Review of Tecno Spark 20 Pro smartphone with 108 MP camera

We have already discussed two models in the budget segment Spark 20 from the Tecno brand: the basic Spark 20 and Spark 20C. The new Tecno Spark 20 Pro model, which appeared before us, occupies a more prestigious place in the line, but still belongs to budget devices. The highest model in this series (Tecno Spark 20 Pro+), in turn, is already approaching the twenty thousand mark. The more expensive model is expected to have more advanced specs, better performance, and an impressive camera (108-megapixel for the Pro model). Overall, the new smartphone seems interesting, let's take a closer look at it.

• SoC Mediatek Helio G99, 8 işlemci çekirdeği (2×Cortex-A76 @2,2 GHz + 6×Cortex-A55 @2,0 GHz)
• GPU Mali-G57 MC2
• İşletim sistemiAndroid 13, HiOS 13.5
• Dokunmatik ekran IPS, 6,78″, 1080×2460, 120 Hz, 396 ppi
• RAM 8 veya 12 GB, dahili bellek 256 GB
• microSD desteği (bağımsız yuva)
• Nano-SIM desteği (2 adet)
• Ağlar 2G GSM, 3G WCDMA, 4G
• GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BDS
• Wi-Fi 5 (2,4/5 GHz)
• Bluetooth 5.2, A2DP, LE
• NFC
• USB 2.0 Tip-C, USB OTG
• 3,5 mm kulaklık ses çıkışı
• Kameralar 108 MP + 2 MP, video 1440p@30 fps
• Ön kamera 32 MP
• Yakınlık ve aydınlatma sensörleri, manyetik alan, ivmeölçer, jiroskop
• Parmak izi tarayıcı (yana monteli)
• Pil 5000 mAh, şarj 33 W
• Boyutlar 169×77×8,4 mm
• Ağırlık 193 gr

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro smartphone comes in a typically designed cardboard box and with a standard set of accessories.

The package contains a charger with a maximum output power of 33 W, a connection cable and a protective case.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro is a smartphone with a modern and sophisticated design. Its body has a modern style with wide, flat sides and straight surfaces, without narrowing on the sides or curved glass. This smartphone looks so attractive and stylish that it can easily be confused with a device from a higher price segment. Design is one of the strong aspects of this model.

The body of the Tecno Spark 20 Pro is made of plastic, including the sides and back panel. The back surface has a matte texture that is not prone to fingerprints. Depending on the chosen color option, the texture may be different: most options have a typical plastic surface, but there are also options with an eco-leather back with a soft-touch rubberized coating.

The body of the Tecno Spark 20 Pro is made of plastic, including the sides and back panel. The back surface has a matte texture that is not prone to fingerprints. Depending on the chosen color option, the texture may be different: most options have a typical plastic surface, but there are also options with an eco-leather back with a soft-touch rubberized coating.

In terms of size, the Tecno Spark 20 Pro is significantly larger than most modern standard smartphones. Own measurements show that its weight is 203 grams. This is not so much for such a large case, but still the weight crosses the “psychological barrier” of 200 grams. The device is truly not suitable for all hands, so it is recommended to personally evaluate its ease of use before purchasing.

The included silicone case is transparent and flexible. It covers the protruding chambers from contact with the table surface with its raised side around the block.

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro camera unit has a sophisticated design that perfectly captures the characteristics of the “burners” first introduced in Apple's iPhone. Each glass lens is separated from the other and surrounded by a metal rim, creating a stylish, luxurious and modern look. The camera block itself also has an additional decorative element — a small pattern in the form of scratches around the perimeter. Overall, Tecno's designers deserve kudos for the way they have cleverly decorated even their most affordable Spark series smartphones.

The side keys are located on the right, the buttons are comfortable and easy to touch. The fingerprint scanner in the power and lock buttons works quickly.

The front camera is single. It is installed behind a round cutout in the screen matrix at the top center.

The triple tray can simultaneously accommodate two Nano-SIM cards and a microSD memory card.

At the top end there are holes for the top speaker.

The main speaker is installed at the bottom, as well as a conversational microphone, a USB Type-C connector and, commendably, a 3.5 mm audio output for a standard mini-jack of wired headphones.

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro smartphone is not fully water- and dust-resistant, but it does offer mild splash protection with an IP53 rating. The model is available in several colors: black, white, gold, and each color has a slightly different texture on the back cover. For example, the green version may have an eco-leather finish with an embossed geometric pattern.

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro smartphone is equipped with a 6.78-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1080×2460 pixels with a flat protective glass. The physical screen size is 70x158 mm, and the pixel density is 396 ppi with an aspect ratio of 20:9. The frame width is 3.7 mm on the sides, 4 mm on the top and 8 mm on the bottom. The screen supports refresh rates of 60, 90 and 120 Hz, and multi-touch operates at five points.

