Tecno Camon 17 Pro review

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Introduction

Not quite Premier, but still a Pro, the Camon 17 Pro is Tecno's latest and greatest, bringing decent camera hardware, powerful midrange chipset and a big battery, all for about €250 to €300 depending on who you ask.

Africa being the primary market for Tecno, we're finding the Camon 17 Pro at Nigerian retailers for as low as NGN130K (€260). That will get you a large, 6.8-inch display with a 90Hz refresh rate, though it's an LCD and not OLED. The Helio G95 should be easily good enough for most things, and the 5,000mAh battery promises excellent endurance.

Camon is the camera-focused series in the brand's lineup, and this 17 Pro comes with a 64MP primary unit, joined by an 8MP ultrawide with autofocus. Then there's a couple of 2MP cameras, one labeled 'bokeh', the other - 'black/white'. More important than these 2x2 is the selfie camera - a 48MP sensor is in charge there.

Here's a quick recap of the specs before we open that box.

Tecno Camon 17 Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 168.9x77.0x9.0mm, 201g; plastic frame.
• Display: 6.80" IPS LCD, 90Hz, 1080x2460px resolution, 20.5:9 aspect ratio, 395ppi.
• Chipset: Mediatek Helio G95 (12 nm): Octa-core (2x2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G76 MC4.
• Memory: 256GB/128GB storage, 8GB RAM; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
• OS/Software: Android 11, HIOS 7.6.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/2.0", 0.7µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.3, 119˚, 1/4.0", 1.12µm; Bokeh: 2 MP, f/2.4; Monochrome: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 48 MP.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 25W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); FM radio; 3.5mm jack.

Tecno Camon 17 Pro unboxing

The Camon 17 Pro arrives in a two-piece box that's white on the outside and blue on the inside, the same blue that's used for the bold 'Camon' lettering on the lid.

Inside, there's a full set of accessories, including a reasonably beefy charger rated at 5V/3A and 10V/3.3A and a USB-A-to-C cable to go with it. There's also a transparent silicone case for protection, as well as a set of earbuds.

Design

The Camon 17 Pro is keen to advertise its branding - a sizeable Camon logo in the lower-left corner on the back together with a smaller Tecno badge leave no doubts about the phone's heritage. That's a notable change coming from the previous generation where Techno was bigger than Camon - the family's focus on camera now gets center stage.

We'd say it's at least a little bit too much - the size of the badge, the aperture mechanism in the 'O', the notches in the 'C' and 'A' - it's like Tecno didn't know when to stop designing. That's in addition to the vertical stripe pattern of the matte back panel and its playfulness with light that makes it change hues depending on the angle. Taking a step back, however, even though it may all sound excessive, the phone somehow manages to pull off the look.

 

The top left corner is home to the camera island, and it's one of those two-level designs with the cameras sticking out higher up than the beach with the quad (!) LED flash. There's nothing more than a '64MP AI quad cam' inscription here - misleading in the number of actual useful modules, as are many low-end to midrange handsets.

As best as we can tell, the back panel is plastic. Tecno isn't making any Gorilla Glass claims, be it for the rear or the display side.

The 6.8-inch LCD is surrounded by what we can most easily describe as midrange bezels - it's got a black frame all around that won't go unnoticed but doesn't strike us as anachronistically thick either. The top bezel is barely thicker than the sides, if at all, and the chin is a bit meatier, but not by a lot.

The earpiece above the display also doubles as an extra speaker in a stereo setup (sortof). The punch hole for the selfie camera is a bit larger than what we like seeing, though you could argue its diameter is on par with other non-flagship efforts.

The frame of the Camon 17 Pro is plastic, this one we're certain of. The right side is home to the physical controls. A power button with a fingerprint embedded in it is placed just above the midpoint, in an indented portion of the frame, while two discrete volume buttons with a concentric ring texture are right above it.

The fingerprint reader is always on by default, so a tap will suffice, but you could change its behavior in settings to require a press, if you happen to be activating it inadvertently as is often the case with these side-mounted units. As for when you do intend to unlock the phone, the reader works really well, for both right thumbs and left index fingers.

