At IFA 2023, we visited the stand of Tecno, a Chinese brand of the Transsion Group, which ranks 5th in the world in terms of smartphone sales in Q2 2023. Here’s what we thought of their products.
Source: Frandroid
Do you know Tecno? If you don’t closely follow tech news or new brand development in China, you’ve probably never heard of it. And yet it is the largest brand in a group that is gaining momentum worldwide. Transsion recently reached 5th place as the world’s largest smartphone seller over a quarter, integrating three brands: Tecno, by far the largest, then Itel and Infinix.
If Tecno is not yet present on the European market, that does not prevent them from presenting their products at IFA 2023, where we were able to take delivery of three smartphones.
The marriage between a Galaxy Z Fold 5 and an Honor Magic V2
The most interesting is undoubtedly the foldable model called Tecno Phantom. To us it seemed to be the illegitimate child of a Galaxy Z Fold 5 and an Honor Magic V2. On the Samsung side it takes advantage of the edges and thickness, and on the Honor side we find its wide screen on the front, which allows the external screen to not be just a secondary screen. It then gives a touch of originality with its photo block, typical of Chinese manufacturers since it is a central matrix. This includes three photo modules.
Source: Frandroid
Source: Frandroid
Looking at it, it’s difficult to figure out where the manufacturer was able to make savings to reduce its price like it does. It is sold for INR 89,999 (around 1,030 euros excluding taxes). For comparison: Without taxes, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 starts at 1,136 euros without taxes. There are some processing that are a little less successful than elsewhere, such as the clearly visible cutout of the internal screen or the rather plastic look of the photo block. But these aesthetic considerations aside, the Phantom V Fold appears to be an effective price cutter.
Tecno could arrive in Europe within three years
At the stand we were able to speak to a representative of the group, who we asked when the brand would arrive in Europe. She said: “We are in the process of setting up a sales channel in Germany. We’ll start with PCs because, unlike smartphones, they don’t require adaptation for the European 4G and 5G bands. » According to the same representative, there is no reason why Tecno should not also be used in France and Italy after its founding in Germany. Regarding the timeline, the representative assured us that Tecno should arrive in Europe within three years.
Efforts must be made before arriving in Europe
Currently, apart from their foldable nature, it is not certain that Tecno’s smartphones are of particular interest to the public, at least from what we saw during our visit to the stand. We saw two models: The Pova S Pro and the Tecno Spark 10 Pro.
The Pova S Pro is a kind of nothing phone with an LED on the back but a much flashier design than its predecessor. The smartphone seemed thick and the screen had a significant lack of brightness (while we were indoors).
Source: Frandroid
Source: Frandroid
Tecno Spark 10 Pro and its LCD screen performed better in this regard, but the vividness of the colors did not convince us.
The design seems appropriate for an entry-level smartphone, with iPhone-style flat edges and a screen that looks like it’s placed directly on the smartphone’s body, hamburger-style, which isn’t very nice. Let’s also point out a big chin.
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