REVIEW: TECNO Boom J8, another Music Phone from TECNO Mobile

We all agree that TECNO Mobile has been doing quite well when it comes to producing great phones. The company has been able to capture the Kenyan market thanks to their budget friendly products which we have always got a chance to interact with.

One of these latest products is the TECNO Boom J8, the next generation music phone launched in Kenya this month. Previously we have seen the birth of the TECNO Boom J5 and the TECNO Boom J7 which were among the most budget friendly phones in 2015; the TECNO Boom J8 is no different. The phone is currently available in the market for Kshs.16,999 and we have the official specifications , including a full review for you.

For the past few weeks I have been interacting with the phone and my experience with it has been really awesome.  From the performance, the camera and of course the new HiOS , I am not disappointed.  Remember the TECNO Boom J8 is the first smartphone to run on the new TECNO’s HiOS User Interface which is one of the update we will be looking at later.

You can also read my unboxing article here and watch the video here too. 

But first let me start by giving you some key specifications of the J8. This is basically what the phone is made of.

• 76.84*153.3*7.35mm dimensions.
• 5.5 inch Display with 1080*720 resolution.
• 2 GB RAM
• 16 GB internal storage.
• 3000 mAh battery.
• 13 MP/5 MP camera with front facing flash.
• Android 5.1 Lollipop (with TECNO HiOS) upgradeable to Android 6.0.

Design and Display

You all remember the TECNO Boom J7, it is a device that here at TechTrendsKE loved very much, from the design and the features it brought. The TECNO Boom J8 is a bit different from the J7, it boasts of an appealing plastic body which is really appealing to the eye.

Featuring a 5.5 inch display for great viewing angles, the J8 is rimmed with a metallic frame giving it a completely appealing look. One thing though, it has this iPhone look like design which I am not sure was the right thing for TECNO Mobile to do. We will let you decide that but one thing for sure is that TECNO did quite well with the J8 design. But it feel what TECNO tried to do is copy the iPhone design and just making some few adjustments.

Check the slides below:

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One thing I however like about the TECNO Boom is the fact that it is very slim, giving it a beautiful design. It is something that I really enjoyed carrying around.

At the back you have the TECNO logo boldly printed where you also have the camera lens and the LED flash, then the usual volume and power buttons and a microUSB port.

Camera

The TECNO Boom J8 sports a 13 MP rear camera which I feel is not bad although it does not deliver some good quality photos like, let me say the kind of good photos the TECNO Phantom5 would produce. Different smartphones brands have been investing heavily in their phone cameras and it looks like TECNO Mobile didn’t want to be left behind.  I however feel they should have done better though.

Check some of the photos I took with the J8 below. What do you think of the quality? Is it good enough? These photos were taken during the TECNO Brand Day at Garden City Mall , the same day TECNO was unveiling the J8.

Software

Remember when we first heard the rumours of the TECNO Boom J8 launch, one of the things we shared with you was that the J8 was going to come with a new  HiOS User Interface,  and it looks like we were right. The UI provides interactive and user-friendly experience, for unlimited fun. I found it to be a bit faster that other User Interfaces I have interacted with

The TECNO Boom J8 actually comes with this new User Interface and yes, it is quite something. I did not want to experience the UI alone and so everyone I handed the J8 to try at the office actually liked it. Although I feel there are some things that I feel TECNO could have improved on the UI, but all that I will be sharing with you in my next article, telling you about my full experience with the HiOS.

Performance

Let’s talk about the TECNO Boom J8 performance, which is something any smartphone user like me who is keen about the type of phones to purchase looks out for. A fast phone with a good processor, some adequate storage.

Well, will give TECNO Mobile a plus with the TECNO Boom J8. The phone runs smooth for daily performances though like any other phone, if you give it huge demanding tasks you will notice the struggle it goes through to keep it going.

The TECNO Boom J8 2 GB of RAM, Quad – core 1.3 GHz and 16 GB internal storage should be enough for any phone users.

Battery 

The TECNO Boom J8 comes with a non-removable 3000mAh battery with fast charge support and an ultra power-saving mode. The battery life is quite impressive. It is so hard to get a phone that can take you a full work day when connected to a WiFi network. The J8 took me a whole day while connected and performing other tasks, which I find quite good. I did not have to top up with a little charge to keep me going.

I however had a problem with the time the J8 take to charge from 0% to 100%, 2 and a half to 3 hours is quite a long time.

The Music

So the TECNO Boom J8 is another music phone, just like its predecessor the TECNO Boom J7. One of the accessories you get when you purchase the phone is the BOOM headphones. The BOOM headphones combined with the BOOM Player on the J8 gives you a music experience like never before. The BOOM Player all these features you would expect from any music app and it also decided to give you the African touch by letting you find music and videos by African artistes conveniently. I also kept getting a notification of new music when they are available.

TECNO Mobile decided to add all sorts of apps to enhance the music experience of the J8. You have the Boom Maxx, which is a standalone app that will let you choose various preset audio quality settings and it also allows you to create yours too, interesting, right?

The J8 built-in loudspeaker is just another interesting thing I discovered, well, it is only mono but fair enough, it’s however not loud though. I did not find the audio quality that good but managed to get some amazing audio quality after I plugged in the Boom headphones. Damn! I was taken to a different world, the audio quality was just amazing.

If you love going out for jogging the TECNO Boom J8 could also be a good companion.

My Conclusion

With the TECNO Boom J8 I feel TECNO Mobile has delivered a phone that can rival any other high end mobile device in the market in terms of design, quality and affordability. Despite the iPhone look like design, TECNO Mobile has been able to offer consumers what they need.

The unique part about the TECNO Boom J8 is also the fact that it came with a new HiOS User Interface. The UI provides interactive and user-friendly experience.  I also found it to be a bit faster that other User Interfaces I have interacted with.

The Boom headphones are also something I find interesting. TECNO Mobile really wants to give users that music experience but I feel they should have just stuck to normal earphones but try improving on some few features to give them some good quality.

At Kshs. 16,999 the TECNO Boom J8 is a phone I can recommend to anyone planning to upgrade his/her Smartphone. It is worth each and every coin. You head over to Jumia and grab one for yourself or a loved one.