Foldable phones are becoming more and more popular at a rate that keeps getting faster and faster. TECNO showed off its first smartphone that could be folded in half at MWC 2023. The company’s newest and best smartphone, the Phantom V Fold, has just come out.
The Phantom V Fold will compete directly with the Samsung Fold line-up. The specs on the new TECNO Phantom V Fold are the best you can get. The phone has a top-of-the-line dual LTPO screen with a fast refresh rate and a 5-lens camera system with a primary and a secondary setup.
At the Mobile World Congress 2023 event in Barcelona, the Phantom V Fold, which was made by the Chinese phone company TECNO, was shown off for the first time. The phone says it is the first smartphone that can be folded from left to right.
The top-of-the-line 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ SoC runs on the phone. The company said that the chipset did better on the AnTuTu test than 1.08 million. At the event, TECNO is said to have also announced that the foldable smartphone will be released first in India and confirmed its price.
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TECNO Phantom V Fold is Launched
The TECNO Phantom V Fold is now a legitimate phone. TECNO has released its first foldable smartphone. TECNO will show off the Phantom V Fold at Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Spain.
The phone has a 7.8-inch screen that can be folded, but the company says there aren’t many folds. The smartphone has a drop-shaped aerospace-grade hinge that is unique to the brand. This makes the main inner screen surface almost completely smooth and flat.
The hinge’s innovative reverse snap design makes the phone much more stable, and the aerospace-grade materials used to make it make it strong without making it too heavy. The TECNO Phantom V Fold is powered by a Media Tek Dimensity chipset and runs on Android 13.
Specs and Features of TECNO Phantom V Fold
Since a long time ago, TECNO has been known as a low-cost player in emerging markets. They have a range of cheap and middle-priced phones that are made for the local market. In the past few years, products like the Phantom range have helped the Chinese brand try to break into the high-end market. Now we have the TECNO Phantom V Fold, which is definitely the best phone in its class. But can TECNO make a high-end phone that folds in half? You can find out from our article.
Display
The secondary screen on the new TECNO Phantom V Fold is 6.42 inches wide. The screen has a 21:9 aspect ratio and is slightly curved. When you open the device, you’ll see a huge 7.85-inch screen with an 8:7 aspect ratio. The main screen is completely flat.
In terms of performance, the device is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000+ processor and comes with HiOS13 Fold, an operating system based on Android 13 that is optimized for the folding smartphone. More than 2,000 apps have been changed so that they can be used on the foldable device, according to TECNO.
The Phantom V Fold also has an AI-powered 50MP Super Night main camera, along with AI-powered Super Night Portrait, Super Night Mode, and Super Night 4K Video. A company named TECNO made the hinge.
It looks like a drop and is made of metal that is good for use in space. The company says that the main inside screen surface is very flat because of this design. The new Phantom V Fold can be folded 200,000 times, according to TECNO. When it’s brand new, the fold is only 0.11mm wide.
Screen
Clearly, a foldable phone is impossible without a folding display. The primary display on the TECNO Phantom V Fold measures 7.85 inches (2,296 x 2,000, LTPO, 120Hz). The crease on the TECNO folding screen is around the width of my index finger, however it is far shallower than the channel on the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
This foldable display employs ultrathin glass (UTG) to increase its durability. Despite this, the display possesses the shortcomings common with foldable displays. Compared to conventional displays, it is extremely reflective.
The TECNO package includes a set of warnings. This includes warnings not to unfold the device in temperatures below minus 15 degrees Celsius, not to press the center of the screen when folding it, and not to use fingernails on the display.
When the Phantom V Fold is closed, a 6.42-inch, 2,550 x 1,080 OLED display covered by Gorilla Glass Victus is revealed. This is a 10Hz-capable LTPO display identical to the primary panel. I enjoyed the small curve on the right side of the screen, which is really comfortable while using the back gesture.
