The café isn't busy today. I’ve opened my laptop, and the whirring of its cooling fan is just as noisy as the questions swirling in my head about this device.

It all started when someone posted a photo in a group chat asking, "How much is the Infinix X624 Hot 7 worth these days?" No one replied. I did a quick search and discovered that—despite being released back in 2019—there are still plenty of active listings for it online. From Nigeria and Pakistan to Egypt and Kenya, the prices vary wildly when converted to RMB, yet they all fall within the "few hundred yuan" range.

That’s actually quite interesting.

The X624 and X624B are siblings; their names differ by only a single letter. The X624 comes with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, running Android 8.1 Go Edition—Google’s stripped-down OS designed specifically for low-end devices. The X624B steps it up to 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, running the full Android 8.1 Oreo OS overlaid with XOS 4.0. In short, it’s the same phone model, yet it was split into two tiers: one that’s "usable" and one that’s merely "barely passable."

I checked out the specs: a 6.2-inch IPS display with 720×1500 resolution and a 19:9 aspect ratio. The rated brightness is 500 nits—a figure that wasn't too shabby back then. However, user reviews are mixed; some complain the screen is too dim, while others say the display quality is impressive for the price point. It’s a common phenomenon: the same device can feel completely different depending on who’s holding it.

As for the design, I came across a review describing the phone as "all plastic—nothing premium, but it doesn't feel cheap either." It weighs 159 grams and is about 8.4mm thick, making it feel very light in the hand. The front features a waterdrop notch, but you can disable it in the settings, turning the top bezel into a straight, flat line. I really appreciate that detail—giving the user a choice, even for something as minor as toggling the notch. As for the processor, the X624 uses the MediaTek MT6580—a quad-core chip clocked at 1.3GHz, built on a 28nm process. To put it bluntly, by 2019 standards, this chip’s performance was barely at the "as long as it turns on, that's enough" level. Some reviews stated outright that it was "unsuitable for running any graphics-intensive games." Its AnTuTu benchmark score was just a shade over 88,000. To put that in perspective: if you opened WeChat too quickly, the phone would stutter for a moment.

But looking at it another way, this device wasn't really designed for people who binge-watch short videos until 2 a.m. It supports GSM and HSPA—meaning 2G and 3G—but lacks 4G LTE entirely. I was stunned for a few seconds when I first saw that. A phone without 4G in 2019, yet it actually sold out in several countries. It made sense once I thought about it: in those regions, 4G coverage was incomplete anyway. If you spent a fortune on a 4G-capable phone but still only got a 2G signal, you might as well have spent that money on the battery instead.

It has a 4,000mAh battery—a generous spec for this price point. Reviews claimed it could "easily last a full day of normal use," and some users reported it "held up for a day and a half with moderate use," though others complained the "battery drained too fast." Of course, battery life is subjective; it depends entirely on how you use the device. If you keep the screen on while scrolling through videos, no battery is going to be enough.

The camera actually exceeded expectations. It features a 13-megapixel main rear camera paired with a 2-megapixel depth sensor and an f/1.8 aperture. The front setup is even more interesting: a dual-camera combo consisting of a 13-megapixel and a 2-megapixel lens. Not many phones in this price range offer dual front cameras. Naturally, you shouldn't expect professional-grade shots; user feedback ranged from "the camera is great" to "the front camera is terrible." One comment almost made me laugh: "A 3-megapixel Samsung camera takes better photos than this 16-megapixel one." After all, pixel count has never been synonymous with image quality.

Now, let's talk about something that really annoyed me. Reviews repeatedly mention that this phone comes pre-loaded with a heap of junk software, with ads constantly popping up in the notification bar. When you buy a phone costing just a few hundred yuan, how do manufacturers make money? Part of the answer lies right here. Some user reviews even explicitly cite this as a "downside." I feel this is one of those things you know about before buying, yet it still proves annoying in actual use.

I’ve actually been pondering a question: what is the point of this phone's existence?

Look at its specs—by today's standards, it’s a piece of junk. 1GB of RAM, no 4G connectivity, and a processor benchmark score under 90,000. But place it in the context of Nigeria or Pakistan back in 2019, and the picture changes completely. A line from an article by *Naijaknowhow* really stuck with me: "You can't talk about budget smartphones in Nigeria without mentioning Infinix's Hot series." That’s not marketing copy; it’s the reality of that market. The X624 sells for around 50,000 Naira in Nigeria, and the X624B for 48,500—converting to roughly 300–350 RMB. In Kenya, it goes for over 11,000 Shillings. For many people in these countries, this is the smart device they can afford—one that lets them get online, take photos, and make calls.

Not everyone needs a flagship phone. Not everyone has Wi-Fi and power banks as part of their daily lives. Some people just need a reasonably large screen, a battery that lasts two days, and a communication module that doesn't turn the device into a brick the moment the signal drops.

As I closed my laptop, I found myself thinking: those of us who obsess over specs, benchmarks, and teardowns every day may have forgotten the most fundamental purpose of a mobile phone. It’s not about photographing the moon or running *Genshin Impact*; it’s about enabling you to talk to another person.

The X624 and X624B differ by only a single letter in their model names, yet there is a noticeable gap in the user experience. What they share, however, is that neither was designed to pander to you. They are simply tools built to get the job done.

INFINIX 3900MAH/15.01WH 3.85V BL-39KX Battery for Infinix X624/HOT7