The card slot is on the opposite side of the Camon 17 Pro, high up near the top end. It's a triple slot to accommodate a couple of nano SIMs and a microSD card all at the same time - if the 256GB of built-in memory are somehow insufficient.

Down on the bottom of the phone, you'll find the USB-C port flanked by the main loudspeaker on one side and the 3.5mm headphone jack and the primary mic on the other.

Up top, a lone pinhole suggests there's another mic for stereo sound capture and noise-canceling in calls.

Triple card slot • IO on the bottom • Mic up top

The Camon 17 Pro measures 168.9x77x9mm and weighs in at 201g - on our scales at least, since Tecno hasn't provided an exact number. The phone is a good centimeter taller than the Galaxy A32 and some 5mm more than the Redmi Note 10 Pro, and it's also the widest of the three, as well as the heaviest, if not by all that much. So if you're looking for a more compact phone in this segment, the Camon is not it.

6.8" LCD can go as high as 90Hz

The Camon 17 Pro is equipped with a 6.8-inch LCD in a slightly unusual 20.5:9 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1080x2460px, making for a pixel density of 395ppi. It's got a maximum refresh rate of 90Hz - not quite the 120Hz that some competitors are offering, but not 60Hz either.

We measured two maximum brightnesses on the Camon, with somewhat inconsistent ways of achieving them - sometimes it would be the higher one, at other times - the lower one. The absolute highest we got was 538nits - an okay reading, if not particularly impressive. The other was 342nits - pretty low for an LCD.

We'd like to say that we got the higher number with the adaptive brightness toggle enabled, but there didn't appear to be a solid correlation between the two - as in, sometimes you'd get the high brightness without the toggle engaged, sometimes not. Additionally, we'd set the brightness slider to a particular level, only to switch apps and see brightness change one way or another - without the adaptive toggle engaged.

Another peculiarity was with the black levels and, consequently, contrast. Black level was unaffected by the brightness 'mode' the phone happened to be in, and relatively high black illumination made for a rather poor contrast ratio in the cases when it would decide that 340nits is as high as it would go. The 1200:1 ratio when in '540nits high brightness mode' is better, if not quite up to scratch. Before you ask, that wasn't caused by light seeping in through the screen protector - we duly removed that for the testing.

In any case, the phone wasn't too problematic to read in bright sunlight where it would consistently get that high brightness boost - text is readable, and the camera viewfinder is usable.

Display test	100% brightness
	Black,cd/m2	White,cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Tecno Camon 17 Pro	0.438	342	781:1
Tecno Camon 17 Pro (Max Auto)	0.446	538	1206:1
Tecno Camon 16 Premier	0.211	400	1896:1
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro	0	457	∞
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (Max Auto)	0	725	∞
Samsung Galaxy A32	0	393	∞
Samsung Galaxy A32 (Max Auto)	0	814	∞
Realme 7 Pro	0	459	∞
Realme 7 Pro (Max Auto)	0	585	∞
Realme 8	0	458	∞
Realme 8 (Max Auto)	0	657	∞
vivo V21 5G	0	476	∞
vivo V21 5G (Max Auto)	0	761	∞
OnePlus Nord N10 5G	0.304	440	1447:1

The refresh rate settings on the Camon 17 Pro offer three modes - 90Hz, 60Hz and Auto. In 90Hz mode, you'd be getting the maximum refresh rate almost everywhere - the UI, browsers, video playback apps, social media apps - basically everything that's not the camera viewfinder and Google Maps. 'Auto' will maintain 90Hz for the system UI, but will quickly switch down to 60Hz for virtually all apps. 60Hz is always 60Hz.

There are no color modes on the Camon 17 Pro, and its display doesn't cover a wide gamut like the DCI-P3, though it does cover sRGB. However, it's nowhere nearly as accurate in doing so, and it exhibits a strong blue shift.

DRM Info reports the Camon 17 Pro supports HDR10 and HLG. YouTube does say it's serving HDR streams of compatible videos, but we're not seeing it - there isn't that noticeable switch in color reproduction when playing back HDR clips. And with only a Widevine L3 certification for digital rights management, you won't be getting HDR from major streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video either.

