If you have not heard of TECNO, you then’re lacking out. The corporate nails affordability in nearly each smartphone class, with a big deal with rising markets. The brand new TECNO Phantom V Flip 2 actually hits the mark on some key factors, bringing a foldable to markets the place shoppers might not be capable to spend over $1000 on the likes of a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.
The Phantom V Flip 2 is a well designed telephone that sits comfortably within the midrange foldable class, providing well-rounded specs, a design that makes the telephone look far more premium than it’s, surprisingly good cameras, and a price ticket that you just will not must assume twice about. TECNO achieves this whereas seemingly pulling some inspiration from some higher-end flip telephones, including a touch of AI into the combination for good measure.
TECNO Phantom V Flip 2: Value & availability
The TECNO Phantom V Flip 2 was introduced on September 13 and can go on sale on September 23 in varied areas, together with Africa, Southeast Asia, the Center East, Latin America, and extra. The telephone shall be out there in a single configuration and retail for round $699 USD, though the value will range by nation. It also needs to be famous that telephones won’t be launched in the USA.
The telephone is offered in two colorways: Travertine Inexperienced and Moondust Gray.
TECNO Phantom V Flip 2: What I like
Instantly when first getting my palms on this telephone, I used to be greatly surprised by the design. The telephone will not be a premium or flagship gadget, nevertheless it’s definitely designed to seem like one. The entrance cowl panel is all black, which is accented with a gold body and gold rims across the digicam sensors. It’s kind of shiny, which I am not a fan of because it picks up fingerprint sensors extra, nevertheless it appears to be like very good.
Moreover, the again panel of my Travertine Inexperienced colorway appears to be like virtually like Jade and provides the telephone a really elegant look, particularly with the “Designed by PHANTOM” engraving. General, I am fairly impressed with the design of the telephone, which options curves on each panels and makes the telephone fairly snug to carry. Apparently, the telephone is a bit heavier than another flip telephones in and even above its value level, such because the Motorola Razr 2024, nevertheless it’s not the heaviest, and I am inclined to provide it a go, given its giant battery (extra on that later).
For those who open the telephone up, you are met with a 6.9-inch OLED show. With a 120Hz refresh fee and full HD+ decision, I’ve no complaints about it. Shade copy is sweet and even the crease is pretty minimal, though it does not really feel significantly easy when operating your finger throughout it. Regardless of that, the hinge feels sturdy and holds the telephone fairly properly it is open at varied angles.
One factor I used to be pleasantly stunned by is the digicam high quality. The telephone has two 50MP cameras for vast and ultrawide photographs, and each churn our surprisingly respectable photographs. Colours are sometimes well-balanced and never too boring or saturated, though typically it will probably punch issues up a bit greater than I would like, relying on the scene. Low-light is managed pretty properly.
That mentioned, I’d describe photographs from this telephone like a portray by Claude Monet; as they’re on the telephone, they give the impression of being nice. Nevertheless, issues type of begin to unravel a little bit whenever you zoom in on a picture, as you may see that issues begin to get a bit muddy and noisy, however the impact is not horrible, and it definitely is not the case with each picture. That mentioned, total, I am fairly happy with the pictures from the Phantom V Flip 2.
The telephone additionally handles darker pores and skin tones properly, which I admire as a melanin-rich particular person. Bokeh feels fairly pure when in portrait mode, and the telephone comes with varied imaging options like DV mode, which emulates a camcorder and even has varied video filters and results to make your video look extra stylized. And whereas you should utilize the rear cameras for selfies with the quilt display, the telephone additionally comes with an inner flash unit for anybody wanting to make use of the entrance 32MP digicam.
Video caps out at 4K 30fps, which is completely positive. Movies look crisp and there is respectable stabilization, however you can even kick issues up a notch with the video enhancement characteristic, which brightens darker areas and punches up the colours.
TECNO Phantom V Flip 2: Cowl display
The quilt display expertise is far completely different from that of the unique Phantom V Flip. As an alternative of a round show that was largely good for notifications, time, and a few restricted interactions, the sq. 3.6-inch OLED takes after the Motorola Razr 2024 and the Razr Plus 2023 earlier than it, however with a unique tackle the app expertise.
In contrast to Motorola’s telephones, the cameras are stacked vertically on the show, altering how the software program is offered. More often than not, you may work together with every part to the left of the cameras, such because the time, shortcuts, notifications, and extra. With most issues, the part above the cameras shall be reserved for the time and different standing bar icons.
The result’s an expertise that is a little bit extra paying homage to the OPPO Discover N3 Flip, which contains a vertical show on one facet of the quilt panel. Nevertheless, the added display actual property makes it a bit extra helpful.
