The TECNO Camon 30 Premier 5G comes with a slick 120Hz AMOLED display on a generous 6.77-inch screen, an assertive need for a huge amount of RAM to play with, and a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultimate processor that is capable of some really great things. And with Camon’s range, we continue to see top-tier handheld gaming quality and, at one of the best options, a smartphone camera out there for this particular price point.
Reasons to buy
• Stunning triple camera
• Smooth AMOLED display
Reasons to avoid
• Cameras protrude from the back
The TECNO Camon 30 Premier 5G is the newest addition to an already pretty well-established run of devices from the Chinese manufacturer. Really, the name TECNO goes hand-in-glove with some awesome handheld gaming potential, and though it still leans very heavily into this accolade with the Camon 30 Premier, it’s clear it wants to be a powerhouse in photography potential within the markets as well while still being an affordable companion.
In fact, this will be one more mid-range aiming at the top echelons, and it is from the start that one can call the TECNO Camon 30 Premier good. The big question, though, is if it manages to live up to its predecessors. Sit tight, and let’s take a deep dive on all features making this device tick.
Price and availability
The device comes available in two color options: Hawaii Lava Black and Alps Snowy Silver. The device is currently on sale for about $380 and is currently not available in the US and UK markets. Quite frankly, the price is well matched with what you get out of the TECNO Camon 30.
Hardware
Features and software
The TECNO Camon 30 Premier 5G, though, feels like a solid all-rounder. It can enable truly beautiful gaming experiences on the go, plus the extremely impressive ability to act as one of the best cameras available on the smartphone market.
The Camon 30 Premier runs on Android 10 software, with the custom HiOS interface that comes sans bloatware. Other features include a fingerprint sensor that is responsive and easy to set up, with dust and splash resistances, thanks to its IP54 rating. All of this means it’s pretty hardy while you’re out and about or wrestling with some particularly intense gaming session.
This particular smartphone can replace a fantastic handheld gaming console in regards to performance, but that does not mean it will scrimp on the day-to-day usage for essentials. With extremely fast charging at 70W wired charge, a very beautiful camera with impressive photography potential, and a crispy, clean display to show pictures or gaming victories, it has almost everything. Unfortunately, it does not have a 3.5mm jack port for wired headphones or other accessories. It has some bombastic pair of dual speakers, and the ability to hook up with almost any Bluetooth-enabled device, including earphones and headphones.
Design
The size of the 6.77-inch display on the front of the TECNO Camon 30 Premier 5G is just decent enough to provide an easy experience of gaming or streaming horizontally. Despite the size and the relatively large back cameras, it doesn’t feel bulky, and you can slide it into a back pocket or bag with ease while being out and about, or hold it in your hands comfortably without feeling like your wrist is about to break from the weight.
And it looks really stylish, too, so if the look really matters to you, the TECNO Camon 30 Premier will not disappoint. The handset comes in slick colorways—Hawaii Lava Black and Alps Snowy Silver, both of which look modern without overdoing the technical element.
Truly, the screen itself is quite hardy, with TECNO having used Gorilla Glass 5 to keep it safe from life’s slings and arrows. We hate to admit it, but most of us have our phones encountering an accident at one point or another, no matter how hard we try. So, the TECNO Camon 30 Premier packs some nice protection that makes it an easier recommendation.
Cameras
So, exactly how amazing its cameras are would be one of the major selling points for the TECNO Camon 30 Premier.
By merely glancing at the specification list for the TECNO Camon 30 Premier, one will notice the big chunk of cameras mounted on the back. While impressive, the cameras extend a fair amount from the back plate, making the device quite a lot chunkier at the top. TECNO wanted the Camon 30 Premier to look like a classic camera. While it undoubtedly achieves that, it is at the expense of some added bulk. It isn’t a huge shock, to be fair, as cameras of this level are naturally going to add a bit of chunk, but the rather odd shape of the smartphone because of it is worth taking into consideration.
The camera gives off some pretty cool aesthetics, and there’s a pulsing red light that you see on the back that you can tune to show charging or notifications. That said, this has to be truly where the trio of cameras come into the bright light on the Tecno Camon 30, when shooting in the sun, and the images are sharp and clear with no need to tinker with settings. The ultrawide camera offers really nice macro shots, and the zoom lens does not shy from the objective of keeping clarity; however, the nearer one zooms, the lesser the quality, as expected. This particular offering comes with a triple 50MP camera setup on the back: one 23 mm wide, one 14 mm for ultra-wide shots, and one 70 mm periscope telephoto. Slightly more porous does it with the 4K video easily; it is capable of 1080p at 30fps. This device also packs a Quad-LED flash and panorama photography options. Featuring on the front is a 24mm 50mp. Performance
Whereas the Dimensity 8200 chip is very common to find on smartphones in this price range of the market, TECNO took the lead by dropping the first Ultimate version of this chip on the Camon range, albeit looking to be almost an identical spec to its standard version.
But it can still easily hold its own with the best of them, with its on-paper performance specs topping its Camon 20 Premier predecessor and staying in league with the Xiaomi 13T and Samsung Galaxy S23 FE.
Some will undoubtedly still favor something like a Snapdragon chip, but really, the Dimensity 8200 Ultimate in the TECNO Camon 30 Premier is nothing to sniff at.
We played some of the most heavyweight games, such as PUBG Mobile and Honkai Star Rail, in which even the most premium graphics quality was performing consistently good on the Tecno Camon 30 Premier. The performance did not deteriorate as a result of heating, frame drops, or lowering of in-game quality. So if gaming is going to be the focus for you when picking a new phone, then Tecno’s latest offer will definitely not go bad for you. The new TECNO smartphone has only one storage option, quite impressively, with 512GB and an additional 12GB of RAM, so it is not something to be mad about. It wouldn’t come, quite unfortunately, with an external SD slot, but most smartphones in this range tend to steer clear of this option in favor of higher internal storage. The device does not overheat or get any warmer than it should, even when running some graphics-intensive games or streaming in the highest possible quality. Basically, it just takes it all in stride, and thus the performance of the TECNO Camon 30 Premier has to be highlighted as being beyond impressive.
Battery
The TECNO Camon 30 Premier, for instance, ships with a pretty standard 5000mAh battery in its innards, but it boosts the game a little further up the rank by including 70W wired charging capabilities to the mix. Since the smartphone is not available in the United States or the United Kingdom, we know very well that we are working with estimates—unfortunately, these do not make for a totally accurate representation of its charging capabilities.
So, we ran the test on the 70W charger that the TECNO Camon 30 Premier bundles in South Korea, and it does an impressive full charge from 0—100 in under an hour. In the West, you will, of course, miss that extra speed from the charge, which is likely due to geographical differences.
In fact, the battery itself lasts a good enough time and can surely keep you juiced through a typical day. Even with playing graphical intensive games for a couple of hours each, like PUBG Mobile or Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, the Camon 30 Premier only sacrificed just shy of 20% of its battery. We had the graphics slapped all the way to their highest on both of those games and this smartphone took it in its stride.
Would you buy the TECNO Camon 30 Premier 5G?
If you were looking for an all-rounder and were specifically focusing on photography alongside handheld gaming, then the TECNO Camon 30 Premier is certainly a choice pick. Most other smartphone brands bear a one-dimensional approach, focusing either in camera specifications or on pumping out handheld gaming devices, but the TECNO Premier has an approach to both with ease.
Once again, this Chinese-based tech company has provided an astounding smartphone for which it has become respected. The TECNO Camon 30 Premier does not make a wrong step on nearly all accounts.