The TECNO CAMON series was created to cater to those who are into mobile photography but are on a tight budget. Now, the brand has upgraded things with the TECNO CAMON 30 line to offer better camera capabilities and improved specs all-around.
Today, we’ll look at the vanilla CAMON 30 5G. We’ll see if the camera system can actually deliver and, as a whole, how good it is as a daily driver and if is it worth your time and money. So, without further ado, here’s our TECNO CAMON 30 5G review.
TECNO CAMON 30 5G Specs
- Android 14, HiOS
- Dual SIM, Dual standby
- 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED, 2436 x 1080 pixel resolution, 397ppi
- 2.2GHz MediaTek Dimensity 7020 5G octa-core processor
- 8GB RAM
- IMG BXM8256
- 256GB/512GB internal storage
- 50-megapixel front camera, dual color temperature flash
- 50-megapixel (1/5.7″, OIS) + 2-megapixel (depth sensor) + AI Cam, dual flash
- Stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos
- HSPA+, 4G LTE, 5G
- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
- Bluetooth
- WiFi
- GPS
- NFC
- IR blaster
- USB-C
- Dimensions: 165.2 x 75.3 x 7.7mm
- Weight: 199g
- Colors: Uyuni Salt White, Iceland Basaltic Dark
- 5,000mAh non-removable battery, 70W fast charging
Design and Build Quality
TECNO nailed the design and build of the CAMON 30, and you can immediately tell that within the first five seconds of holding the device. It feels incredibly light and sleek as it’s only about 7.7mm thick and weighs 199g. The aluminum alloy frame with flat sides provides a very sturdy feel and is very comfortable to hold.
It’s available in two colors: Iceland Basaltic Dark and the unit that we have, the Uyuni Salt White. This has a glass hydrophobic coating that repels water easily and has a matte texture that stays clean from fingerprint marks and smudges.
The rear panel also has a marble look, which makes it look extra premium. There’s also a vertical, shiny surface on the top right that attracts a lot of fingerprints. It sits next to the distinct camera island, which is a great way to highlight one of the device’s key features.
All in all, the TECNO CAMON 30 5G feels like a very well-made device. A couple of bend tests proved that the frame is robust. Plus, it has an IP54 dust and splash resistance and you can even use the screen with a wet hand.
Even the free case looks sleek. It has a light gray color, which looks premium, with design accents that slightly mirror the actual device’s design.
Taking a tour on the front, we have a large 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. It has very thin bezels and a punch hole for the selfie camera.
The left side has the SIM tray, which can house two nano SIMs and a microSD card.
Right side has the volume controls and the lock/power switch. The buttons are a bit wide due to being flat, making them easier to press. They are also clicky, no problems here.
On top, we have the second speaker, IR blaster for controlling appliances, noise-isolating microphone, and the Dolby Atmos logo.
The bottom has a USB-C port, primary microphone, and loudspeakers.
After seeing several midrange phones over the past few months, I can say that the TECNO CAMON 30 5G is one of the most premium-looking and well-made devices in its segment.
Display and Audio
The TECNO CAMON 30 5G has a 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 2436 x 1080 pixel resolution, 120Hz variable refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling, 1300-nits peak brightness 100% DCI P3 color, and supports HDR.
In the display settings, you can schedule the Eye Care feature, which adjusts the screen’s color temperature so it’s easier in the eyes. You can also adjust the color styles if you want everything to look more colorful or have a cooler and warmer tone.
You can also adjust the screen refresh rate to always stay on 120Hz, 90Hz, or 60Hz, or let the system decide by sticking to the default Auto-Switch setting. Ultra Touch will allow you to adjust the screen’s sensitivity and motion speed.
Display quality has been good. It’s colorful without being exaggerated and the contrast is deep. HD streaming on Netflix and other platforms is possible. Although screen brightness for outdoor use is quite lacking.
The stereo speakers have excellent performance for the price. Stereo separation is there and the bass, while not the best, was enough to provide a good overall sound. In addition, thanks to Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio is available on select platforms.
