Phone Review: The Tecno Spark 4

I have had the Tecno Spark 4 phone for the last few weeks, and I can openly say that I love it. I have enjoyed using it and discovering new things about it every day. It is the fourth generation of Tecno’s Spark series of smartphones. For me, one of the most fascinating thing about this phone is the method of taking a screenshot by sliding three fingers down the screen. It’s so easy and fast, as opposed to the process of pressing two particular buttons at the same time.

The phone comes with a charger, earphones and a transparent back cover. This back cover allows the user to enjoy the design and colour of the phone while still protecting it from damage. It also comes with the pin for opening the side so that you can insert your SIM Cards and SD card. It is available in four different colours: vacation blue, misty grey, royal purple and energetic orange. So you can pick the colour you want depending on your personal needs and preferences.

Perhaps the thing I was most excited to try out is the camera. It comes with 4 cameras, a triple rear setup and a selfie camera. I don’t know about you, but this sounds pretty impressive to me, and I could not wait to get my hands on it.

Battery Power

The battery power is 4000 mAh. Considering the fact that I am not one to be on my phone all the time, the battery lasts for a very long time. I can go two, three days without charging it. Another notable thing is that unlike other phones it hardly loses battery when it’s not in use. When you want to conserve the battery it is possible to use AI smart power-saving mode which restricts power consumption for rarely used applications.  To extend the battery life the phone also gradually learns the usage condition of apps and thereby restricts power consumption aiming at the apps that are rarely used. It also has the option of automatically switching to airplane mode according to the patterns of time established that the user uses it.

Display

The display of this phone is quite user-friendly. It has round edges. The dimensions of the screen are 166.7 x 75.8 x 8.4 mm (6.56 x 2.98 x 0.33 in). This is just perfect for someone who prefers a big phone. I like to be able to type with one hand, and that is not achievable with this phone. However, when it comes to watching shows, the screen size is very advantageous. It’s possible to watch Netflix movies and even Youtube videos very comfortably, and this is the merit of having a phone with bigger dimensions.

The screen has a resolution of 720 x 1560 pixels and 264 PPI pixel density, which if you ask me is just perfect. As I said earlier the phone has four options in terms of colour. I had the vacation blue one. Given the chance, I would opt for the royal purple one.

Storage

The phone has a 2GB RAM. It has an internal shared storage of 32GB. There’s also the option of inserting a memory card for more storage. I felt that this was enough storage to allow me to store my pictures and videos comfortably. If it ever gets full, I still have the option of adding an external card.

Camera

Here’s what I had been dying to try out. Everybody loves a good phone camera with a resolution that’s as close to the human eye as possible. This phone, just like many smartphones, has the main camera and a selfie camera. The main camera which is the back camera has 13MP+5MP+2MP. The 2MP is a supporting depth sensor which means professional-style blur effects and better-augmented reality rendering, through either the front or rear camera. The front camera is 8MP.

I particularly enjoyed playing around with the bokeh effect that blurs out the background of the image and focuses on the subject. This camera was able to produce beautiful shots.

I also tried to do an outdoor nature shoot, and the pictures that came out were pretty impressive given that they were very close to the real image.

A lot of people are usually concerned about the camera at night. When it came to this phone, I found that the pictures that are taken at night come out better under a lot of light. However, it was a lot more impressive than other phones that I’ve used before. I tried out a flat-lay under minimal light.

The camera had a few issues with the post-processing of the image as compared to what you first see on the camera. However, the final image is quite decent and clean. It also has some issues to do with under-exposure and over-exposure but you can play around with the brightness to fix it.

Processor

The processor which is Helio A22 was good enough. In fact, I have not had any issues with the phone freezing, but then again maybe it’s because it still has quite a bit of memory. It is quite fast and responsive to the commands given.

Specifications

Height: 165.28 mm

Width: 75.9mm

Thickness: 8.2 mm

Display  6.52-inch, IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 1600 x 720 pixels resolution

Back Camera: Triple 13MP+2MP+5MP

Front Camera: 8MP with Flash

Processor: Helio A22

RAM: 2GB

Memory: 32GB internal storage (expandable via microSD card)

Operating System: Android 9 Pie with HiOS Skin

Battery: 4,000mAh

Colour options  Royal Purple, Vacation Blue, Misty Grey, Energetic Orange

Others: Rear Fingerprint Scanner, Face Unlock, Micro USB

Price

The phone retail price starts from 11,500 Kenya shillings on various online and physical stores such as Jumia. For the storage capacity and the camera, I would say that it’s worth it. It’s a phone that you can comfortably use for a long period.

Read about The TECNO Camon 15 With 64MP Camera.

Technology: The Tecno Spark 4 Is Now Available In Kenya