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It’s so easy to become mesmerized and hypnotized by expensive flagship phones. We believe that the latest iPhone or Galaxy phone is the pinnacle of smartphone perfection and that anyone who’s anyone will be rocking one. That mentality blinds us to the fact that companies like Tecno can make amazing and fun phones that go for a much lower price. I had the opportunity to review the Camon 20 Pro, and believe me when I say this: This phone proves that a phone does not have to be expensive to be fun!
So, what’s the deal with this phone? What makes it great? What keeps it from being even greater? Let’s find out in the review of this Tecno Camon 20 Pro.
Tecno Camon 20 Review: Build and design
When it comes to the feeling of the device in the hand, the Camon 20 Pro sits in a bit of a gray area. This is an affordable phone, so you won’t expect it to feel like you’re grabbing a Galaxy S23 Ultra. So, when I pick up this phone, it becomes immediately apparent that I’m picking up a mid-range device, but it doesn’t feel cheap.
It’s a few steps behind my Pixel 6 in terms of premium feel, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel like I’m grabbing a cheap throw-away phone. There’s a certain heft to it that gives it more of a significant feeling. Also, I can tell that the phone is solidly-built. It’s a sturdy phone through and through. There are no creaks or groans when applying pressure to it, and it’s held up great during the review period.
Design
The design is one of the other fun aspects of this phone. Most flagship phones go for a more mature, sleek, and squeaky-clean look. Tecno goes in a different direction. It has this soft-touch plastic back that has a pattern etched into it.
The pattern extends throughout most of the phone’s back panel, and it gives the phone a bit of that classic futuristic aesthetic. I say most of the back because it doesn’t extend to the camera package. There’s a distinct irregular pentagonal shape around the camera package. This unique shape coupled with the large camera package defines the phone’s overall aesthetic. It’s similar to how the Glyph Interface defines the Nothing Phone (1).
It’s so unique and fun, but it still has an elegance to it. The design is bold, but at the same time, it’s subdued. The lines are subtle, and there’s enough empty space on the back to keep things from looking cluttered. You’re sure to turn heads when you take this phone out especially if you’re in a sea of iPhones and Galaxy phones.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: Display
I can honestly say that the display on this phone does NOT belong on a phone in this price bracket! Phones at $300 and below typically have displays that are serviceable to nice. Some will have some nice colors and decent brightness, but they’re nothing to write home about.
The display on the Camon 20 Pro is absolutely breathtaking. I was honestly shocked at how gorgeous this display is. It’s a 1080p AMOLED display, but it goes deeper than that. Any company can slap an OLED panel on a phone and call it a day. It’ll have punchy colors and deep blacks blah blah blah.
Tecno did an amazing job calibrating this display. The colors are punchy, but they strike that perfect balance between dull and oversaturated. The panel gives you a pleasant pop of color that stops short of being too much. I’d say it’s just slightly behind the display on the Galaxy A53 5G, and that display was also beautiful. This is all made better by the silky smooth 120Hz refresh rate.
There are two color settings that this display has. One keeps the colors toned down while the other boosts the colors to be more juicy. You can choose which one suits your tastes. You can also meticulously dial in the color temperature of the display.
It’s not just the colors; this display is very bright. Brightness is an area where other mid-range phones fall short. The Camon 20 Pro’s display bucked that trend and fitted this phone with a panel that can be seen in any scenario.
Sunlight visibility is not an issue at all unless the sun is directly reflected on your display. It’s bright by default, but it has a setting where it will push the brightness even further when you’re in a bright environment.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: Performance
When I saw that this was using a MediaTek processor (and one from the Helio line), I didn’t get my hopes up. Well, I tip my hat to both MediaTek and Tecno. The Camon 20 Pro’s performance is incredibly smooth. Navigating the software, jumping from app to app, etc. all run smoothly. It performs much better than what I expected from a mid-range processor, and it’s notably smoother than some phones I’ve reviewed running Snapdragon chips.
There is the occasional stutter and dropped frame. However, they’re so few and far apart. I was deeply impressed with how well Tecno optimized the software for the chip.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: Gaming
When it comes to gaming, however, the Camon 20 Pro shows its mid-range ways. Don’t get me wrong; the performance isn’t bad. You’re more than capable of running any 2D game on the Play Store or the Palm Store. Games like Fishing Paradiso, Sweet Sins 2, and Snoopy Pop all run flawlessly.
3D games
Even when it comes to most 3D games, this phone can handle its own just fine. 3D games that are less graphically intensive, like DragonBall Legends, are a shoo-in, and some of the prettier games like Sky: Children of The Light run smoothly with only the occasional hiccup.
Once we start reaching the top of mobile game graphics, that’s where we see this phone chug. I’m talking about, of course, Genshin Impact. Cranking the graphics up to the highest setting, you’ll get a consistent stutter and dropped frames while you play. There will also be instances when the game will lock up for a few seconds.
