When reviewers decide to put a device on the spot, more often than not, they rely on the paper specifications rather than a long-term review of the device which by the way is dumped as soon as there’s a new kid on the block. Sometimes, it takes a whole lot of usage to hand out a fair criticism and our Tecno Camon 15 Air seems to be fairing on well thus far. The handset was unveiled back in April and has a lot of catching to do, especially with a cunning Samsung around the block and a Huawei that’s spending heavily to get a foothold of the market despite US disappointments.
According to statistics released by the communications authority, Tecno leads the flock with an impressive 21 percent of the devices currently in use here in Kenya, which by the way is a huge thing and might just play out in its favor going forward. Taking a closer look at the latest Tecno Camon Air 15, you’ll notice most of the premium qualities we used to expect from the likes of Samsung such as a punch-hole selfie camera, a rear quad-camera setup and a massive 6.6inch display panel. This is all impressive but notice the price isn’t rock-bottom as we’d hoped, you’ll be going upwards of Ksh. 15,000 if this becomes a final choice for your next device.
What we have in that price range
Becoming a household name has its own implications, it’s most likely that someone already knows about your existence before deciding to accept you, and this is what Tecno currently enjoys amongst Kenyans. There are of course worthy alternatives within the price range such as Samsung Galaxy A21s Huawei Y8P and Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 that may or may not turn out better but its worth knowing everything on offer before making such an important decision.
What do we get with the Camon 15 Air?
The basic principle for deciding on the best device for yourself is first establishing your valued needs and available budget. It’s by no means a cheap handset especially for the average Kenyan and for this reason, unless you really need it, there are cheaper alternatives that don’t differ a lot from other manufacturers as well as Tecno itself.
Tecno was decent enough to include some vital accessories such as SIM ejection tool, TPU case and a screen protector that you don’t normally get with other brands. The handset itself looks futuristic and as beautiful as ever – our model came in malachite blue color which is iconic to say the least. You’d think its blue on one side and green on the other, but the overall effect definitely fancied us and was tuned exactly to our liking.
Design-wise, everything is placed exactly as expected except for the fingerprint sensor which I normally prefer on the side or better yet under the screen but this is purely a personal taste. On the right hand-side is a volume rocker and power button, while the left-side houses a dual nano SIM that stretches a bit to accommodate a MicroSD card.
We like the placement of speaker and charging port at the bottom, but we definitely hated Tecno’s choice to use a dated MicroUSB port instead of a now common USB-Type C. The handset maker has to change from such out dated technologies and embrace newer variations we’ve got used to. As a consolation, you get a 3.5mm jack that’s missing on modern flagship devices.
There’s a dual flash light just beneath the front panel above the 8MP selfie camera that should light-up those snaps in dark areas. Under the hood, there’s a Helio P22 chip, 3GB RAM which by the way is below our minimum benchmark of at least 4GB, 64G internal and a 5000mAh battery. At back, there’s quad-camera setup that includes; 48 MP main, 2 MP macro, 2 MP depth and QVGA