Tecno Camon 17 Pro battery life

There's a 5,000mAh battery inside the Tecno Camon 17 Pro, a fairly standard capacity for the size and market position, which should work well with a mid-range chip like the Helio G95. Indeed, we clocked some excellent battery life numbers on the Camon.

In our testing, it was good for 16:32h of Wi-Fi web browsing (at a constant 90Hz refresh rate) and almost 18h of offline video playback (at 60Hz). The 45h voice call result and the standby power draw are both great, too, with everything adding up to an Endurance rating of 140h.

Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.

Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage - check out our all-time battery test results chart.

Charging speed

The Camon comes bundled with a reasonably powerful 33W adapter, rated at 5V/3A and 10V/3.3A. A full charge from flat requires 1:40h with the battery indicator showing 47% at the half-hour mark - not too bad, but not quite as quick as others around a similar price point.

30min charging test (from 0%)

Higher is better

• Realme 7 Pro
  94%
• Realme 8 Pro
  88%
• Xiaomi Mi 11i
  69%
• vivo V21 5G
  64%
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  59%
• Realme 8
  56%
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  50%
• Poco X3 Pro
  50%
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  47%
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  34%
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  25%

Time to full charge (from 0%)

Lower is better

• Realme 7 Pro
  0:37h
• Realme 8 Pro
  0:38h
• Xiaomi Mi 11i
  0:52h
• vivo V21 5G
  1:05h
• Poco X3 Pro
  1:08h
• Realme 8
  1:09h
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  1:21h
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  1:25h
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  1:40h
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  2:03h
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  2:19h

Speaker test

The Camon 17 Pro has a dual speaker setup, but it's not strictly stereo. Both the main speaker on the bottom and the earpiece up top output sound, and there's a notable directionality when the test track switches channels, but there's also sound coming out of the other speaker at the same time.

Main speaker on the bottom • The earpiece is a speaker too

These peculiarities aside, the Camon 17 Pro earned a 'Very Good' rating for loudness in our speaker test, a notable improvement over the Camon 16 Premier we last had for review. Quality is decent but not great - there's a pronounced emphasis on the midrange with little low-frequency presence.

Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.

Android 11 with HiOS on top

 

The Camon 17 Pro runs Android 11 with a layer of Tecno's in-house HiOS on top. We were less than thrilled with the company's aggressive advertising policies and pre-installed bloatware when we reviewed the Camon 16 Premier, but what we see here is a somewhat toned-down approach, a development we appreciate.

 

That's not to say there isn't a whole bunch of pre-installed apps and utilities, and an in-house gallery and video player, and an app store - no, these are all still here. That app store still pushes a ton of notifications, nudging you to install this or that app or game.

But you can disable the Instant apps row in the app drawer, the Phone master shortcuts in the notification shade aren't there, and aside from the Palm store's suggestions, there aren't really any other ads. The situation still isn't ideal, but we're finding it to be more tolerable now.

Hi Browser * AI Gallery  * Phone Master * AHA Games * Palm Store * Palm store notifications

Getting into the Camon 17 Pro is business as usual with both fingerprint and face recognition available. You can have the fingerprint reader unlock with just a tap, or require a press as well, and you can do that for the face recognition as well.

Biometrics and security 

The lockscreen has a single shortcut in the bottom right to access the camera. Once you're past that, you arrive at a standard homescreen interface. The leftmost pane, called Zero screen, holds cards with suggested news, weather and quotes widgets and an app usage widget. You can disable the Zero screen in the 'Desktop settings'. There's an app drawer by default which you can access from the old-school A-Z orange icon at the bottom or with an upward swipe from the bottom. 

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Zero screen • Folder view • App drawer • Task switcher

All the custom bits found on the Camon 16 Premier are here on the 17 Pro as well. That includes the Game mode with all the settings statistics and parental controls, the Smart panel with slide-from-the-side shortcuts, the Social Turbo toolset (a WhatsApp enhancer of sorts), as well as the CarIcare aftersales assistance utility. You can read more about all of these in the software section of the Camon 16 Premier review.

Game mode • Social Turbo • CarIcare • Smart Panel

Synthetic benchmarks

The Camon 17 Pro is powered by the Mediatek Helio G95, a pre-5G chipset made on a 12nm process. Its octa-core chipset is in a 2+6 configuration (2x2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55), and the GPU is the Mali-G76 MC4. We're only finding a single 8GB/256GB RAM/storage configuration in online stores, and it's a plenty generous one. Oddly, our review unit has 128GB on board.