Hardware and Performance
The TECNO CAMON 30 5G is equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 7020 octa-core processor, with 8GB of RAM, IMX BXM8256 GPU, and two storage options: 256GB and 512GB. Take note that the unit TECNO sent us has 12GB of RAM, so it probably has a little bit better performance than the 8GB model in the Philippines.
TECNO CAMON 30 Benchmark Scores
Day-to-day performance was good, especially with the high refresh rate screen. Scrolling through Instagram and TikTok were smooth, taking pictures was fast, and doing minor photo/video edits was quick.
Obviously, I was getting an extra multitasking boost here due to the extra RAM. Still, the raw performance for each app should be similar.
Let’s head to gaming. Genshin Impact, one of the most demanding games around, ran with no issues under Low settings, which was set by default. The device did get a little warm after about 20 minutes of playing, but nothing to cause concern.
Call of Duty Mobile, Asphalt 9, and Mobile Legends had no issues running on the highest available settings. I had to settle for Balanced graphics for PUBG Mobile to get Ultra frame rates, though. Finally, Farlight84, while experiencing occasional frame drops, was playable under Smooth graphics quality.
| Game | Graphics Settings |
| Call of Duty: Mobile | • Graphics Quality: High • Frame Rate: Max |
| Farlight84 | • Graphics Quality: Smooth • Frame Rate: High • Resolution: Medium |
| PUBG Mobile | • Graphics Quality: Balanced • Frame Rate: Ultra |
| Genshin Impact | • Graphics Quality: Low (Default) |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | • Graphics Quality: HIgh • Frame Rate: High • HD Mode: On |
| Asphalt 9: Legends | • Visual Quality: High Quality • Frame Rate: 60 |
Software and User Interface
The TECNO CAMON 30 5G runs on the latest Android 14-based HiOS 14 user interface. The UI looks fairly clean and complete, so I have no major complaints about it, unlike the previous versions of TECNO’s interface.
One of the things I like is how TECNO kept the bloatware to a minimum. Even the few essential apps that TECNO preinstalled can be easily removed.
You can swipe down from the home screen to launch the Search, which lets you easily look up apps and contacts. This can also be accessed by swiping from the farthest left desktop, where you can also see crucial widgets like RAM usage, To-do list, and important news that may mean something to you.
There’s also the indicator light on the back. It lights up when you’re using select camera functions (video recording, timer, etc), as well as when you’re charging, and have incoming calls, or when using Smart Devices. However, it would be nice if it also lights up when you receive messages and other notifications.
TECNO’s Ella assistant is also here as a Voice assistant and for translations. Still, I prefer Google’s own assistant.
Dynamic Port, TECNO’s take on Apple’s Dynamic Island, shows live animation around the punch-hole when you’re charging, running the voice recorder, while on call, and using the face unlock. It works fine, but it would be nice if it also works with music players like Spotify or when running a timer.
Those who like multitasking can benefit from the Floating Windows feature. You can swipe up using three fingers to minimize an app and open another one. Multitasking is improved using the Smart Panel, which houses different apps you can multitask in by swiping from the right corner of the screen.
Smart Hub is a feature that allows you to drag and drop text, images, and files from one app and transfer them to another. It works fine on the select apps that it works with.
Gamers would like the High Boost function, which is accessible while in-game. It lets you choose between three different power modes: Power Saving, Equilibrium, and Performance. You can also see the real-time CPU and GPU usage, block notifications, start a screen recording, and more.
MemFusion, a virtual RAM expansion feature, is also here. The 12GB unit that I have lets me increase the RAM by 6GB, 9GB, and 12GB of RAM. TECNO confirms that the 8GB model, the one that’s available in the Philippines, is limited to +8GB.
For storage, TECNO has allocated about 18GB for the System. With six triple-A games installed, 374 photos taken, and 29 videos shot, I only got to use 17% of the storage during our review, which is about 87GB of the total 512GB of space — the capacity of the top-of-the-line model available in the market.
