TECNO Phantom V Flip Review: A Turning Point For Foldables
Samsung continues to dominate the foldable phone segment, and although the Chinese brand has aggressively targeted the category in recent years with models such as the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, OPPO Find N2 and N2 Flip, Honor Magic V2 and Vivo Fold 2, all of these devices are designed for the flagship level. .
A foldable mid-range smartphone is needed to truly dominate this segment, and while Motorola is getting close to that with the Razr 40, it's not quite there yet. This TECNO comes to the rescue; The Transsion-owned brand has focused primarily on entry-level and budget phones for most of its existence, but it's recently turned its attention to mid- and high-end devices, and its latest release is quite interesting. .
TECNO launched the Phantom V Fold at MWC and the manufacturer followed it up with the Phantom V Flip. Folding style folding is a very important tool because it has the advantage of being one of the most affordable folding tools money can buy today. At first glance, the Phantom V Flip doesn't hide its mid-range location: it has real lasers on the back, an AMOLED display inside, and a unique round OLED display hidden in the camera island.
In short, TECNO is democratizing foldable devices by significantly lowering the barrier to entry, and that makes the Phantom V Flip one of the most exciting phones of 2023. I have been using Phantom V Flip for more than 10 days, let's see. The twisting difference is presented and it is worth considering when compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the N2 Flip Finder.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: specifications and price
TECNO launched the Phantom V Flip on September 22nd and the phone will be launched on October 1st. In India, the device outperforms other international markets and the Phantom V Flip is being sold locally at a very affordable price of ₹49,999 ($601) in the 8GB RAM/256GB storage variant. This gives the foldable a clear advantage over almost all of its competitors: the Motorola Razr (marketed as the Razr 40) is the closest alternative, priced at £59,999 ($723).
The Phantom V Flip is expected to launch in Western markets in the coming months, and while it's not cheap in those regions (it sold for 700 euros ($745) in Europe), it's still considered too low in other countries. Market. . Packing.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: design
The first thing I noticed when I started using the Phantom V Flip was its similarity to the Find N2 Flip. Color has something to do with it; TECNO sells the foldable phone in similar colors to OPPO and the comparison is valid. However, the Phantom V Flip has real leather which makes it more comfortable to hold and use than the glass back of the Find N2 Flip, and the two-tone finish and embossed V logo give the phone a unique style.
They don't seem to be using a mid-range flip model, and that's because the Phantom V Flip uses the same materials as its main competitors. The leather back is a good start, and the central chassis is aluminum, with the two halves of the phone held together by a metal hinge with only 20 moving parts.
The outer zip has a textured texture and is adorned with the signature logo. I'd like to see the same texture on the sides, but a glossy finish. Surrounding the inner screen is a plastic bezel similar to that found on other foldable devices today.
The hinge requires a little force to open, but it's smooth and you can close it at any angle from 30 to 150 degrees, just like the Flex Form mode on Samsung devices. The build quality is mostly good, but there is a visible notch when you open the phone at an angle.
Like the best flip phones, the Phantom V Flip's hinge closes perfectly with no visible gap. Due to the size of the camera body, the phone tilts slightly when placed on the table, but there is no shaking. However, there is an issue with weight distribution: the top of a foldable device feels heavy due to the large screen bezel and camera island.
Talking about the camera design, the Phantom V Flip has the largest body of all the foldable models and that's because the screen protector is inside the camera island. This round island has a 1.32-inch screen in the middle, and cameras on the edges. The design certainly looks attractive, but what you gain in terms of beauty, you lose in functionality. However, you don't get any damage protection which is still limited to Samsung foldables.
The power and volume buttons are located on the right side, and the power button has a built-in fingerprint sensor. You can set the sensor to always be on, and in my use I've found it to be fast and reliable. You get a lot of accessories in the box, Samsung doesn't have folding ones. The TECNO kit includes a 45W charger, a USB-A to USB-C charging cable and a ring case designed in the same color as the phone.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: Check it out.
The Phantom V Flip has one of the largest screens on a mobile phone with a 6.9-inch AMOLED panel with LTPO technology. The brightness of the screen reaches 1000 nits and although it does not match the foldable devices from Samsung and OPPO, this is not a problem in daily use as the screen is bright even in bright sunlight. The only problem is that the plastic cover covering the screen is not polarized, so the phone cannot be used with sunglasses.
In this case, the plastic layer is clearly visible as seen on the Galaxy Z Flip 5, and a visible crease is found, which is also similar to the Samsung fold. The Find N2 Flip still has an advantage in this regard: the folding case has a thin layer of plastic, so it does not affect the use of it, and during daily use, scratches are rarely visible.
