Tecno recently refreshed its budget-range Spark Go series in India with the new model named Tecno Spark Go 2023. The smartphone features a sharp-looking back panel with a textured design and a large camera module. The in-fashion flat edges are also present, along with a notched IPS LCD display.
Under the hood, the phone features a MediaTek Helio A22 chipset backed by a big 5,000mAh battery. Optics are covered by a 13MP dual camera setup and a 5MP selfie cam. What truly sets this device apart from most of its competition is the presence of a fingerprint sensor. The spec sheet looks quite impressive for a phone that starts at just ₹7,000 ($85). To find out if this device was actually impressive or not, I used it as my daily driver for nearly two weeks. Here’s my review of the Tecno Spark Go 2023.
Tecno Spark Go 2023 Box Contents
The smartphone has the following items inside the box:
- Phone
- Type-C cable
- 10W Adaptor
- Transparent TPU case
- SIM card ejector
- Documentation
Design & Display
The Tecno Spark Go 2023 has a plastic build with an eye-catching design. Its textured back and flat frame make the device quite grip-able and comfortable to hold. The weight of the device also feels light and well-distributed. Thanks to its textured back, you don’t have to worry about fingerprint stains, either. The fingerprint sensor, which is placed on the camera module does take a bit to get used to, however, it is quite easy to reach with either hand as it’s placed above the center line.
The phone is 8.9mm thick but doesn’t feel too bulky in the hand. However, I used the device with the included clear case provided in the box, and the thickness became much more apparent. The flat power button and volume rockers on the right are side very responsive. The left side has the SIM card slot while the bottom houses the type-C port, loudspeaker, 3.5mm audio jack, and mic.
Coming to the display, the Spark Go 2023 offers a 6.56-inch IPS LCD panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and 480 nits peak brightness. The display produces good colors and is overall alright for consuming video content. Since it’s an IPS display, the viewing angles are quite good. At 480 nits, the brightness is enough for indoor viewing, however, it struggles in outdoor settings.
For example, when taking pictures in the sun, the display was not good enough to show that my finger was partially blocking the camera, thereby ruining some shots. So basically, you will be able to clearly see who’s texting /calling you when you are outdoors, but don’t expect to make out details in a video if you are under direct sunlight.
While talking about the display, let’s also talk about the audio performance. The phone comes with a single speaker unit located at the bottom. It actually has better quality than what I’d expected from a device at this price, however, it falls short in the loudness and fullness of the sound department.
Performance & Software
Inside the Tecno Spark Go 2023 is a MediaTek Helio A22 chipset, and the device comes in three different configurations – 3GB + 32GB, 3GB + 64GB, and 4GB + 64GB. The unit I’m reviewing has 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. Despite the processor being a bit aged, it never gave me any issues while executing day-to-day tasks like texting on WhatsApp, watching YouTube videos, listening to music on Spotify, and carrying out transactions using UPI and banking apps.
The connectivity is also quite good as calls were clear and the device was getting strong signals outdoors. It is also worth mentioning that the calling experience over Wi-Fi was better than what I was expecting, as I never dropped a call even on zero bars (my room is a cave).
The performance is not always spotless, as I did encounter some touch input delays and lag here and there. Games like PUBG and COD do lag, even on low settings. I got around 20 FPS on the lowest settings while playing PUBG, as well as in Call of Duty: Mobile sessions.
Lighter games like Subway Surfers, Candy Crush & Clash of Clans run without any hiccups. I also ran the device through a couple of benchmarks to give you a better idea of what to expect in terms of performance.
Overall, this is an acceptable performance for a device in this price range. Now, let’s talk about the operating system. The device runs Android 12-based HiOS V12 skin. It is a letdown that the brand doesn’t bundle the device with the latest Android software, however, it is worth mentioning that this is a full-fledged custom Android 12 build and doesn’t skimp on any features. This means that users get features like dual apps, a smart panel, game mode, and more.
The UI is overall simple and clean. The part I didn’t like was the amount of bloatware. The smartphone is full of pre-installed apps. It took me around 10 minutes to get rid of most of them. And I say most, as I wasn’t able to uninstall some, and had to settle at disabling them.
Camera
The Spark Go 2023 features a 13MP main camera and a 2MP secondary sensor. As for the front, it has a 5MP selfie snapper. The camera quality on the device is pretty basic, with the primary camera struggling to capture details in indoor environments. In outdoor settings, the camera tends to overexpose quite a lot on a regular basis. I constantly found myself tapping on the subjects or manually adjusting the brightness to compensate for the overbearing exposure.
Given enough light and time to focus, I did manage to click some good pictures with the primary camera.
The bokeh shots were also a hit-or-miss with the viewfinder having trouble detecting edges. You can see this in the first picture below where my cheeks, ears, shoulders, and hair are quite blurry. However, in the second image, it managed to capture me perfectly.
The selfies on the other hand turned out quite well with the smartphone capturing a good amount of detail in daylight conditions. I also tried on the AI beauty filter (image on the right) which was quite good and did not overdo the smoothing.
Overall, the camera system is justified for the price range and takes good selfies in well-lit-up environments. The same goes for the video quality, however, due to no stabilization onboard (a given for this price range), the videos do tend to be shaky.
Battery
The smartphone has a large 5,000mAh battery that easily got me through the day. Even with moderate use, it lasted around a day and a half. I was constantly getting around 6–7 hours of screen on time, which is quite good even for heavy use cases. It is worth pointing out that these results were obtained in daily day-to-day use cases of light apps. If you try playing demanding games on it, your mileage may vary.
The 10W charging is quite slow and fills up the battery from 0 to 100 percent in around 2 hours. However, it is to be expected with a budget device such as this.
Verdict
The Tecno Spark Go 2023 is a decent offering at the asking price of ₹7,000 ($85). Regular apps like WhatsApp, YouTube, etc. operate without any hiccups. The camera is capable of clicking some nice shots given enough light, and the battery is big enough to last more than a day. The textured back and overall aesthetics of the phone add style points that much of the competition lacks. So if you are looking for a budget phone to access daily-use apps, and taking selfies under the sun, the Spark Go 2023 might be the phone for you.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Tecno Spark Go 2023 review are solely mine based on my experience, and there has been no editorial input from Tecno.