However, the game wasn’t unplayable. I was able to play it as usual even when I was on high cliffs with a lot of the world being loaded in. And, remember, this is on the highest graphical setting. I found that medium is about the setting that will give you a smooth performance.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: Speakers
When it comes to the speakers, I don’t really feel strongly about them. That’s because they’re not particularly good or bad. They’re… well, they’re speakers. There’s nothing particularly bad about them. They get plenty loud and they don’t get distorted until you reach the highest volume setting. They have a decently wide sound to them as well.
In the same vein, they’re not particularly amazing. This is mostly because of the lack of low-end. The bass has a hard time cutting through the rest of the sound. In music with grittier bass like an 80s pop song, you can hear the tone of the bass, but you don’t really get any of the depth. This rules out orchestral music.
It seems that the speakers have an emphasis on the high-end, however. In all honesty, if you’re into ASMR, then you’ll have a great time with the phone. Those higher tones play through pleasantly with these speakers.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: Camera
So far, the Camon 20 Pro has proven to be an exceptionally good phone, but if there’s one area where this phone is truly weak, it’s the camera. The camera, understandably, is the downfall of almost all phones in this price bracket. It’s one of the hardest things to get right even for bigger companies. That being said, there are some issues with this phone’s camera performance.
Still photos in good lighting
Looking at the still photos, one thing that popped out at me was the lack of dynamic range. The images wind up looking flat and lifeless with a lack of contrast. The lack of color also adds to the overall dullness of the image. They look fine when viewed on the phone’s display, but once you view them on another display, it’ll become evident.
Still photos in low light
When it comes to low light, the quality doesn’t degrade as much as I expected. The images were exposed pretty nicely, and it managed to retain a fair amount of detail. It still has the same pitfalls as the performance in better lighting. The contrast and colors are just not there.
On the plus side, the camera was able to keep the noise in check. In situations with reduced light, I was able to get a decently well-detailed output. Overall, the performance in low light was pretty good.
Video
Videos suffer much the same issue as photos. Both the colors and dynamic range are crushed, making for a pretty flat output. There are some other unfortunate aspects of the video. For starters, the stabilization is not great at all. Casually walking makes for a shaky experience. Also, the output quality isn’t great either. While you’re able to record in 1080p and 1440p, the quality looks both oversharpened and overly compressed at the same time.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: Software
Moving back to a positive note, the Camon 20 Pro comes with a great software experience. It’s a far departure from what we see with stock Android, however. There isn’t an ounce of Material You influence to be found anywhere. However, that’s not a bad thing.
I rather enjoyed using this phone’s software. It’s really optimized for the chip, and that lends to this device’s smoothness. One thing that sticks out to me was the number of customization options. Most of the customizations affect the home screen. You’re able to customize the size of the icons, icon grid, page animations, notifications badges, and much more. And I mean a LOT more!
Aside from the customizations, there are a bunch of different gestures that you can do to perform different functions like taking screenshots, summoning different menus, and opening apps. There are 10 gestures that you can do while the screen is on and 8 that you can do when the screen is off.
Another one of my favorite features is the ability to pop out apps as separate floating windows. You can pop an app out from the multi-app screen or from its notification.
There are just so many gestures, settings, customizations, and lifestyle additions that let you know that you’re getting a fully-functioning software experience. Keeping with the theme of this article, the software is one thing that makes this phone fun.
My gripes about the software
The software is great, but there are a few decisions that I just didn’t really like. They don’t drag down the experience as a whole, but I think that changing them would make things better.
The bigger complaint I have has to do with the fingerprint scanner. This comes with an extremely fast and accurate under-display fingerprint scanner. Honestly, it’s one of the best that I’ve ever tested. However, there’s one weird software decision that Tecno made. I can use the fingerprint scanner when on the lock screen… but not after I tap on a notification. After I tap on a notification, I’m forced to use the passcode. The same goes for when I use one of the screen-off gestures to open an app. I wish that I could use the fingerprint scanner to make getting into the app faster.
Lastly, the software separates the notification shade and quick settings. You swipe the top left of the screen to get the notifications and the top right to get the quick settings. That’s not intrinsically bad, but it’s counterintuitive for people who are used to them being together. You can swipe back and forth between them when they’re down, but it’d just be better if they were together.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: Battery
The battery life on this phone is pretty good. It’s rocking a 5,000mAh battery. I had no problem getting a day and a half with moderate usage. This involved a decent amount of social media scrolling, gaming, and video-watching. On heavier days, you should have power in the tank by bedtime.
Tecno Camon 20 Pro Review: What’s missing?
When it comes to what’s missing, there’s not much missing that you usually find on other mid-rangers. So, these omissions don’t paint this phone in a bad light. There’s no IP certification, wireless charging, or high-quality haptics.
Conclusion
I am floored by this phone, honestly. Don’t get me wrong, it has its downers. The camera’s really bad, the speakers could be better, and the issue with the fingerprint scanner is a bit annoying. But, the Camon 20 Pro was able to bring an overall great smartphone experience with its excellent software optimization, plethora of features, great performance, decent gaming prowess, and drop-dead gorgeous display.
It’s not just that it provides such a smooth and fun smartphone experience; it’s the fact that it does so for under €300. I highly recommend that you pick up this phone!