Tecno Phantom X camera test: A formidable shooter?

The Tecno Phantom X launched late last year as the company’s flagship offering — and the first Tecno phone with a 3D borderless screen.

It was priced at ₦228,000, or roughly P28,376 in Philippine pesos and $557 in U.S. dollars, at launch in Nigeria.

The display is obviously one of its biggest highlights, with the Phantom X boasting a sizable 6.7-inch AMOLED curved screen with FHD+ resolution, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, an embedded fingerprint reader, and a 90Hz refresh rate for a smooth Android experience.

As expected, the specs under the hood are pretty decent as well, although the absence of a 5G modem is unfortunate given the price. The Tecno Phantom X is powered by a MediaTek Helio G95 SoC, which is equipped with 8GB of RAM and Mali-G76 graphics. The 256GB of base storage is nice, too.

Keeping the lights on is a 4,700mAh battery that delivers all-day usage based on our testing and supports 33-watt fast charging over a USB-C port. The phone runs Tecno Mobile‘s HiOS Android skin based on Android 11.

But the real highlight here are the camera systems on the front and back. Impressively, the Tecno Phantom X features two front-facing cameras — one with a 48-megapixel main sensor and another with an ultra-wide-angle lens for group selfies or selfies where you want to fit in more background.

Tecno Phantom X camera test and price and specs via Revu Philippines — *The real highlight*

At the back, you get a 50-megapixel primary camera coupled with a 13-megapixel telephoto shooter and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide option. You won’t find a gimmicky 2-megapixel sensor here.

That being said, it’s reasonable to expect some big things out of the Phantom X — at least from an imaging perspective. It’s easily the highest-specced Tecno phone currently on the market, with five dedicated cameras in total.

So, how did it perform? Pretty darn well, actually. Check out these images, courtesy of our Tecno Phantom X unit.

First up is this image showing how good the Phantom X is at isolating the subject and defocusing the background. Notice the natural-looking bokeh effect, as well as the various levels of background blur applied to different areas in the picture.

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_flowers with blurred background — *The Tecno Phantom X produces a natural-looking bokeh*

Here are some macro shots taken using the phone’s ultra-wide rear camera, which allows you to get really up close without losing focus.

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_macro shot — *Macro shot of the Adenium obesum*

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_auto mode — *…of this plant*

The Tecno Phantom X is likewise capable of excellent portraits even with multiple people — or potential subjects — in the frame. We were impressed with how the handset was able to consistently recognize and lock into a subject.

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_portrait of Alora — *This phone tends to do well with its edge detection in Portrait mode*

The Phantom X includes a dedicated camera for zoom, but the digital magnification reaches its limit at 20x. Still, you can get great photos between 2x and 5x, which should be enough for most casual shooting.

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_moon shot ultra-wide — *Moon shot: ultra-wide*

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_moon shot 1x — 1x

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_moon shot 2x zoom — *2x zoom*

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_moon shot 5x zoom — *5x zoom*

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_moon shot 10x zoom — *10x zoom*

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_moon shot 20x zoom — *20x zoom*

When it comes to night shots, the smartphone doesn’t disappoint, offering good dynamic range and detail in low light. As you can see below, it also has the ability to brighten an image without blowing out lights and signages.

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_night shot auto mode — *Auto mode*

Tecno Phantom X camera sample picture by Revu Philippines_night shot night mode — *Night mode*

Finally, here are the rest of the photos from our camera test to give you a better idea of how the Tecno Phantom X performs in a variety of lighting environments and shooting scenarios.

Tecno Phantom X specs

6.7-inch AMOLED curved screen, FHD+, 90Hz refresh rate
Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
12nm octa-core MediaTek Helio G95 processor
Mali-G76 MP4 GPU
8GB RAM
256GB storage
Triple 50-megapixel (main), 13-megapixel (telephoto), 8-megapixel (ultra wide) rear cameras
48-megapixel (main), 8-megapixel (ultra wide) front camera
Fingerprint sensor (under-display)
4,700mAh battery with 33-watt USB-C fast charging
HiOS Android 11
Colors: Starry Night Blue and Monet’s Summer

Learn About This Author

Ramon Lopez

Reviews editor: Ramon "Monch" Lopez has 16 years of professional experience creating and editing content for print and digital publications such as Yahoo. He headed the gadgets-merchandising division of one of the Philippines’ largest retail operators somewhere in between.