Tecno Camon iAce full review: Feature-rich camera-centric budget phone

Tecno Mobile's Camon iAce made its debut earlier this month in India for Rs 6,799. It comes with decent hardware for its price and the company has claimed that its camera is the USP. The new Camon iAce will be up against popular Xiaomi Redmi 5 and Moto E5 series among others. I used the new Camon iAce for several days after the launch and here's my take on it.

Build quality, design and display:

The Camon iAce features sturdy polycarbonate shell on the back; when held in hand, I can feel the sturdiness and can take a few accidental drops and yet be capable of protecting the internal hardware. I also appreciate the company for offering screen guard on the phone out-of-the-box. Rival companies, in a bid to cut costs particularly for the entry-level phone, tend to neglect this aspect.

Though it has got a smooth finish on the back, it doesn't attract any finger smudges, at least in my review unit, which comes in the gold-hued body. It also offers a good grip for the fingers to hold.

The back panel is removable, as the company has placed two SIM slots and microSD under it. I have no issues with this type of design as I am happy that I don't have to compromise either on the second SIM or the microSD card. This is, unfortunately, the case with most of the phones with hybrid SIM tray in the entry-level segment.

As far as the display is concerned, the Tecno phone flaunts a 5.5-inch HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio. The screen brightness is really good and I did not feel any stress while viewing content on the display in the outdoors under bright sunny conditions. While watching videos, I had a pleasant viewing experience, thanks to FullView design.

Performance:

Tecno Camon iAce fared well, be it during the loading of an app, playing games (not graphics intensive ones) and even while using the camera; it did not show any lag. Even the Android 81. Oreo-based HiOS is pretty clean as it has a few third-party apps and is very easy to navigate through settings to find a feature to enable or disable it.

It houses a 1.5GHz MediaTek MT6739 quad-core processor with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage.

Honourable mention:

The Face ID feature of the Camon iAce is super fast with very low False Rejection Rate (FRR).  It is an incredible feat for an entry-level device and it has definitely set a benchmark for the rival brands.

Camera:

Compared to other aspects, I am mighty impressed with the camera hardware of the Camon iAce. The picture quality is simply great in well-lit conditions. Even during the pitch dark condition, it was able to snap really good sharp photos with LED flash support. It retained the colour of the flower wonderfully well, which is a huge feat for an entry-level phone. Do check out the photos below.

The front camera also took some really good photos. I noticed while taking the selfie with portrait mode, the live image on the screen tends to be blurry on the border of the face and hair, but when looked in the captured image, they vanish and offer clear images. The credit has to go to the Artificial Intelligence software integrated with the Tecno Camon iAce.

For the uninitiated, the Camon iAce comes with a 13 MP rear-side snapper with 76.5-degree Field-Of-View (FOV), 5P largen lens, F2.0 aperture, dual-LED flash, AI Beauty, AI auto scene detection, Ai soft light, AI Bokeh, Panorama mode and video chat with an adjustable flashlight.

On the front, it houses 8 MP with 76.5-degree FOV, F2.0 aperture, dual-LED flash, AI Beauty and AI Portrait mode.

Check out the photo samples taken on Tecno Camon iAce:

Battery:

During the trial (active hours of the author -- 6 am to 10:30 pm), the Camon iAce (3,050mAh) lasted more than a day, which included early morning reading session on Google News on way to the office, taking a few calls, watching a couple of movie trailers on YouTube. I also played Angry Bird on the way back home and took photos in the garden as well. It had more than 40% juice left, so even if I had watched an entire TV series episode or two on Amazon Prime Video, it would have lasted before I call it a day.

Final thoughts:

The Camon iAce fared really well in almost all aspects, but more than anything else, I am mighty impressed with its camera capabilities.

If you are looking for an alternative to the Redmi 5 series, Camon iAce is a smart buy. It is also easily available at brick-and-mortar stores across India.

Furthermore, Tecno Mobiles in collaboration with Reliance Jio, is offering Rs 2,200 discount via 44 cash back vouchers of Rs 50 each in MyJio account. It can be redeemed by the user on subsequent recharge of Rs.198 or Rs.299.

For those unaware, Rs.198 plan offers 2GB / day high-speed data while the Rs.299 plan offers 3 GB / day high-speed data, unlimited voice calls (national and local) and SMS (100 per day) for 28 days validity.

Pros:

• Really good camera
• Decent build quality
• Day-long battery
• Dedicated 3-card slot (SIM-1 + SIM-2+ microSD)

Cons:

• There's no serious issue to complain about the Camon iAce as it delivers well for its pocket-friendly price.

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