Released yesterday, the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro is the smartphone manufacturer’s attempt at introducing a flagship to the market. Unfortunately, it falls short in all the key areas.
In order to even get their foot in the midrange market, smartphone manufacturers have to cram as many high-quality features on their devices, from high refresh rates to big batteries and insane charging speeds, however, Tecno wants a piece of the flagship pie while cheaping out on almost everything and having a good chipset. Lets debate.
Tecno Phantom X2 Pro Design
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I’m pretty sure even the blind can see that the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro is not a looker. The very first thing that stood out to me when I saw the device last year was its ugly design. The back of the device is just hideous, with a large, centered camera setup that looks out of place, additionally, the device has a plastic back, which is not a deal breaker but it’s not that premium feeling they are trying to sell you as well. Also talk about the uneven bezels on the front of the device, a major turn-off.
Tecno Phantom X2 Pro Performance
Say you look past the design, how does the device perform? I don’t have real-life tests so this is an ‘on paper’ argument, the Tecno Phantom X2 runs on the Mediatek Dimensity 9000, an actual flagship chipset. The CPU on the chip competes and actually beats the Snapdragon 8-Gen-1, however, the Mali GPU, not so much, wish Mediatek had gone the AMD way.
Overall, I expect the device will handle everything you throw at it with complete ease. Given the HiOS skin on top of Android will utilize it. The software will also determine the camera quality despite the flagship chip. I would love to tell you it is amazing but without a hands-on? well, Tecno hasn’t been winning any camera awards.
The Tecno Phantom X2 Pro retails at Sh83,000. This is way over Pixel level territory, can Tecno edge out one of the best camera system currently out? My guess is as good as yours.
Tecno Phantom X2 Pro ‘Retractable’ Camera
While we are on the camera topic, perhaps the major selling point of the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro is its retractable 50MP portrait camera, it is quite a unique feature. However, it’s hard to comment on its performance without having hands-on experience with the device. I will not hate on it. According to reviews, it’s pretty good.
There has to be something good about this device
So we have established the device has a flagship chipset, well, additionally, the device has a 120Hz refresh rate on an OLED, which is also a flagship-level feature, but the 505 nits brightness does not cut it, who are you selling this device to? Dracula? The screen is also not HDR-10 enabled, just slap an LCD at that point.
The battery is also pretty good on paper at 5,160 mAh and the 45w fast charging is not something to hate on, but at that price point maybe include wireless charging? however, all these positive features can be found in recent midrangers so who are we kidding? Also Also who is selling a flagship device in 2023 without stereo speakers? No IP rating as well? C’mon.
In conclusion, the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro is a smartphone that falls short in all key areas, the device has a very powerful chipset that the user will never get to fully utilize because it cheaped out on all other aspects. From its design to the specs and pricing. While it may have some flagship-level features, the overall package is not compelling enough to justify its high cost. Sell it for half the price though and I would recommend it!