The front surface of the Tecno Spark 20 Pro screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. The screen's anti-glare properties are superior to those of the Nexus 7, making it easier to use outdoors in bright light. A special oleophobic coating on the outer surface of the screen makes it more resistant to fingerprints and easier to clean.

The maximum screen brightness with manual control is 460 cd/m², which ensures good visibility even in bright sunlight. The minimum brightness is 5 cd/m², which ensures comfortable use in low light conditions. The screen also supports automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor.

IPS matrix is used in this smartphone, which provides excellent image quality. All this makes the Tecno Spark 20 Pro screen pleasant and easy to use.

For comparison, here are photos showing the screens of a smartphone (above) and a second device (Nexus 7 — below), displaying the same images. The brightness of the screens is initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera is forced to switch to 6500 K.

There is a white field in front of both screens.

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field.

And a test picture:

On a smartphone screen, colors have natural saturation, while the Nexus 7 device shows a noticeable difference in color balance.

The viewing angles of the smartphone screen are good, without noticeable color changes even at large viewing angles from the perpendicular to the screen and without color inversion. However, when deviated in a diagonal direction, the black field is noticeably highlighted and acquires a red-violet hue.

The uniformity of the black field when viewed perpendicularly is average (for clarity, the backlight brightness on the smartphone is set to maximum).

This device features aggressive dynamic adjustment of the backlight brightness, which depends on the nature of the output image: on dark or medium-sized images, the backlight brightness decreases. This results in the brightness versus hue curve (gamma curve) not matching the gamma curve of a static image. The measurements were carried out when displaying special patterns with a constant average brightness, rather than solid fields across the entire screen.

The color gamut is close to sRGB.

The spectra show that the matrix filters moderately mix the components with each other:

The default gray scale balance is a compromise because the color temperature is well above the standard 6500K and is 9900K on a white background. This device provides the ability to correct color balance using hue adjustment.

However, even with maximum correction, the color temperature remains high (7600 K), and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) exceeds 10 (in particular, 12). The situation is saved by a setting that allows you to reduce the intensity of the blue component.

In principle, bright light can disrupt the circadian rhythm, but this can be managed by reducing the brightness to a comfortable level. It makes no sense to distort the color balance by reducing the contribution of blue. This setting can be used to correct color balance. The result after manual correction (moving the slider as in the picture above) is generally good: the color temperature becomes close to the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) remains below 10, which is considered acceptable for a consumer device. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue, which has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest regions of the gray scale can be ignored because color balance is not very important there, and the error in color measurements at low brightness can be significant.)

In the screen settings, you can enable a mode with an increased refresh rate to 90 or 120 Hz, which at least leads to an increase in the smoothness of scrolling lists in the menu.

This device probably does not support DisplayPort Alt Mode for USB Type-C, which means it cannot output video and audio to external devices via the USB port.

So, the screen has the following characteristics: high maximum brightness (460 cd/m²) and excellent anti-glare properties, which allows you to use the device even in sunlight. In the dark, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level (5 cd/m²). A mode with automatic brightness adjustment is acceptable, although it does not allow individual brightness adjustment. Among the advantages of the screen are an effective oleophobic coating, no air gap in the layers of the screen, no flickering, high contrast (1400:1), a mode with a high refresh rate (up to 90 or 120 Hz), a color gamut close to sRGB and good color balance after correction. Disadvantages include poor black stability when looking away from the screen and aggressive dynamic brightness adjustment that can't be turned off. The quality of the screen, even taking into account the requirements for this class of devices, cannot be called high.

The back panel of the Tecno Spark 20 Pro has three round glass windows of the same size. However, only one of them is the main camera, equipped with a 108 MP sensor (1/1.67″, 0.64 µm) and an f/1.8 lens. The second module is a simple 2-megapixel module for macro photography. The main camera supports PDAF phase detection autofocus, but does not have an optical stabilizer.

The camera offers shooting in pixel binning (default) or full resolution modes. However, the difference in resolution between 12 MP and 108 MP is too large, which leads to unpleasant results when shooting at full resolution: noise appears, a pixel grid appears, and the image is very blurred. Therefore, for practical purposes, it is recommended to limit yourself to 12-megapixel options, which provide more acceptable image quality.

In general, the shooting quality is very good. The photos are a little blurry, but in moderation, the image is clear, almost without blur. There are small traces of noise, but they are small and do not cause irritation. The detail is high, and there are no overexposures or blockages in the shadows. Color rendition is normal. Although in night conditions it is noticeable that the camera is not a flagship one, for daytime photographs the sensor capabilities are quite sufficient. Overall, for a smartphone at this price level, this is perhaps one of the best solutions at the moment.

