For a long time we did not go to closed offline events for presentations of various products. Thank you, Tecno, for bringing together almost the entire friendly company of journalists and bloggers in one place.
By the way, the brand has significantly strengthened its position in the Russian market: according to a study by the analytical company Canalys, the annual growth in sales of the Transsion holding, whose key brand is TECNO, amounted to +1877%. In the top RF vendors, Transsion takes the third place!
So that’s what was shown at the presentation. And they showed quite a lot. One of the gadgets even surprised me a little, in a good way.
Let’s start with the fact that Tecno wants to organize their mini-ecosystem. It will include laptops, wearable devices, smartphones and so on. You’re right, I support it.
Of course, in this whole story, the focus is on two key smartphones for Tecno: Phantom X2 and X2 Pro.
The first device will be on sale in the near future – before the end of December. We will definitely tell you about this event and about the gadget itself.
The second device is a little more advanced with a focus on the periscope camera, performance and design. Tecno calls the Phantom X2 Pro the world’s first smartphone with a retractable portrait lens in the camera unit.
Another rather significant product was the MegaBook T1 laptop. (Oh, those names: MacBook, MateBook, MagicBook, MegaBook.)
A relatively affordable device in an aluminum case, with a 15.6 FullHD screen, on Intel Core-5, with fast charging, an excellent screen with 100% sRGB coverage.
And at the presentation, they showed TWS headphones called Sonic 1 with a 50-hour battery life.
Let’s get into the details. Perhaps there are not very many of them yet due to the fact that the devices will only be presented.
Table of Contents
Tecno Phantom X2 и X2 Pro
| x2 | X2 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 164x72x8.9 mm | 164x72x8.9 mm |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 9000 | MediaTek Dimensity 9000 |
| Screen | 6.8″ FullHD+ AMOLED 120Hz Corning Gorilla Glass Victus | 6.8″ FullHD+ AMOLED 120Hz Corning Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM 256 GB internal memory | 12 GB RAM 256 GB internal memory |
| Battery | 5160 mAh | 5160 mAh |
| cameras | 64 MP main IOS 13 MP wide 2 MP macro 32 MP front |
50 MP main 50 MP retractable 2.5x (65 mm) 13 MP wide 32 MP front |
| SIM cards | Two | Two |
| 5G | Yes, with N78/N79 support | Yes, with N78/N79 support |
Both devices are very similar, it is not so easy to distinguish them. At least at the presentation they looked like clones. Unless he recognized the X2 Pro model without a doubt, as it was presented in a bright orange color.
Speaking of color schemes: X2 – black and silver, and X2 Pro – black and orange.
I can’t say that smartphones look original, but because of the camera block, they definitely differ from many other gadgets. Definitely stylish, cute, quite strict. It is felt that the creation of devices was approached quite responsibly. The flagship model should have an appropriate look. In this regard, Tecno succeeded!
Interestingly, the X2 Pro version comes in a special eco-version (as I understand it, we are talking about an orange device), where the body is 50% recycled plastic that was collected in the Indian Ocean. Well, now live with this information as you wish. This is a double-edged sword: eco-movement is super (already from the Indian Ocean), but somehow it’s still strange to hold an expensive flagship made from recycled garbage in your hands.
On the reverse side of smartphones is glass: matte, leaves almost no marks on itself (Corning, but the version is unknown to me). The orange X2 Pro does not get dirty at all (do not confuse the surface of the X2 Pro cover with leather-like material). In the case of Tecno, the feeling is like from soft plastic: slightly rough, with a certain fibrous structure.
The front side is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. But the frames are metal.
Both smartphones are powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor. It was introduced back in 2021, but it belongs to the flagship chips and functions at the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 level.
The manufacturing process of the 9000th model is only 4 nm – commendable. Inside, 8 cores work, divided into 3 clusters. In general, these are quite powerful devices.
In terms of memory, the X2 will be available with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage, while the X2 Pro will be available with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage. And this is LPDDR5X and UFS 3.1.
The screen in the devices is the same: 6.8 inches, resolution 1080×2400 pixels, AMOLED matrix, refresh rate up to 120 Hz, aspect ratio 20:9.
Good quality screens, so at first glance there are no questions. The only thing is again the curved edges, like the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, Xiaomi 12S Ultra and so on.
Now let’s talk about cameras. Luckily, there are some interesting bits here.
The first thing worth mentioning is that the X2 and X2 Pro have different camera modules. This is important to understand. If you want the ultimate solution in terms of image quality and camera capabilities, then Tecno X2 Pro is for you.
