The pocket-friendly brand Tecno has introduced its next budget entry for 2020: the Tecno Spark 5. The phone brings a mid-range design, an uncharacteristic camera setup, and entry-level internals that feel out-of-place for a current-gen device but does offer an affordable Tecno price tag – more on that in a few.
The polycarbonate rear panel on Tecno Spark 5 features an oversized rectangular camera bump, a capacitive fingerprint reader, and a solid gradient paint job that comes in Misty Grey, Vacation Blue, Ice Jadeite, and Spark Orange colors.
Flip the Spark 5 over and you’ll be greeted by a punched screen and a heavy chin. Though the side and top bezels remain impressively wafer-thin.
The so-called ‘Dot-in’ display stretches 6.6 inches across and can produce an FHD+ resolution and a 90.2% screen-to-body ratio. You can also spot a pair of front-facing LED flash that lives in the top-bezel. A dual-flash on the front points to underwhelming selfie camera performance.
The camera houses four lenses stacked on top of each other and flanked by an LED flash. The main camera has a 13MP f/1.8 aperture sensor behind it, coupled with a 2MP macro shooter, a 2MP depth-assist lens, and an AI Lens (which apparently feeds the AI algorithm the data it needs to optimize your shots). To round the ensemble off, Tecno is offering an 8MP front camera for capturing selfies.
Tecno doesn’t name the chipset it uses for the device, but it’s combined with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of native storage. Even on paper, it isn’t hard to discern that the Spark 5 isn’t a performance-first phone. It’s meant to look great, making it a fine example of how a budget phone doesn’t necessarily have to look cheap. At any rate, its Chinese competitors in the same price bracket might leave it in the dust performance-wise.
There’s no support for fast charging for its 5,000 mAh battery, and the entire ensemble is powered by Tecno’s HiOS 6.1 (based on Android 10). Tecno prices it right, The model is available for pre-order in Ghana, starting at $125 (~20,000 PKR). There’s no official word yet, on when the Tecno Spark 5 will arrive in Pakistan.