Although the skin wrinkles are very visible, after a few days of use you usually don't notice them, and that's true. As for the screen itself, it has bright colors and good contrast, and I didn't have any problems when using it every day. You get two color modes: Vibrant Color and True Color, in the first mode I increased the saturation levels too much, I used the second mode. You can manually change the refresh rate to 60Hz, 90Hz or 120Hz, and if you leave it to auto, the refresh rate will automatically change based on the content on the screen.
The inner screen is one of the largest and the protective screen is the smallest among the foldable devices. It has a 1.32-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 466 x 466 and a frequency of 60 Hz. You will find many widgets on the home screen and just like OPPO you have the option to choose from different pets that perform different actions during the game. day. While I like the idea, I like OP's implementation even more.
Display covers have a lot of customization when it comes to watch styles and you have the option to create your own. Given the size of the screen, you won't be able to run full-sized apps, but you'll see widgets. By default, weather, calendar, camera, alarm and action widgets are available, and you can add alerts for weather, timer, stopwatch and voice recorder.
The limited options combined with the small screen at the top reduce usability, and aside from displaying notifications and using it as a camera viewfinder, I didn't use the screen much.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: Performance
One of the best ways to bring down the price of a phone is to use a mid-range platform and that's what TECNO is doing here with the MediaTek Dimensity 8050. As I mentioned in my Infinix GT 10 Pro review, the Dimensity 8050 is the newest version of the Dimensity 1300. Use the same kernel; So you get one Cortex A78 core at 3.0 GHz, three A78 cores at 2.6 GHz, and four A55 cores at 2.0 GHz.
Now, even if you use the old ARM v7 core, the Dimensity 8050 performs very well in daily use and you won't face any problems in daily tasks including browsing and social media. But the Phantom V Flip isn't a gaming phone and doesn't have the power (or thermal efficiency) to handle demanding games.
Visually intensive games run low to medium and you'll notice noticeable lag after 20 minutes. The natural nature of the folding design does not provide much heat storage, and as a result, the Phantom V Flip is very limited. Combine that with the MC9's older Mali-G77 GPU and it's easy to see that you won't be able to do much gaming on this phone.
This story is also supported by artificial standards: Phantom V Flip cannot match its competitors in terms of gameplay. Fortunately, single-core and multi-core CPU scores are on par with other mid-range phones, but foldable phones have their own shortcomings when it comes to GPUs. But if you're not interested in mobile gaming and want a phone for everyday use, the Phantom V Flip is for you.
Not much to say about the hardware. The phone comes with a single variant of 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and you get older LPDDR4X and UFS 3.1 modules. The rotary motor is just as complex and imperfect as the Find N2 Flip and Z Flip 5, but you lose the Wi-Fi 6E. However, I had no problem connecting to Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth and cellular worked equally well.
Phantom V Flip has a 4000 mAh battery that can last all day. During the 10 days I used the Flip, there were a few times when the battery level dropped below 10% at the end of the day, but that was also true for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and N2 Flip. TECNO's foldable device is on par with its competitors in this regard, and although it has a larger battery than the Z Flip 5, there is no real advantage in everyday use.
And when it comes to charging the phone, you get 45W technology and an included charger that takes just under an hour to fully charge the battery. This is better than what you get with Samsung, and while the average user may have reason to worry about the battery, in most cases this should not be a problem.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: Camera
TECNO has opted for a standard dual-camera setup on the back of the Phantom V Flip, with a 64MP primary camera paired with a 13MP wide-angle lens. There is a 32 MP selfie camera and surprisingly, there is an LED flash module on the front. The phone lacks optical image stabilization and uses EIS instead. It can't even record 4K video at 60 frames per second.
The camera interface is similar to other phones, the shooting modes are on the bottom bar and various buttons are located in the interface. This phone uses a 64MP lens for photography with 2x digital zoom, while the wide-angle lens has autofocus for macro photography.
One of the best uses of Cover is the camera widget that lets you use it as a viewfinder. You can switch between photo, video and portrait, and there's even a little shutter button at the bottom of the screen - of course you can always use the volume buttons to take a photo or record a video.
The Phantom V Flip takes good daylight photos, offers good dynamic range and plenty of detail. TECNO mimics Samsung's color profile, so you're less likely to get exaggerated colors and high contrast. One of the best things about the external display is that you can use the main camera to take selfies, and it works well.
