Infinix INBOOK X2 (XL21) laptop review: cheap doesn’t mean bad

The emergence of new players in the field of mobile computing is an infrequent occurrence these days. As a rule, it is up to companies that have gotten their hands on smartphones and tablets to test their strength as a laptop manufacturer, and sometimes they achieve great success. Hong Kong-based Infinix is ​​known specifically for mobile gadgets, but the company’s lineup also includes smart TVs, and more recently, laptops. Last year, Infinix introduced its first series of mobile PCs, the INBOOK X1 Pro, and now it has expanded its catalog with a more affordable, or rather “extremely affordable” X2 model. This is the first Infinix laptop available on the market, the X1 model has not reached us yet.

⇡#Specifications, prices

Infinix INBOOK X2 clearly does not claim to be high performance, because it is based on the 10th generation Intel Core platform, while the vast majority of Intel laptops now use 11th generation chips, and some have already switched to the 12th. Infinix offers three CPU configurations: quad-core Core i5 and Core i7, or dual-core Core i3. The latter option, of course, should be considered only in the case when the laptop will serve as a typewriter, and no more, and it is better to install Linux as the OS instead of the more resource-demanding Windows.

There is no discrete graphics processor in INBOOK X2, and the power of Ice Lake integrated into Intel chips is enough only for the most sparing games and simple projects in work applications. The amount of RAM is 8 or only 4 GB of RAM. The latter is already a rarity in our time, but it opens up an additional opportunity to save money if an absolute minimum of performance is required from a computer. According to the description on the manufacturer’s website, there is a variant with 16 GB of RAM.

INBOOK X2 is indeed a very cheap device. The entry-level configuration, which, incidentally, contains a 256 GB SSD, has a suggested price of $700, and in the initial period after the release there is a discount and the price is reduced to $600. For a more powerful version with a Core i7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM and a 512 GB drive, they will ask $ 1,000 at the start of sales. In the context of such prices, the INBOOK X2 specifications look decent, especially in the base configuration, which rivals computers based on stripped-down Pentium, Celeron and Athlon chips.

⇡#Look and Ergonomics

From the first glance at the INBOOK X2, it is clear what priorities the creators of the laptop set: it was necessary to make a compact machine with a presentable appearance and at the same time fit into an extremely limited budget. Needless to say, this device does not look at all for $600. The laptop turned out to be very thin (14.8 mm), light (1.24 kg) and assembled in an aluminum case in a bright color (there are blue and gray options) or without coloring. There is a brushed texture area on the screen cover. The only plastic element is the screen bezel. The screen, which is natural in this price category, is not laminated and not touch-sensitive, covered with a matte anti-reflective film. But it would not hurt to loosen the hinges so that the lid can be lifted with one hand – at least we didn’t manage to open the laptop this way, although the manufacturer provided a video that this is possible. Maybe we were unlucky with the copy.

The INBOOK X2 keyboard, on the contrary, was let down by the insufficient rigidity of the base: the body flexes strongly when pressed and drums during typing. It’s a pity, because there are no complaints about the mechanics of the keys: they have a fairly long stroke, a clear actuation moment and a quick return to the neutral position. The keyboard layout is typical for 14-inch ultrabooks: there is no numeric keypad, the “~” key has already been made for the rest of the character keys, but there was a place for an additional column Delete, Home, End, PgUp and PgDn.

The keyboard backlight is two-stage, turns on when you press F3 through the function key, there is also a backlight for the webcam. Two LED flashlights, located on the sides of the lens, are intended by engineers to be useful for video calls in low light conditions. However, the disadvantage of such a solution is obvious: bright light hits the user’s eyes directly.

The touchpad, due to the fact that the screen of the INBOOK X2 has standard 16:9 proportions, turned out to be small, but it is covered with glass, which is usually not expected when buying a cheap laptop. Most modern laptops have one touchpad switch, but here there are two – in the lower right and left corner. Two switches stabilize the panel in the plane, but there is also an undesirable effect when a double click is heard when pressed in the center.