The Camon put out respectable numbers in our benchmarks, comfortably outperforming the Galaxy A32, and posting similar results to the Redmi Note 10 Pro and the Galaxy A52. We didn't observe thermal throttling or any significant drop in results after repeated benchmark runs either.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  1780
• Realme 8
  1690
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  1672
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  1668
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  1666
• Infinix Zero 8
  1663
• vivo V21 5G
  1600
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  1577
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
  1576
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  1277

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• vivo V21 5G
  574
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  569
• Realme 8
  533
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  532
• Infinix Zero 8
  532
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  525
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  517
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  511
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
  502
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  361

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• vivo V21 5G
  336699
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  309107
• Realme 8
  298328
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  295442
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  291407
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  283847
• Infinix Zero 8
  282348
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  261282
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  174332

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  34
• vivo V21 5G
  34
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  33
• Realme 8
  33
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  30
• Infinix Zero 8
  30
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  29
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  15

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• vivo V21 5G
  31
• Realme 8
  29
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  28
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  28
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  26
• Infinix Zero 8
  26
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  26
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  13

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  20
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  20
• Realme 8
  20
• vivo V21 5G
  20
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  19
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  18
• Infinix Zero 8
  18
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  17
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  9.3

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme 8
  18
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  17
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  17
• vivo V21 5G
  17
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
  16
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  15
• Infinix Zero 8
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  15
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  8.1

3DMark SSE ES 3.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• vivo V21 5G
  3331
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  2719
• Realme Narzo 20 Pro
  2683
• Realme 8
  2610
• Infinix Zero 8
  2537
• Tecno Camon 16 Premier
  2531
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  2529
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  1323

3DMark SSE Vulkan 1.0 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• vivo V21 5G
  3050

G95 (12 nm), GPU: Mali-G76 MC4, Display: 6.5″, 1080 x 2400 px" rel="tooltip">Realme Narzo 20 Pro
2735

Realme 8
2639

Tecno Camon 17 Pro
2593

Tecno Camon 16 Premier
2577

Infinix Zero 8
2556

Samsung Galaxy A52
2406

Samsung Galaxy A32
1371

3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)

Higher is better

• vivo V21 5G
  1605
• Tecno Camon 17 Pro
  1498
• Realme 8
  1486
• Samsung Galaxy A52
  1040
• Samsung Galaxy A32
  686

2+2 cameras on the back, top-class selfies

The Camon 17 Pro has some decent camera chops. With the 64MP main unit and autofocusing ultrawide on the back, we're willing to forgive the essentially pointless 2MP depth and black and white modules. And that's before we get to the 48MP selfie camera, which is a properly rare sight - at any price point.

The primary camera uses a 64MP Samsung S5KGW1 sensor - a 1/1.72" Tetrapixel imager with 0.8µm pixels. The lens in front has an f/1.8 aperture as per Tecno specs (or f/1.9 as per EXIF data) and a focal length around the 26mm mark.

The ultrawide is based on the GalaxyCore GC8034 sensor (the what now?), which has 1.12µm pixels, 8 million of them. The lens has a 2.2 aperture and is only modestly ultrawide. More importantly, it has autofocus - autofocus on a midrange ultrawide!

Over on the front is the other standout feature, the 48MP selfie camera. It uses an OmniVision OV48B2Q sensor (1/2.0", 0.8µm) with an f/2.2 aperture lens. No autofocus on this one.

The camera app is straightforward - aside from the full-auto photo mode being called AI Cam, things are mostly as expected. It's a bit ironic that swiping down on the viewfinder brings the top row of icons closer, something Techno calls one-handed mode, yet the zoom selector requires both hands unless you're shooting right-handed in portrait orientation.

Camera UI

Daylight image quality

Daylight image quality of the Camon 17 Pro is okay; it's about on par with others in the class overall. Photos are sharp across the frame, noise is minimal, and there's plenty of detail, though it has a very overprocessed look. Dynamic range is average, and coupled with the phone's tendency to overexpose, you may be looking at some harsh highlights here or there. We'd appreciate a bump in color saturation as the photos are pretty muted.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

The Ultra HD mode delivers 64MP images, which do contain finer detail than their 16MP counterparts but are also notably noisier. The dynamic range takes a hit too - look at that snail.

