TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra Review - Best camera phone for its price?
After two months with the TECNO CAMON Ultra, we share our thoughts on the TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra and its photography-focused features.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra |
To recap, the TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra features a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED screen, a MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate, 8GB/12GB RAM, 256GB/512GB storage, and a 6,500mAh battery.
The highlights include a 50MP selfie camera, a 50MP f/1.9 main camera with a Sony IMX700 sensor, an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, and a 50MP 3x telephoto camera with 100x Super-Zoom.
For our review part 1: TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra 5G Unboxing and First Impressions
Multimedia Experience
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's screen |
In front is the 6.78-inch Curved AMOLED with a 2,800 x 1,260 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, an 800Hz touch sampling rate, and a 2,160Hz PWM dimming. It is Corning Gorilla Glass protected.
It has a peak brightness of 4,500 nits, making it extremely bright and readable even under direct sunlight at maximum brightness. The texts are crisp while the colors pop.
The panel supports 10 points of multi-touch, making it ideal for multitasking or games that require multiple simultaneous touch inputs. It responds instantaneously and accurately to our taps and gestures.
Because of the curved panel, the bezels look even slimmer, but the same curved sides make the phone sharp and slippery to hold. We do love the near symmetrical bezels around the panel. There is a punch hole that contains the front-facing camera.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's top and bottom sides |
The phone is equipped with top-firing and bottom-firing stereo speakers. Around the phone are microphones used for noise cancellation in calls and audio recording.
The sound from the speakers has a decent maximum volume, but the audio quality isn't the best. Even at 70 percent, the sound is somewhat distorted, which affects the clarity that is normally found at maximum volume in other phones.
The microphones do a decent job at picking up sounds from a meter away, and the call's noise cancellation is effective. We never had complaints from the other side of the line.
Cameras
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's rear cameras |
As previously mentioned, the TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra comes with a 50MP f/1.9 main camera with a 1/1.56-inch Sony LYT-700C sensor and OIS, an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide angle camera, and a 50MP 3x telephoto camera with a 1/2.88-inch sensor, a 100x Super Zoom, and an LED flash.
The Stock camera app comes with the following modes: AI CAM, video, AI Art Gallery, FlashSnap, Portrait, Super Night, Sky Shop, Pro, Long Exposure, Panorama, Documents, Time-lapse, Dual Video, Vlog, AIGC Portrait, Super Macro, Aqua Mode, Ultra HD, and Slow Motion. Users also have access to Live Photos.
Aqua Mode enables the phone to take photos even underwater. In fact, it can be turned on manually or automatically. If the phone detects water entry, it will prompt the user to turn it on via the Volume down. Once in the mode, a single click with the volume button takes a photo, and a long press switches between the rear-facing and front-facing camera.
While single-clicking the volume down button starts and ends video recording. The power button turns the screen off and on. Long-pressing the power button for 3 seconds releases the sonic water ejecting mode. It is a feature-packed camera app. In fact, the camera app allows zooming optically up to 20x and up to 100x Smooth Zoom using its AI Tele Zoom.
Rear Camera Samples
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera daylight 1x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera daylight 2x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera daylight 3x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera daylight 30x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera daylight 100x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera daylight ultra-wide |
The daylight photos from the rear cameras of the TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra are stunning. From the ultra-wide to the 1x and 3x telephoto, the photos are sharp, detailed, contrasty, and vibrant in color. However, the digital zoom of 30x up to 100x is not the best we've seen.
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| Rear camera Portrait mode |
In Portrait mode, the rear camera can switch between different focal lengths. The edge detection is near flawless, and the bokeh is pleasing, almost natural. Our only concern is that the skin tones are not as accurate or as pleasing as we would like.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra close-up |
Taking photos close up with the CAMON 50 Ultra is a treat. The subject when in focus is sharp and detailed while the out of focus areas have a nice fall-off and has a smooth bokeh.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera indoors 1x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera indoors 2x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera indoors 3x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera indoors ultra-wide |
Indoors, the rear cameras produced images with great color and contrast. However, the 1x and 2x are noticeably sharper than the 3x and the ultra-wide's images.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera lowlight 1x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera lowlight 2x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera lowlight 3x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera lowlight 30x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera lowlight 100x |
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra rear camera lowlight ultra-wide |
In low light, the TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's images from the 1x, 2x, 3x, and ultra-wide are some of the best low light images we've seen at this price range. However, like in daylight, we do not recommend using the digital zoom of 30x to 100x unless in a pinch.