It is also very suitable for portrait photography, providing good subject separation. While in some cases it doesn't quite work (I don't know what to do with a long beard, for example), you often get a solid shot with lots of detail. And unlike other non-Google phones, it doesn't do a great job of capturing lifelike portraits.
The performance of the phone in low light conditions is average; Limit exposure levels to reduce noise and lose a lot of detail. You still get usable ammo, especially in night mode, but they're below normal average range.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: Software
TECNO continues to offer its own HiOS interface on its devices and the Phantom V Flip runs HiOS 13.5 based on Android 13. I used the Phantom X2 Pro last year and felt the software needed an update. A year later, HiOS faced many of the same frustrations.
Let's start with the design; The UI looks heavy, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing (OPPO and Xiaomi do the same), it definitely needs a visual update. You'll get Android 13-style widgets that use Material Guidelines and stand out from the outdated interface. Some bloatware is included, but it is less than last year and most of it can be removed. However, you cannot disable or uninstall TECNO's Bixby option.
The only positive change in HiOS 13.5 is that the notification panel now includes a swipe-down icon on the home screen. While this is good, TECNO still doesn't provide one notification panel and the buttons are on another panel. And the design of this control center, where the controls are located, looks no worse and no better than last year.
TECNO has added several features to use the foldable design; When the Phantom V Flip is folded in half at any angle from 30 to 150 degrees, the interface is split into two halves, giving you more control. During a video call, the top is the video and the bottom controls, and similarly, when you lift the camera, the viewfinder is at the top and the shooting modes are at the bottom.
You still don't have the option to bulk delete app icons on the home screen and TECNO includes a dialer, messenger and keyboard out of the box. But to give credit to the brand, it offers plenty of customization options. There are many useful features, multi-window mode (not particularly useful on this phone), sidebar, children's mode, application cloning feature, video assistant that blocks notifications when streaming videos - works with YouTube and Netflix and special game modes.
HiOS 13.5 clearly has a lot to offer, but its outdated design limits its potential. TECNO needs to update its design to make its user interface attractive to a global audience, and this should be done as soon as possible.
Another issue is software update policies; The Phantom V Flip only gets two Android updates and three years of security updates, and that's outside the rest of the industry, which offers at least three platform updates on a regular basis.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: Competition
The closest competitor to the Phantom V Flip is the Motorola Razr 40. It offers the same price, has mid-range hardware, and you get the same camera quality. The software is much better than what you get on TECNO devices, but it has the same limitations when it comes to gaming. Motorola will sell its foldable phone in India for £59,999 ($723), and while it's more expensive, you'll get clean software.
It doesn't even make sense to call the Galaxy Z Flip 4 a competitor to the Phantom V Flip because it's so expensive in India. Although the foldable smartphone was launched a year ago and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is already available, the Z Flip 4 is still selling for £77,999 ($938). You'll get better hardware overall, but if you're considering the Phantom V Flip, you're looking for an affordable foldable option, and the Z Flip 4 isn't.
Likewise, the Find N2 Flip falls into a different category, currently selling for £84,900 ($1,021). Again, it's not worth considering on the Phantom V Flip, and while you can find better deals in other regions, especially on Samsung Foldables, TECNO's device is unbeatable for its price in India.
TECNO Phantom V Flip: Worth Buying?
You should buy if:
You want a foldable mobile phone at the same price as a regular mobile phone.
You need reliable tools for daily use
You don't need to worry about this.
If you don't do the same, you should do it yourself
You need a lot of settings
If so, don't buy it.
You should do the same
You need clean software and long-term updates.
We cannot do anything for other companies.
The Phantom V Flip isn't without compromises, but it offers less basic features than its competitors, and that makes it worth a look. The design and build quality is on par with the best foldables, and you'll never feel like you're using a $600 phone.
TECNO has also done a good job with the built-in screen, and while the crease is visible like on Samsung's foldable devices, it's not a serious problem. The software is better than last year but still has a lot of work to do to bring it up to the level of ColorOS and MIUI. Yes, this foldable device has its problems: it doesn't work in games, the user interface looks outdated and there is no protection against hacking.
The camera is not very good in low light conditions, and a wide angle lens could be better. While the design is good, the decision to use a small screen hidden in the camera island makes it generic and ultimately limits its usability.
However, you can get a foldable model for just $600, and in the first place, the Phantom V Flip is a good option to consider. The Motorola Razr 40 has the same set of weaknesses, and despite its high-end software, it can't match the price offered by TECNO with the Phantom V Flip. Yes, you'll find better phones in this category, but if you need a phone that folds in half, the Phantom V Flip is the only game in town.
