Infinix NOTE Edge Smartphone Review
To ensure no one says that we at "Gamer" only review mobile devices from one or two companies, I decided to test the Infinix NOTE Edge smartphone. Since it is recommended for gamers and even optimized for mobile Call of Duty, it's perfect to check how this optimization works.
Overall, this model is positioned as well-balanced. The slogan "Harmony of Power" (and even its original version, "Elegance meets Power") suggests that it is not just optimized hardware but also stylish and rich in capabilities. So let's examine both the form and content and all the functions of the device in order.
Form
The design of the NOTE Edge has several distinctive features. First, it has a third button, which, when pressed, can perform one of the programmed actions (I set it to start and stop screen recording). However, I don't quite understand why they didn't include any other actions for a short or, say, double press. It results in a whole new design element for just one function (albeit changeable).
Second, there is a glowing square on the back of the smartphone. This is referred to as Active Halo backlight, which lights up, flickers, or blinks during certain actions with the device (and you can adjust exactly when it activates). It’s stylish and useful for event notifications when, for example, the screen is off.
Overall, the smartphone is very thin and light. It comes in four color options: gray, green, blue, and black, which, according to Infinix designers' research, will feature in the most fashionable trends of 2026.
Speaking of trends, like most modern mobile devices, the NOTE Edge lacks a separate port for wired headphones. It only has a universal USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer, as well as a slot for two SIM cards (plus, there is an option to connect eSIM).
The screen is a 6.78-inch AMOLED with slightly curved edges and minimal margins from the sides of the case, bringing the usable area to 93.4%. The maximum resolution is 1208*2644, with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a peak brightness of 4500 nits. The color gamut covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color palette. It has a fingerprint scanner and a Gorilla Glass 7i protective glass to prevent damage.
Included are a separate protective screen and a rubberized (at least in feel) case. I would like to highlight the latter, as it significantly reduces the likelihood that the smartphone will slip off a smooth surface (I've had such instances with other devices).
Overall, Infinix designers deserve praise for their work and even certain creativity. It's rare to find models today that stand out with unconventional solutions and without apparent drawbacks.
Functionality
As usual, functionality primarily implies the ability to take photos and videos. The Infinix NOTE Edge's camera presents some ambiguities. On one hand, it’s a 50 MP professional-level camera, but on the other hand, it has issues with adapting to lighting conditions. I had several photos where dark areas appeared for no apparent reason, or there were washed-out parts of the frame. In some cases, there were even strange highlights or artifacts appearing from nowhere.
Of course, it’s essential to remember that the NOTE Edge is a budget-level smartphone. However, firstly, its price of 25,000 rubles is already on the border with mid-range devices. Secondly, I have tested cheaper smartphones that were clearly far from professional levels, but I never experienced such oddities. This last point is particularly disappointing—despite the fact that the NOTE Edge's photos indeed have good quality and the camera offers various additional modes with filters, including a separate option to quickly create video recordings from several clips for uploading online without additional editing. But every time you capture something, you always run the risk of ruining a shot or video due to lighting issues.
Regarding sound, there are no complaints about the quality. In terms of recording and playback. You can comfortably watch movies and listen to music through the speakers if you don't feel like reaching for your headphones.
Content
The NOTE Edge is the first smartphone in the world featuring the new MediaTek Dimensity 7100 5G processor (with Mali-G610 graphics core). The model has versions with storage of 128 GB and 256 GB, as well as 8 GB of RAM, which can be expanded to 16. However, it’s worth reminding right away that this smartphone is still budget-friendly. Despite the new technologies, it doesn’t possess some extraordinary power.
In general, Arknights: Endfield, which I have recently been using as a reference for tests, runs on settings no higher than medium here. But it runs smoothly, without issues, and doesn't heat the device significantly. On the other hand, Call of Duty runs at maximum settings, without lags. Moreover, there is a special meta-application for gaming on the smartphone, XArena, which not only provides optimal settings but also allows you to enable a high-performance mode (unlike most smartphones, which activate this mode for all operations), as well as monitor hardware metrics in real time.
The operating system used is XOS 16, developed by Infinix based on Android 16. It is fully compatible with Android, meaning Google apps are pre-installed, and you can launch games from Google Play without any additional hassles. There is also the ability to run applications "in a window" or minimized. Even several applications at once. The only limitation is that you can change only the size but not the aspect ratio of the windows. Therefore, a mode where applications work side by side on two halves of the screen is also absent.
The Edge also includes trendy AI-assisted features. However, they work quite poorly. For example, the object highlighting feature on photos only sometimes manages to detect these objects. Moreover, the transcription feature from recordings works only in conjunction with the "Voice Recorder" app and only for recordings containing a substantial amount of text, and it does not support the Russian language. Overall, AI enthusiasts should stick to separate applications from professionals in the appropriate field for now.
The battery lasts for 16-17 hours of "light" tasks such as watching videos and 5 hours of gaming (interestingly, there was almost no variation in energy consumption across different applications). This is an excellent result. However, the smartphone takes over one and a half hours to charge completely (about 40 minutes to reach 50%), which is not such a good result.
The device powers on in 32 seconds (you only need to press the power button for two seconds). This is also longer than average, but it’s not that critical.
Here you can find the results of Antutu and Geekbench tests, as well as more photos taken with the camera.
Conclusion
The Infinix NOTE Edge smartphone left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, it is indeed a good gaming device. Not only is it optimized in terms of hardware (5 hours of continuous gaming is a rarity among the models I know), but it also has additional software specifically for fans of high-budget mobile projects. On the other hand, there’s such a blunder with the camera.
Considering the price of 25,000 rubles (20,000 for the version with 128 GB of storage), the device's specifications are quite impressive. However, I can only recommend it to those looking for a smartphone purely for gaming purposes, while planning to use the camera only for utilitarian tasks, such as scanning QR codes. Then the additional advantages, like lower weight, the programmable third button, and the "anti-slip" case, indeed make the model an attractive choice.