Tecno Phantom X2 5G: Remember when Tecno announced they were finally bringing back the Phantom series after killing it for a few years? That was back in 2019 and this series was quite popular among smartphone enthusiasts and reviewers like me.
Let me take you back a little bit. Tecno released their last device in the Phantom series back in 2017, skipping a Phantom 8 successor in 2018. In 2019, the Chinese smartphone maker then brought the Phantom 9, and in 2021 the Phantom X.
Something was different though. Tecno branded the Phantom X as its flagship SUB-BRAND aiming to tackle the premium smartphone market. Tecno said the relaunch of the Phantom brand, not only marked a jump forward of the brand to rival at higher-end market section, but also a significant change to the competitive landscape in global emerging markets.
We reviewed the Phantom X and described it as a statement phone from Tecno and we were really looking forward to seeing what the company will do with future Phantom devices. The Kes.50k price might not have sat well with so many customers but one thing was clear though, Tecno had done a good job with the phone – good build, design, an amazing display, and great cameras. The curved display looked really good and was interesting to see the direction Tecno was taking with this device.
Fast forward to January 2023 and Tecno made official a new Phantom – The Tecno Phantom X2. This series was unveiled in Kenya on the 17th of January and comprised the Phantom X2 and X2 Pro both of which are 5G devices. Also part of the series is the Phantom X2 Pro 5G Eco-Friendly Edition. This special edition features a pioneering environmentally friendly back cover, constructed by recycling materials recovered from the ocean.
The Eco-Friendly Edition, which has been nominated for and received prestigious international design awards, including the LOOP Design Awards, has a striking Mars Orange design representing the stark landscapes of the Red Planet and reminding us all of the importance of looking after the earth and its oceans.
We managed to get my hands on the Phantom X2 which I have been interacting with for a week now. We didn’t manage to do an unboxing video due to the short period we had with the device, hopefully, we get our hands on the PRO version for an in-depth review.
In this article though, we will be highlighting three things we loved about the device – Display, Cameras, and the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip. We will also talk about the software. So yeah, this is not a in-depth review, but just a summary of our favorite features.
Phantom X2 5G Display
Other than the design, one thing I love about the Phantom X2 5G is the display. I am a huge fan of curved displays so yeah, Tecno took my money here with Phantom X2. This curved-edge display has a centered notch with the top and bottom bezels being quite thin. Thanks to the curved edges the side bezels appear non-existent.
The display is shielded by Gorilla Glass Victus and is 6.8-inch in size and seems bright enough to be used in any environment. For the few days, I used the device, viewing 4K 60fps videos on it was a good experience.
Loved the adaptive brightness which works just fine. This panel has a brightness of 500 nits and Tecno also added a high-brightness mode for an even clearer viewing experience under strong light. There is an in-display fingerprint sensor as well.
The device supports Widevine L1 certification, what this means is you can watch movies and TV shows in 1080p on streaming platforms like Netflix, or even Amazon Prime Video. However, it lacks HDR certification. The colors on display look really nice and pop up very well, and the videos look crisp and vibrant.
Phantom X2 5G Cameras
The Tecno Phantom X2 5G features a triple-rear camera setup at the back, comprising a 64-megapixel primary camera along with a 13-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera that doubles as a macro shooter. And finally, a 2-megapixel shooter completes the camera setup. The front holds in place a 32-megapixel camera for your selfies.
In daylight, the images shot with this device come out well with good dynamic range. I loved the ultrawide shots as well. Portrait mode produced some quality images with proper edge detection, especially for human subjects. We are not getting a dedicated telephoto lens on the Phantom X2 5G, but it allows you to zoom digitally to 10x.
Low-light photos were also surprisingly good, with a decent amount of details. The Phantom X2 can capture up to 4K at 60 fps with the main camera while the ultra-wide and front snapper is capped at 1080p.
The 32-megapixel selfie camera does a good job of maintaining skin tones as well as details. You can check some sample shots below:
Phantom X2 5G Chipset and Software
This device is actually among the first in the country to come with MediaTek Dimensity 9000 5G chipset. The chipset is the world’s first TSMC chip built on the 4nm process and uses Arm’s new v9 architecture promising users faster performance and better power efficiency. You can read more about it here
It’s an octa-core processor with a clock speed of 3.05GHz fighting against the big boys from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen-1 and 8+ Gen-1.
The new Dimensity 9000 processor is expected to be used by flagship smartphones in 2022 and 2023, and glad that Tecno took the lead here.
Graphics are handled by Mali-G710 MC10 which provides a clock speed of up to 3.05 GHz coupled with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. Performance is light and fast and, the phone holds all the horsepower without compromising the performance.
On the software front, Tecno Phantom X2 5G ships with custom-skinned HiOS 12 on top of Android 12 which feels better compared to lower-priced models from the company. We are however still getting lots of bloatware some of which you can uninstall. The notifications from such apps are annoying but good thing is you can disable them.
Conclusion, pricing, and availability
Well, that’s our quick look at the Tecno Phantom X2 5G which is opening up a new direction for Tecno phones in the country.
The company tried getting it right with this device and it’s still a statement phone. The phone offers a decent photography experience, and also delivers good performance. A little more however needs to be done on the software. Tecno also said during the launch that the device will be receiving two major software updates. So that’s something to look forward to.
The phone is available for purchase from the Tecno official stores on Jumia, Safaricom PLC retail outlets, Tecno website, and Tecno retail stores. The Recommended Retail Price for Phantom X2 is Ksh 67,999.
Below is a summary of the specs:
| TECNO PHANTOM X2 | |
| Display Size | 6.8 inches, 111.6 cm2 (~93.3% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Display Type | AMOLED, 120Hz |
| Dimensions | 164.6 x 72.7 x 8.9 mm (6.48 x 2.86 x 0.35 in) |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~387 ppi density) |
| OS | Android 12, HIOS 12 |
| Chipset | MediaTek Dimensity 9000 (4 nm) |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×3.05 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.85 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510) |
| GPU | Mali-G710 MC10 |
| Internal | 64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM (No Card Slot) |
| Rear Cameras (Triple) | 64 MP, f/1.7, (wide), PDAF, OIS
13 MP, f/2.2, (ultrawide), 1/1.3″, 1.12µm, AF 2 MP |
| Selfie Camera (Single) | 32 MP, f/2.5, (wide) |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| Battery | Li-Po 5160 mAh, non-removable
45W wired, 54% in 20 min, 100% in 60 min |
| Features | Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Colors | Stardust Gray, Moonlight Silver |
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