The power button is located separately from the main block of keys, and you might think that a fingerprint scanner is built into it, but this, unfortunately, is not the case. Biometric means of authentication INBOOK X2 is deprived.

But there is a set of external interfaces sufficient for most users: two USB Type-C ports (3.1 Gen 1 and 2.0 standards), two USB 3.0 Type-A, full HDMI, acoustic mini-jack and microSD card reader.

One of the USB Type-C ports also serves to charge the battery (it’s a pity that it’s the fast 3.1 Gen 1 port, and not the slow 2.0), and due to the modest power consumption, the laptop needs a 45-watt power supply no larger than tablets.

⇡#Internal design and upgrade options

The components of the INBOOK X2 are cooled according to the standard scheme, when air enters through the holes in the bottom, and is thrown out into the gap between the lower half of the case and the screen.

The interior of the laptop is minimalist. The CPU die is cooled by a small heatsink with two heat pipes, and the only user-upgradeable component is the SSD. RAM, as is typical for LPDDR4 chips, is soldered on the motherboard.

⇡#Test Methodology

In order to ensure a level playing field for Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers and to demonstrate the best performance of new machines, we are disabling VBS (Virtualization-Based Security) and Memory Integrity (Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity) features in Windows 11.

Display testing is performed using the X-Rite i1Display Pro Plus colorimeter in the DisplayCAL 3 application.

Notebook battery life is measured at a display brightness of 200 cd/m²in the following usage scenarios:

• web surfing: alternately opening and closing tabs of Computeruniverse.ru and Unsplash.com sites with an interval of 25 seconds in the Google Chrome browser (cache and cookies are disabled);
• Continuous playback of 4K HEVC (H.265) video.

⇡#Test participants

The following devices took part in testing:

⇡#Screen Quality

Taking into account the cost of Infinix INBOOK X2, the laptop has a good screen, which, in terms of a number of characteristics, is not inferior to the matrices of more expensive devices. For example, the panel has a good margin of brightness of 366 cd/m² and a contrast ratio of 1097:1.

But the color gamut turned out to be less than the sRGB space by 6.5%.

In addition, the color temperature has not been calibrated to the 6500 K standard. As a result, the image appears cold.

The gamma correction curve also differs from the sRGB reference function or the approximate power function of 2.2. But the gray balance is maintained with good accuracy throughout most of the gray scale.

The profile describing the characteristics of the panel is not installed in INBOOK X2. Therefore, if you use sRGB content as a reference, you should not count on impeccable color reproduction. We recorded large Delta E values ​​when reproducing hues close to the most saturated reds and blues, but the average error turned out to be quite acceptable for everyday use without pretensions to professional imaging.

 

⇡#Clock speeds, temperature and noise levels

Of the total power reserve of 25 W allocated to the Core i7-1065G7 chip according to Intel specifications, the higher-end INBOOK X2 processor consumes only 12. As a result, four x86 cores maintain a low clock speed of about 1.7 GHz under continuous load. That is, the laptop constantly works in a mode that more productive devices allow you to set by software in order to save battery power or reduce noise levels.

In turn, the integrated graphics clock speed fluctuates around 0.75 GHz, and under a combined load, the CPU and GPU frequencies stabilize at 1 and 0.5 GHz, respectively.

Note The measurement is performed after the device has warmed up and all parameters have stabilized.

Naturally, one cannot expect high performance from such a slow processor even within the framework of the 10th generation of the Core architecture the year before last. But the small INBOOK X2 cooler is able to cool the crystal under load to a temperature of no more than 73 ° C, and the Inifinix laptop is quieter than all the more powerful competitors, whose data we used in comparison.

 

⇡#Synthetic Performance Tests

The Ice Lake CPU family (especially severely limited in power) is not the ultimate dream in 2022, however, when studying the results of the INBOOK X2 benchmarks, one should keep in mind the low price of the device and, last but not least, the prevailing use case, but powerful devices , based on modern components, we have included in the comparison only in order to create a wider context.

