By Vivek Singh Chauhan
New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) With the camera once again becoming a centre of innovation in the mid-price smartphone segment, TECNO Mobile -- a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Transsion Holdings -- has launched "Camon iCLICK" under its "Camon" series in India that aims to take the photography experience to a new level.
Priced at Rs 13,999, the device focuses high on camera with 16MP rear shooter and a 20MP selfie shooter.
Let's see what "Camon iCLICK" has to offer.
On the display front, the AI-powered camera smartphone sports a 6-inch HD display with 2.5D contoured glass. The device has metallic body with slim bezel.
With a screen-to-body ratio 82.9 per cent, the smartphone has a resolution of 720X1440 pixels.
The slim body makes the device look handy. Also, the display is vivid with good amount of saturation, with deep blacks and sun-light legibility.
It comes in two colours -- "Midnight black" and "Champagne gold".
The 3.5mm headphone socket and Micro-USB port is positioned on the bottom. Power and volume toggles, a hybrid dual-SIM card slot on the right and the fingerprint sensor on the back.
The fingerprint sensor was impressive and unlocked the device quickly as promised. The device also had a "Face Unlock" feature that also worked well.
Coming to the major highlight, the device sports 16MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture and a 20MP selfie shooter with f/2 aperture and LED Dual flash.
The camera stood out as promised and both the front and rear shooters delivered good output in both day and low-light conditions with enough details.
The images were sharp with the right balance of colour and detail even in low-light conditions.
The camera app also houses professional modes such as "AI Beauty", "AI ASD" (auto scene detection), "Bokeh", "Panorama Mode" and "video chat" with adjustable flash light along with few filters that can be applied while clicking pictures.
The rear camera has a "Super Pixel" feature, which, like "Bokeh," focuses on the subject and blurs the background.
Powered by 2.0GHz 64-Bit Octa-core processor MTK6763 coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage that can be expanded upto 128GB via Micro SD card, the device houses 3,750mAh battery.
On average usage, the battery lasted for more than a day.
The device runs its custom "HiOS" based on Android 8.1 Oreo. "Camon iCLICK" also comes pre-loaded with Google's suite of apps.
We did not find excess bloatware as such, except for the apps like WhatsApp and Facebook pre-installed.
What doesn't work.
For a camera-centric smartphone, 3,750mAh battery appears to be a bit less. It also took time to charge the device fully.
The design of the device is a bit outdated.
Conclusion: The camera-centric device "Camon iCLICK" can give a good competition to smartphones like Xiaomi "Mi A1" and Gionee "A1 Lite". If you are a wannabe photographer and low on budget, this is the device for you.
(Vivek Singh Chauhan can be contacted at vivek.c@ians.in)
