TECNO Camon 11 Review
TECNO unveiled its latest device in the Camon series, the Camon 11 last month. The device was launched alongside its sibling, the TECNO Camon 11 Pro which features some upgraded features and also comes at a higher price.
We managed to get our hands on the Camon 11 which we have been interacting with for a few weeks now. We did an unboxing video for you which you can check here.
The Camon 11 is a beautiful device, especially the red review unit we got. You, however, have other colour options including Aqua Blue, Hawaii Blue, and Midnight Black. The device is also TECNO’s latest phone to come with a notch display and also features slightly larger specs compared to its predecessor.
Remember the TECNO Camon series targets affordable markets and usually camera-centric especially for the selfie shooter which I will be talking about in a separate article. We have highlighted the specs for you here which you can check.
Design and Display
As I mentioned the phone is beautiful, TECNO really did put in some good effort to make the phone appealing. The front and back design are spectacular with the notch display at the top front holding the selfie shooter, receiver and the Ambient light sensor. I am not a fan of the notch but I am sure some of you might actually love it on this device.
The Camon 11 has smaller and minimal bezels at the top and bottom, and of course, that’s due to the 19:9 aspect ratio. Slimmer bezels actually make a phone look good so I am glad TECNO decided to take this route. The device also boasts of 87.5% screen-to-body ratio.
Specs and Performance
Beauty aside, let’s talk about the specs and do these specs actually make the Camon 11 perform well? Well, the Camon 11 is powered by a MediaTek MT6761 clocked at 2Ghz Quad-core processor, and also comes with ARM Mali-G71 MP2 GPU for graphic processor, which will enhance the intensive game graphic, and bring in a more preferable gaming experience. You get 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage expandable to 256GB via a MicroSD card. The Phone runs on TECNO HiOS skin version 4.1 on top.
My problem with HiOS is that it comes with ads which are really annoying and come in form of notifications.
With all the above specs, does the phone perform well? The performance is ok, the processor handles things just fine. Switching through apps is also easy and the phone is actually really fast.
TECNO also decided to use the front-facing flash as a notification LED. I am not sure why they thought this was actually a nice idea.
Overall, the performance is good and in terms of responsiveness, the device loads really fast, the apps are not sluggish.
Cameras
We have a separate article on the Camon 11 cameras but you basically get a 16 Megapixel AI Front Camera and a 13 + 2 Megapixel dual Camera with what TECNO is calling AI features. Other cameras features, includes AI Bokeh effects, AI HDR. To be honest, I couldn’t see any difference in the photos even with the AI feature on. There was also no AI Automatic Scene detection when you press the AI button.
See sample shots below. More photos are available on our Instagram page TechTrendsKE.
Shots taken by the phone are not disappointing, just what you would expect from the device in this series. My problem was however with portrait, they did not turn out as expected at some point.
Battery
The 3750mAh battery on the Camon 11 does a good job. I could go for an entire day with a single charge. Even after listening to music, watching some YouTube videos and even turning my location on, I still had enough charge.
I remember carrying the phone to Naivasha for the CIO 100 awards without the charger and the juice served me until the next day after spending the night taking photos from the event, sharing some posts on social media and much more.
Connectivity and other features
The phone also supports a handful of network connectivity, such as 4G LTE, for fast internet connection, WiFi, WiFi hotspot, WiFi direct, Bluetooth v4.2, 3.5mm audio jack, USB support.
Other features include a fingerprint scanner, face unlock which works really well.
Conclusion, pricing and availability.
The TECNO Camon 11 is a good beautiful device and offers what you would basically expect from a device in that price range, of Ksh. 14,999. No lags apart from just the problems I had with the portrait shots from the device, some issues with the software and also the choice of the camera flash as the device’s overall notification LED.
The battery life is also very impressive and the cameras, which are the key selling points for this device don’t disappoint. For anyone looking for a device in this price range then the Camon 11 is a phone you can actually consider.
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