Try our Tecno Phantom V Flip overview to determine if this inexpensive flip telephone is price shopping for or not
2023 can simply be described because the yr during which foldable telephones began to develop into mainstream. On one hand, we obtained to see the primary foldable telephones from sure manufacturers (OnePlus and Google), and on the opposite, we witnessed some huge enhancements within the newest technology of foldable telephones from incumbents like Samsung and OPPO. On this market with a number of foldable choices obtainable for consumers to select from, it is laborious for a brand new telephone to face out. Nonetheless, Tecno has achieved this with its Phantom V Flip. The model managed to do that by holding its worth at virtually half of most different flip telephones available in the market (barring the Motorola razr 40). With the early fowl pricing of Rs 49,999, the Phantom V Flip managed to seize a number of headlines as one of many first really inexpensive foldable telephones at launch. Nonetheless, with a low price ticket come alongside considerations relating to the handset’s construct high quality, efficiency, digital camera high quality, and the whole lot that may come within the area of slicing corners. To search out out if Phantom V Flip comes with a few of these drawbacks or just presents the very best value-for-money bundle on this product class, learn my detailed overview beneath.
Verdict
Phantom V Flip is an inexpensive possibility for anybody who desires to check out this new kind issue. It presents a surprisingly good construct high quality, a foldable show with a delicate crease, and first rate cameras. For its worth, the novelty issue of this telephone’s design positively makes it simple to suggest, however the telephone’s underwhelming battery life might show to be a problem for individuals who journey often and its processor might have been higher too. In most different elements, the telephone positively proves its mettle and exhibits that the model hasn’t lower corners.
Design and show
It goes with out saying that essentially the most hanging side of the Phantom V Flip is its vertically foldable design. The handset comes with a 6.9-inch major show and a round 1.32-inch outer show. I will come to the show high quality and options later, so let’s speak first in regards to the construct high quality on provide right here. The again panel of the telephone includes a premium lychee-pattern traditional leather-based end that ensures the telephone would not slip out of your hand repeatedly. This can be a nice contact from the model as most different premium foldable telephones include a slippery end and with a leather-based end, the Phantom V Flip will get a singular aesthetic.
As we’re speaking a few foldable telephone, it’s crucial to speak about crucial element that facilitates this way issue – the hinge. The metallic hinge on provide right here feels sturdy when it comes to construct high quality and ensures that there’s a very small hole between the higher and decrease a part of the show as soon as the telephone is folded. Nonetheless, as it is a first-generation product, the implementation is not fairly on the similar degree as another manufacturers which have now achieved a gap-less design with their foldable telephones. Consequently, even in unfolded kind, the telephone’s show is not at fairly 180 levels and there’s a very slight bend that’s noticeable at first. After utilizing the telephone for a while, this bend did not hassle me a lot and I obtained used to it, however in the event you’re somebody who will get bothered by these small issues, you’ll have to maintain this side in thoughts.
Now, let’s speak in regards to the shows. The first show is an LTPO FHD+ AMOLED panel that’s 6.9-inch in dimension and includes a 120Hz refresh fee. I actually appreciated the show high quality on this handset. Whereas the panel sort and and the show specs just about give it away on paper, in real-world utilization as effectively, I discovered the telephone’s major show to be vibrant and nice for multimedia consumption. I loved binge-watching movies on Netflix and YouTube by the Phantom V Flip. The excessive refresh fee additional makes it nice for gaming and for these of you who wish to take pleasure in lengthy classes of FPS gaming, you would be glad that the telephone’s show holds up rather well. Nonetheless, the one space the place I discovered the show to be missing was in peak brightness. Whereas the show manages to supply nice legibility indoors, the 800 nits of peak brightness makes it less-than-ideal for utilization beneath direct daylight. Do not get me flawed, it is not such as you will not be capable to see something on the show outdoor however on this worth vary, and even cheaper price vary for that matter, now you can get telephones that supply a lot better show visibility outdoor.
Time to speak in regards to the cowl show. The round cowl show on the Tecno Phantom V Flip positively catches consideration instantly. That is as a result of, at first look, you would possibly assume it’s bigger than it really is. That is because of a large round strip across the show that options the rear cameras of the telephone. The round cowl show can be an AMOLED panel and regardless of a barely smaller dimension of 1.32 inches, its performance shouldn’t be diminished and the model has integrated fairly a couple of features which can be supported proper from the quilt show by merely swiping left. From the quilt show, you may get entry to climate data, a calendar, Vitality Rings, alarms, a sound recorder, a timer, a stopwatch, and even the digital camera. The digital camera entry is attention-grabbing as you get a preview on the show and you’ll both faucet the show (would not work as you may continually find yourself masking the digital camera together with your hand whereas attempting to faucet) or the quantity rocker to click on a picture. You can too change to portrait mode or video from the quilt show itself by swiping left or proper.
Third-party apps aren’t supported as of now by the quilt show, however you do get notifications on it and while you faucet on them, you might be instructed to open the show to proceed. Cowl display screen personalisation choices embrace a number of clock designs and a group of 3D pets that look lovely. Whereas there are premium flip telephones now that supply bigger shows with extra performance, in its first technology flip telephone, Tecno has really achieved a powerful job right here.
