Key Highlights
- The Phantom X flaunts a premium design with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that has curved edges.
- It comes with Triple Rear Cameras with Depth-Sensing Feature.
- It is equipped with 4,700 mAh battery that lasts for more than a day.
Tecno is an emerging player in the Android smartphone market. In a short span, the Transsion-holdings-backed brand has set up some high standards in the budget smartphone market. Tecno like other prominent smartphone OEMs has introduced multiple lineups dedicated to specific user segments. While most of Tecno’s product lineups are designed for the budget masses, the brand is gradually transitioning into the flagship smartphone race with new feature-rich Android phones. Tecno’s Phantom series is one of the high-end smartphone lineups by the brand which recently got refreshed in the Indian market with the Phantom X.
The Phantom X is one of the bold approaches by Tecno in the mid-range Android smartphone market. It grabs your instant attention by offering a premium design with a curved-edge display at just Rs. 25,999 in the country. But is it just the premium design or display that makes the Phantom X the best buy in its segment or other hardware aspects as well? We have tried to break it down for you in this comprehensive review article:
Also Read: Tecno Phantom X2 Series Arriving On December 7: Curved Or Flat-Edged Display This Time?
Tecno Phantom X Review: Premium And Practical Design For Modern Day Users
We have seen numerous new smartphone launches in the Rs. 25,000 price segments in India in recent times, but the Tecno Phantom X begs to differ with its curved display design. What makes it special is only a handful of devices are available in this price segment that flaunts a high-resolution screen with curved edges. The front panel sports a dual punch-hole camera cutout which is positioned on the top-left corner.
The Phantom X’s back panel offers a mix of gradient and textured feel. The protruding vertical camera island at the center top of the back panel painted in black gives it a distinctive appeal. While the Phantom X’s rear panel is appealing, wrapping it with a case is advised.
That’s because the back panel picks up fingerprints and smudges, so, keeping it clean would be a task. Besides, the leatherette case that ships the retail box itself adds to the overall appeal without adding extra bulk to the handset. The placement of ports and keys on the Phantom X is standard. The right spine accommodates both volume as well as power keys.
Whereas, the bottom panel features the USB Type-C port which is positioned between the 3.5mm headphone jack and the speaker grille. Not just the front panel, the Tecno Phantom X’s overall design language is premium. It’s good to see the Phantom X has a compact form factor despite the tall frame. Now, this is handy if you use generally prefer using smartphones with a single hand.
Also Read: Best Samsung And Tecno Smartphones With 7,000mAh Battery In 2022
Tecno Phantom X Review: Curved High-Resolution Display Gets All Ticks
The Tecno Phantom X steals the limelight with its massive 6.7-inch display panel. It is a curved Super AMOLED panel that supports an FHD+ screen resolution and 90Hz refresh rate. In tecno’s terms, it’s a 3D borderless display. The Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection safeguards the panel from scratches and also in case of accidental drops.
Now, if you are one of those users who prefer binging on shows and movies while on the go, the Phantom X wouldn’t let you down. The colors are refined and the panel does justice to every scene played on the screen. Despite the curved edges, the viewing angles are decent and you get an uninterrupted watching experience from all corners.
The vivid output is surely a visual delight in all senses. The blacks are deeper and you don’t see dilapidated dark backgrounds during a night scent in any movie. The output is good with online medial playback via OTT and also social media platforms.
No complaint’s about the panel performance in any situation. Even the sunlight visibility isn’t hampered majorly when outdoors. The 90Hz refresh rate further helps smooth frame transitions during gaming.
Tecno Phantom X Review: MediaTek Helio G95 Chipset Performs Like A Beast
The Tecno Phantom X uses the octa-core Helio G95 processor. This gaming chipset supports Mali G76 MC4 GPU and 8GB RAM configuration. This is a powerful combination in its segment that helps with refined gaming as well as general user experience. The phone doesn’t warm up with extensive gaming or even if you are hooked to the screen for hours.
