responsive, delivering deep blacks, rich colours and excellent viewing angles. Coupled with the JBL-tuned dual stereo speakers, this phone delivers an immersive viewing experience and is ideal for binge-watching sessions. However, the sound output does leave something to be desired.
The phone doesn’t support HDR playback on Netflix, but oddly enough, I was able to play HDR videos on Netflix. I also encountered problems with the GT 20 Pro’s brightness settings, with the phone automatically increasing or decreasing the brightness even though the automatic brightness mode was turned off. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future software update.
On the software front, the GT 20 Pro runs on the XOS 14 based on Android 14, which comes without any bloatware or ads. The GT 20 Pro also sees a drastic reduction in pre-installed apps from Google and Infinix, most of which can either be uninstalled or disabled.
Infinix has promised two years of OS updates and an additional year of security patches with this device, so the phone should be future-proofed at least until Android 16.
Connectivity:
The GT 20 Pro comes with an IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance, which means the phone can handle a few splashes and light rain, but not a full immersion in water. It also gets some key connectivity features such as NFC, an IR blaster for controlling your devices, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, FM and support for 14 5G bands.
Infinix ships the GT 20 Pro with its own dialler app, which allows users to record their calls without getting the annoying ‘this call is now being recorded’ message.
Battery:
The Infinix GT Pro comes with a 5,000 mAh battery that can be fast-charged using the bundled 45W adapter. The phone took just over an hour to fully charge from 0 to 100. This is probably where Infinix falls behind the competition, as the similar-priced OnePlus Nord CE 4 comes with a 100W charger, while the Poco X6 Pro comes with a 67W charger.
That minor annoyance aside, the GT 20 Pro comes with a lot of nifty charging features like the ability to select different charging modes according to the user’s needs, an AI charging feature that learns from the user’s routine to stop charging after 80 per cent, and the Bypass charging mode when turned on allows power to be sent directly to the phone’s motherboard instead of the battery.
The bypass charging feature, which has been borrowed from the Infinix Note 40 Pro, allows users to enjoy the gaming experience without worrying about the heating issues caused by connecting a charger.
In my use of light gaming, browsing and the occasional streaming session, the phone lasted a full day without needing to be plugged in, with a screen on time of around 6 hours.
Performance:
The Infinix GT 20 Pro is powered by the new MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ulimate processor, paired with the Mali-G610 MC6 GPU. Infinix has also equipped the GT 20 Pro with a dedicated display chipset called Pixelworks X5 Turbo, which helps the phone deliver better graphics performance and improved resolution for images and videos.
Considering its price, the GT 20 Pro performed remarkably well in all the major benchmarks. The phone achieved an overall score of 9,29,665 on Antutu. Following a similar trend, the GT 20 Pro had a single-core score of 1237 and a multi-core score of 3545 on Geekbench 6.
In my real-world use, I had no problems with the GT 20 Pro, and the phone handled everything I threw at it with ease. The GT 20 Pro felt fast and snappy and there were no lagging or stuttering issues to report during the review period.
The GT 20 Pro was able to load Call of Duty Mobile at very high graphics and max frame rate, while BGMI managed to run HDR graphics at extreme frame rates. The high refresh rate display combined with a powerful chipset, JBL audio, mecha loop lighting and a dedicated gaming mode all contribute to an immersive gaming experience on the GT 20 Pro.
In my tests, the phone lost around 9 per cent of its battery life during 30 minutes of gameplay on the highest setting. Even during prolonged gaming sessions, the phone didn’t get excessively hot or uncomfortable to hold, although the back of the GT 20 Pro did get a little warm after extended use.
I also tested the new cooling fan, which did a good job of dissipating heat from the back of the GT 20 Pro, even in scorching weather conditions. However, during a 30-minute gaming session, the fan will consume around 30-35 per cent of the device’s battery power, and it would be advisable to connect the device to a power bank instead.
Camera:
The GT 20 Pro comes with a triple camera setup including a 108MP primary sensor with OIS, a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro sensor to make up for the numbers.
Given that the GT 20 Pro is a gaming phone, I didn’t have high expectations for its cameras. However, the daylight performance of the 108MP sensor came as a surprise to me, with the phone managing to capture an excellent amount of detail and taking visually appealing pictures in general. The primary sensor also produces excellent portrait shots with natural skin tones and good edge detection. However, the phone does suffer from lens flare issues under bright sunlight and has a tendency to overexpose colours in some scenarios.
In low light, the GT 20 Pro performed admirably, with images maintaining a high level of clarity without appearing oversaturated. However, I did notice the lens flare problem affecting some night shots as well. Comparing the GT 20 Pro to the OnePlus Nord CE 4, I also noticed that the latter tended to struggle with colour accuracy and the images had more noise than the OnePlus phone.
The GT 20 Pro can record video at 4K 60 fps from the rear camera, but the output remains shaky at the highest resolution and you would have to switch to 1080p 30 fps to get a more stable output.
The GT 20 Pro’s 32MP selfie camera is nothing to brag about, but it does the job for the most part. However, I didn’t like the fact that Infinix has enabled a brightness mode by default.
Verdict:
Starting at ₹24,999, the Infinix GT 20 Pro offers remarkable value for money, boasting the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultimate chipset, a vibrant 6.78-inch AMOLED display, and a competent 108MP OIS camera. While it may not claim the crown for the most powerful device under ₹25,000 (that distinction remains with the Poco X6 Pro), it excels in offering an immersive gaming experience unrivalled in its price range. The phone also entices gaming enthusiasts with some unique features like bypass charging, RGB lighting on the back and a cooling fan solution for dissipating excess heat.
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