There’s nothing harder than choosing the right smartphone, especially in a saturated market like Kenya’s mid-range smartphone segment is. Well, over the past one month, three companies released three smartphones that literally took the market by storm, from international launches in Dubai to celebrity endorsements and mega-size billboards and TV commercials.
The competition between TECNO, Infinix and OPPO has never been this hot. All three companies released their flagship devices at around the same time, with similar pricing and to make it even harder, similar specifications. Well, to make it easier for you to decide, we put these three smartphones against each other under the following categories; Design and aesthetics, Performance, Camera, Battery life and the extras – the little things that count. Under each category, we picked a winner and used these metrics to get the overall winner.
Design and Aesthetics
The Zero 5:
- Material – Aluminium unibody
- Screen size – 5.98″ (Full HD, 1920*1080)
- Dimensions – Height: 168.38mm, Width: 82.38mm, Thickness: 7.95mm, Weight: 197g
- The Good – 2.5D front Glass, curved back, well placed textured power button
- The Bad – Too huge to use with one hand, hardly fits in the pocket, quite heavy and easy to drop
The Phantom 8:
- Material – Plastic back with metal frame
- Screen size – 5.7″ (Full HD, 1920*1080)
- Dimensions – Height: 159.95mm, Width: 79.5mm, Thickness: 7.9mm, Weight: ??
- The Good – 2.5D front Glass, curved back, the “diamond fire design” is actually good looking, notification light
- The Bad – The plastic build feels cheap and scratches easily TECNO had to include a screen protector for the back
The F5:
- Material – Polycarbonate plastic
- Screen size – 6.0″ (Full HD+, 2160*1080)
- Dimensions – Height: 156.5mm, Width: 76mm, Thickness: 7.5mm, Weight: 152g
- The Good – 2.5D front Glass, curved back, notification light, larger display with smaller body
- The Bad – Despite the phone feeling and looking premium it’s still plastic
Performance
The Zero 5:
- Processor – MediaTek Helio P25
- RAM – 6GB
- Internal Storage – 64GB
- Antutu Score – 66318
The Phantom 8:
- Processor – MediaTek Helio P25
- RAM – 6GB
- Internal Storage – 64GB
- Antutu Score – 66104
The F5:
- Processor – MediaTek Helio P23
- RAM – 4GB
- Internal Storage – 64GB/128GB
- Antutu Score – 67418
Camera
The Zero 5:
- Main – 12MP wide + 13MP Telephoto (Autofocus, flash)
- Front – 16MP (fixed focus, flash)
- Video – Up to 1080P
- Extras – Pro mode, beauty mode, watermark, portrait mode, panorama, timelapse
The Phantom 8:
- Main – 12MP wide + 13MP Telephoto (Autofocus, flash)
- Front – 20MP (fixed focus, flash)
- Video – Up to 1080P
- Extras – Beauty mode, watermark, portrait mode, superpixel mate, panorama
The F5:
- Main – 16MP (Autofocus, flash)
- Front – 20MP (fixed focus)
- Video – Up to 1080P
- Extras – Pro mode, beauty mode, timelapse, panorama
Image Samples:
(Image 1: OPPO F5, Image 2: Infinix Zero 5, Image 3: TECNO Phantom 8)
Battery Life
The Zero 5:
- Capacity – 4350mAh
- Average Usage Time – 2 days
The Phantom 8:
- Capacity – 3500mAh
- Average Usage Time – 1.5 days
The F5:
- Capacity – 3200mAh
- Average Usage Time – 1 day
The Extras
The Infinix Zero 5 – USB-C, Fingerprint reader, Fast charging
The TECNO Phantom 8 – USB-C, Fingerprint reader, Fast charging
The OPPO F5 – Fingerprint reader, A.I Powered selfies, Really fast but gimmicky face unlock
Results
Design and Aesthetics – The outright winner is the OPPO F5, especially in red. The phone not only looks good but feels more premium than the competition, despite the use of plastic but what really sets this phone apart is that 6-inch display in that 18:9 aspect ratio, good job OPPO. TECNO Phantom 8 comes in second, with that diamond fire design and the Zero 5 drags in third because it’s just too bulky.
Performance – OPPO F5 shines again, somehow, this phone emerged the best on all our tests. However, all the phones do feel fast with minimal lags if any, so maybe the efficiency of OPPO’s software is what puts it ahead of the pack.
Camera – This was tough and easy at the same time. First, the Phantom 8 is out – the images produced by this phone are just not as good as the competition. Between the Zero 5 and the OPPO F5, well, things get interesting and tough to pick, however, the Zero 5 does better in low-light images and the OPPO F5 does better in daytime images, the TECNO is just there.
Battery Life – There is no contention here, the Infinix Zero 5 takes the day thanks to that huge battery that the phone packs. If you want a phone to last you more than 24 hours on usage on a single charge, the Infinix Zero 5 is the way to go.
Overall Winner – This will be dependent on what you want in a phone but if it was a matter of life and death, I would go with the OPPO F5, it just has the fewest compromises and most attractive features amongst the three. This is my opinion, but I’d like to know, what would you pick?
Check out the full reviews:
TECNO Phantom 8 Review: Great Dual Camera Phone but There’s More
Infinix Zero 5 Review: Low Price, Huge Size and Lots of Stamina (Video)
OPPO F5 Review: 18:9 Display, Great Camera and Gimmicks (Video)
