TECNO Mobile rocked the industry when they launched their first foldable phone, the Phantom V Fold, which is one of the cheapest — if not the cheapest — book-style foldable devices in the market. Now, they came up with an obvious follow-up, the TECNO Phantom V Flip.
Priced at under Php30,000, it’s pegged to be the flip phone of the masses while still providing a gorgeous design and interesting hardware. But does it actually deliver? Is it ideal for daily use? Or are you better off getting a traditional brick phone for the price? We’ll find out in our TECNO Phantom V Flip review.
TECNO Phantom V Flip 5G Specs
- Android 13, HiOS 13.5
- Single nano SIM
- 6.9-inch FHD+ foldable LTPO AMOLED display, 2640 x 1080 pixel resolution, 413ppi
- 10Hz-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling
- 1.32-inch cover rounded AMOLED display, 352ppi
- 3.0GHz MediaTek Dimensity 8050 octa-core processor
- Mali-G77 MC9 GPU
- 8GB RAM (+ up to 8GB virtual RAM)
- 256GB internal storage, non-expandable
- 32-megapixel front camera, dual-flash, AF
- 64-megapixel (RGBW, f/1.7, PDAF) + 13-megapixel (ultra-wide) rear cameras, LED flash
- Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
- Loudspeaker
- HSPA+, 4G LTE, 5G
- WiFi, dual-band
- Bluetooth
- GPS
- USB Type-C
- Dimensions: 171.72 x 74.05 x 6.95mm (unfolded) | 88.77 x 74.05 x 14.95mm (folded)
- Colors: Mystic Dawn, Iconic Black
- 4,000mAh non-removable battery, 45W Flash Charging
Display and Build Quality
The TECNO Phantom V Flip sure is a looker, no doubt about that. The unit that we have, the Mystic Dawn, has purple accents all around with flagship-level vegan leather on both the rear panels.
It has a fancy aluminum frame, which looks shiny albeit prone to fingerprint smudges. There’s also a matte steel hinge with a reflective Phantom logo, while the bottom rear panel has two hues of purple, tied together by a rounded metal with the V logo etched in the middle.
If you want to keep it clean, you can use the included matte plastic case in the back. Don’t worry about it ruining the looks, as it actually made the device even better to look at. It matches the purple color, adds extra grip, and has a ring on top, so you can easily carry the device with your fingers. Pretty neat.
There’s the unique and large circular glass at the lid for the 1.32-inch cover screen, with the dual main camera and LED flash neatly positioned on its bezels. There’s a shiny metal ring surrounding the entire module for extra sass.
This is probably the most clever way to implement a cover display on a flip phone as it just looks seamless and well integrated.
Now, let’s talk about one of the key components of the build: the hinge. It’s definitely not the sturdiest hinge we’ve seen, but it doesn’t feel like it will break easily. TECNO claims that it can last for more than 200,000+ folds, similar to the Galaxy Z Flip5, but way below the 600,000 of OPPO Find N3 Flip.
It is also stable when you put it on a table half-open for up to a 140-degree angle — anything more than that and the device will tip over due to the chunky cover display making the device top-heavy.
The problem is, it doesn’t allow the phone to go completely flat, and together with the thick cover display, it feels like the device is hunched over.
This also makes the very prominent crease look even worse. It’s barely visible when the screen is on, but very noticeable with it off. It’s so deep you can feel it every time you swipe up and down the screen. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the screen will break easily as TECNO included a protective film, which isn’t a normal screen protector. And yes, you shouldn’t remove it.
Taking a tour, we have the said 6.9-inch FHD+ LTPO AMOLED foldable screen on the inside, with a punch-hole on top for the 32-megapixel selfie camera, a slit on top for the earpiece, and a tiny LED flash. The bezels are thin enough to not be distracting.
It also has the said circular 1.32-inch AMOLED cover display on the lid. The bezel has the ring-style LED flash, below it is the 64-megapixel main camera and the 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens.
On top, there’s the secondary microphone for voice isolation on calls. At the bottom, it has the primary microphone, USB-C port, and the main loudspeaker.
The left side has the SIM tray for one (1) nano SIM card, with no space for a microSD card slot.
On the right, there’s the volume controls and the lock/power button that also works as the fingerprint scanner. The physical buttons are of good quality, feel tactile and clicky when pressed with no cheap, wobbly feeling.
Overall, the TECNO Phantom V Flip is one of the most attractive flip phones in the market. The build is definitely passable, but certainly not top-notch due to the noticeable crease, and the fact that it looks hunched over when completely opened. It doesn’t have an official dust or water protection rating as well, unlike the other flip phones in the market. But given its low price tag, I didn’t really mind.