We didn’t experience any lags during entire usage. The apps fire up instantly and also toggling between multiple of them running simultaneously in the background isn’t a hassle. The swift multitasking experience is possible with the 8GB RAM. Thus premium mid-tier Tecno phone has a native storage space of 256GB.
You can also expand the storage via microSD card to take care of the additional storage requirements. Thanks to the high capacity RAM, we did;t experience noticeable lags with the general usage as well as gaming. The frame drop issue with graphic-intensive games is not major. That will be a respite for budding mobile gamers.
There might be slight warm-up issues with the phone. However, that’s primarily when the handset is being connected to a charger and is still being used extensively with multiple apps or gaming. Otherwise, the device temperatures have been stable in general scenarios.
The Tecno Phantom X is laced with Android 11 OS which is topped with a HIOS 7.6 interface. Tecno has improved the custom user interface with the new versions. The UI is loaded with useful features and Android 11 goodies. But at the same time, there is multiple pre-loaded bloatware with which the UI gets cluttered. That’s one of the only drawbacks we found with the user interface.
Also Read: Tecno Pova 4 To Be Available Exclusively Via Amazon In India Soon: Landing Page Confirms Helio G99 Chipset, 6,000 mAh Battery
Tecno Phantom X Camera Review: Decent Performance Overall
The mid-range Tecno Phantom X is packed with powerful camera hardware that complements the entire spec sheet and premium design. The Phantom X’s back panel has three sensors. The primary camera is a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GN1 sensor which gets accompanied by a 13MP telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom. It also has an 8MP sensor for ultrawide angle frames. The overall camera module is good for general photography.
But you wouldn’t be disappointed either if you are a mobile camera enthusiast and good imaging output is what you seek. The Phantom X is good with daylight photography. The images have good detailing levels when are clicked with good lighting conditions. The dynamic range, as well as the edge detection, is also good with the Phantom X’s back camera. Despite the missing dedicated depth and macro sensors, the cameras add software-based bokeh effects and capture close-up shots.
And no complaints there either. For low-light photography, the Phantom X features a Night mode which you can access from the camera app itself. This mode refines the imaging quality in areas with a dark background. The low-light images are less distorted and the output with night scenes isn’t all grainy with the Night mode.
The video recording experience is decent as well so is the selfie camera performance. Infact, the Phantom X has raised the bars in the selfie camera race with a dual front camera module. The Tecno Phantom X is equipped with a 48MP main selfie camera and an 8MP ultrawide selfie snapper. The self-portraits are crisp and vivid. With high clarity levels, the Phantom X’s selfie camera is not only at par with the competition but also will please the selfie lovers.
Tecno Phantom X: Battery Backup
Tecno has used a big 4,700 mAh unit on the Phantom X. During our entire usage, we found the setup to be decent enough to deliver almost an entire day of power backup. But this is only when you use the device moderately or for basic tasks. The backup will drop down to almost half a day if you use this handset extensively.
Frequent gaming and media playback are a few of the factors that might hamper power backup. But that wouldn’t be on a massive scale. The fast charging technology used by the Phantom X is 33W. The handset’s refuel time is less than an hour which is handy in different scenarios.
Also Read: Tecno Pova 4 Budget Gaming Phone With Helio G99 Chipset Launched In India: Worth A Buy?
Tecno Phantom X Competition
The Tecno Phantom X gets multiple rivals in the Indian market. Some of the popular handsets with which it competes included the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite, Moto G72, and the Infinix Zero X. The cheaper alternatives of this handset include the OPPO F21S Pro and the iQOO Z6 Lite.
Tecno Phantom X: Final Verdict
The Tecno Phantom X definitely one of the most capable mid-range Android phones that you can buy currently in India. It steals the limelight with the curved AMOLED display which you hardly see in any latest premium mid-range phone priced below Rs. 27,000 in India. The phone complements premium users with its good-looking design and powerful set of internals.
