THE ULTIMATE HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE, TRUE SPECIFICATIONS AND REVIEW OF TECNO PHANTOM Z

The Tecno phantom Z is the latest and the most high end smartphone device released yet by Tecno. The smartphone was in the month of July, 2014 opened for preorder on the official Tecno website for a price of #57,800 after which it was released to the retail stores early August of same year in which I was able to purchase the phone for #60,000 at a store in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria.

The specifications as stated by Tecno Company on their official website are as below:

Camera resolution  ~ 16MP Rear Camera, 8MP front Camera
Flash ~ Rear Camera( Dual Flash), Front camera LED flash
Processor ~ 2.0GHz Octa-core(8) Cortex-A7
Screen ~ 5.2" Super AMOLED Full HD Screen with Gorilla Glass
Back Cover ~ Leather grain textured
Keyboard ~ TouchScreen
OS Version ~ Android 4.4.2
OS Name ~ Android Kit-kat
Sound ~ Dolby Digital Sound System
SIM ~ Dual Mini Sim
Audio Port ~ 3.5mm
2G Network ~ GSM 900 / 1800
3G Network ~ HSDPA 2100
Frequency ~ GPRS – up to 85.6 kbps; EDGE – up to 236.8 kbps
RAM ~ 2GB
Internal Memory ~ 32GB
Expandable Memory ~ Up to 32GB
Ear Jack ~ 3.5mm Jack
Bluetooth ~ Version 3.0
WiFi ~ Yes
Location GPS ~ Yes
Battery Capacity ~ 3030mAH
Standby Talk-Time ~ 300HRS standby time, 26HRS talk time
FM Radio ~ Yes

Specifications culled from: www.tecno-mobile.com/meetthephantomz/specifications.html

But it never ceases to amaze me that Tecno Phones official specification are usually not hundred percent accurate and correct and other details such as weight of their phones are not known which I think should not be the case with their latest flagship, Tecno Phantom Z but I was mistaken about that because the specification is not entirely correct with what is officially stated on their official website for the flagship. For example, the smartphone was claimed to be a full high definition display (FHD) that is of resolution 1080 x 1920 with a pixel density of 423ppi but from my observations and tests, the display was actually of a resolution 1080 x 1776 with a pixel density of 399ppi, what this means is that it is less detailed in terms of sharpness of images than the official advertised specification and will also needs some re-scalling before displaying full HD content e.g HD videos, even though it is still very sharp and crisp at that resolution, another is the presence of expansion card slot up to 32gb on their official website as stated above which the phone doesn't have in reality.

The phone is designed with CNC crafted metal which gives a precise metal finish and also the super AMOLED display on it is protected with a gorilla glass to protect against scratches even though the particular version of the gorilla glass used wasn’t stated whether it is the latest gorilla glass 3 or any of the previous versions of gorilla glass 2 or even gorilla glass 1, I tried contacting Tecno via email to clear these doubts about the specifications but my email wasn’t replied to, too bad but something happened to my phone after about a month of usage, it had a minor fall and alas the gorilla glass meant to protect the phone shattered so badly in fact I have heard of other people with similar cases, a minor fall and the screen shattered which surprised me so much because I have watched the drop tests of many android phones on YouTube with gorilla glass protection display and these phones do withstand a couple of major falls in fact the Samsung galaxy note 3 withstands two drop tests one facing up and the other from the bottom all from chest height to a concrete floor, after the incident with my phantom Z, I think that the phantom Z is protected with either of the older versions of gorilla glass which do not have the native damage resistant feature of the latest gorilla glass 3. The only solution for prospective buyers is to use the pouch that comes with the phone to minimise the probability of having a shattered screen with a fall.

I have been using the device for a couple of months now so I will like to write about its pros and cons observed so far;

THE PROS:

i. It is very slim and stylish to hold without the pouch though.

ii. I love AMOLED displays so I love its display, blacks are truly black and you will manage to see the display outside in bright sunshine and also it is very crisp.

iii. The loudspeaker and headset is very loud.

iv. 5 megapixel front facing camera with flash.

v. Battery life is very well above average for a Smartphone.

vi. Notification light in home button

vii. Fitted with common sensors like gyroscope, GPS, magnetic, accelerometer

viii. 2GB of Random Access Memory (RAM) is very okay for great multitasking coupled with the 2.0 GHz octacore ARM Cortex A7 processor.

ix. USB OTG connectivity with devices even though it disconnects frequently on itself.

THE CONS:

i. Lack of memory expansion card slot , though claimed 32GB internal memory but only 17.89GB available for storage after system partition and operating system installed.

ii. Camera not on par with the best on a smartphone, clear detail with the 16 megapixels rear camera but slightly washed out and inaccurate colours.

iii. Unable to take macro shots or close-ups with the camera with flashlight on, pictures come out whitish so not ideal for taking shots of documents with flash.

iv. Sound recording quality too low, I suspect a software bug from the dual microphone noise cancellation algorithm.

v. Slow charging with supplied charger, takes 4 hours plus before full battery from low battery state.

vi. Screen breaks and shatters easily upon minor fall without pouch and mind you, it is a super AMOLED screen so install the pouch to prevent this.

vii. Low official and unofficial development and support.

So that’s it, though there is no device without its flaws and strengths so it now depends on you whether to go for the device or not using this non-sentimental review as guideline but as for me, upon all ups and downs, Tecno Phantom Z is a good device from the stable of Tecno. Thanks for reading.

Ajayi Oluwaseun T.