XOS Chameleon: Infinix Hot S Software review

The Infinix Hot S has been around for a while now. This is currently the best in the Hot series of smartphones. Today we want to focus on the software side of things. You see, the Infinix Hot S heralds the debut of XOS Chameleon – Infinix’s new customized operating system based on Android Marshmallow.

We will briefly highlight the features of XOS, then what we love and hate about it. The picture gallery is here, plus the full specifications sheet. We also conducted a 4G test on this phone.

XOS Chameleon: The UI

This phone comes with a new look notifications, and quick settings menue options – though very similar to TECNO’s HiOS. The default Xlauncher is simplistic and easy to work with. By default, all apps are arranged into folders, except for new installations. The app drawer shows apps vertically, and there’s a search bar at the top to pick out apps. 

XOS comes with themes, wallpaper and fonts you can choose from. Added to this, you can also download more from the store to suit your style and taste. I love the fact that you can change wallpaper/lock screen wallpaper so easily with a “Shuffle” widget that appears on the screen.

XOS Chameleon: The Fingerprint Manager

With the fingerprint sensor comes a special settings page for managing it. At first booting, you are expected to add your fingerprint (one or more). The fingerprint lock works together with a PIN or password. You’ll have to set that too.

Besides locking the phone, the fingerprint scanner can also be used as a shutter to take pictures and even to answer calls too. Overall, the fingerprint sensor is fast and works perfectly well.

XOS Chameleon: Security

The Infinix Hot S has a lot of security measures in place. I discovered that you can set a custom PIN code to lock access to your device after first boot. This is a very good anti-theft feature. Before any app works, you must allow permission for all features the app will need. The steps can be annoyingly long and boring, but trust me, this is a nice feature.

This phone carries an app called XManager that handles Mobile Cleanup, App management, Bandwidth management, Call blocker and more. We also found XHide, an app used for hiding apps from the app drawer.

Miscellaneous

There are many bloatware apps on this phone. They include: PalmChat, PalmPlay, Magic Movie, and two music apps – Play Music and Music. There is a set of X-apps (XHide, XClub, XManager, XCloud, to name a few). You can uninstall some, but you will need root access to remove the rest of them.

The volume is divided into various streams, such that one doesn’t affect or depend on the other. You can separate notifications volume from media. We were glad to see that one can peg to any network setting. 4G, 3G, 2G – your choice. The Infinix Hot S came with a few gestures like Double Tap to Wake/Sleep, Turn over to Mute and more.

That’s all for XOS Chameleon on the Infinix Hot S. A Camera Comparison is coming up next. Stay Tuned.

Author: Chibueze Etoniru