The Tecno Camon 17 series is the latest in a long line of smartphones from the manufacturer Tecno. The name Tecno may have some readers scratching their heads but on the shores of Africa, they are number one. They are the most popular brand in Africa. Tecno also recently overthrew Samsung as the top smartphone brand in Africa in 2020.
Tecno has several phone lineups for different audiences and purposes. They have the Tecno Pop series that is focused on entry-level users. The Tecno Spark series is a budget-friendly lineup for young adults. There is the Tecno Pouvoir/Pova line which is a battery/power-centric lineup for those who like big batteries.
That would bring us to the Tecno Camon 17 series. The Tecno Camon series is a camera-centric lineup of devices aimed at camera lovers. The Camon series also doubles as the company’s premier brand as well. It is for this reason that the Tecno Camon 17 series has made quite a big splash in the market. This buzz can be especially seen amongst the lovers and fans of the brand. The company has also heavily promoted the product.
The Tecno Camon 17 series replaces its older sibling, the Camon 16 series. There are three variants in this lineup. They are the Camon 17, Camon 17P, and the Camon 17 Pro. Is the Tecno Camon 17 series worth the hype? Let us find out.
Read: What is an SoC?
Tecno Camon 17
The Tecno Camon 17 is the cheapest device in the series. The phone ships with a decent MediaTek Helio G85 SoC paired with a Mali G52 GPU for graphics and gaming. These should ensure that app usage, gaming, social media as well and file sharing are adequately taken care of.
For photos and videos, there is a triple camera set up on board with a 48MP main camera. It is a standard midrange camera that takes 12MP photos and shoots 1080p video at 30fps. The other cameras are a 2MP depth sensor for portraits and an unspecified 2MP sensor. Knowing Tecno, it is going to either be a QVGA or a Monochrome sensor. The selfie camera is a 16MP camera also capable of shooting 1080p video.
The display is a 6.6” IPS LCD with HD+ (720p) resolution, a pixel density of 266ppi, and 450 nits of max brightness. The display has a refresh rate of 90Hz and has no screen protection. The battery is a huge Li-polymer 5000mAh and it supports 18W fast charging. The phone is loaded with HiOS 7.6 on Android 11. It has a Micro USB port and a headphone jack. For security, there is a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The 4/128GB variant sells for ₦76,000.00 (Pointek).
Read: Smartphone display resolution explained?
Tecno Camon 17P
The Tecno Camon 17P is the middle sibling here. It shares almost all of the specs of the Tecno Camon 17 with two exceptions, the cameras and display. The phone ships with the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC paired with a Mali G52 GPU for graphics and gaming. The same as the aforementioned Camon 17.
The Camon 17P gets a camera upgrade over the Camon 17 as well as an extra camera. There are four (quad) cameras on board with a 64MP main camera. This is the resolution that can be found on most upper-midrange devices today. The camera takes 16MP photos and shoots 1080p video at 30fps. The other cameras are a 2MP depth sensor for portraits, a 2MP macro camera for close-up shots, and an unspecified 2MP sensor. We are guessing that it is either a QVGA or a Monochrome sensor (or just a dud for aesthetics). The selfie camera is a 16MP camera also capable of shooting 1080p video.
The display also gets a bump in size and resolution. It is a 6.8” IPS LCD with FHD+ (1080p) resolution, a pixel density of 395ppi, and 500 nits of max brightness. The display has no screen protection. The battery is a huge Li-polymer 5000mAh and it supports 18W fast charging. The phone is loaded with HiOS 7.6 on Android 11. It also has a Micro USB port and a headphone jack. For security, there is a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The 4/128GB variant sells for ₦98,000.00 (Pointek).
Read: Fast Charge explained
Tecno Camon 17 Pro
The Tecno Camon 17 Pro is the premium device of this lineup. It is head and shoulders above the other two devices. The phone rocks a powerful MediaTek Helio G95 SoC paired with a Mali G76 GPU for graphics, gaming, and other related tasks. The G95 is on the same level as the Snapdragon 720G, the Apple A10 Fusion, and even the Kirin 970 in terms of pure CPU performance.
The Camon 17 Pro has a superior camera setup when compared to the other two. There are four (quad) cameras on board with a 64MP main camera. As stated earlier, this is the standard resolution on most upper midrange devices. The camera takes 16MP photos and shoots 4K video at 30fps and 1080p at 30fps. The other cameras are an 8MP ultrawide camera for wide-angle shots, a 2MP macro camera for close-up shots, and a 2MP monochrome sensor for black and white photos. The selfie camera is a whopping 48MP camera also capable of shooting 1080p video.
The display is a 6.8” IPS LCD with FHD+ (1080p) resolution, a pixel density of 395ppi, and 500 nits of max brightness. The display has a refresh rate of 90Hz and has no screen protection. The battery is a huge Li-polymer 5000mAh with a very good 25W fast charging. The phone is loaded with HiOS 7.6 on Android 11. It also has a USB-C port and a headphone jack. For security, there is a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. There is only one 8/256GB variant which sells for ₦128, 000.00 (Pointek).
Verdict
The Camon 17 is a standard midrange device. It has a decent processor, a good camera, and a huge battery with 18W fast charge. The downsides include its poor display resolution, lack of screen protection, micro-USB port, and its 1080p video.
The Camon 17p shares most of the upsides of the Camon 17. It further ups the ante with its 64MP camera and FHD resolution display. But it shares the downsides of the Camon 17. This is especially glaring seeing that the 64mp camera can only shoot 1080p video due to the G85 on board.
The Camon 17 pro fixes most of these downsides by shipping with a superior G95 SoC, a higher resolution display, a USB C port, and shooting 4K video. The only thing I can hold against the 17 Pro is its lack of screen protection.
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