Example of night shooting:

Digital zoom at 2x (displayed in the viewfinder) is acceptable, but we expected more. At up to 3x magnification, the image could capture the detail of a 108-megapixel photo. However, it uses purely software enlargement without cropping the full-size image.

As for the 2-megapixel module for macro photography, you shouldn’t expect particularly high quality here. The best macro shots can be achieved by using the main camera with digital zoom.

The front camera with a resolution of 32 megapixels also provides high detail and sharpness of the image. The sensor may lack dynamic range, which sometimes results in underexposed dark areas. However, here the developers may have overestimated their capabilities by tampering with the color rendering and giving the image brownish-yellow tones, perhaps trying to achieve a more “natural” skin look.

The smartphone has the ability to record video in resolutions up to 1440p at 30 frames per second or 1080p at 60 frames per second. The picture is usually detailed, sharp and clear with good color reproduction when shooting statically. However, the lack of an optical stabilizer spoils the overall impression: with even slight movement of the smartphone, the video becomes unstable with noticeable jitter. The desire to use higher shooting modes such as 4K or 60fps remains unfulfilled due to the limitations of the processor rather than the smartphone. The sound is usually recorded quite well, but there is no effective noise reduction.

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro smartphone supports mobile networks up to 4G without the ability to work in 5G networks. In urban conditions of the Moscow region, the device stably maintains communication in wireless networks, does not lose the connection and quickly restores it after a break.

In addition, the smartphone is equipped with a wireless adapter supporting Wi-Fi 5 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4/5 GHz) and Bluetooth 5.2, and also supports NFC.

The single-channel satellite navigation module works with GPS, Glonass, Galileo and BDS. During a cold start, detecting the first satellites may take some time, but the positioning accuracy remains at a satisfactory level.

The voice of the interlocutor in the speaker is quite loud and clear. The vibration motor is ordinary, with average power. The built-in sensors, including the gyroscope, work properly.

Tecno Spark 20 Pro runs on Android 13 operating system with its own HiOS 13.5 shell. This is a stable shell with a neat Russian translation, devoid of intrusive advertising and pre-installed unnecessary applications. Although the shell is not very light or fast, it provides a pleasant user experience.

Among the features of the shell, it is worth highlighting the Dynamic Port, which creates a virtual “island” around the front camera, displaying information about the charge status and other notifications.

The notification shade is divided into two parts, making it easier to access different functions depending on where you pull it down. Also, access to the Google store and applications remains official and convenient.

The smartphone is equipped with stereo speakers that provide high-quality and rich sound. There is an audio output for wired headphones, although aptX and aptX HD protocols are not supported, only LDAC and AAC.

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro is powered by an octa-core Mediatek Helio G99 processor and Mali-G57 GPU. The device has 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage, with approximately 220 GB available to the user. It is also possible to expand the memory using a memory card, and the USB Type-C port supports USB OTG mode for connecting external devices.

This platform was announced on May 23, 2022 and is manufactured using a 6nm process technology. It is still quite relevant and productive for mid-level devices. In the AnTuTu test, it scores about 400 thousand points, which ensures smooth operation of the system and the launch of modern games, although not at maximum settings.

All results obtained during testing of the smartphone were systematized and presented in tables for easy comparison. The tables also show the results of other devices from different segments that were tested on the latest versions of the benchmarks. Given the limitations of comparing results from different versions of benchmarks within a single review, some decent and relevant models may have been left out of this comparison because they were tested on earlier versions of the benchmark programs.

We test for performance degradation when heated using the Burnout Benchmark program, which allows you to load the CPU, GPU and NPU:

The Tecno Spark 20 Pro smartphone comes with a 5000mAh battery, which is typical by today's standards. However, the battery life of this device is slightly below average, probably due to the large high-resolution screen and power-hungry platform.

Testing was carried out at normal power consumption levels, without using power saving functions, although such functions are included in the device. During testing, the brightness level was set to the minimum comfortable level (approximately 100 cd/m²). Tests conducted included continuous reading in the Moon+ Reader app using the standard light theme, continuous viewing of HD video (720p) over a home Wi-Fi network, and the game Injustice 2 with automatic graphics settings.

All figures mentioned are maximum values achieved under «ideal» conditions, including no SIM cards installed. Any changes to the use case will likely cause these results to deteriorate.

When using the included 33 W wall charger, the smartphone is fully charged in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Wireless charging is not supported.

This smartphone is an affordable device that, although it does not claim to be a flagship, has fairly good technical characteristics. It does not stand out with any special innovations, but at the same time remains at the middle class level. The quality of both photo and video shooting is particularly impressive, although you certainly shouldn't expect amazing results from the 108-megapixel mode compared to more expensive competitors. The design of the smartphone is stylish and modern, making it suitable for both young and older generations.