Slightly over a week ago, we received our TECNO Spark 9 smartphone for review, and so far we have shared with you what we think about the phone as a first impression. After using the phone for the 9 days that we have had it, we are ready to share with you a full hands-on review of the device but before we can do that, it is important for you to foremost get to know about the core specs that TECNO feels proud to have included in the garget.
Tecno Spark 9 is a typical modern-day-sized smartphone at 6.6 inches that boasts a 720 by 1612 pixels resolution. The screen is made of LCD technology that allows for an above-average refresh rate of 90Hz. Though the resolution is not a full HD of 1080p, the 720p is still crisp and clear allowing you to differentiate between a full HD YouTube video from a 720p version of the same video.
It is known that the high refresh rate and the larger screen size that has become the standard size of today’s smartphones consume more power than usual, the phone has packed a huge 5000mAh battery that under standard use can provide up to 24 hours of use. This battery capacity however is slow to charge especially when charged using the on-box 5V 2A charger. However, the charging rate increases significantly when the phone is plugged into a charger that’s capable of delivering fast charging.
Powering the device is Android 12 together with HiOS 8.6. Except for the blotted apps that come preinstalled with HiOS 8.6 majority of which are a nuisance, the phone operates very smoothly thanks to its Octa-core Helio G37 CPU that’s supported by 4GB RAM. There is also a 6 GB option for those who use almost all apps at once. Probably the 6GB RAM option is the better one to go for given that I have noticed some sluggish with apps on the 4GB version that I have. The phone also has 64 GB storage for the lower version though there is the 128 GB version for those people who prefer to store huge photos and videos on their phones. There is also the possibility of expanding the storage with up to 256 GB of the external memory card if you really need extra storage.
There are reviews that have indicated that Tecno Spark 9 has a 50 MP main camera and a 32 MP front camera, but my copy has a 13 MP main camera and 32 MP front camera. As of the time of this writing I haven’t tested the cameras so there isn’t a lot, I can say about the performance of the phone in regards to the camera department, so this will have to wait until my full review article that is due next week.
Lastly, the phone comes with a side fingerprint reader mounted on the power button, a face unlocks that I haven’t used and probably will never use on any device, and a single speaker in addition to the USB-type c data and charging port. All these specs are available for only Kshs 16,000.
