Tecno’s new concept smartphone has a retractable telephoto lens!

This allows for a more natural blur and makes the process less AI reliant

While yes, Transsion is much more popular for the budget-oriented, they can actually show their prowess in the luxury midrange and flagship scenes. Tecno’s Phantom series is a major example, and this new iteration focuses on enhanced cameras. In particular, a retractable 65mm telephoto lens makes portraits more natural.

The phone comes with a peculiar design with the camera hump occupying 40% of the phone and is located in the middle. The front features a punch-hole and a curved AMOLED screen while the back features two large camera rings along with a smaller third camera and a flash. The phone is made with a renewable fiber material, the first in the industry, according to Tecno. The design actually got a honorable mention from Loop Design Awards

It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus and uses a 6.8in. curved AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 360Hz touch sampling rate. Inside is a flagship MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset which is a huge step forward from the first’s MediaTek Helio G95. With these specifications, the phone will probably sell at a more expensive price while the marketing team does the rest. It comes with 12GB LPPDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 internal storage. The RAM is expandable by up to 5GB, so you can theoretically accumulate up to 17GB RAM on a single usage.

The cameras are the main highlight of this phone. The main camera still unfortunately does not come with OIS. The primary camera is a 1/1.3″ Samsung ISOCELL 3.0 sensor coupled with the featured 50MP retractable portrait lens (f/1.49, 65mm, 2.5x zoom), and the small camera is actually the 13MP ultrawide sensor. By the way, none of these cameras sport OIS which may turn some people off because this phone is priced exactly like a flagship.

However, the 64MP of the regular Phantom X2 5G has OIS. Strange and inconsistent decisions.

Because the 65mm portrait lens is retractable, the phone can keep a sleek and slim profile when not in use. And when it is in use, it can provide for a 65mm focal length which is rare to see on any smartphone, but very common on professional cameras. This retractable lens, according to Tecno, can produce a more natural bokeh

That’s all there is to it, and if you’re asking, the front is a 32MP shooter. It comes in Stardust Grey and Mars Orange. Tecno claims that the phone is built using recycled materials.

No price in the Philippines yet, but unlike the first Phantom, this one is intended for production, making it the most expensive Tecno phone currently available. It is available in Saudi Arabia for a price of SAR 3,500 (~Php 51.5K). The phone does not have a headphone jack, one of the first for Tecno and Transsion overall.

SPECS:

• 6.8in. curved AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate, 20:9 aspect ratio, P3 wide colour gamut
  • Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
• MediaTek Dimensity 9000 (4nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 50MP (main), 1/1.13″, Samsung ISOCELL 3.0
  • 50MP (telephoto), f/1.49, 65mm, 2.5x optical zoom, retractable
  • 13MP (ultrawide)
  • FRONT: 32MP
• HiOS based on Android 12
• 5160mAh, 45W fast charging
  • 54% in 20 minutes (advertised)
• USB-C, Virtual RAM
• 5G, Wi-Fi 6/6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Mars Orange, Stardust Grey
  • 100% recycled materials derived from plastic bottles in the Indian Ocean
  • Renewable fiber back
• PRICE:
  • 12/256: SAR 3,500 (~Php 51.5K)

Source: Tecno Phantom