Look, most gaming devices can get tough on the wallet. And, when you’re mainly playing on your phone, it can be gut-wrenchingly expensive to get yourself a gaming phone within your budget. You want to play without too much pay and the underrated Infinix has you covered.

Infinix has consistently released great phones that deliver every bang-for-your-buck and their recent release is no exception. What’s the latest addition to their great line-up? The Infinix HOT 11S.

Is this what a gaming phone should look like?

The Infinix HOT 11s is a dual-sim budget gaming smartphone with a 6.78-inch Full HD with a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate. It’s decked out in three different colors: Polar Black, 7°Purple, and Green Wave.

On top of the wave design on the back, the phone is encased in plastic–making for a fingerprint-smearing city. Just be more forgiving though–most phones tend to do so. If anything, the wave design takes away the smearing which I think is genius.

To manage expectations, the phone features and specifications aren’t necessarily what people would view as technologically new or revolutionary. Remember, we’re talking budget here. But, with phones on the same price range, this one delivers on all fronts of durable, functional, and quality mobile gaming without breaking the bank.

The phone has loud dual speakers, a decent battery life, and reliable performance that makes it stand out, especially with its price tag.

More than just casual play

The Infinix HOT 11S is powered by a MediaTek Helio G88 gaming processor paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. If you’re worried about storage, the phone has a dedicated microSD card slot. But, note that the phone has more than enough space to run your favorite games and apps on the Google Play Store without much of a hitch.

The Infinix Note 7 doesn’t falter on features when tested. The phone didn’t stutter or struggle when putting it through the stress test of scrolling, unlocking, and opening and closing multiple apps. On top of that, the Infinix HOT 11S has a 5000mAh battery that makes your daily grind of work and play look easy.

For the try-hards on a budget

For gaming, the phone didn’t seem at all bothered with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, League of Legends Wild Rift, The Gardens Between, and Genshin Impact. The phone held up to its dependable battery life despite a full day of work and play. You can play with reckless abandon and, with the sleek display, you’re in for accurate and smooth gameplay.

The Infinix HOT 11S even brought in game-boosting features to keep all your budget try-hard a shot at having the best without paying for it. You can tinker and play with the phone’s settings with Dar-Link Ultimate Game Booster. And, you can keep those settings and games saved up all in the Game Zone.

Does size matter?

The Infinix HOT 11s has a “big” display for a phone. And, how big is too big or is it big at all? The phone isn’t too far off being a love child of a tablet and phone. With its 6.78-inch FHD display and dual speakers, the phone makes watching Netflix or playing games an overall immersive experience.

It’s good to note that Infinix has had questionable size-ups with HD+ displays. So, for me, the HOT 11s has much more balanced specs with a reasonable downsize and an upgrade to a Full HD display.

The cake is a lie

Hear me out here: The Infinix HOT 11S features a triple-camera set-up with a 50MP main shooter. On the front, the phone has an 8MP selfie camera. These specs are great considering we’ve got a gaming phone in our hands here. But, it can be an absolute headache when we’ve seen Infinix do better in this category and flop to join the gaming phone camera specs budget cut bandwagon.

Lovely day

Hi, Mango!

The Infinix HOT 11S takes detailed and gorgeous shots, well beyond most budget gaming phones. Well, until the sun sets and it’s dark out. It doesn’t do well in little lighting and loses the battle with detail to the dimness.

But, to clarify, that goes with most photos in the dark. I took some shots of my cat in a dimly lit room and it came out horribly as opposed to a shot I took of her in the day.

Belly rubs, please

On the 8MP selfie camera side, it performs well under good lighting. I was by a window when I took a selfie and it came out great.

It me

The phone has a ton of features for both video and photo so, you’ll be sure to have fun with it when you’re not playing games.

Is this your GamingMatch or BudgetMatch?

If you’re looking for a gaming phone that doesn’t tear your wallet to shreds, this is the phone for you. There’s nothing much to complain about this phone besides the typical gaming phone cuts on the camera. But, even then, the phone delivers good photos.

The Infinix Hot 11s is a great phone for your daily grind if you’re looking for a gaming phone that delivers on functionality, efficiency, and durability without taking your money and wallet too.

The Infinix HOT 11s costs PhP 7,990 (US$ 165).