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It has been 2 years since the rollout of 5G in India. But there are still no entry-level smartphones supporting the tech.

Thankfully, that’s about to change in the coming quarters. The first step is to bring down the price below ₹10,000, which has already happened about two months back.

For the uninitiated, we are talking about Tecno Pop 9 5G. This ₹9,499 smartphone has laid the foundation for affordable 5G handsets in India.

However, it will soon be overshadowed by the upcoming Redmi A4 5G, which might even cost less. Because Xiaomi is a larger company with more reach than Tecno.

But we cannot deny several unique factors of Tecno Pop 9 5G as an affordable 5G smartphone. Let’s discuss them in this article.

Tecno Pop 9 5G
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1. One of the best chips in its segment

The Tecno Pop 9 5G comes powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 SoC. This chipset is usually found inside sub ₹15,000 smartphones.

The Pop 9 is currently the only handset to house this silicon in its segment. The chips found in other similarly priced phones are mostly limited to 4G and less powerful.

Dimensity 6300 is good enough for years to come for a budget 5G smartphone. It has an octa-core CPU comprising 2 x ARM Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 cores at 2GHz. While the graphics are handled by ARM Mali-G57 MC2 GPU.

The storage is ample at 128GB on the higher variant of the phone, which costs just ₹500 more than the base 64GB variant.

2. The only phone in its segment to feature NFC

The Tecno Pop 9 5G has one feature that no other smartphone in its price segment offers. The feature in question is NFC.

Thanks to this wireless tech, users can make contactless payments through apps like GPay. It can be also used for transit cards in supported cities.

NFC is mostly limited to flagships and select mid-rangers in India. So this is a welcome change, and hopefully, more OEMs include it in their newer models with rising credit card adoption in the country.

3. Unique-looking phone in its segment

Most smartphones on the market now look the same. They have a circular camera module and a flat frame.

The Tecno Pop 9 5G is different in this regard, and therefore, it stands out. It has a squircle camera island and the sensors are aligned vertically with an LED flashlight to their right.

This camera deco is nearly identical to the one found on the Xiaomi Mi 11 series. Hence, the design is not new but it is smart of Tecno to use an older one to differentiate from others.

Additionally, the product ships with two skins to customize if needed. This is something you don’t get with any phone in any price category, at least from known brands.

4. A good package

Even without including the previously discussed factors, the Tecno Pop 9 5G is a good deal for under ₹10,000. But those features make it more appealing.

Talking about other stuff, it sports a 6.6-inch centered puch-hole HD+ 120Hz display (LCD). The screen is complemented by Dolby Atmos-supported dual stereo speakers.

There’s a 48MP rear camera and an 8MP front-facing shooter. The handset comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security and it is IP54-rated for splash resistance.

Finally, it houses a 5,000mAh battery and supports 18W charging.

5. Comments

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