Overall, the rear cameras produced images that punch above their weight class. However, TECNO heavily advertises its capability to zoom up to 100x. And we found the digital zoom images to be not as impressive as the ones shot in their native focal lengths.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's selfie camera |
In front is the 50MP selfie camera.
Camera modes using the front-facing camera include AI CAM, Portrait, AI Art Gallery, Video, Super Night, and Wide Selfie.
Selfie Camera Samples
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra Selfie Daylight |
In daylight, the selfie camera takes images with vibrant color, deep contrast, and good detail. It isn't the sharpest selfie image we've seen, but it is more than sharp enough for its price point. Our one concern is the color of the lips. It isn't as pleasing as the rest of the images' colors.
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Indoors, the colors and contrast are good, but like in daylight, the sharpness and the color of the lips are our concern.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra Selfie lowlight |
In low light, the camera app takes selfies with a Night Mode-like effect. This allows for noticeably sharper selfies with good contrast and color. However, the lips are too red. Unlike in daylight and indoors, the lips were muted.
Overall, the selfie cameras produced images with generally good color and contrast, but they are not as sharp as we expected. It also struggled with getting the color of the lips accurate.
The rear and front-facing cameras can capture up to 4K at 30fps with or without stabilization. The stabilization introduces a noticeable crop. Footage with both cameras is decently sharp with vibrant color. It is noticeably shakier without the stabilization.
Both the rear-facing and front-facing cameras can capture up to 4K at 30fps. Users have the option to turn on the Video and Ultra Steady mode, but at the cost of a huge crop.
Footage from the rear and front facing camera are sharp but with noticeable noise. The OIS of the rear camera helps with the shakiness, but we recommend using the steady mode if you want the best stable footage. Albeit with a huge crop.
Performance
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| AnTuTu and GeekBench |
Inside the CAMON 50 Ultra are the 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate octa-core processor, 8GB/12GB, and 256GB/512GB.
During the AnTuTu test, the phone's temperature increased by only 7.3 degrees Celsius, while the battery lost 6 percent of its charge.
In GeekBench, the phone scored 927 in single-core tests and scored 2,896 in multi-core tests.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's 3DMark and CPDT results |
In 3DMark, the CAMON 50 Ultra scored 1,051 overall score with an average fps of 6.29. The internal storage got a 650.48 MB/s for sequential read speed and got a 354.37 MB/s in sequential write speed.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's GeekBench AI and PCMark results |
In GeekBench AI, the CAMON 50 Ultra scored 1,021, 1,852, and 2,265 in single precision, half-precision, and quantized scores.
TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra benchmarks:
- AnTuTu - 935,741
- GeekBench - Single-Core: 927, Multi-Core: 2,896
- 3DMark - 1,051 overall score, 6.29 fps
- CPDT - Sequential read speed: 650.48 MB/s, Sequential write speed: 354.37 MB/s
- GeekBench AI - Single Precision: 1,021, Half-Precision: 1,852, and Quantized: 2,265
The CAMON 50 Ultra's score in AnTuTu, GeekBench, 3DMark, CDPT, and GeekBench AI scores are within the range of the phone's specs, but it faces competition with similarly priced smartphones.
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra Genshin Impact Graphics settings |
When playing games such as Genshin Impact, the lowest graphic setting is set as the default. It is playable, but we noticed it would stutter or slow down when the screen is filled with enemies and animations.
Even after playing continuously for an hour, the phone's temperature warmed up but never got alarmingly hot.
Inside the phone is the 6,500mAh battery. In our usual PCMark Battery benchmark, it lasted for 18 hours and 47 minutes. During our time with the phone, we would unplug the phone at 8AM and use it all day until 8 to 10 PM for several days. We would end it around 35 to 45 percent battery left. It was connected to 5G and WiFi constantly. We even used it as our WiFi Hotspot in some heavy day. The CAMON 50 Ultra effectively has a day and a half of battery life.
The battery charges via USB-C with an included 70W Ultra Charge. It usually takes 80 to 90 minutes to fully charge the battery from 0 percent to 100 percent.
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| HiOS 16's home screen and app drawer |
Running the show is Android 16 with HiOS 16 on top. The phone handles the majority of tasks, such as navigating through the OS, opening apps, and browsing the web and social media, without struggling. We only found the phone struggles when playing demanding games that have a ton of ongoing animations and enemies.
The phone features an optical in-display fingerprint scanner and face unlock for enhanced biometric security. The initial setup and subsequent uses are quick, and it detects our biometrics instantaneously. It works even when your finger is sweaty.
