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Some of you may have heard of Tecno. If you haven’t, it is a relatively smaller smartphone brand with a stronghold on the budget and entry-level smartphone markets, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia. In fact, it is among the fastest growing brands in the world, since its parent company Transsion Holdings (comprising Tecno, iTel and Infinix) has recently entered the Top 5 smartphone makers in terms of market share globally.
The company’s major highlight is the midrange Camon series, which focuses on camera-centric phones with very good value. Today, I will be covering the upcoming Camon 30 series, which will launch in India on 18th May and includes three 5G-enabled devices: Camon 30, Camon 30 Pro and the premium Camon 30 Premier. (Note: It seems that the 18th May Indian launch will only see the debut of the standard Camon 30 5G and the premium Camon 30 Premier, based on teaser information seen on Amazon India, with the mid-tier Camon 30 Pro unexpected to land in India that day.)
Tecno Camon 30
This is the entry-level device of the Camon 30 series. There is a 4G version sold globally with the Helio G99 Ultimate chipset, but India is expected to get the 5G version of the phone, which is powered by the Dimensity 7020 chipset. Fortunately, the entire Camon 30 series was announced globally last month, so we know the entire specs of the Camon 30 5G, detailed as follows: (Note: The specifications are the same for both the 4G and 5G versions of the Camon 30 unless mentioned)
- Display: 6.78-inch OLED display with 10-bit color depth, 120 Hz refresh rate, FHD+ resolution (2436*1080 pixels) and TUV Rheinland Blue Light Certification.
- Build: Glass back or vegan leather back (depending on color), plastic frame.
- Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 7020 (5G version), MediaTek Helio G99 Ultimate (4G version)
- RAM/storage configurations: 8 GB RAM/256 GB Storage, 8 GB RAM/512 GB storage, 12 GB RAM/512 GB storage (5G Version); 8 GB RAM/256 GB Storage or 12 GB RAMA/256 GB storage (4G version)
- Software: HiOS 14 based on Android 14, 2 major OS updates and 3 years of security patches
- Cameras: 50 MP selfie camera with autofocus, and a 50 MP ISOCELL GN5 (1/1.57″ size) rear camera with OIS alongside useless 2 MP trash. Upto 1440p 30 fps selfie and rear recording. Dual-LED flash for both rear camera and selfie camera.
- Audio: Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos certification, no 3.5 mm headphone jack.
- Battery and charging: 5000 mAh battery, 70W wired charging
- Miscellaneous: In-display fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth v5.3, USB Type-C 2.0, FM radio, NFC, IR Blaster, supports dual physical SIMs.
As it can be seen, this is quite a decently packed phone, but it misses out on an ultrawide lens, and a more powerful chipset (given its expected price) would have been appreciated.
The highlight is the dual 50 MP cameras for the rear and the selfies. The Indian pricing is set as follows:
- INR 22,999 for the base variant with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage
- INR 26,999 for the highest-end variant with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage
There are offers which bring down the starting price to as low as INR 19,999. I would say that this model is not great value for money, since we have better options even for camera-centric phones, with better hardware, at the same segment.
Tecno Camon 30 Pro 5G
This phone serves as a good middle ground between the base Camon 30 5G and the premium Camon 30 Premier. This phone does not have a 4G variant, and instead comes only in a 5G variant, and many of the specifications are similar to the aforementioned Camon 30 5G, with a few key changes as follows:
- The chipset: It has a more powerful Dimensity 8200 chipset, built on TSMC’s 4 nm fabrication (it is actually a good chipset with great performance but an inefficient modem).
- The cameras: While the 50 MP main and selfie sensors remain the same as the Camon 30 5G and the 2 MP trash is retained, the Camon 30 Pro finally gets an additional ultrawide lens: A 50 MP sensor complete with Phase Detection Autofocus.
- The Camera capabilities: The Camon 30 Pro can record videos upto 4K 60 fps due to the more capable ISP of the Dimensity 8200 chipset.
- The Display: It is exactly the same display as the Camon 30 5G, except for the slight change that the refresh rate runs at as high as 144 Hz.
The remaining specs of the Camon 30 Pro 5G remain the same as the aforementioned Camon 30 5G and it starts at a 12 GB RAM/256 GB Storage base variant. This, in my opinion, is the most well-positioned model in the Camon 30 series, but it has not been launched in India yet. If and when it comes to India, the pricing is expected to be around INR 30,000 for the base variant with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage.
Tecno Camon 30 Premier
This is the highest model in the new Camon 30 series and the hardware remains mostly the same as the Camon 30 Pro 5G and/or Camon 30 5G in several key aspects like the battery/charging, same Dimensity 8200 chipset, the stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. However, the Premier has a metal frame (instead of a plastic frame), comes only in a single 12 GB RAM/512 GB storage configuration, the display supports LTPO technology with variable refresh rates between 10 Hz-144 Hz (not present on the Camon 30 Pro) nd also has major changes in the cameras. Let’s just say the company has never been more serious about the cameras.
The big highlight is the 50 MP periscope zoom lens, with a 1/2.76″ sensor size and a f/2.2 aperture with 3x optical zoom range (a focal length of 70 mm), complete with OIS. The rear main camera gets an upgrade to the IMX890 sensor from the ISOCELL GN5, while the ultrawide lens and the selfie lens remain the same as the Camon 30 Pro.
Furthermore, it is the only phone in the lineup to have a dedicated Imaging chip (read: dedicated ISP) developed by Sony for Tecno, known as the CXD5622GG Imaging Chip. This dedicated ISP is said to be more power-efficient and more capable than the Dimensity 8200’s ISP is on its own. This is similar to the approach used by expensive flagship camera phones (like Vivo’s V3 chip for its X100 Pro).
Furthermore, it has a few AI features, like an one-click AI Photo Eraser and AI Portrait generation. The periscope supports upto 60X digital zoom, and supports upto 4K 60 fps video recording.
The Tecno Camon 30 Premier has been announced in India, and it is priced at INR 39,999 for the sole variant with 12 GB RAM and 512 GB internal storage. A bank offer brings down the price to INR 36,999, and hear me out: If the cameras live up to the hype created by the company, this is a steal deal if you want the best camera-centric phone at this price.
My raw thoughts on Camon 30 Series.
I’ll be quite blunt here: the Camon 30 5G is not great value, and so its worth skipping over since the competition is better. What is more interesting to me is the Camon 30 Pro and the Premier. For the Pro, the pricing is crucial: it will be great value for the INR 27K while the Premier sacrifices performance (in return for top-tier camera hardware) on a midrange phone.
However, a few things remain to be seen, like the actual camera software processing in all situations (Tecno has historically been very inconsistent at it even for the Camon series), and how frequently the phone gets updates. Moreover, HiOS as a UI has improved a lot in the past few years. It is not as bloat-filled as it once was, but it lacks the polish of software skins from bigger brands like Xiaomi, Samsung, OPPO and Vivo. Regardless, it is great to see a refreshing change from the sea of similar performance-centric phones in the midrange segment (Oh boy, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and 8s Gen 3 onslaught….here they come!), with a focus on good camera performance without major compromises by Tecno, especially for the Camon 30 Premier.
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