TECNO is like a kid in class who took a fad started by the big boys a little too seriously. It feels as though the big boys—Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, and the rest—joked about making ultra-thin phones, released a model or two, and then moved on. TECNO, however, seems to have taken the idea far too seriously.
How seriously, you asked? Well, let’s just say it has not stopped trying to flatten every other model since the Spark Slim. At this year’s IFA, it found itself showing off yet another slim device: the TECNO CAMON Slim 5G.
Though at 6.39 mm (0.25 inches) thin, it is not the thinnest of the thin; it still makes the CAMON Slim 5G sound like the sort of phone that would have sacrificed its battery to please the calipers. Yet TECNO has squeezed a 6,000mAh battery inside, along with a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display running at 144Hz. Clearly, nobody told the engineers that skinny phones are supposed to come with battery anxiety (looking at Apple Air).
Its swan-neck curves take inspiration from ballet dancers and automobiles, while five colorways borrow liberally from the art world. Neo Mondrian starts white before ultraviolet light reveals colorful geometric blocks. Van Gogh Blue recreates the swirling sky of The Starry Night, while Matisse Black adds fluorescent green accents inspired by the artist’s cut-outs. Burgundy Red and Rebel Pink complete TECNO’s pocket-size art exhibition.
The camera department is headed by a 50-megapixel Sony LYTIA 700C sensor with OIS, AI-assisted electronic stabilization, and AI Shutter. Super-Zoom FlashSnap can automatically capture fleeting moments at shutter speeds up to 1/11236 second, presumably before your pet notices the camera and immediately stops doing the adorable thing.
TECNO is also launching the Mag Badge, a magnetic accessory with its own battery and 1.73-inch AMOLED display—à la Oppo Bubble accessory. Connected over Bluetooth, it can display photos, preview selfies, switch cameras, and operate the shutter from up to 10 m (33 feet) away.
Naturally, there is AI. The phone can remove unwanted reflections, turn product photographs into promotional posters, combine separate photos of you and your pet, transcribe recordings, import class schedules, and estimate nutritional information from food photographs.
Power comes from a MediaTek Dimensity 7300e 5G processor, a lower-to-mid-tier chip. So, yeah, clearly this device is not to win any benchmark contest. But it should suffice, as my experience with the Nothing (4a) proved. Though, technically, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7S Gen 4 is better performing than MediaTek’s.
Anyhoo, TECNO promises three major Android upgrades and five years of security updates. Despite its slender profile, the phone carries IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K ratings, has passed MIL-STD-810 testing, and even supports underwater photography. Thin-skinned, it is not.
The TECNO CAMON Slim 5G is rolling out across several markets, with pricing and exact availability to be announced locally.
Images: TECNO.
