Today we are going to introduce a new phone from Tecno, the SPARK 9 Pro. Tecno is a brand that I’m sure no one is unfamiliar with. Their phones are selling very well in emerging countries and regions. The SPARK 9 Pro is one of their new entry-level phones, which is available for only around $170. Interestingly, after using the SPARK 9 Pro for a while, it gave me a new perspective on entry-level phones.

Let’s take a quick look at what’s in the box for the SPARK 9 Pro. A hard PC case. I really like this case because usually soft cases will turn yellow after a while, PC cases do not. Then there is a 18w charger. Card pin and charging cable, and a wired headset. Yes, it has a headphone jack. And there’s an even rarer feature than the headphone jack: the message alert light.

This is very useful on phones without AOD. In addition, the SIM card slot supports both dual SIM and SD Card, and has a red rubber ring to prevent water and dust ingress, indicating that the SPARK 9 Pro is to some extent waterproof. Even though it is sold at a low price, it does not use the Micro-B charging port. The fingerprint recognition is also on the side instead of on the back. And it looks really good.

The back and bezel are purely flat, and the part of the hand grip is frosted. The logo and slogan are on the right side, I prefer this way of putting them in the corner than the practice of enlarging the slogan. The camera module has only two circles, very simple. That’s right, an entry-level phone camera does not need to have much-exaggerated design, simple is the best.

TECNO SPARK 9 Pro Review: Cameras

SPARK 9 Pro comes with a 32MP front camera. Compared to many 8MP or 16MP front cameras, it wins at least in the number of pixels. And there’s an AI Portrait enhancer feature that will make your photos sharper even in low light conditions. It’s not a gimmick, it really enhances the clarity of the photo. And in its beauty mode, as you can see in this photo, the mole is removed from the face.

Its front camera even works with Super Night mode, which improves exposure and reduces noise at night. It also has the Ring Screen Fill-in Light, a message alert light that can be used as a front-facing flash, which is only available on some phones that focus on selfies.

It simply turned my perception of entry phones upside down. It’s not recommended to turn on the flash when it’s very dark, because your hair might blend in with the background. Many flagship phones have a front camera that can only record 1080P video, but this 32MP front camera supports video recording at up to 2K resolution. It doesn’t have EIS, but once you think about its price, you feel that the Tecno SPARK 9 Pro’s front camera is way ahead of phones in its price range.

After introducing the front camera, let’s take a look at the rear camera. The rear camera of SPARK 9 Pro is a bit more ordinary compared to the front. There is only one 50MP main camera, the other two are auxiliary lenses. But the main camera is a bit surprisingly good in everyday use. The dynamic range is excellent, and the images are clear. Perhaps because of the Bokeh camera, the bokeh effect in portrait mode is very good. I really like the effect of this bokeh background, as long as it does not go wrong, it is very much like a photo taken by a professional camera.

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While the daytime photos are not much better than other brands, the photos in the dark light will surely surprise you. Night photos in auto mode are just like any other entry phone, easily partially overexposed, which is a normal performance at this price point. But once you turn on super night mode, the quality of your photos will soar. Dynamic range is improved and exposure in low light is back to normal, looking like a photo taken by a $300+ phone. Generally speaking, entry-level phones can’t do this, so it seems that TECNO has really worked hard on the night mode algorithm.

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By the way, the main camera of SPARK 9 Pro also supports 2K 30fps video recording. Because there is no EIS, you better not record while walking.

TECNO SPARK 9 Pro Review: Performance & Battery

The screen of SPARK 9 Pro is an FHD+ LCD screen. This waterdrop LCD screen is the standard specification for entry-level phones.

The processor is MTK’s G85, also an entry processor and PUBG can only be turned on at 30fps, but the good news is that the game frame rate is stable.

And it’s very power saving, with its big 5000mAh battery, 20 minutes of PUBG only consumes 4%. 30 minutes of Tiktok consumes 4%. 1080P online video consumes 5%. Anyway, I wasn’t able to drain its battery in a day.

Most of the starter phones we’ve seen are pretty much the same, except for slightly different designs. But the SPARK 9 Pro is the only entry phone I’ve seen that focuses on selfies. And the rear camera is also so good that it’s hard to believe this is an entry-level phone that only sells for $170.

If you have higher requirements for photos and selfies, then it’s definitely worth buying at this price point.