Camera comes first, everything else next
If you are looking for a camera-centric phone for less than Rs 40,000, then there is no better option than the Camon 30 Premier.
Multiple-camera setup phones are pretty common these days. However, most phones that boast of three or four cameras at the back hastily fill them with depth, macro, or low-resolution sensors that perform quite poorly compared to the primary camera; many can be found only in the premium segment of smartphones.
The newest camera-centric phone from Tecno, the Camon 30 Premier, obliterates that norm. For now, it is the most pocket-friendly smartphone globally with four 50 MP cameras, and it has been my companion for the past few weeks.
I have been using the Tecno Camon 30 Premier as my primary camera phone for the past three weeks. Here is my full review.
Designed like a camera-centric smartphone
The Tecno Camon 30 Premier immediately hit home to two phones—the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and the OnePlus 12. I must say this one is the best of both worlds. This device is made to feel premium in hand, and compared to all the phones with a vegan leather back that I have tested recently, this one so far devised a feel closest to real leather. Soft to the touch, plenty of grip and pairs beautiful with the grey-coloured metal frame.
This case that comes with this phone is probably one of the most premium-feeling cases I have used recently. In fact, when I handed over this device to my friend, he couldn’t tell that the phone had a case on it. Yes, it really is that good, and probably one of the few cases that doesn’t hide the beauty of the device.
The camera bump, expectedly, is huge, more so with the case on. To sum it all up, this phone has been designed to show off its camera capabilities, and boy, it does very well.
A Good Enough Display to do the Job
The Tecno Camon 30 Premier comes with a big 6.77-inch OLED LTPO display, a 1.5K resolution, and a refresh rate of 120Hz; it is further protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. But what really sets it apart from most Android phones at this price point is the flat panel, which has an integrated in-display fingerprint sensor. It also comes with a pre-installed screen protector, while the box includes complimentary tempered glass—way more than I could ask for.
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The display itself is bright and vivid, and it did serve me well when it comes to gaming, if not to say content consumption. You might feel the lack of peak brightness, though, if you tend to use it under direct sunlight so much—all the more so compared to other smartphones at this price range.
It’s also great for gaming since it does come with a flat-panel display. The near-flush installment gives it that premium stature and feel, stipulating minimum and uniform bezels which are almost comparable with high-end sets.
A versatile camera smartphone.
The Tecno Camon 30 Premier happens to be one of the camera-centric smartphones out there, with a few devices equipped with four 50 MP sensors. This includes a 50 MP wide-angle, an ultra-wide-angle, 3x periscope telephoto lens, and a 50 MP selfie camera. It is definitely among the very few smartphones under Rs 40,000 to feature such a versatile camera unit. High-resolution ultra-wide and telephoto lenses make sure that images clicked from all focal lengths remain sharp and vivid.
It captures up to 4K 60fps videos using all cameras, besides using artificial intelligence to create personal avatars right directly from the camera application. It has 512 GB of internal storage, thus providing enough space for storing local photos and videos without the requirement of a cloud backup.
The 3x telephoto lens has up to 60x digital zoom and a 5x macro mode. GOOD PICTURES AT 10X ZOOM BUT TURNS OUT TO BE VERY SOFT BEYOND, UTILISING NOISE AND SO LACKS DETAIL. It clicks excellent portraits at 3x zoom of human and non-human subjects.
In my testing, the Tecno Camon 30 Premier took excellent pictures in daylight, but it might get a little noisy in photos when light is low. The shutter’s fast enough and takes really nice selfies, but by default, it smooths the skin—a setting which one will obviously turn off. Color consistency between different focal lengths is pretty good too. Here are some camera samples of the Tecno Camon 30 Premier.