Display and Sound Quality
The TECNO Phantom V Flip comes with a fancy 6.9-inch LTPO OLED foldable display with a 2640 x 1080 pixel resolution, 426ppi, tall 22:9 aspect ratio, a dynamic 10Hz-120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling, 1440Hz PWM dimming, and a 1000-nits peak brightness.
TECNO allows you to set the frame rates to 60Hz, 90Hz, or 120Hz permanently or leave it to Auto Switch like I did. This way the system can automatically lower it when the device is low on battery.
You can also set different color temperatures for the screen, but I just left it to default. High Brightness Mode is also available if you really need that extra visibility if you’re in sunny outdoors or a bright studio.
Display quality is good, albeit the lack of HDR is a bummer. As expected, the colors are vibrant and the contrast is deep. Screen brightness is also ample even without the special High Brightness Mode.
The high refresh rate is noticeable, making things extra smooth. I also appreciate the Widevine L1 certification, which allowed me to watch HD content on Netflix.
Let’s not forget to talk about the cover display, which is a 1.32-inch AMOLED panel with a 466 x 466 resolution for a decent 352ppi, has a standard 60Hz refresh rate, 120Hz touch sampling, and 800-nits of peak brightness that’s fine for checking notifications outdoors.
Its quality is fine for its purpose, which is only for showing notifications, time and date, as a viewfinder for taking selfies with the main cameras, and for showing cool animated wallpapers.
TECNO also equipped the Phantom V Flip with a decent set of speakers. They are definitely not the best, but the volume is loud, the treble is clean, and the bass is audible albeit not thumping.
Stereo separation is great, making it usable in shooter games or watching sci-fi movies.
READ: How K-dramas helped revive interest in flip phones
Hardware and Performance
The TECNO Phantom V Flip is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8050 processor clocked at 3GHz, paired with a Mali-G77 MC9 GPU, a decent 8GB of RAM, and a roomy 256GB of non-expandable storage.
TECNO Phantom V Flip Benchmark Scores
Performance on all basic and daily tasks is smooth, no complaints there. Taking pictures was fast, scrubbing through Instagram and TikTok feeds was smooth, video calls were clear, and watching content was enjoyable.
It can also handle games well under high settings. However, you might want to drop to Low to Mid settings as the device overheats easily.
We played Call of Duty Mobile under the highest possible settings, but we noticed that the device is already heating up after 3 to 4 matches.
Same with Genshin Impact, which we played under Medium — the setting set by default. Meanwhile, Farlight 84 ran smoothly under the highest graphics settings. As expected, Mobile Legends and League of Legends: Wild Rift worked well without any issues.
Software and User Interface
Like its siblings, the TECNO Phantom V Flip ships with Android 13-based HiOS 13.5 interface, which still lags behind the interfaces from other brands, but is usable enough. Let’s take a tour, shall we?
Swiping down from the top right part of the screen shows the comprehensive control center with access to the usual things (WiFi, Bluetooth, Screen brightness, etc.), and even shows your data consumption, and a bunch of other buttons for enabling the flashlight, Nearby Share, Do Not Disturb mode, and more.
There’s also the customizable Zero Screen that shows dynamic information like smartphone usage, steps counter, news, suggested apps, and more.
I also liked the live widgets, giving me information instantly from select apps like the weather, or quick toggles like recording audio using the Sound Recorder app.
Smart Panel is also enabled by default, which you can easily access by swiping the icon near the bezel. You can customize the quick toggles you want to access: from launching apps or quick commands like taking a screenshot or screen recording.
I also appreciate how TECNO didn’t bombard the Phantom V Flip with bloatware and some that did make it can be removed.
The app drawer is also clean with the Search Tab and Recent apps on top for quick access, while the entire library is neatly organized in alphabetical order.
It also has a couple of customization settings here, letting you play with different Live and Static Wallpapers and fonts. There’s a built-in online store for wallpapers, themes, and more.
TECNO has also included a game assistant panel that you can access on the top left of the screen on any game. It lets you switch between different modes (Power Saving, Equilibrium, Performance), take a screenshot, screen recording, and see your CPU and GPU usage.
Of course, it also comes with the benefits of having a flip phone. Opening the device in half like a laptop on select apps will switch into a foldable-specific interface.
On YouTube, the video will play on top while the bottom screen is for play/pause, skin, and other controls. Same with the Gallery, with the bottom acting like a trackpad, so you can swipe left/right to switch between photos or pinch to zoom.
To take advantage of the cover display, TECNO has included a special section in the settings called Cover Screen Collections.
From here, you can pick from different Dynamic Wallpapers like classic watches that match the rounded appearance of the screen.
