Tecno Phantom 9 Review: Good Phone With A Brilliant Display
14,999.00
16,999.00
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The Phantom 9 is Tecno’s most promising smartphone to make for Indian edges. Tecno is a subsidiary of Transsion Holding, which also owns other brands such as Infinix, Itel and Spice. Despite not being very popular in India, Tecno and its sister brands have around 45 percent market share in Africa. With Phantom 9, Transsion will be hoping to replicate that success to an extent in India. Apart from a sleek design and triple camera setup, the AMOLED display helps the Phantom 9 stand out in the crowd. But is this enough to beat the incredibly popular Redmi Note 7 Pro and Realme 3 Pro for Tecno? let’s find out:
Techno Phantom 9 Design
Tecno Phantom 9 features a modern design. It comes with a glass-like reflective plastic back. The phone features a tiny pattern on the back, which Tecno refers to as a 3D design. Angry gradient scheme these days, this phone is no exception. I like how the color moves from light to dark blue. Then, however, Tecno was thrown into the purple hue to the mix. There is a fine line between elegance and modernity, and this is where Tecno crosses.
The phone has a noticeable bump on the camera, which causes a wobble when placed on a table. Moving forward, the Phantom 9 flaunts its impressively thin bezels. Especially, the phone’s chin is quite thin for a budget phone. The plastic buttons are click, but I still miss the robustness of the metal keys. The ports and connectors such as a 3.5mm headphone jack, micro USB and a mono speaker are placed at the bottom.
Tecno Phantom 9 Display
Here comes the high point of the Tecno Phantom 9. The device’s 6.4-inch AMOLED display is one of the finest screens in its category. It is the same type of display you generally see on premium handsets such as the Galaxy S10 Series, iPhone XS, and Huawei P30 Pro. Since AMOLED screens don’t require a backlight, you get a stunning contrast ratio. Colors look vibrant and the blacks are rendered to perfection. Even the popular Redmi Note 7 Pro’s screen stands no chance against what you get on the Tecno Phantom 9.
The Full HD + screen has a pixel density of more than 400 dpi, which compensates for a fairly sharp screen. The screen is bright enough and can be held in direct sunlight. To protect against scratches, the Phantom 9 relies on Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3.. The screen comes with an integrated fingerprint sensor, which works but is a bit slow.
Tecno Phantom 9 Software And Performance
The Tecno Phantom 9 runs Android 9.0 with HiOS 5.0 customization on top. Without building up the suspense, let me tell you that it is not pleasant by any stretch of imagination. While most brands including the Chinese ones are trying to put together neat and cohesive software designs, Tecno is heading into the opposite direction. Right from the homescreen, the interface elements look out of place. Take for instance, the smart panel, which looks like a third-party bloatware from 2012. The software also nags you with random news and poor game recommendations on homescreen along with the lockscreen.
