Infinix XPAD 30 Pro review
Design, build quality, handling
If you ask a bunch of people to draw a tablet from memory, they will probably get really close to the XPAD 30 Pro design. The design is what we would call classic in pretty much every way. Well, the design team clearly tried to do something with the camera area in particular.
There is this wide and pretty tall plastic piece that stretches from one side to the other. It is almost like a huge camera island. It spices up the back and possibly hides some antennas too, as otherwise the back is completely made from metal.
The back is a single aluminum piece, extending from the back all the way up to both sides and the bottom bezel as well.
If you look close enough, however, you will notice that most of the top frame (where the camera island ends) is actually a plastic piece, breaking up the metal unibody construction. Our best guess is that the 4G antennas are there.
Anyway, while the metal surface certainly feels good and reassuring to the touch, its actual finish is a bit too matte for our liking. It attracts and retains a lot of grease and smears that are really hard to clean.
Infinix is pretty proud of how "Ultra-Slim & Ultra-Light" the XPAD 30 Pro is, and we have to agree, at least to some extent. 476 grams is certainly not something you want to hold one-handed for a prolonged period of time or accidentally drop on your face while watching something in bed. But, given the materials at play here, it seems reasonable. 6.6mm thin is also quite thin by any measure.
Not only is the XPAD 30 Pro mostly made of aluminum, but Infinix didn't even stick to the "easy" color options. You can have the tablet in the fancy Twilight Purple, Anthracite Grey or Titanium Silver.
From the front side, things look a bit interesting - a mishmash of old and new, so to speak. On the one hand, the aggressively curved corners on otherwise flat sides that also extend to the actual display corners are very much a current design trend. On the other hand, the wide display bezels are hard to ignore.
The extra bezel space has allowed Infinix to fit the selfie camera, alongside the light sensor and even a selfie LED flash (!). It's not every day you see that.
Since we already kind of touched on the topic of controls, there are a couple of things worth noting. Despite having a 4G connection and an actual Phone app for calls, the XPAD 30 Pro does not have an earpiece. Honestly, holding an 11-inch device to your ear like a phone has not looked ridiculous, so we approve. You can either have calls using headphones or the speakers.
There are two seemingly symmetrical speakers here - one on each narrow side.
The volume rocker and power button feel nice and clicky and are well-positioned. No complaints there.
The Type-C port on the bottom appears to be weirdly not centered, which is kind of odd. Not a problem in any practical sense, just odd.
Finally, a few closing words on durability. The front of the tablet is covered by Panda MN228 hardened glass - not as premium as most of Corning's offerings, but still reassuring.
Infinix doesn't really promise a formal ingress protection rating, but it does hint that the XPAD 30 Pro is dust-protected and splash-resistant.
Infinix does claim that the XPAD 30 PRO underwent some rigorous endurance testing. For one, it can apparently withstand a 1.4-meter drop, a torsion test and a three-point bend test. It should also be capable of operating in anywhere between -10 degrees and plus 55 degree Celsius conditions. Plus, Infinix verified it can be stored at temperatures as low as -40 and as high as 70 without damage to the device.
Accessories
As mentioned, our particular review unit came in a box with a folio keyboard included.
This is your typical "folio-style" keyboard that doubles as a case. There is no real hinge to speak of, nor is there any actual angle or height adjustment. You basically prop the tablet up and deal with what you get.
The angle at which the tablet sits is pretty ok, in our opinion, and it snaps readily into its propped place thanks to magnets.
The case on the back also has a loop holder, which allows you to attach the stylus along the long side of the tablet to keep the whole ensemble together.
The "chiclet style" keyboard is relatively nice to type on despite the crammed layout. Key travel is actually pretty good. Our only complaint is that there is a firm ridge that runs around the whole keyboard, and sometimes that gets in the way of properly pressing the space bar.
We only miss having a real trackpad, as reaching for the touchscreen every time you need to move the cursor or navigate can break the typing flow.
The keyboard is essentially a wireless Bluetooth accessory with its own power switch, battery, independent charging port and pairing procedure. Infinix says it should be good for 43 days on a single charge.
The other accessory Infinix is marketing alongside the XPAD 30 Pro is the optional stylus. It is called the X Pencil.
It is an active stylus that charges via its own Type-C port. It is actually a very nice stylus with 4096 pressure levels, 10ms latency and up to 140 hours of battery life.
Unfortunately, Infinix doesn't seem to include any dedicated drawing apps on the tablet. You just get the Notes app, which does support drawing and doodling, so there is that.
Conveniently, there is palm rejection at the OS level, meaning that it works everywhere and it works really well. You can safely rest your palm on the screen as you are writing, drawing or annotating with the stylus.
