It has been barely a month since Chinese mobile conglomerate Transsion Holding's subsidiary Tecno Mobiles launched Camon iTwin. The company has now unveiled a new pocket-friendly phone Camon iAce in India.
The sale of CAMON iACE starts from August 13 and will be available across India in 35,000+ retail outlets. As part of the launch offer, Tecno Mobiles in collaboration with Reliance Jio is offering Rs 2,200 discount via 44 cashback vouchers of Rs 50 each in MyJio account. It can be redeemed by the user on subsequent recharge of Rs.198 or Rs.299.
For the uninitiated, Rs.198 plan offers 2GB / day high-speed data while the Rs.299 plan offers 3 GB / day high-speed data, unlimited voice calls (national and local) and SMS (100 per day) for 28 days validity.
Prior to the launch, I had the opportunity to preview the device and here's my first impression of Tecno Camon iAce.
Display, design and build quality:
It sports a 5.5-inch HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio, offering cinematic viewing experience, which is very rare in a budget segment. Readability on the screen under bright sunny conditions is good and I felt no stress in my eyes while viewing videos or texts on the device.
Tecno Camon iAce also features an 8 MP snapper with dedicated dual-tone LED on top with a speaker in between them. The company is betting big on the front-camera as it has ditched the fingerprint sensor.
I appreciate the company for offering display guard free of cost with the package. It will definitely make the device more durable and sustain the daily wear-and-tear from scratches.
On the back, it comes with sturdy polycarbonate shell having a matte finish. Since my review unit is in gold colour, I couldn't notice any fingerprint smudges much, so that is one less thing to worry about.
Tecno phone comes with a removable back panel but the battery is embedded into the phone, hence, it cannot be taken out. However, consumers have to insert it the old-fashioned way. The good news is that there are three separate slots for two SIMs and the microSD card.
Performance:
Tecno Camon iAce comes with a 64-bit class 1.5GHz MediaTek quad-core processor backed by Android Oreo-based HiOS, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage. During the trials, there wasn't any lag in terms while opening apps, switching between multiple apps and while taking photos. I will be publishing the final verdict of the full review soon. Stay tuned.
Camera:
Tecno Camon iAce comes with feature-rich photography hardware and is also backed by Artificial Intelligence software. I am pleasantly surprised with the picture quality of the primary camera. The clarity and retention of the natural colour of the subject also impressed me a lot. Even the front camera is exceptionally good for the Rs 7,000 price-tag. It was quick to process photos with no hint of slowness, which is quite common in budget category phones.
It comes with 13MP rear-side snapper with 76.5-degree Field-Of-View (FOV), 5P largen lens, F2.0 aperture, dual-LED flash, AI Beauty, AI auto scene detection, Ai soft light, AI Bokeh, Panorama mode and video chat with an adjustable flashlight.
On the front, it houses 8MP with 76.5-degree FOV, F2.0 aperture, dual-LED flash, AI Beauty and AI Portrait mode.
Check out the Tecno Camon iAce camera samples:
Tecno Camon iAce camera sample taken in the morning.KVN Rohit/IBTimes India 
Tecno Camon iAce camera sample taken in the morningKVN Rohit/IBTimes India 
Tecno Camon iAce camera sample taken in the evening.KVN Rohit/IBTimes India 
Tecno Camon iAce camera sample taken in the afternoon.KVN Rohit/IBTimes India 
Tecno Camon iAce camera sample taken in the evening.KVN Rohit/IBTimes India 
Tecno Camon iAce camera sample taken in the evening.KVN Rohit/IBTimes India 
Tecno Camon iAce camera sample taken in the evening.KVN Rohit/IBTimes India
Battery:
Tecno Camon iAce houses a 3,050mAh battery, which is more than enough to keep the phone running for a whole day under regular usage. I haven't fully tested its battery life but I have to say, the device's software is fully optimised to last longer in idle mode. I used the device for taking photos and browse internet for two days and yet it has more than 50 percent battery left.
Initial thoughts:
The new Tecno phone truly aced the photography test. However, I need more time to fully run through the device to know if there are any chinks in its armour such as build quality, battery life, performance and other aspects. So far, the Camon iAce is shaping up to be a really good entry-level phone.
Stay tuned for a more detailed review coming this week.
Besides, the new Camon iAce, Tecno Mobiles has also launched iSky 2 series. It comes with almost same hardware, except for the camera. It boasts dual 13MP+VGA camera on the back with dual-LED flash and a single 13MP front shooter with dedicated dual-LED flash. It costs Rs 7,499 and will be available across all authorised retail chains in India from August 20 onward.
Both the phones will be competing with the popular Xiaomi Redmi 5 series, Moto E5 and Honor 9 Lite among others.
Key specifications of Tecno Camon iAce:
| Model | Tecno Camon iAce |
| Display | 5.5-inch HD+ (1440x720p) FullView IPS screen with 2D glass
|
| OS | Android 8.1 Oreo-based HiOS interface |
| Processor | 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6739 quad-core CPU |
| RAM | 2GB |
| Storage | 16GB, expandable up to 128GB |
| Camera |
|
| Battery | 3,050mAh
|
| Network | 4G-LTE |
| Add-ons | 3-card slot (SIM-1 + SIM-2+ microSD), FaceID, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, micro-USB port, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor and G-sensor |
| Dimensions | 148.1 x 71.5 x 8.5 mm |
| Colours | Midnight black, Champagne gold and Midnight blue |
| Price | Rs 6,799 |
