Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition review – Same same, but different

Infinix had recently rolled out Note 40 5G Series Racing Edition mobile phones. These phones are given a design makeover in collaboration with Designworks, a subsidiary of the BMW Group. Here is our review of the Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition phone.

The packaging:

To showcase the collaboration with Designworks, the Infinix Note 40 5G box is adorned with specially designed silver stripes called ‘Wings of Speed’ and the infamous triple BMW M-stripes. Quick trivia, the blue stripe represents BMW, the red stripe represents motorsports, and the dark blue (originally violet) represents the combination of both.

Inside the box, is the phone itself, a hard TPU case with a MagSafe charging ring, a 33W charger, a charging/data cable, a sim tool and paperwork. Also included in the box is a tempered glass screen protector, a great inclusion but the catch here is that you have to install it yourself, not an easy task if you do have not the practice.

The Phone itself:

Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition mirrors the phone case, which is the whole reason why this phone exists, as the regular version of the Infinix Note 40 5G was just released in March this year. The rear of the phone carries the ‘Wings of Speed’ which was created using advanced UV transfer printing. This special printing method creates slightly raised lines that feel like it was etched on the back. The finishing is named racing Grey and looks awesome when it catches light reflections.

Another addition made by Designworks was to add a small tri-colour BMW M-racing stripes onto the camera bump. The camera bump is oddly actually two levels, as two of the three camera bumps on the left edges do protrude up from the camera bump. The other silver ring is the flash which contains the party trick of a halo Lighting RGB lights that pulsate with calls, notifications and even music.

The plastic sides are finished in glossy silver, which is a huge fingerprint magnet. On the top side houses the top stereo speakers (with etched words “SOUND BY JBL” next to it), IR blaster and a noise-cancelling mic. The left side is where the dual sim plus microSD card slot is, the right has the power and volume buttons and the bottom houses the bottom stereo speaker, USB-C charging slot and another noise-cancelling mic.

Specifications at a glance:

Display and Battery:

Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition have a 6.78-inch, 1080×2436 pixel, 120 Hz AMOLED screen with 1,300-nit peak brightness. Despite having an AMOLED screen, the phone has no support HDR support. Even so, the display is bright, crisp and has vibrant colours, good for gaming indoors. The screen is legible outdoors but is less advisable to game under direct sunlight. The glass screen curves very slightly into the sides, but the display itself is flat.

Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition has a 5,000 mAh battery with support for 33W wired charging. The surprise feature of the phone is that it also supports Infinix’s Wireless MagSafe charging. It can be charged at 15W wirelessly, and Infinix even ships a hard TPU case with magnetic charging rings in the box. The inclusion of wireless charging is special as the brand’s more expensive offerings don’t include Infinix’s own higher-ranged GT 20 Pro phone.

Another charging option that the Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition has is Bypass Charging but is only available when playing games or watching videos while using only an original Infinix charger.

A thirty-minute run of Genshin Impact consumes 20% of the battery, which is pretty good. Charging with the 33W supplied charging from 20% to full, would take around 1 hour 10 minutes which is not bad for a 33W wired charger.

Gaming on the Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition:

Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition has the same innards as the vanilla Note 40 5G. The same MediaTek Dimensity 7020 chip powers the Racing Edition as well. This mid-range chip works well powering the phone in its daily functions but it is in gaming where it stumbles.

Casual gaming, even MOBA such as Honor of Kings, performs well. It is at the most demanding games that where the phone struggles. That is not to say that the phone can’t run demanding games like Genshin Impact, there are just compromises to be made to ensure stable gameplay.

I ran Genshin Impact at the default recommended graphical setting, Medium at 30FPS. While the game can run smoothly when there is nothing much going on, the game will stutter to the low 20s FPS when there is a battle, just loaded into the open world, or worse into the waters of Fontaine. Lowering the graphics to Lowest at 30FPS alleviates most of the frame rate stutters, making the gameplay much smoother with minor drops to the mid-20s frame at its worst.

