The Tecno Camon 18 was recently unveiled in Kenya and is currently available in the country for Ksh 22,000. This is not that much but is still on the higher end when compared to previous Camon devices.
Speaking of previous Camon devices, the Tecno Camon 18 is the successor to the Tecno Camon 17 series that we reviewed earlier this year. The Camon 17 series was a good one offering good value for money and I am interested to see what the Camon 18 series has to offer.
I have the Tecno Camon 18 in for review and since I am still working on the full review, I thought I should highlight some of its key aspects to help you know what it has to offer and if it is a good fit for you.
5,000 mAh Battery
No one wants to have a smartphone whose battery they have to charge after using for a few hours. This is where a battery such as the 5,000 mAh one on the Camon 18 stands out. With this battery, I can comfortably use the phone for an entire day without worrying about it running out of charge.
A 5,000 mAh battery takes time to fully charge and to help with that, the Tecno Camon 18 supports 18W fast charging. This can save sometime as it speeds up the charging process.
90 Hz Display
The Tecno Camon 18 comes with a 6.8 inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 2460 pixels. This display has a 90Hz refresh rate that makes for smooth scrolling. You can set the refresh rate to 90Hz, 60Hz or let the phone choose the appropriate refresh rate depending on your usage.
I have set the refresh rate to 90Hz as I want the smooth animations when scrolling. Keep in mind that a higher refresh rate may drain your battery much faster.
HiOS 8 Based on Android 11
The Tecno Camon 18 is powered by Android 11 with HiOS 8 on top. This is the latest version of the company’s custom UI that brings with it some additional features. There are some visible aesthetic changes with HiOS 8 compared to version 7.6 that we had on previous Tecno devices.
Tecno has introduced a control centre that you can access by swiping down the right section of the display. Swiping down the left section brings down your notifications. As for the control centre, you can use it to control key aspects of the phone including brightness, switch data and Wi-Fi on an off, switch Bluetooth on and off, switch on Airplane mode among other features.
There are some key privacy and security settings with HiOS 8, these are meant to keep your phone safe as you are able to see all that is happening and block access by unauthorized persons.
I will be diving deep into HiOS 8 with all its important features in the coming weeks so watch out for that post.
Processor
Powering the Camon 18 is the MediaTek Helio G88 processor that has been paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage space. Performance has been good and I have not had any issues using this phone, it handled everything that I threw at it. This is quite good and expected for a phone within its price range.
Cameras
The Camon 18 has a 48MP main camera at the back that takes really good shots. I was really impressed with the performance of the camera. The shots are detailed and with good colour balance in different lighting conditions.
Night mode on the Camon 18 is also impressive, it does a good job in capturing shots that you will be confident sharing with your friends and family.
As for selfies, the Camon 18 has a 16MP front facing camera that is really good. The details it captures are way too good and this is so far the best Selfie camera on any Camon device I have even used. I can’t wait to share more in the full review.
Read: Tecno Camon 18 Premier Specifications and Price in Kenya