The camera app looks pretty neat, but I’m not a fan of calling the standard Photo mode as “AI Cam” as it may confuse users who don’t want to use AI effects on their photos.
Like on other TECNO phones, the CAMON 30 5G uses an Emoji keyboard by default. It’s easy to get used to, heavily customizable and can be easily changed to your preferred keyboard if you want to.
Cameras
The TECNO CAMON 30 5G has a 50-megapixel ISOCELL GNS 1/1.57-inch sensor with optical image stabilization and f/1.88 aperture, 2-megapixel depth sensor, AI lens, and a sharp 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 selfie shooter. Unfortunately, no ultra-wide or macro lens.
TECNO is also bragging about the device’s eye-focusing system with a 15cm minimum focus distance. Plus, there are other modern features like AI Erase within the camera app, which does a great job of removing unwanted distractions within an image.
Daylight shots from the main camera look appealing with a lot of details, nice contrast, and the dynamic range held up in challenging lighting scenarios. Colors pop, making them Instagram-ready, but almost a bit too much.
The camera app has a 2x button, which you can slide to get up to 10x zoom. This is made possible by the 50-megapixel sensor. Quality from the maxed-out zoom is actually pretty nice and still usable if you really need it.
Low-light shots are passable with ample exposure and nice colors. Although, the contrast is a bit off and I’m seeing halos around bright objects.
The 2-megapixel depth sensor does a good job of giving a realistic background blur. It works even better with the 2x mode, giving the proper look of an actual 50mm portrait lens.
Finally, we have the 50-megapixel front-facing camera. As expected, it takes sharp and very detailed selfies. Portrait mode also works well here, great if you want to eliminate distractions in the background.
The TECNO CAMON 30 definitely has great main and selfie cameras. Although, it’s a shame that it didn’t get to have a more useful ultra-wide or even just a macro lens — cameras that would gladly swap for the two extra shooters that it has. But if that’s what you really need, you may consider the pro and Premier variant instead.
Battery and Charging
The TECNO CAMON 30 5G has the usual 5,000mAh battery paired with a 70W adapter, which is the same charger found on the whole series.
Battery life is great, but definitely not the best I’ve seen. In PCMark’s battery loop test, it lasted for 13 hours and 14 minutes, which is below average from the scores I got from other devices. It’s a loop of different tasks that was run with the WiFi and Bluetooth off and the brightness and volume at 50% until the charge drops to 20%.
Those scores are reflected in real-world tests. Our 1080p YouTube video loop lasts about 11 hours and 15 minutes. I also played about 2 hours and 49 minutes of different games and it ate up 38% of battery.
For charging, the 70W adapter provides a 34% charge in just 15 minutes with a full charge taking less an hour. See the full test results below:
- 15mins: 0-34%
- 30mins: 58%
- 45mins: 85%
- 55mins: FULL
Verdict
So, is the TECNO CAMON 30 5G the best camera phone in its segment? Definitely not, due to the lack of an ultra-wide and macro lens. Still, the stellar performance of the main and selfie cameras really puts it on the top of the list.
More than the cameras, the CAMON 30 5G is also equipped with reliable performance for both day-to-day tasks, gaming and comes with speedy charging — all in an elegant, well-designed body with a sturdy build.
While I do wish it had more usable auxiliary cameras, as well as a brighter display for outdoor use and better battery efficiency, there’s no denying that the TECNO CAMON 30 5G is one of the best smartphones Filipinos can get for the price.
TECNO CAMON 30 5G pricing and availability
The TECNO CAMON 30 5G 8GB/256GB has an SRP of Php11,999 in the Philippines while the 8GB/512GB comes in at Php13,999. It’s available at physical stores nationwide, and online via Shopee and TikTok.
Pros
- Premium design with sturdy build
- Sharp and capable selfie and main cameras, OIS included
- Reliable day-to-day performance, capable in gaming
- Speedy charging
Cons
- No ultra-wide or macro lens
- Software could still use some polishing