Ever since it debuted the Tecno Camon 16 Premier in Kenya at the start of September, Tecno has gone back to avail the other members of the Tecno Camon 16 series that it announced at the launch event 3 months ago.
Alongside the Tecno Camon 16 Premier, they include the Tecno Camon 16s that we have already had a hands-on with and the Tecno Camon 16 Pro.
The latter two devices cost less than the Premier and their availability in the local market provides more choices for the smartphone buyer to choose from from Tecno’s mid-range fold. With the Camon 16 Premier reaching closer to the heights that we have seen Tecno’s flagship Phantom series play at before, the Camon 16 Pro and Camon 16s now take the serious role previously played by the Camon series in complementing the flagship Phantom series.
Essentially what that means is that those who have more money to spend should be eyeing the Camon 16 Premier while everyone else should have their sights set on either the Camon 16 Pro or the Camon 16s. So, what sets the two apart besides the price? We look at the two devices feature by feature in the spec comparison below while benchmarking them with the head of them all: the Tecno Camon 16 Premier:
Specifications
Tecno Camon 16 Premier | Tecno Camon 16 Pro | Tecno Camon 16s | |
---|---|---|---|
Dimensions | 170.61 x 77.18 x 9.1 mm | 170.9 x 77.2 x 9.2 mm | 164.5 x 76.5 x 8.95 mm |
Display | 6.9-inch Full HD+(2460 x 1080 pixels) 90Hz Dual Dot-in | 6.8-inch HD (1640 x 720 pixels) Dot-in | 6.6-inch HD+(1600 x 720 pixels) Dot-in |
Camera | 48MP + 8MP Dual Front Camera (Ultra Wide Angle Selfie Camera) with dual flash 64MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP Ultra Quad Camera (with 5 flash) | Back: Same (as Air) Front: 16MP with dual flash | 8MP front camera 48MP quad rear camera with quad flash |
Processor | MediaTek Helio G90T | Same | MediaTek Helio G70 |
Memory | 8GB RAM, 128 GB onboard storage (expandable via microSD) | 6GB RAM, 128GB onboard storage (expandable via microSD) | 4GB RAM, 128 GB onboard storage (expandable via microSD) |
Operating System | Android 10 with HiOS 7 | Same | Same |
Battery | 4,500mAh | 5,000mAh | 5,000mAh |
Network | 3G, 4G | Same | Same |
Connectivity | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C | Same | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, microUSB |
Colour options | Glacial Silver | Onyx Black, Ice Crystal Blue | Ice Jadeite, Misty Grey, Blue Hawaii |
Others | Fingerprint sensor (on the side - power button) | Fingerprint sensor (at the back) | Same as Pro |
A few takeaways from the above comparison table – and more:
- While, generally, the Tecno Camon 16 lineup is thick, the Camon 16 Pro and the Camon 16 Premier are thicker than the Camon 16s.
- Obviously, the easiest thing about the trio is their looks. The Camon 16s looks like the Tecno Spark 5 series we have been covering while the Camon 16 Pro tries to stay close to the fresh design of the Camon 16 Premier, the best we’ve ever seen in a Camon-branded device. That also goes with the rest of the features: the cameras, the charging and data transfer ports and the fingerprint sensors.
- Even though the amount of memory available falls as one moves from the Premier to the Pro and, finally, to the 16s, all the three devices have sufficient storage space, 128GB. If that isn’t enough, it can be expanded by the use of microSD cards, which are supported.
- All the three devices are powered by HiOS 7 which is based on Android 10. As such, users get the same experience as far as the software goes. Granted, there are obvious differences in the specifications, as can be clearly seen above, Tecno has gone to greater lengths to standardize the experience by optimizing each of the devices to play nicely with the software. It doesn’t matter how much memory the device you have has, under normal usage, everything is just fine.
- The Camon 16s is also the smallest of the trio and packs an equally smaller display – if you can call a 6.6-inch display that.
- Even though it is larger and has more pixels to push thanks to its Full HD+ display, the Camon 16 Premier has a smaller battery capacity-wise. I had no problems getting through the day (and then some) as captured in our review but that is extended on the other two devices. On the Camon 16s, for instance, I still had 30% battery juice left when I was hitting the same mark – just over a day – of use as I did on the Premier with just about the same usage patterns. The catch? The charging times…
- Not captured in the table but true for both the Camon 16 Premier and the Camon 16 Pro is that they support fast charging. The Camon 16 Pro has 18W fast charging with the supplied wall adapter and cable while the Camon 16 Premier has a 33W fast charger included in the box and boy, does it charge fast! Compare that to the 3 hours it takes to go from lower single digits to 100% on the Camon 16s.
Price
- Tecno Camon 16 Premier: Kshs 28,500
- Tecno Camon 16 Pro: Kshs 21,000
- Tecno Camon 16s: Kshs 17,700
Note: The above are the prices at the time of the announcement of the availability of each model in the Kenyan market. They’re bound to change based on factors like time, regular discounts, where you are sourcing from and so on.