The Face Unlock only struggles when the front camera is dirty. The screen brightens up when used in the dark. It detects the face and unlocks the phone super fast, too.
Regarding connectivity, we have the following: 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.4, OTG, NFC, GPS, and dual NanoSIM.
Wireless connections are usually stable for WiFi, and we get 4 to 5 out of 5 bars for Telco mobile data connections.
HiOS 16 adds a new visual that is made of mostly glass-like or nearly transparent visuals with vibrant colors.
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| TECNO AI settings menu |
It also adds several new AI features, including Ella Voice, Ella Briefing, Ella Smart Touch, AI Call Assistant, Translation Assistant, Social Assistant, Document Assistant, AI Writing, AI Note, Recording Summary, AI Subtitles, AI Theme Generator, and AI Gallery.
Our favorites for practicality and what we found ourselves using more often are Ella and AI Gallery.
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| TECNO's Ella AI |
Ella is TECNO's AI assistant that can be interacted with as a chatbot or as a voice assistant. Users have the option to choose how to interact with it, along with choosing which models we can use. This includes Ella itself, DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Gemini, MetaAI, or Grok.
You can ask it questions or ask it to do tasks such as write, rephrase, summarize, and the like. Its effectiveness relies on which model you choose and on how much it has learned from your interactions with it. In theory, it should get better over time.
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| AI Art Gallery transforms your photos into Anime |
Next is AI Gallery, aside from organizing all the images taken with the CAMON 50 Ultra's cameras, it allows users to edit the images and apply AI effects and features. This includes AI Auto Zoom (AI reframing via crop), AI Shadow Remover, and AI Art Gallery. In AI Art Gallery, users can edit their photos with AI Stylization (transforms your photos to look like famous artworks such as geometric abstraction, Monet, Picasso, GlassArt, VanGogh, or Anime), AI Travel Shots (selects and isolates the subject while changing the background to famous travel spots such as Volcano, Taj Mahal, Island coast, Kremlin, or a Greek Temple), AI Bokeh, and AI Partial (selects areas or clothing in your photos and applies the chosen pattern into it).
Pros - Unique design, Premium build, 120Hz FHD+ AMOLED, long-lasting 6,500mAh battery, Surprisingly great photos that compete with higher-priced smartphones, stereo speakers, IP69K rating, IR Blaster
Cons - MediaTek Dimensity 7400 is great for almost all tasks except for gaming, 70W Ultra charge takes 80 minutes, steep price increase from the previous generation, curved display shape is sharp and slippery
TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra Specs
Display: 6.78-inch Gorilla Glass-protected Curved AMOLED w/ 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming, 1.5K 2800 x 1260 resolution at 460 ppi
CPU: 2.6Hz 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate octa-core processor, Independent Image Processor 2.0
GPU: Mali-G615 MC2
RAM: 8GB/12GB
ROM: 256GB/512GB
Back Camera: 50MP f/1.9 Sony LYT-700C w/ PDAF, OIS + 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle + 50MP 3x Telephoto with a 1/2.88-inch sensor and 100x Super-Zoom
Selfie Camera: 50MP AF
Battery: 6,500mAh w/ 70W Ultra Charge
OS: Android 16 w/ HiOS 16
Connectivity: WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz), 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.4, OTG, NFC, GPS, dual SIM (nano)
Sensors: Geomagnetic, A+G, ambient light + distance, electronic compass
Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, IR Blaster, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, IP66/68/69/69K dust and water resistance, USB-C, Colors: Misty Purple, Moonshadow Black, Luminous Orange, Nebula Titanium
Dimensions: 7.75 mm
Weight: 181 g
Price: PHP 19,999 (8GB/256GB), PHP 21,999 (12GB/256GB), PHP 25,999 (12GB/512GB)
Verdict
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| TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra's HiOS 16 interface |
At the starting price of PHP 19,999 (PHP 18,499 pre-order price), the TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra is one of the better phones for people who want to take incredible photos but are on a strict budget of under PHP 20K.
Aside from its ability to take great photos, it has a unique and eye-catching design, premium glass and metal construction materials, and a massive 6,500mAh battery.
Its main selling point is the great-performing cameras for its price range. Our only concern is that it struggles with the quality when using the digital zoom.
The included AI features allow the phone to be decent in productivity in fields such as writing, researching, and content creation.
If you can live with nitpicks such as its curved display, 80-minute charging time, middling stereo speakers, and pedestrian gaming capability, then the TECNO CAMON 50 Ultra can be for you.
Build/Design - 4.25
Multimedia Experience - 4.0
Cameras - 4.5
Performance - 4.0
Average - 4.19/5
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