On October 22, Tecno unveiled its top-of-the-line flagship phone, the Phantom 8. The device is a successor of last year’s Phantom 6, and yes, they skipped number because tech companies do this a lot. Summarily, it is a marketing trick that aligns devices to the current line of devices in the industry so that consumers do not assume that say, Phantom 7, is an entire generation behind the current crop devices like the Samsung Galaxy 8 family and iPhone 8. The 8 notation is the middle ground for them, and key differences from individual manufacturers determine whether these pocketable computing machines deserve your money.
A local release is yet to materialize, but that does not mean that Tecno diehards cannot access the device. Unofficially, the device has found its way to PhonePlaceKenya, an online market place for gadgets that we covered a couple of weeks ago. The site sells it for KES 32,000, which is significantly less than Dubai’s pricing of about KES 40,000. While the OEM did not give a MRP for the device, KES 32,000 is a steal for a device that packs excellent internals if numbers wow you. In sum, the Phantom 8 has 6 gigs of RAM and 64 GB of digital hoarding room. These memory specs are backed up by Mediatek’s newest octa-core SOC, the Helio P25 that screams up to 2.6 GHz. The device also has a commendable 5.7-in display, and no, this is not the modern, skinny screen with a 18:9 AR that we are seeing in 2017 flagships. the camera department is taken care of by a dual sensor at the back with 12 and 13 MP lenses, and a 20 MP selfie snapper. A 3500 mAh batt powers this baby, and the entire package is dressed in Android 7.0 Nougat.
For 32K, this an excellent choice. Of course, personal preference takes precedence, but even that were the case, you will not get a device this packed at that price point.
It should be pointed out that prices change every day, and there is a good chance that official retail stores will revise this price up to the 40K margin as soon as Tecno launches the device locally. We will inform you of any changes when that happens.
