TECNO recently introduced the CAMON 17 pro, the latest addition to the camera-focused series of the smartphones which has greatly improved over the years with the addition of exciting camera features and image processing technology. While the emphasis of the Camon series is on the camera, there has been a noticeable complementary improvement in other departments like design, battery capacity and display.
Design
While the TECNO Camon 17 Pro falls within the upper mid-range class of device, the design and look can easily pass it off as premium device. It is made from a combination of metal and plastic. It is slightly heavy when held in the hand but this could be attributed largely to the huge 5000mAh battery. The phone is compact, less bulky and well-crafted, but can wobble on a table or flat surface because of the huge camera bump at the back. TECNO claims the back is made of glass but what we have here is a shiny, premium looking plastic.
There is the volume rocker and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner which also doubles as the power button on the right, the dual nano-SIM card tray sits on the left while you have the USB C charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker grill, and microphone at the base.
It is rather impressive to know that TECNO has doubled down on the sound efficiency of the Camon 17 Pro with the addition of an extra microphone at the top of the phone and the earpiece which also serves as a second speaker, so you have a balanced sound when playing music or watching video or playing music.
Display
TECNO Camon 17 Pro has a 6.8-inch full HD IPS LCD display with slightly slim bezels at the top and base. There is adequate screen real estate, complemented by great viewing angles which make it very suitable for gaming and multi-media consumption. The display is bright, sharp and crystal clear so your Netflix game just got a boost. Screen resolution is pegged at 1080 x 2640 with 90Hertz refresh rate and 395 PPI.
Camera
The back camera set up has a 64 mega pixel, 8-mega pixel ultra-wide snapper, 2-mega pixel depth lens and a fourth 2-mega pixel monochrome lens, along with four LED flash. The AI Camera performance is good under normal lighting conditions and pictures look great and natural.
You get the best pictures when there is abundant lighting. The 48MP selfie camera also performs well under adequate lighting condition, but can get over-exposed without the proper lighting.
Low light pictures on both the front and back cameras are enhanced with the super night mode feature so you are confident to take pictures at night. Other camera modes present include portrait mode and TECNO has added the option to toggle between normal portrait and black and white portrait.
There is a bump in camera performance for video recording and this is the most interesting part for me. Apart from the fact that you can record video in 4k, there is also a new video mode where you get to select from the options depending on the moments you want to capture. You can select performance if you are in a musical concert, travel mode if you are on a trip and would like to capture nature or party mode if you love to keep memories of your boogie down at that family party.
Performance
TECNO Camon 17 Pro runs on Android 11 with an overlay of TECNO’s proprietary HiOS 7.6 skin version. HiOS provides a unique customization of the user interface and support for custom multitasking features. While HiOS is known as a heavy skin, it does not affect overall performance of the phone. The device is powered by MediaTek Helio G95, the second most powerful MediaTek SOC to Dimensity. This CPU provides a better graphics and gaming performance on the Camon 17 Pro alongside the 90Hz refresh rate which can be adjusted depending on the game you are playing. I tested the Camon 17 Pro with the game, Call of Duty: Mobile and there was no observable lag in performance.
Internal memory is 256GB with 8GB of RAM which also supports easy multitasking without obvious lag when opening and switching between apps. Other multitasking enabling feature is the Smart Panel which can be activated in the settings menu. Here you can find your commonly used apps by swiping left from the right side of the screen.
Earbuds performance
The Camon 17 Pro connects easily with the TECNO True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Buds1. The process of connecting the bud to the phone is very easy and seamless. Once the Bluetooth on the phone is turned on and the cover of the charging box of the bud is opened, there is a pop-up on the screen which you click to automatically connect. TECNO calls this process ‘pop-up, click and connect’.
The bud is designed to provide comfort and convenience when in the ear. It has an indicator light, microphone and a touch area for music and call controls. When music is playing, a double click on the touch area of the bud will pause the music while same action resumes play. A tap on the right bud will turn up the volume while a tap on the left bud turns down the volume. Double clicking on the touch button of the bud answers a call while same action ends the call.
The earbud is modestly loud but not the loudest you can get in the market, it delivers a truly natural stereo sound, blocks out most of the background noise and immersive bass sound. It is light weight, sits well in the ear and does not fall out easily. The easy touch functions offer a more convenient experience than hard-press physical buttons.
Battery
The Camon 17 Pro is embedded with a 5,000mAh battery with 25Watt fast charging feature called Flash Charge. The battery is sufficient to carry you for a whole day even with a slightly heavy usage and if you have an OTG cable, you can also charge your other phone with the Camon 17 Pro.
The flash Charge delivers pretty well and enables you stay juiced up all day. From hands-on experience, charging the phone battery from 38% to 87% took 43 minutes while charging from 0-100% took a little above an hour.
Verdict
From a professional grade video camera to black and white portrait pictures, the TECNO Camon 17 Pro is a choice upper mid-range device. You also have a bigger battery and fast charging feature option to keep you active all day without worrying about hugging the wall.