I have had the Camon C9 with me barely two weeks now and like I promised during my unboxing to publish the complete review of this device, sit tight as I review this awesome camera phone. I can’t wait to begin the review and I know you are eager to see what the Camon C9 has got to offer.
Tecno Camon C9 was launched few weeks ago as the successor to Camon C8; Camon C8 was TECNO’s best-selling device for 2015 and many are expecting to see what the Camon C9 has over Camon C8. I am impressed with the massive upgrade from Camon C8 to Camon C9, flaws on the Camon C8 has been significantly worked on. I have been using the device as my primary device since I got it. The version I have is the sandstone black and is beautiful. The device gets stares every time people see it in my hands. They like the feel, texture and build quality. Let’s talk about what is keeping people talking about the device.
The design is unique
If you have used the Camon C8 before and you hold the Camon C9, you will notice that Camon C9 is a total divergence from mediocre design TECNO is used to in the past. TECNO paid close attention to every detail when designing the Camon C9. It’s slim and curvy and the curvy nature makes it a perfect hold in the hands. The design is solid and premium looking with metallic edges, the back is made of plastic and polished with sandstone material.
TECNO has ditched on-screen buttons to physical menu button on the Camon C9 and the buttons are well –lit for perfect experience in the dark. The home button also serves as notification light. The volume, power and camera buttons are located at the right side of the device. What is more evident at the front of the device is the centrally positioned front camera, which Tecno says is 83° wider than the competition
Display and Camera
I know this is one aspect people are eager to read. The display is impressive, vibrant and vivid, the screen is 5.5-inch full HD IPS panel. A super amoled screen on the full HD display would have been perfect for great viewing experience but colour still looks bright and sharp on the Camon C9. Outdoor visibility is good at maximum brightness, texts are crisp and sharp too.
The camera is where TECNO raised the bar by going for 13 megapixel both front and back, dual flash at the back and soft flash at the front. The 13MP front camera is one area I really like. I have found myself taking lots of selfies (but no selfies shown, I like to remain a mystery), the performance is amazing in a well -lit environment however the low light aspect is not very great. Compared to the Camon C8, it’s a great improvement in every aspect. This is the first time we have seen a TECNO device with both 13MP front and back camera and is awesome.
The back 13MP camera has been improved from what we saw on the Camon C8. It has auto focus, watermark, HDR mode, night mode and panoramic mode. I also discovered that colour is more accurate than the Camon C8’s 13MP rear camera. This is very good, TECNO is improving.
Check out some camera outputs from the rear camera
Performance and software
While the device is majorly focused on camera, the performance hasn’t been bad. Apps and folders open really fast and browsing on the Camon C9 is very fast and butter smooth thanks to the 4G connectivity. However I noticed while playing FIFA 16, I experienced intermittent force closing, which I believe is software problem, an update should fix this but so far I am yet to receive any update on the device.
Tecno Camon C9 comes with Mediatek6753 octa-core processor at 1.3 GHz and a Mali-T720 GPU. There is 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage which can be extended to 128GB through the Micro SD slot. The screen is 5.5-inch full HD 1080 * 1920 –pixel IPS panel. The battery comes in at 3000mAh and the front and back camera is 13MP like I mentioned earlier. There is Irish scanner, 4G-connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, dual SIM standby and Wi-Fi direct
Benchmark test results is average bearing in mind that the device is in mid-range league. Antutu benchmark reported a score of 38k which is still decent. I am a lover of game and I have some really cool and high graphical games installed on the device. Asphalt 8, WWE immortal and GTA San Andreas all work fine
For those who love music you will definitely not be disappointed with the sound quality especially if you are listening to songs with the earphone that came with it. Call quality is also decent and loud, overall sound output is average.
The device runs HiOS version 1.1.0 on top of android 6.0 marshmallow out of the box. Compared to the first version on the Tecno Boom J8; (Tecno Boom J8 was the first TECNO device to come with HiOS), the HiOS has undergone major overhaul to make it smooth and fast.
TECNO offers huge customizable themes on the Camon C9, ranging from HiOS to Google launcher type. However, some of them still needs fine-tuning to synchronize perfectly with third party apps. I mean icon colour are not uniform, the only one I can cope with is the N-family theme.
Battery
The battery is 3000mAh and the performance is ok knowing fully well that the screen is full HD and it is 4G enabled. Because these are some of the features on devices that drain battery a lot but the battery still lasts very well. On a moderate usage, it lasts a whole day and at times I don’t get to charge it every day.
Verdict
There is no doubt that the Tecno Camon C9 is a superb smartphone. It bundles together top-level performance, an excellent camera, decent display quality and a great design with a refreshingly simple HiOS based on Android 6.0 to deliver a true camera smartphone at an affordable price.
It’s certainly not a perfect device, I experienced pause of tasks at times and HiOS still needs fine-turning. Overall it is a good device and will suit most peoples need just fine. The device is retailing for N49, 999 across offline and online.
P.S. Innovation Village is giving away one unit of the Tecno Camon C9 free. Find out how to get it here. Offer lasts till 8th of July 2016.