In order. The X2 version uses 64 MP + 13 MP + 2 MP for the rear group of cameras. The front one here is 32 MP. Accordingly, you will have the main camera, “wide” and, apparently, macro.
In X2 Pro, the situation is much more interesting. There is a 50MP main camera, a 50MP portrait pop-up camera, and a 13MP wide-angle one.
What is retractable? The lenses of the X2 Pro cameras are on the same plane, but as soon as you activate the 2.5X mode in the camera interface, one of the lenses extends slightly from the body of the camera block, literally by 2-3 mm.
As you probably know, the increase in modern smartphones can be implemented in three ways:
- Install a huge matrix and crop the picture. As far as I remember, this was the case in the Galaxy S21 and S22.
- Put the lens system inside the case. In almost all modern gadgets with magnification.
- Make an extension of the lens, as it was in digital cameras before.
A pop-up system is better in terms of sharpness and other parameters, including useful for blurring the background, and partly for narrowing the depth of field (DOF).
However, such a mechanism is more expensive, more susceptible to mechanical stress, and not as durable as a fixed lens system inside a smartphone. But it’s weird and cool.
I did not take frames from test bench samples, probably not the final software there. But the blurring of the background of the photos is decent! And this is without digital processing.
In addition, the periscope camera is not only 50 MP, but also equipped with a lens with an aperture of f / 1.49. Commendable. The result is 65 mm.
The only strange moment is the lack of stabilization for the X2 Pro cameras. In X2, the “stub” is present only in the main camera.
The Tecno Phantom X2 camera excels at night photography, which comes out great thanks to the RGBW sensor.
In general, you need to look at real devices and get information from them. Hope we can prepare a detailed camera test soon.
By the way, about time (work). Both devices are equipped with a 5160 mAh battery. The manufacturer claims that the battery lasts for 42 hours of calls, 14 hours of web surfing and 19 hours of video viewing. I believe these are very real numbers.
The kit includes a 45W charger. It can charge the battery 50% in 20 minutes and 100% in 60 minutes.
And for the devices will be on sale a special cover-stand made of eco-leather.
Notebook Tecno MegaBook T1
| Processor | 10th Gen Intel Core i3/i5 |
| Storage device | 256/512 GB SSD |
| OZU | 12/16 GB LPDDR4x |
| Screen | 15.6″ FullHD 350 nits 100% sRGB 60Hz |
| Connection | Wi-Fi 5 Bluetooth 5.0 1x microSD 1x HDMI 1x USB 3.1 2x USB 3.0 1x 3.5 mm 2x Type-C |
| Camera | 2 MP with shutter |
| Battery | 70 Wh 65W charging |
| OS | Windows 11 Home or Linux Ubuntu |
A laptop was also presented at the presentation. Judging by the parameters – the usual working “machine”.
The screen here is 15.6 inches, FullHD resolution, brightness up to 350 nits. As a 10th generation Intel Core-i5 processor, up to 16 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of SSD storage (I can’t say for sure if it’s SSD or internal memory yet). The case is aluminum. Weighs only 1.48 kg.
There is a FullHD-camera with a curtain, powerful speakers with support for DTS sound, two microphones with noise reduction.
For secure operation, a fingerprint scanner is built into the power button. The keyboard has 4 backlight modes.
From ports:
- Слева: 2x Type-C, HDMI, USB 3.0
- Right: 2x USB 3.0, microSD memory card reader, 3.5 mm
The laptop battery is 70 Wh. According to the manufacturer, provides up to 17 hours without recharging. However, I do not really understand what kind of mode you are talking about. I think there will be classic 5-7 hours of office tasks.
Power adapter 65 W (GaN). Feeds the device in 40 minutes up to 50%.
Headphones Tecno Sonic 1
There are literally a couple of words, since I have almost no information about them. They can connect to two devices at the same time, work via Bluetooth 5.3, have two microphones (without ANC), touch control. They say that they function up to 50 hours. Waterproof according to IPx5 standard.
Two colors – black and white.
Conclusion
Here it is necessary to talk about prices and sales dates. Since the material is written before the press release, some data may then be slightly adjusted.
Tecno Sonic 1. No exact data yet. But it seems to me that this is an inexpensive model for 3000-5000 rubles.
Tecno MegaBook T1. The laptop will go on sale on December 15, 2022. The price should be from 45,000 rubles.
Tecno Phantom X2. From December 20 to December 25, 2022, pre-order will take place, and on the 26th – sales in the Russian Federation. Price from about 40,000 rubles.
Tecno Phantom X2 Pro. The smartphone is expected in the first quarter of 2023. Price – from 45,000 rubles.