Daylight samples, main camera, 64MP

In Ultra HD mode, there's a toggle that switches between 64MP and 108MP. The 108MP images are upsampled from the 64MP sensor's output and don't bring any benefits over the 64MP ones - if anything, the noise speckles get enlarged and more noticeable when viewed from up close.

Daylight samples, main camera, 108MP

There's no telephoto camera, but the 2x position in the zoom selector will get you usable zoom shots from the main camera. Per-pixel detail isn't great and dynamic range is rather narrow, but at fit to screen magnification, the images look okay.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x zoom)

The ultrawide cam's dynamic range isn't spectacular either, but these are examined against a lower standard anyway, so it's acceptable in the context of midrange ultrawides. Similarly, detail is good for the class, if ultimately not that impressive. We're preferring this camera's livelier colors.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera

Low-light image quality

In low light, the main camera suffers from limited dynamic range but does manage to maintain very good detail levels in decently lit scenes or areas of the scene.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

Night mode makes for a lot better tonal development, and these shots look excellent at fit to screen magnification. Some fine detail is lost in the process, but we're finding the trade-off to be well worth it.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night mode

At 2x zoom, things are looking kind of blotchy on a pixel level, and dynamic range is, again, pretty narrow - as it is in the 1x images, which are the source for these. Still, we'd call the 2x shots usable. There's no night mode for 2x zoom.

Low-light samples, 2x zoom

The ultrawide camera doesn't particularly enjoy the night either. It struggles to expose bright enough, and photos look very dark, with a prevalent softness when viewed from up close.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera

Once you're done with the real-world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Tecno Camon 17 Pro stacks up against the competition in capturing our test posters under controlled lighting.

Tecno Camon 17 Pro against the Galaxy A32 and the Xiaomi Redmi 10 Pro in our Photo compare tool

Close-ups

The Super macro mode utilizes the ultrawide camera's autofocusing capability for nearby subjects, coupled with some crop and upscale action to get you closer to the action - or to make you feel like that's happening. In any case, these 8MP shots do look good and are comparable to what you'd get out of dedicated 5MP macro cams on competitors.

Close-up samples (macro)

Portrait mode

Portrait mode crops in a little from the main camera's coverage but still outputs 16MP images, so there's some upscaling at play, and absolute detail is less than ideal, if still acceptable. Dynamic range is narrow and backlit sit are all but guaranteed to end up with blown highlights - though the phone does expose well for your subject, which is obviously what you want to prioritize. Subject isolation, meanwhile, is excellent - perhaps that 2MP depth camera isn't entirely useless.

Portrait samples

Selfies

Selfies on the Camon 17 Pro are properly good. Sharpness and detail are excellent - maybe too good even if your skin isn't... picture-perfect. Dynamic range is good, particularly for a selfie camera, while colors are accurate and likable overall. There's this whitening of skin tones that we're not entirely fond of, however.

Selfie samples

Selfie portrait mode strikes a massive blow to dynamic range, same as on the rear camera. Subject detection is okay, but not quite up to the same standard as on the back. Those skin tones are back to normal in portrait mode.

Selfie portrait samples

Video recording

The Camon 17 Pro records video up to 4K30 with its main camera, and that's both at the 1x and 2x zoom levels. The ultrawide is capped at 1080p at 30fps. The selfie camera, meanwhile, can record 4K30 as well. There are no codec settings, and the h.264 is the one you're getting.

Stabilization is available only in 1080p 30fps, sadly, on both rear cameras and the selfie one.

4K30 footage (bit rate of 42Mbps) out of the main camera at 1x zoom is relatively good. The footage is sharp, and detail is plenty, while colors are pleasingly lively. Dynamic range is pretty limited, though.

At the 2x zoom setting, you do still get 4K30 capture, but the advantage in resolved detail is marginal over 2x 1080p, if there even is one. Detail is very good in 1080p, so that remains a usable option. Dynamic range is, again, narrow, regardless of resolution.