If you want something more fun, there are the Cute Pets wallpapers, with different animals doing random animations every time you power the device.
More than the camera, there are also a couple of apps — 9 to be exact — that you can access on the cover screen as widgets. You can access them by swiping left from the screen. Here’s to hoping TECNO rolls out an update that will support more apps on the small screen, like what OPPO did with te Find N3 Flip and its Mini Apps feature.
In addition, the unique form factor means that you can take hands-free selfies and group shots by propping the device on a table like a laptop, or use the main and ultra-wide cameras for selfies with the cover screen as the viewfinder.
Again, HiOS might be behind the other interfaces in the market, but it’s feature-packed enough to make the Phantom V Flip enjoyable.
Cameras
It may not have the best cameras around, but the ones found on the TECNO Phantom V Flip are definitely above average. What we have here is a 64-megapixel RGBW sensor from Samsung with a bright f/1.7 aperture, sadly without optical image stabilization (OIS).
It also has a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 32-megapixel shooter on the front. Of course, like a lot of flip phones, you can use the cover display for selfies with the main camera, or for the subject to see the shot before you take them.
You can also prop it on a table for hands-free selfies, although unlike other flip phones, you have to set a timer and manually press the shutter button as it doesn’t seem to have hand gesture detection.
The 64-megapixel camera saves photos in 16-megapixel resolution with pixel-binning, with a passable quality thanks to clean details, exposure, and dynamic range. There’s also a shallow depth of field, even without the Portrait Mode, that looks realistic.
Colors are fine, but images look warm at times, and it feels like there’s been a pre-applied filter. A software update that tunes the white balance can easily fix this, though. For now, either you’d learn to love the old-school look or adjust the colors yourself via the built-in photo editor in the Gallery.
Low-light and indoor shots are decent, too. However, there’s an expected slight drop in detail due to higher noise and slower shutter speed.
The Portrait Mode works really well despite the lack of a dedicated depth sensor. The digital foreground and background separation is believable, creating a professional look. But sometimes, the photo just looks like it’s been edited.
It also offers a 2x mode with digital zoom. This lets you frame portraits better and since it has a sharp sensor, the image quality still looks good.
With the assistance of the main camera, the 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens takes great photos with a sharp center part. The colors are clean, and the dynamic range is commendable.
Distortion on the edges is also barely noticeable thanks to intelligent post-processing.
Finally, there’s the 32-megapixel front-facing camera, which takes incredibly good selfies with tons of details, exposure, dynamic range, and possibly better colors than the rear camera. Even the low-light and indoor shots look clean on this sensor.
Again, it may not have the best cameras around on a flip, but TECNO really made the most out of what the Phantom V Flip has.
Battery and Charging
A small 4,000mAh battery powers the TECNO Phantom V Flip — an average size in small flip phones like this.
In PCMark’s battery loop test, it was able to have a screen-on time of 12 hours and 25 minutes before the battery dropped to 20%. That’s slightly lower than the average score we usually get, which is about 14 hours.
However, it did perform well in our real-world tests. Like most phones, we had to charge it every night as we usually end a day of taking pictures, messaging, watching a few videos, and catching up on social media with 10 to 15% of juice left.
Fortunately, the Phantom V Flip ships with a 45W Flash charger, so filling it up is pretty fast. A quick 5-minute charge from 15% took us to 30%, another 15 minutes, and we’re at 62%. A full 15%-100% charge took only about 35 minutes.
Verdict
Is the TECNO Phantom V Flip the best flip phone around? Definitely not. But is it your best option for the price? It sure is, as there’s nothing like it in the market.
The device is a sign that foldable phones have evolved, and they can now be affordable for a lot of people to enjoy.
But more than the unique form factor, buyers are also treated with an attractive and premium design, a smooth performance for day-to-day tasks, a capable set of cameras, fast charging, and decent battery life.
If you’re a heavy gamer and need better cameras, there are definitely better options out there. The catch? They cost more than twice as much as this one.
But if you just want to jump on board the foldable train without breaking your wallet, then the TECNO Phantom V Flip is definitely the smartphone for you.
TECNO Phantom V Flip price and availability in the Philippines
The TECNO Phantom V Flip has an SRP of Php29,999. It will be available exclusively on Shopee starting November 9 with a discounted price of Php23,999 with a FREE Phantom Watch until the 11th.
Pros
- Attractive, premium design
- Clever cover display
- Tall and vibrant main screen
- Reliable performance in day-to-day tasks
- Loud stereo speakers
- Above average cameras
Cons
- Noticeable crease
- Doesn’t lay flat
- No IP rating for dust and water protection
- No HDR support
- Heating up when gaming