Cameras
The Phantom V Flip comes with a 64MP RGBW major digital camera, which is the high-resolution sensor you’ll find on a flip telephone proper now available in the market, together with the Motorola razr 40. The corporate claims that resulting from its revolutionary RGBW pixel format, the first digital camera advantages from 60 % better mild consumption, in addition to diminished noise and improved color accuracy. The telephone additionally utilises the model’s Twin-camera Fusion expertise, which permits the 64MP major digital camera to work in tandem with its 13MP Extremely-Extensive Angle Digicam to allow you to enlarge and crop extremely wide-angle photographs whereas retaining element. In my expertise, I used to be principally proud of the digital camera efficiency when it comes to particulars however I feel the dynamic vary might have been higher. Additionally, within the portrait photographs, I feel the background blurring was a tad bit extra aggressive than I’d have most well-liked.
Within the low-light eventualities, the handset did not produce equally detailed photos, sadly. The colors additionally appeared washed out. Regardless of taking AI under consideration, the telephone managed to click on common photos in low-light situations.
For selfies, the telephone ships with a 32MP dual-flash autofocus digital camera on the entrance. In Tecno’s personal phrases, “The built-in Micro-slit Twin-flash is the trade’s first front-facing flashlight in a flip telephone.” Along with this, the telephone additionally utilises the model’s Tremendous Flashlight algorithm to make sure that the topic will get ideally suited lighting and publicity. The selfie digital camera additionally makes use of ‘Computerized Eye-focus’ to make sure extra exact topic monitoring. I discovered the selfie digital camera to be notably succesful and the dual-flash on the entrance is definitely an ideal addition because it helps the telephone to click on some nice selfies even within the absence of excellent lighting.
Since it is a flip telephone, the FreeCam association (or flex mode) helps you to prepare the telephone in any angle from 30-150 levels. This implies you’ll be able to merely place the system on a floor in entrance of you with the rear digital camera dealing with you, and get the picture preview on the quilt show to click on a high-resolution shot with the first digital camera setup. You should utilize the telephone this method to shoot higher group photographs, detailed rear digital camera selfies, low-angle photographs, FreeCam Time-lapses, and extra. What makes this even higher is that you do not essentially must set the timer every time and may click on the shot utilizing gestures like palm recognition, and even voice controls (you’ll be able to say cheese, shoot, or seize).
So far as video recording is anxious, the telephone is able to recording as much as 4K 30fps movies from the rear digital camera and as much as 2K 30fps movies from the entrance digital camera. Whereas the video high quality is fairly first rate, the dearth of stabilisation {hardware} and software program signifies that in the event you’re on the transfer, the movies can end up shaky. The inclusion of the model’s movie mode within the video part means you’ll be able to document small clips after which get an ideal output relying on the sort of quick video you need to make. With preset templates which can be designed with social media in thoughts, this characteristic is nice for anybody who would not like spending time on enhancing however nonetheless desires nice video content material for social media.
Efficiency and battery life
The Phantom V Flip comes with a Mediatek Dimensity 8050 chipset, coupled with as much as 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Whereas it is a nice chipset for mid-range smartphones, at V Flip’s asking worth, the chipset selection feels a bit lacklustre. Particularly as a result of on this worth vary, most different telephones provide extra succesful and environment friendly SoCs. Nonetheless, these telephones don’t give you the head-turning foldable kind issue and compact dimension possibility as effectively, so you may need to make a trade-off on this division or the design. The Mediatek Dimensity 8050 managed to deal with most duties with relative ease and even the UI navigation felt clean for me always. I did not face any stutter points or app crashes however after I was enjoying Battlegrounds Cellular India, I did discover the telephone heating up barely.
Within the AnTuTu benchmark, the telephone scored 666056, which is predicted for the chipset however as I discussed earlier, decrease by the requirements of different telephones on this worth bracket. Equally, on the Geekbench benchmark, the telephone scored 1108 within the single-core take a look at and 3366 within the multi-core take a look at.
So far as battery life is anxious, the telephone managed to final 9 hours and 59 minutes within the PCMark Work 3.0 battery take a look at, which exhibits that it will probably simply final you a day on average utilization however in the event you’re a heavy person, you may need to plug it in for charging by night. Even in my expertise with the telephone, I felt the identical. On some days I ran out of battery reasonably shortly, however on another days, the telephone managed to supply first rate backup. Notably, the battery life improved significantly after I set the theme to darkish mode. As we’re speaking a few telephone with AMOLED shows, darkish mode does influence the battery life positively.
Tecno Phantom V Flip presents assist for 45W quick charging, which occurs to be the quickest charging velocity provided by a flip telephone proper now. This implies you’ll be able to refuel your telephone totally in simply over an hour, which is certainly a handy characteristic to have.
Closing verdict
The Tecno Phantom V Flip is ideal for individuals who desire a telephone that stands out from the group and presents a singular person expertise at an inexpensive worth. The telephone presents a big immersive show, first rate cameras, and above all – an ideal compact design. Two elements the place the telephone falls considerably quick in from of competitors are battery life and uncooked horsepower. Nonetheless, as I clarified above, the telephone shouldn’t be competing with different handsets with normal sweet bar designs on this worth vary. Its major competitor on the worth can be the Motorola razr 40, which comes with a greater processor however a considerably much less spectacular cowl show. You probably have the funds to go a bit greater, you’ll be able to select to go for a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4, which is now obtainable at a reduced worth.
Editor’s ranking: 7.5 / 10
Causes to purchase
- Good worth for cash on this kind issue
- Spectacular construct high quality
- First rate digital camera efficiency
- 45W fast-charging assist
Causes to not purchase
- The chipset might have been extra highly effective
- Battery life might have been higher