The ultrawide camera's 1080p footage is softer than we'd like - it's a little better than on the Galaxy A32 but nowhere as good as on the Redmi Note 10 Pro. Dynamic range is respectable, however, and color nicely saturated, if noticeably different than the main cam's.

Enabling video stabilization locks you into 1080p on the main camera, which is a bit of a bummer, though the Redmi doesn't have it in 4K either, and the Galaxy A32 can't record in 4K in the first place.

Main camera stabilization isn't quite as 'ultra steady' as the toggle would like you to believe, and it leaves some camera shake from walking - not a lot, but some. Just pointing the phone in one direction gets you stable footage, though, and panning is smooth, too.

The above holds true for the ultrawide camera as well, but with an added issue - when you're walking, as the shake makes it to the phone on every step, it will try and refocus, and that's pretty annoying.

The Camon's 48MP selfie camera records video p to 4K30 as well, only without stabilization at this resolution. With you holding the phone and shooting yourself, however, the lack of stabilization isn't as problematic - the relative position of phone and subject remains fairly constant. It's not the sharpest of 4Ks, and dynamic range is limited, but some 4K is better than no 4K, right?

1080p is somewhat more stable, which also means the field of view is narrower to accommodate the stabilization, and it gets a little tough to fit your entire mug in landscape orientation. It's also nowhere as sharp and detailed. We'd prefer the 4K then.

Here's a glimpse of how the Tecno Camon 17 Pro compares to rivals in our Video compare tool. Head over there for the complete picture.

Tecno Camon 17 Pro against the Galaxy A32 and the Xiaomi Redmi 10 Pro in our Video compare tool

Competition

The Camon 17 Pro is facing some strong opposition from bigger names despite Tecno's aggressive pricing. Both Xiaomi and Oppo have competent offerings for Camon money, and Samsung, too, has something to say.

The Redmi Note 10 Pro is the first one that springs to mind. Its 108MP camera is probably a bit better than the Camon's but the Tecno's ultrawide wins thanks to its autofocusing capability, while selfies are second to none on the 17 Pro. The Camon outlasts the Redmi in an endurance race, but loses for charging speed. All of these are hardly deciders, but what the Redmi has going for it is the 120Hz OLED display (hands down better than the Camon's 90Hz LCD), and the IP53-rated body. On the other hand, perhaps the 256GB storage could sway the right buyer in the Camon's direction.

Storage is what the Camon 17 Pro has going for it against the Oppo Reno5 F too, and the Tecno has stereo speakers, while the Reno doesn't. Oppo counters with an AMOLED display, albeit a 60Hz one. We haven't reviewed this particular Oppo, so we can't be entirely certain, but we gather the Camon's battery life is better, and we'd give it a nod for photo quality based on the specs as well.

The Galaxy A32 is cheaper than the Tecno Camon 17 Pro by a not-insignificant 12-15%. For less money, you'd be getting a much nicer 90Hz AMOLED, but for most other things, the Camon is as good or slightly better than the Galaxy. Well, there's also the Samsung brand that the A32 has going for it.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro • Oppo Reno5 F • Samsung Galaxy A32

Verdict

The Camon 17 Pro is not without its flaws - mostly small ones like the missing night mode for the ultrawide camera, or the unusual speaker behavior. However, a more critical deficiency stands out - the display is an LCD among OLEDs, and it's not even all that good of an LCD.

On the other hand, there's a lot to like about the Camon 17 Pro. It's got the best battery life in its class, and its 256GB storage is unmatched by its rivals. The selfie camera is particularly great and the rear cameras aren't half bad either.

Compromises are inevitable when needing to meet a budget, and with the Tecno Camon 17 Pro, it's the display quality that suffers. We can't wholeheartedly recommend it because of that, but we can see how the Camon can be a sensible choice if your priorities align with its strong points.

Pros

• Excellent battery life.
• Very loud speakers.
• Ample storage space.
• Overall likeable camera output, the autofocusing ultrawide is a nice touch.
• Great selfies, 4K selfie video too.

Cons

• The display is an LCD, and its maximum brightness is underwhelming.
• Slightly odd speaker behavior in terms of stereo handling.
• No night mode on the ultrawide camera.

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