TECNO Camon 18 Premier Camera Review: Ready for Prime Time

We finally have our hands on the TECNO Camon 18 Premier.

This is the top device in the TECNO Camon 18 series the company launched late last month alongside the regular TECNO Camon 18 which we’ve already reviewed – so make sure to read on our first impressions and full review.

We also did a first look review of the TECNO Camon 18 Premier.

The main focus – pun intended is on the cameras on the TECNO Camon 18 Premier.

TECNO Camon 18 Premier rocks four cameras – three at the rear and a selfie camera on the front.

We got our unit in Vast Sky colour but the phone also comes in Polar Night and I prefer the former – it looks more premium as I had pointed out in my first look review. It has a matte-like texture that feels really good on the hand. I’m talking about this as you’ll be feeling the back when you pop the phone to shoot photos and videos.

TECNO kept the branding subtle as the only text is the “TECNO Camon” at the bottom right.

The top left is the camera bump that gives the phone a distinct look.

The camera array is headlined by a 64MP triple setup that also includes a 12MP OIS gimbal ultrawide lens plus an 8MP periscope telephoto lens that has 5X optical zoom and up to 60X digital zoom.

There’s a tiny disruption in the top centre with the punch hole cutout that houses the 32MP selfie camera.

TECNO went all in with the Camon 18 Premier that sports a 64MP triple setup that features a hardware depth engine for dual-camera bokeh captures, a Camera Control Unit (CCU) and Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) and Rolling Shutter Compensation (RSC) technologies combined with TECNO’s AI Vision Optimization Solution (TAIVOS) to create smoother, sharper and clearer photos and videos.

There’s SuperNight mode(for both selfies and regular nighttime shots), Time Lapse, Slow Motion, Film Mode with customizable video templates with themes surrounding travel, sport, party, performance, street, family and more. These templates come together with a variety of transitions, camera movements and music choices in the Film mode.

The quality of photos and videos taken by the TECNO Camon 18 Premier both during the day and at night was remarkable as you’ll see in the samples below.

You’ll be getting frame-worthy photos. The detail, the vivid colours, clarity and sharpness especially in good light make the photos and videos ready to be posted on social for Reels or TikTok or YouTube.

Lowlight performance is exceptional too and the SuperNight mode comes in handy to make the shots even better.

The videos looked fantastic. You can shoot 2K(1440p) video, 1080p, 1080p ultra steady and 720p bokeh video. I preferred the high quality 2K and 1080p videos that still have that shallow depth of field thanks to the huge sensor.

I was getting giddy each time I took the phone from my pocket because I knew I was going to get a really good shot of what I was about to capture – that’s the sense of reliability you need on a camera-focussed smartphone. The cameras positively rip.

There’s a telephoto lens too for when you need to zoom in on far off objects and it works like a charm. 10X-15X zoom was my perfect range for getting usable sharp shots.

It’s even more impressive since there’s a SuperMoon mode to take pics of earth’s nearest natural satellite.

Selfies and portraits were amazing even in lowlight scenarios.

Explaining why I loved the shots and videos on the TECNO Camon 18 Premier is getting pointless when I have the pictures that can do the talking.

Selfies and Portraits(Including Lowlight)

Regular shots

Telephoto Shots

Lowlight and SuperNight mode

SuperMoon shots

Verdict

If you’re thinking of getting the TECNO Camon 18 Premier because of the cameras, then abso-damn-lutely do.

The TECNO Camon 18 Premier represents the best value TECNO has ever offered in a hardware product and not only in the camera department.

TECNO Camon 18 Premier punches above its weight in every way and the camera performance is great – I literally had to keep reminding myself that this is a midrange and not a flagship smartphone – it technically is since the Phantom became a separate sub-brand with the release of the Phantom X.

The TECNO Camon 18 Premier rockets itself(my last space joke) to the top of the must-have list of smartphones to get this year and proves that TECNO still has what it takes to remain the camera king in the midrange market.

Pricing and Availability

TECNO Camon 18 Premier starts selling from Ksh 39,099 at its retail stores countrywide and partner e-commerce platforms.

Stay tuned for our full review coming up very soon.

Here’s a full list of TECNO’s official retail stores in the country.