Tecno Phantom X2 Pro's pop-out zoom lens.
Chinese smartphone maker Tecno is mostly known for its budget phones which dominate the African smartphone scene, but the Shenzhen-headquartered company has begun its expansion plan—both geographically and in terms of market segment.
The company launched its most premium and expensive phone by far this month, and it’s one of the most original—in both design and concept—phones of the year.
The key selling point of this new flagship, named Phantom X2 Pro, is its retractable portrait lens, and it really works. But more than this, I’m particularly impressed by the Phantom X2 Pro’s software image processing which is something smaller phone brands usually struggle with.
Hardware and Design
I’ll get back to the cameras in a bit, let’s first look at overall design. The Phantom X2 Pro is an extra tall slab phone with a 6.8-inch OLED screen with an elongated 20:9 aspect ratio. The backside can come in glass or vegan leather “made from recycled materials from the Indian Ocean,” and it’s the latter model I am testing. I like the look and feel of the orange leather, and the visually striking camera module makes it a real eye-catcher. I’ve been approached by random strangers twice in the past month inquiring about the phone because the backside drew their attention.
Tecno Phantom X2 Pro's vegan leather back.
The display is curved, with a resolution of 1080 x 2400, and a maximum brightness of 500 nits and refresh rate up to 120Hz. In terms of color vibrancy, viewing angles, animations and sharpness, I have no complaints. The screen looks good. But the 500 nits of brightness is a bit low by 2022 flagship standards, and this is a screen that clearly looks dim under direct sunlight compared to something like a new iPhone or Samsung.
Tecno Phantom X2 Pro's 6.8-inch display.
There’s an optical in-display fingerprint scanner and selfie camera underneath the display panel, and both work well. Powering the phone is a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip, a flagship chip from Taiwan chipmaker MediaTek. It’s not quite as powerful as the best Qualcomm chip, but the Dimensity 9000, paired with 12GB of RAM, is still more than capable enough for any task you throw at it. There’s a large 5,160 mAh battery that can be fast charged at 45W, and the charger is included with the box.
The curved screen.
Cameras
The main attraction here is the retractable portrait zoom lens, which physically pops out (see picture below). This allows not only the lens to get ever so slightly closer to the subject, but allows for more room through which image information can travel before it reaches the ISP (image signal processor). This extra space makes the difference, as the zoom lens can pull off a convincing 2.5x zoom for a focal length of around 65mm.
The pop-out camera in action.
The retractable zoom lens really works. There’s noticeable natural bokeh (depth-of-field blur) in photos due to the focal length, image sensor size (1/1.3-inch) and fast f/1.5 aperture. This fast aperture also allows the lens to perform well at night, which smartphone zoom lenses usually suffer.
Tecno Phantom X2’s 2.5x portrait lens at work.
Notice the natural bokeh and relatively low noise despite shooting at night.
The main camera is a 50MP Samsung GNV sensor that is basically the same sensor used by Google in the Pixel 7 Pro. It’s a great sensor, but it wouldn’t matter if Tecno’s image processing isn’t up to par, and like I said at the beginning, Tecno’s image processing is surprisingly up to par. Look at the below photo samples, all captured by the Phantom X2 Pro’s main cameras. I’m impressed by the HDR which requires software image smarts to quickly snap multiple photos and stitch together for one shot.
Samples from the main camera.
Phantom X2 Pro
Video stabilization is on par, too, the only weakness I would say is the ultra-wide lens, and that the portrait lens struggles with focus in lower light situations. Otherwise, this is a camera system that can almost hang with the biggest names in the industry, and this is a remarkable achievement by Tecno.
Tecno Phantom X2 Pro.
Software and Performance
The Phantom X2 Pro runs Tecno’s Android HiOS Android skin over Android 12. HiOS is one of the most customizable Android skins I have ever tested. Everything from app icon looks to animations when swiping through the homescreen to the dozens of shortcut gestures, can be tweaked to fit your liking. To be honest, it can be a bit overwhelming how many things you can change here. For the most part, everything works and the heavy-handed skin does not get in the way of basic Android functionality. However, Android 12 is a generation old now and Tecno does not have a proven track record of offering software updates in a timely manner. I wouldn’t hold my breath on Android 13 coming here anytime soon.
The MediaTek chip here is built on 4nm architecture and it’s plenty fast to handle any app. Even playing graphically intensive games like Genshin Impact, the phone did not miss a beat—though it does heat up like most smartphones would.
Battery life is great, thanks to that large battery. I have taken this phone out for a 15 hour day of heavy use consisting of snapping dozens of photos and videos, navigating from point to point, streaming Spotify, using social media, and the phone would finish that intense 15 hour day with over 10% battery to spare.
Conclusion
The Tecno Phantom X2 Pro is the company’s most ambitious and premium device ever made. It features an eye-grabbing design and genuine innovative camera hardware breakthrough. But it’s also very pricey for a brand that’s still far from a household name. The phone is launching first in Saudi Arabia (it will soon reach other markets) and priced at 3,499 SAR, which converts to around $930. This is like four or five times the average price of a Tecno handset, so it’s quite a big jump.
The Tecno Phantom X2 Pro on display during its launch event in Dubai.
I think for many consumers, asking them to pay nearly $1,000 for a Tecno phone over a more established brand may be a hard sell. But this is also part of Tecno’s strategy—it wants to expand and be seen as a premium brand, not just a maker of $100 phones that sell in Africa. If it comes off as overpriced at first, so be it. This was also Huawei’s strategy during its mobile heyday (2017 to 2019): the company priced its phone at Apple level instead of Xiaomi levels, because Huawei saw itself as a maker of premium products. And it worked, eventually, people accepted Huawei’s status and its phones sold really well before U.S. sanctions.
Of course, Huawei also got there by making truly cutting-edge premium phones. Tecno has taken a big first step with the Phantom X2 Pro.
