At 2024’s Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona, where our lead hardware journalist Connor is in attendance, TECNO has unveiled its new Camon 30 series which comes in four flavors: the Premier 5G, Pro 5G, base 5G, and base 4G. Eager to dive into what the new range has to offer, we got our hands on the headline Premier model to see how it stacks up.
Off the back of the release of the SPARK 20 Pro+, we have high expectations for whatever’s next (read our TECNO SPARK 20 Pro+ review for more details on what we made of the new phone), and Connor’s thoughts provide a strong sense of the direction where TECNO’s going next with its phones. “From behind, it looks like a digital camera, thanks to a large circular camera bump and snazzy red action dot, which lends to the brand’s plans to market this as a smartphone ideal for amateur and aspiring photographers,” he reports.
That being said, the phone comes with some nifty AI features that can help an aspiring photographer get their creative juices flowing. “As we reported yesterday from the TECNO 2024 flagship launch, the brand is going hard this year with AI featured and its new PolarAce imaging system,” Connor explains. How well does that feature work? Well, it seems like it could be more refined.
“I tried out the AIGC Portrait feature, which asks you to take four selfies in a row before spitting out an AI version of yourself in a style such as ‘Lifestyle’, ‘3D Doll’, and more,” says Connor. “It’s a neat feature, but it struggled to accurately capture my likeness in a few of the examples I took.” You can see Connor’s AI-generated selfie for yourself below.
As for the camera-style design of the phone, Connor concludes that it’s a nice build, saying, “In terms of form factor, the Camon 30 Premier 5G feels nice in the hand, with a thin build and textured leather back.”
The phone, which will come to market later in the year, has some decent specs that should make it attractive to a broad audience, too. The Dimensity 8200 Ultra powers the device alongside 12GB of RAM and 512GB storage. This supports a 5,000mAh battery and a 6.77-inch OLED display.
For more hardware coverage, see our list of the best gaming phones, and read our Poco X6 Pro review. Or, check out our speculation about the Nintendo Switch 2.