Honkai: Star Rail fares a bit better, given the combat zone which requires lesser processing powers. The graphic is here set to Low (not Lowest) at 30FPS and the game ran smoother in battle with occasionally lowering to the mid 20FPS in battle or when loading into the world.

Infinix’s game booster app, X-Arena, is not able to help much, given the hardware restraints it is facing. Changing the Game engine to Performance mode does little to help with Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail’s overall performance. So, running more demanding games is possible on the Inifinx Note 40 5G Racing Edition just keep expectations well in check given the mid-range hardware of the phone.

The Cameras:

Do not let the specs and the back camera module fool you. Yes, while there are three cameras listed, only one will mostly be in use, which is the 108MP main camera. The other two cameras are 2MP cameras, one is used as a depth sensor, while the other camera is usage unspecified as of the writing of this review.

Pictures taken by the 108MP main camera in daylight are good, clear and detailed. The main camera has no OIS or EIS, so you do have to keep your hands very stable to prevent taking blurry pictures. The main camera also has a 3X digital zoom toggle to zoom up closer, very usable in daylight.

At night, the image quality drops. Images are visibly noisier and blurrier. Indoors with low lighting conditions are also bad, with pictures noisier and lacking in detail. Note that the images taken at night out or indoors are still usable in social media postings but it would not look good if it is printed out as a big poster or banner.

Software:

Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition runs on Infinix’s own XOS, which is based on Android 14. Due to the collaboration with Designworks, the Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition gets its very own unique wallpaper and app icons that carry the racing theme and the BMW tri-colour colourways. This completes the design elements of Designworks that appear everywhere, from the box to the back of the phone and inside the phone software itself, making the exclusivity stand out.

XOS have also its very own AI assistant baked in, known as Folax. It does what you would expect a phone AI assistant does like setting up tasks and stuff on your phone, and it uses normal conversation language models to do so. And Folax Translates does exactly what it states, all these Folax functions works tight off the phone without needing to be connected to the internet.

XOS also have other cool features such as the Smart Panel, where you can swipe on a tab on the side of the phone to reveal a list of app icons you can quickly switch to; Halo Lighting, a party trick where the flash module at the back of the phone lights up and pulses to incoming calls and notifications, and even to music playback; and Dynamic Bar, which mimics Apple’s Floating Island to display info for face unlock, calls, recorder and charging in a pill-shaped cut-out at the front-facing camera area.

One nagging issue that I found with the Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition is the consistency of the in-display fingerprint scanner. Even after cleaning the scanner area and wiping down my fingers, there would be times when the scanner just did not recognize my fingers. Hopefully, this could be fixed with a patch.

In summary:

What I Really Liked About the Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition:

• Very awesome looking phone
• Unique and special designs by BMW Designworks
• Good-looking OLED display
• Wireless charging, with a MagSafe phone cover included
• Special functions and features of XOS

What I Wished Was Better:

• The phone build is made mostly of plastic
• Only 1 main camera. Could use more functioning cameras
• No OIS or EIS
• The fingerprint scanner is not consistent
• Doesn’t run demanding games at higher graphical settings, but it is to be expected

Verdict:

Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition brings some very special racing elements to its design language, thanks to the collaboration with BMW Group’s Designworks. The unique designs are presented very prominently at the back of the phone, within the app icons and wallpaper inside the phone, and even on the box. This makes the Infinix Note 40 5G Racing Edition stand out in the crowd.

Elsewhere though, the innards and build form of the phone are also an eye-turner. XOS performs well being smooth and quick, the AMOLED screen is bright and beautiful, and the camera functions well in the right condition. Plus, it has wireless charging when even phones priced twice or more don’t.

For its low asking price of RM1,299, the main selling point of this Racing Edition is the Designworks designs featuring racing lines, themes and the BMW M colours. It is a capable mid-range phone which is good for daily usage, but you will be better off looking at others if you are looking for a heavy-usage gaming phone.