The newly-announced Tecno Camon 16 series launched on schedule today, featuring three editions: Camon 16, Tecno Camon 16 Pro, and Camon 16 Premier. As we gather from the promotional material, the new lineup is supposedly something new, something the budget-first brand hasn’t done before. Let’s talk about its most ambitious lineup yet.
With a camera that stands out combined with a curved glassy back, the Tecno Camon Premier edition features a very polished design in only one colorway — the Glacial Silver. The material seems premium glass, it has a satin finish to it, and the lines are more defined.
The camera plate is rectangular with flat edges to match the whole boxier profile. And inside the housing, the camera and the LED flash modules make a plus-shaped layout.
The main 64MP Sony-manufactured Camon 16 Premier camera is at the center of that array, surrounded by two depth control and ‘video-shooting’ (not autofocus) sensors and one 8MP 119° ultrawide camera. Flip the phone over to find two front cameras — a 48MP selfie lens and a 105° wide-angle for group selfies. And to top this optics ensemble off, adjustable dual front flash. The jury is out on their new ‘AI TAIVOS’ software, but the hardware is sub-flagship or at least upper-mid-range.
The dual selfie camera takes up a wide pill-shaped cutout on the screen. It’s an oversized 6.9” panel which has become somewhat of a handful Tecno motif this season. It reaches a 2K resolution at a fluid 90Hz refresh rate. The fingerprint sensor rests conveniently on the side.
The internal hardware isn’t flagship-grade, however. Camon 16 Premier has a last-gen MediaTek G90T processor at its heart, powered by a 4,500 mAh battery that supports 33W Flash Charge. Multi-tasking is ensured by 8GB of memory and your data is saved on 128GB of internal storage. Finally, the phone is pre-loaded with the HiOS 7.0 features an iOS-inspired UI, a refined UX, and a few gimmicks. It starts from $275 (or Rs. 47,000). The Camon 16 and 16 Pro are being kept under wraps for now.