Performance
The TECNO Phantom V Fold is a foldable phone that launches with a MediaTek chipset, specifically the Dimensity 9000 Plus CPU of 2022, similar to the OPPO Find N2 Flip. Still, this is a formidable piece of machinery, particularly when coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. For most of the users, performance was satisfactory; swiping between home screens, transitioning between smartphone and foldable displays, and launching programs were typically fluid.
Nevertheless, the software limits the phone’s otherwise outstanding hardware. TECNO and sister manufacturer Infinix have generally lagged behind the competition when it comes to third-party Android skins, and while things are much-improved here compared to previous devices we’ve tested, there’s still a long way to go to reach the best Android skins.
With the Phantom V Fold’s HiOS, which is based on Android 13, you can anticipate more foldable improvements. This includes a shortcut for running two applications simultaneously, app pair functionality for simultaneously launching two specified applications, windowed compatibility, and more.
In addition, TECNO’s skin provides PC connectivity, dual app support, RAM expansion compatibility, and the ability to quickly launch apps by drawing letters on the locked screen. But, there are a few software issues.
You cannot add Google Explore to the leftmost home screen, however you can remove the default screen that resembles a shelf. Similar to the Galaxy Z Fold line, the taskbar only displays on home screens on the foldable.
Camera
The TECNO Phantom V Fold falls short in a big way when it comes to the camera experience. The hardware specs look pretty good. It has a 50MP main camera, a 50MP 2x telephoto camera, and a 13MP ultrawide lens. Theoretically, this should be like the best camera phones.
Still, some of the photos we took during our first tests look like they were taken by a low-end or mid-range smartphone. The images captured by the main camera look like they have a good amount of detail, but sometimes they look too sharp and have too much contrast.
It doesn’t help that TECNO always tries to make things look better, thankfully, you can disable this option. On the other hand, the 2x telephoto camera gives you more detail, but it seems to struggle even in perfect conditions because the highlights are overexposed and the colors are more intense.
The ultrawide lens tends to have softer corners and less overall detail than the 1x lens, but it does have autofocus for macro photography. Also, there is a cutout for a 32MP selfie camera on the outside screen and a cutout for a 16MP camera on the inside folding screen.
First tests show that the camera on the foldable screen works just like the first-generation cameras that were put under the screen. Faces will look washed out when there is even a little bit of backlighting. Also, like Samsung’s foldable, you can take high-quality selfies with the main camera.
Price
The Phantom V Fold will cost QR in India, according to TECNO. There will be two different ways to store data on the phone. The model with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage will cost Rs. 89999 ($1099), and the model with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage will cost Rs. 99999 ($1222). TECNO will also give early buyers a special deal that starts at Rs. 79999 ($979).
Launch Date
In an official statement, TECNO said that it will show off the Phantom V Fold, its first foldable smartphone, at MWC 2023 on February 28. TECNO says that its next flagship phone will be the first smartphone that can be folded from left to right.
Drawbacks of Phantom V Fold
The TECNO Phantom V Fold’s lack of a free-stop hinge may be its most noticeable flaw at first appearance. This hinge is instead spring-loaded and will not stay in any position other than fully closed or fully open.
Those who wish to use their phone as a video-watching kickstand or a photography tripod will be quite disappointed. Even more odd is the fact that a number of applications, including the camera app, YouTube, and others, seek to switch to a Flex Mode-style user interface when the device is partially folded.
Conclusion
The way the software works and how good the camera is make us nervous, though. Recent phones from Samsung, OPPO, and HONOR are more polished than TECNO’s foldable phone. It comes with a lot of strange apps, and the picture quality is about the same as that of cheap phones.
On the other hand, the phone’s low early bird price of Rs 79,999/$979 (12GB/256GB) helps make up for some of these problems. This is the cheapest Fold-style foldable phone you can buy, even at its regular price of Rs 89,999/$1,099. The TECNO Phantom V Fold will be available first in India. The list will get longer as more countries are added.