Under long-term multi-threaded load, the quad-core INBOOK X2 processor is not able to compete even with the modern economical Core i5-1135G7 chip, not to mention the more powerful Intel 11th generation solutions or the Ryzen 5000 series. But short Geekbench tests put the Core i7-1065G7 on par with the quad-core Ryzen 3 PRO 5450U, and it is not so far behind Intel colleagues.

The integrated video core has been a strong point of Intel processors since the 10th generation, so the INBOOK X2 graphics are about the same speed as the “red” machines without a discrete GPU under conditions of adequate light load for such devices. The 3DMark Time Spy test paints a different picture, but games with such graphics are in any case too tough for thin ultrabooks.

 

⇡#Performance in production applications

Rendering in Blender by the CPU is a variation on a long multi-threaded workload. As a result, the INBOOK X2 CPU is again unable to compete even with the younger, also quad-core, representatives of the 11th generation Core.

This work is done faster by integrated Iris Plus graphics, which can be compared in performance to the Radeon RX Vega 7 core used in today’s Ryzen 5000 series chips.

Lightroom is considered a no-brainer for today’s PCs, and while the INBOOK X2 is once again in last place in the aggregate benchmark results, the old platform’s active operation speed is on par with the quad-core Ryzen 5000-series.

Note Scores are calculated as a percentage of Intel Reference Workstation performance Core i9-9900K, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, 64GB RAM.

For some reason, the test package for Photoshop did not run on the INBOOK X2, although the specifications of the machine do not formally prevent this. As for the final benchmark in our program, Premiere Pro, then, of course, computers of this class are in principle not designed for 4K video editing. The closest analogue of INBOOK X2 in terms of speed is again a device based on a quad-core Ryzen processor.

Note Scores are calculated as a percentage of AMD reference workstation performance Ryzen 9 5900X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and 64GB RAM x 10.

Note Scores are calculated as a percentage of AMD reference workstation performance Ryzen 9 5900X, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, 64GB RAM.

⇡# SSD Performance

The test copy of the INBOOK X2 has a solid-state drive under the FORSEE brand, which we have not seen before in mobile computers of any manufacturer. By modern standards, this is a rather slow SSD, although it must be admitted that even big-name brands often use solutions with lower sequential write speeds. In addition, it is possible that in tests for random and sequential reading, the results were limited by the speed of the central processor. Yes, and in principle it is difficult to imagine that the owner of the INBOOK X2 loaded the computer with such work tasks that need a high-speed data storage.

 

⇡# Battery Life

In standalone mode, the INBOOK X2 is powered by a battery of typical capacity for thin 13- or 14-inch laptops – 50 Wh, and thanks to the economical central processor, the novelty does not stand out from the general range of such devices in terms of operating time on a single charge: 6.5 hours of continuous video playback or almost 5 hours of web surfing.

⇡#Summary

It is difficult to treat a laptop that even in the maximum configuration went on sale at a price of up to $1000, and in the minimum one costs less than $700, it is difficult to be treated with all severity. For that kind of money, you can’t count on powerful components, and Infinix’s choice in favor of Intel’s outdated Ice Lake platform was fully justified. The Core i7-1065G7 CPU, operating within a small power reserve, can be put on the same board with the younger, also quad-core, representatives of the Ryzen 4000 or 5000 family, and this is already an acceptable result for a “typewriter” that will run only office applications and web browser.

As for other qualities of the brainchild of Infinix, the design of the laptop has the typical costs inherent in most thin models, including more expensive devices, but in general, without knowing the technical characteristics of the novelty, you can’t even guess how much it really costs. If you forgive the INBOOK X2 lack of body rigidity, it boasts a comfortable keyboard. It has a glass touchpad, a wide range of external interfaces and a bright screen with a high percentage of sRGB coverage, and the cooling system keeps the temperature and noise level low even when the CPU is fully loaded.

Although we tested the top version INBOOK X2, we think that this machine is the most interesting solution in the minimum configuration with a dual-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM. After all, sometimes more is not required, but you still want the computer to look good and easy to use.