You will in all probability by no means use a Tecno telephone. Till this week, I would by no means heard of the Chinese language model or its Camon line of handsets. Now, it is unlikely I will neglect them.
The corporate just lately held a swanky New York Metropolis launch for its new Tecno Camon Sequence 19 Professional Android 12 telephones though the merchandise will not be on the market within the US (or the UK, for that matter). I actually puzzled what they have been doing there and, extra importantly, why I used to be there.
Tecno insisted on describing the handsets as being “designed for fashionistas.” I couldn’t inform you what which means, however I admit to being intrigued by the design, specs, and, particularly, the worth.
Key specs embody:
- 6.8-inch FHD + nearly edge-to-edge 120 Hz show
- Drill-hole front-facing 32MP digicam
- 64 MP and 50 MP cameras on the again
- 2X optical zoom
- Optical Picture Stabilization
- 5,000 mAh battery
- Fingerprint reader
- Face unlocking
- Some nifty AI-infused photograph tips
- a 3.5mm headphone jack (!)
- An influence brick, cable, and earbuds (!!)
It is also a surprisingly enticing telephone. There is a fingerprint-rejecting diamond-coated again that appears and feels beautiful. The twin circle digicam array (which homes three cameras – there’s a 2MP bokeh-assisting lens), is giant however elegant, its premium seems to be assisted by its crystal glass masking. The chassis is barely barely thicker than an iPhone 13 Professional Maxhowever the telephone feels significantly lighter.
The Camon 19 Professional comes will all this (and extra) for $ 280. That is a telephone you can repay within the house of 5 – 6 months (in case you pay round $ 50 a month). The Camon Sequence 19 Professional 5G begins at simply $ 320. That is on each telephones, with 128 GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.
To place that in perspective, the most cost effective iPhone you should buy is the $ 429 Apple iPhone SEwhich has simply 64 GB of storage.
There is a catch
There are, after all, large caveats, the most important one being world availability. These Tecno telephones can be found in Africa, Latin America, the Center East, Southeast Asia, and Southern Asia, however not, as I famous earlier, within the US or Europe. Pricing may also range and the $ 280 and $ 320 Tecno provided remains to be simply an “estimate” for my market.
There are quite a few limitations typically related to finances telephones like no under-the-screen fingerprint reader. As an alternative, the facility / wake button doubles as an efficient fingerprint reader. The display screen remains to be LCD and never OLED. There isn’t any reported IP ranking (possibly preserve it away from deep puddles). It does not provide wi-fi charging.
Then there’s the cell CPU, a MediaTek Helio G96which might be equal to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G. Its benchmark numbers aren’t even in the identical neighborhood as, say, an Apple A15 Bionic hour Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
So, once I unexpectedly walked out of the occasion with a evaluation unit in hand and determined to spend a day or so with it, I attempted to level-set my expectations.
For essentially the most half, although, this finances gadget exceeded them.
Not unhealthy in any respect
As I discussed it is a sexy big-screen telephone with a vibrant show that, naturally, seems to be wonderful indoors. Outdoors is a distinct matter. It struggled in vibrant gentle, however I might nonetheless see properly sufficient to make use of its digicam and relatively wealthy settings to take quite a lot of pictures. All the pieces from commonplace to 2x telephoto, and from Portrait to gradual movement regarded fairly good. Even low-light and night time pictures have been first rate (nothing would qualify as outstanding). There isn’t any wide-angle lens, not to mention ultra-wide however the included lenses captured sharp, colourful, and correct photographs.
Portrait mode from the rear digicam is sweet (the entrance digicam had extra artifacts), although you may’t modify the extent of bokeh earlier than or after the shot (how many individuals do that on their iPhone 13 or Samsung Galaxy, anyway?). There may be an enhancing instrument that permits you to add and modify a bokeh impact on any picture, nevertheless it’s indirectly tied to Portrait Mode images, which is form of foolish.
The AI-powered digicam and its efforts to determine objects in a scene have been entertaining. At one level, I pointed the telephone at my hand, and it got here up with “Pet.”
There are such a lot of picture manipulation choices that you could be by no means discover or use all of them. The set for physique manipulation is, at greatest, problematic. It affords to slim the waistline, head, shoulder, slim and lengthen legs, “plump butt,” together with different beauty alterations. Maybe that is what Techno meant by a telephone for “fashionistas.”
It was, to be honest, exhausting to seek out these options and the telephone definitely does not push them. Nonetheless, it is bizarre that they are there.
Punching above its weight
For a sub- $ 300 telephone, the Tecno Camon 19 Professional is sort of the performer. It performed taxing video games like Asphalt 9: Legends with out lacking a beat. I believe it would’ve been dropping a body or two, and the audio may very well be richer, nevertheless it was nonetheless an fulfilling expertise.
It is an efficient productiveness platform for searching and file administration, and I do love the easy-to-find alphabetically ordered app record.
That 5,000 mAh battery is, by the best way, an all-day champ.
Mainly, that is an above-average telephone at a ridiculously good value.
Will it ever arrive within the US and UK? I do not know and Tecno provided no steering. I am unsure it issues. What the Tecno Camon 19 Professional demonstrates for me is that every one telephone producers can do higher on the affordability entrance. We’re paying as a lot as $ 999 for highly effective big-screen telephones that in all probability do greater than we’ll ever want them to (no less than for many of us).
The Camon 19 Professional units a pleasant instance for the probabilities of finances. I believe it is time Apple, Samsung, and others reply in form.
CLARIFICATION 6-19-2022: An earlier model of this publish indicated that iOS doesn’t have an alphabetical app record. It does, underneath the app library.