For a smartphone firm that has been centered on the funds and mid-range phase since its inception, it was a giant shock when Tecno went all-in and unveiled its first folding smartphone throughout MWC 2023. Dubbed the Phantom V Fold 5G, this horizontal folding smartphone is a direct competitor to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold sequence, and will likely be made entirely in India. This could possibly be one of many causes for its extremely aggressive value of Rs. 88,888, which is round the place we normally discover vertically folding or flip smartphones. Tecno not too long ago launched this cellphone in India, and we received to spend a while with it. This is what we predict.
It is just pure to attract comparisons with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, and taking a look at its specs, the brand new Tecno Phantom V Fold 5G is fairly well-equipped. From its flagship-grade 4nm SoC and as much as 512GB of storage, to its large 7.85-inch LTPO AMOLED show, it checks all of the vital bins. The cellphone itself is cumbersome, similar to another folding cellphone of this sort, and is supposed for use with two fingers. It’s on the heavier facet too. When folded, there’s nearly no seen hole between the 2 halves, which I fairly like. At its thickest level (close to the hinge), the Phantom V Fold 5G continues to be slimmer than the competitors at 14.5mm.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold 5G has an aluminium body. The corporate has developed a proprietary hinge which it says minimises the crease. This may nonetheless be felt when you run your finger throughout the centre of the folding display screen, nevertheless it’s is barely seen at excessive angles. The outer show additionally has a delicate curve on one facet which is an fascinating design alternative. The ports and buttons are the place you’d count on them to be, and the facility button additionally homes the fingerprint sensor. In my temporary time with this cellphone, its construct high quality gave the impression to be respectable, though I did discover a little bit of play within the hinge when the cellphone was folded.
The crease of the folding show (left) is barely seen at excessive angles
The again panel of the Tecno Phantom V Fold 5G’s black variant is produced from recycled plastic waste, whereas the white variant makes use of an “natural silicon leather-based” materials. There is a distinctive digital camera module on the again which features a 50-megapixel major digital camera, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide digital camera, and a 50-megapixel telephoto digital camera able to 2X optical zoom. The selfie digital camera on the outer display screen is a 32-megapixel sensor, whereas the folding display screen will get a 16-megapixel sensor in a hole-punch cutout. The digital camera app has quite a lot of further options to reap the benefits of the folding display screen and we’ll discover all of them within the full overview.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold 5G runs HiOS 13 Fold, which relies on Android 13. Tecno says that over 1,000 apps have been optimised to reap the benefits of the folding show and ought to work in split-screen and multi-window modes. Whereas the show can keep unfolded at about 90 levels, I discovered that it would not maintain its place very nicely when you attempt to go away it open it at different angles. I am curious to see how it will have an effect on each day use and productiveness.
The outer show of the Tecno Phantom V Fold 5G is a 120Hz LTPO AMOLED panel
The Phantom V Fold lacks wi-fi charging, however makes up for that with a big 5,000mAh battery and 45W wired charging. In keeping with Tecno, the Phantom V Fold 5G ought to be capable to cost utterly in beneath an hour. Its outer show is a 6.42-inch full-HD+ AMOLED panel, whereas the within will get a 7.85-inch AMOLED show with a 2K decision. The Phantom V Fold 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ SoC.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold 5G is probably the most reasonably priced folding cellphone of its sort in India for the time being, and that by itself ought to pique the curiosity of many who need to get their first foldable. The benefits of a horizontal folding cellphone versus a vertical one are plain, and value contemplating now that you may get both sort for roughly the identical value. Nevertheless, that is Tecno’s first stab on the premium smartphone market in India and it will be fascinating to see how consumers reply to the Phantom V Fold 5G. We’ll have our full overview of this cellphone prepared in due time, so be sure to do not miss that.