Surprisingly, TECNO makes cowl display apps simply accessible when organising the exterior show. This is not too frequent with flip telephones, and Motorola might be the one one that allows you to entry almost any app from the quilt display out of the field. That is sadly not the case with the TECNO Phantom V Flip 2, however you continue to get an honest collection of appropriate apps, akin to Google Messages, YouTube/YouTube Music, Instagram, and extra.
As a result of your essential space of interplay is restricted to the world of the show left of the cameras, apps seem roughly as they usually would with the vertical presentation however smaller and barely wider. The draw back is that since not all apps are supported on the quilt display, you can be prompted to open the telephone for those who faucet a notification from an unsupported app on the quilt display.
There’s additionally some continuity with the supported apps when switching from the quilt display to the primary display, as it’ll open straight to the place you have been within the app. It does not work as easily when going from the primary show to the quilt display; for instance, I will have a video open on Instagram and shut the telephone. I will then must navigate to Instagram and manually open it to return to the place I used to be. This differs from the Razr, which can robotically open the app or ask on your permission.
Customization is pretty restricted, however you do get the choice to create AI wallpapers for the quilt display, and you’ll set shortcuts to your favourite apps on the primary web page.
Sadly, issues get a little bit complicated on the subject of navigation. Oddly, swiping proper on the quilt display will not do something however change between cowl display wallpapers that you have arrange, which is a bizarre solution to implement this operate. Swiping left will current you with the AI Wallpaper Generator and NFC Tag reader, whereas swiping down will carry up notifications from the short settings menu, relying on the facet of the show you swipe from.
To entry your apps, you swipe up from the quilt display after which swipe left or proper to entry extra. Nevertheless, from right here, there does not appear to be a solution to get again to the primary cowl display dwelling web page except you lock and unlock the telephone once more, which appears unintuitive.
Lastly, when you’ve got notifications, I discovered them to be considerably unreliable from the quilt display, which can typically present them briefly till they disappear and I find yourself having to open the telephone to see my notifications.
General, I am fairly combined on the quilt display expertise, which to me, is a very powerful a part of a flip telephone, however a lot of this might be addressed with software program tweaks if TECNO was inclined to rejig its UI.
TECNO Phantom V Flip 2: What may use some work
The TECNO Phantom V Flip 2 is an attractive telephone with a premium-looking design, however that does not essentially translate to the way it feels. It is snug to carry in hand, however the again panel feels fairly low cost, like arduous plastic. For a telephone at this value level, this isn’t too shocking, nevertheless it’s price stating so you are not fooled by its beauty.
Whereas the show is lots seen indoors, it’s also not exceptionally brilliant, so you might have some hassle outdoor, particularly in direct daylight.
The TECNO Phantom V Flip 2 has one of many largest batteries in a flip telephone, however I would not realize it from my expertise with the telephone. Mileage might range, however the telephone does not appear to final all day as claimed, and I will get about six hours of screen-on time at most.
Luckily, the charging pace helps, as it is also among the many quickest within the class. The 70W charger can prime up the telephone pretty rapidly, getting you to 50% in simply quarter-hour or 100% in lower than an hour. In actual fact, it is shocking how rapidly the telephone will cost up, with it reaching 20% in simply 5 minutes. It type of makes up for the battery life, however I nonetheless want that have been higher. There’s additionally no wi-fi charging, which is type of a bummer however not a dealbreaker.
General efficiency is okay, because of the MediaTek Dimensity 8020 chip, which is pretty middle-of-the-road. It will not win any efficiency awards, although, and I do discover that the telephone will get fairly scorching within the prime half, even when I have not actually been utilizing it. It appears there could also be some thermal administration points, and I’m wondering if my battery life woes are associated.
Gaming is not significantly sturdy, with the telephone defaulting to medium settings on video games like Honkai: Star Rail. It performs positive at these settings, however the telephone might get fairly heat for those who play for lengthy durations of time. Video games will nonetheless carry out okay for those who bump issues as much as the best settings, however there shall be some choppiness.
The general software program expertise is… respectable, and TECNO has some fascinating options that really feel helpful however usually are not absolutely fleshed out. The Dynamic Port, for instance, is a replica of Apple’s Dynamic Island however a lot much less practical. There’s additionally a Share Hub that allows you to drag photographs and different content material into a short lived cupboard space and drop them into different apps. It is cool, and it jogs my memory of Motorola’s Share Hub, however I want to see this expanded to incorporate sharing content material throughout gadgets like a PC.
To my dismay, there is no possibility for Google Uncover on the house display, and also you’re as an alternative left with TECNO’s Zero Display, which may show your steps, RAM, app utilization, and few different issues. That mentioned, I do not discover it significantly helpful.Â
General, the software program, whereas positive, could be a little complicated, and it might be tough to seek out the options you wish to use for those who’re not conversant in TECNO’s taste of Android.
TECNO’s AI choices on the Phantom V Flip 2 are a little bit of a combined bag. Some options work pretty properly, such because the AI translations for texts and the AI artboard for producing photographs, and even the AI wallpapers are fairly cool. There’s additionally an Picture Clipper-like characteristic that cuts topics out of photographs and allows you to drag them into the Good Hub to drop them elsewhere.
There’s additionally Ella, TECNO’s home-grown sensible assistant that allows you to management features on the telephone and carry out different AI-related actions. It may possibly do issues like present strategies on holidays, enable you to draft responses, and carry out different features. Nevertheless, I discover Ella’s voice a bit too robotic, which could be a bit off-putting when it is offering lengthy solutions to questions. I additionally do not discover Ella to be fairly as helpful as I would really like, however now that it is built-in with Gemini, I can see that there is loads of alternative to develop.
Different AI features like AI writing work okay however really feel equally restricted. The Magic AI Eraser does not appear to do an excellent job with eradicating object, usually leaving loads of artifacts of their place.
Luckily, for those who’re not a fan of TECNO’s in-house AI, you continue to have the choice to make use of Google’s options as an alternative, such because the Gemini app, Magic Eraser, Magic Editor, and extra. That is the beauty of choices: Android offers you lots.
Lastly, it is price noting that whereas this telephone is not made for the U.S. market, it’ll nonetheless work on the networks, however chances are you’ll discover that compatibility could also be considerably restricted. I used the TECNO Phantom V Flip 2 on T-Cell, however the telephone solely supported a number of the community’s bands. That mentioned, I used to be nonetheless capable of get 5G protection more often than not, with the telephone often displaying 4G+ in sure areas. It did not hassle me, and speeds did not appear to undergo a lot, however it’s price nothing for those who plan to one way or the other decide this telephone up within the U.S.
TECNO Phantom V Flip 2: Competitors
In relation to inexpensive flip telephones, there are a couple of within the international market that you could take into account, together with these from Motorola and Nubia.
The Razr 2024, identified globally because the Razr 50, might be among the best flip telephones you should buy. It has an equally giant cowl display and is designed with vegan leather-based, which feels snug in hand. It additionally has nice efficiency, battery life, and wi-fi charging. At $699 USD, it prices roughly the identical because the Phantom V Flip 2, relying in the marketplace. That mentioned, the cameras aren’t too nice, and Motorola has but to launch lots of its teased AI options.
The Nubia Flip 5G is among the least expensive flip telephones you should buy, which is already fairly attractive. Even at its low value level, you continue to get respectable efficiency and a well-designed telephone with a very good 50MP digicam and minimal show crease. Sadly, you’ll have to cope with loads of bloatware and outdated software program, plus a a lot smaller cowl display that is actually solely good for notifications and selfies.
TECNO Phantom V Flip 2: Do you have to purchase it?
You can purchase this if…
You are on the lookout for an inexpensive flip telephone.You need a telephone with a very good digicam.You need to have the ability to use apps on the quilt display.
You should not purchase this if…
You need a telephone with good battery life.Wi-fi charging is a should for you.You reside in the USA.
TECNO is a shocking model, as a result of it manages to launch comparatively good telephones at a fraction of the price of comparable gadgets. Whereas corporations like Samsung and Honor are targeted on the high-end, premium market, TECNO makes telephones for the remainder of the world that will not be capable to get there palms on such gadgets.
The TECNO Phantom V Flip 2 is such a tool, and I am happy with what the corporate has developed. Positive, it is not excellent, and a number of the software program/AI may use some fine-tuning, however the truth that TECNO is making such a well-made foldable at an inexpensive value level is commendable. No matter shortcomings the telephone has can and ought to be missed when the main focus right here is extra on accessibility in often-overlooked markets than reaching excessive revenue margins.
It is clear that this is not meant to be the most effective flip telephone in the marketplace, however it might be the most effective inexpensive flip telephone within the markets that matter.
A hidden gem
The TECNO Phantom V Flip 2 is a surprisingly good flip telephone at an inexpensive value, with an excellent design, an expansive cowl display, and an honest set of cameras. You too can benefit from Google and TECNO AI to boost your productiveness and creativity.